Brethren Archive
The Year 1957

Bible Problems and Answers

by W. Hoste




Comments:
Samuel said ...
The Question page of the Believers Magazine throughout the Editorship of Wm Hoste contained mostly his own answers to questions along with some answers by EW Rogers and some by Wm Rodgers of Omagh. After Mr Rodgers’ death (1951) EW Rogers was discontinued from the Question page of the BM due to agitation from disputants in Ulster who “leaned on” the top brass in Kilmarnock (Ritchies) to drop him.
A few years later Mr Wm Bunting gathered together the answers of Hoste and Rodgers, being careful to omit the numerous answers of EW Rogers which were often sharing the very same page in the magazine.
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2019 : 02:36
Tom said ...
Wow I didn't know that. Almost as bad as how the EB's expunge the initials of those who leave out of reprints of Bible Reading notes. Replacing them with the anonymous "Ques:"
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2019 : 03:10
Rodger said ...
EW Rogers' answers were published in a slimmer, separate volume, entitled "Answers to Bible Problems," also from John Ritchie, if I remember correctly.
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2019 : 05:34
Samuel said ...
It was about 23 years later that EW Rogers’ answer collection (Answers to Bible Problems) appeared, collected and arranged by SJ McBride. EWR had also supplied some answers to Questions for Precious Seed magazine and the Committee was happy to grant permission for those answers to be included. He had over the years answered questions in “The Witness”, whose publisher, when approached for permission to include those questions, ungraciously refused.
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2019 : 06:05
Rodger said ...
These are interesting details, Samuel. What was the reason for sidelining EWR? His more "open" view of reception?
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2019 : 11:29
Samuel said ...
EW Rogers said that "there was a nest of Needed Truthism" in Northern Ireland (and he was referring to the Open meetings) which "ought to be rooted out" (Personal communication from a former editor of the Believer's Magazine to me). From at least 1949 there was some disquiet at his perceived tendencies to "looseness" amongst conservative brethren in Northern Ireland who felt it was undesirable for him to be at the Lurgan Conference (which was not at that time under the direct management of the Assembly in Lurgan). Wm Rodgers did not approve of moves to ban EWR, but when Wm Rodgers died in 1951, moves to defenestrate EW began in earnest. This involved getting him dropped from the Question column in the BM, as it was made clear to Ritchies that the BM would otherwise lose the bulk of the Northern Ireland subscription base (which was a very significant proportion of its circulation at that time), and Ritchies had not many years earlier been rescued financially by Northern Ireland money in the face of an aggressive take-over bid from P&I before WW2. "Nice little Believers Magazine you got there.... shame if anything were to happen to it ... capisce?" (well not exactly ...but the dynamic was similar).
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2019 : 19:00
Rodger said ...
This would be another understanding of EWR's that would make him unpopular with some: https://www.preciousseed.org/article_detail.cfm?articleID=3536
Friday, Oct 18, 2019 : 11:59
Samuel said ...

Certainly EWR's remarks in this article are directly contrary to the teaching of C.M. Luxmoore in "Paul on Worship", which articulates the Needed Truth position (uploaded on this site). Odd though it may seem, the late Albert McShane of Lurgan stated his support of direct personal address in public prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ. I know this because a brother in a certain meeting was getting some negative feedback on account of his practice of this mode of address in prayer. (circa 1980)The brother asked Mr McShane directly, who expressed surprise that this should have been an issue at all. I very much doubt whether this question had a bearing upon the EWR controversy in Northern Ireland.

Friday, Oct 18, 2019 : 23:27


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