(Some portions of the following is taken from an article entitled. "The New Schofield Bible" by A. C. Brown. This paper. however. only considers the Original Schofield Notes.)
The Schofield Bible- with its Notes contain some items of sound, beneficial help. Their distinction of law and grace, of the Church from Israel, the introductions, footnotes, chain references, etc., are indeed helpful and call out our happy "Amen." However, no commentary is perfect and those believers that diligently seek the grace to walk in the truth will prove all by the Word of God. They will give the Word its due supreme place, above the teachings even of the best of men, and avoid accepting any doctrine as true merely because certain teachers say so. In prayerful dependence they will value all the commentaries, helps, notes and ministry in the light of The Word of God, even as the Notes themselves exhort: "Therefore, in approaching the study of the Gospels the mind should he freed, solar as possible, from mere theological concepts and presuppositions.." (Introduction to The Four Gospels.) These comments are not intended to discredit everything that the Editors have written but to point out some very serious errors made which call for due the caution of the reader.
The Consulting Editors
We do not doubt the uprightness of those who have labored long to produce the Notes, but we desire the grace to be faithful
while pointing out some teachings not in accord with God s Word.
All the Editorial Committee are involved in clericalism and sectarianism. This is in direct contradiction to the Note of Num. 16:10, approved by themselves: "The 'gainsaying of Korah'. .. The modern analogue is Nicolaitanism (Rev.i1.6,15), the division of an equal brotherhood (Matt. 13:8) into 'clergy' and ‘laity'..."
Also, some members of the Committee are leaders of "theological" Seminaries that do not amend or contradict the error of "the gainsaying of Korah." It is evident that they also do not recognize the sin of sectarianism which is condemned in the Word: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and [that], there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." "That there should be no schism in the body; but [that] the members should have the same care one for another." (1 Cor. 1:10,12:25).
The above is not said to judge persons but only to warn students of the Word of God of the level and spiritual character that they should expect to find reflected in the Notes.
The Annotations
Some General Considerations
Thankfully, the law and grace are generally clearly distinguished, and the difference between Israel and the Church is presented. However, there are references to the law of Moses made afterward in several places that serve to lower the
Christian position and inheritance to the spiritual level of a justified Jew (See The Note: Rom. 3:21,etc.). If such Notes are relied on there is great danger of annulling any benefit for the soul that the Notes contain.
The theological tendency of presenting different interpretations only serves to confuse the reader. (See, for example, the Note, John 20:17.)
It is lamentable that the Chronology of Usher has not been considered dependable.
The Notes
Gen. 1:5. The Note is weak, allowing the idea that 24 hours could refer to geological periods. This would please the evolutionists. The geological periods do fit in verse 2 of the chapter, between the creation and the fall of the Earth. (See Isa. 45:18)
Gen. 241 AND 66. ".. Holy Spirit that does not 'speak of himself." This means that He does not speak of Himself as if He spoke independently of the Others in the Godhead. (See. John 12:49,50 for the correct sense.)
Ex. 27:20. "... only as, filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) do we really walk in the light." No, all Christian walk always in the light. 1 John 1:7 says: "... but if we walk in light, as he is in the light..." We are in the light AS He is in the light. There is, certainly, no question concerning HOW God walks, but WHERE. God is light and He is IN the light since Christ has come to manifest Him. It is WHERE we walk as believers, not dependent on HOW we walk but on the fact that "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all. sin."
(lin 1-7)
Num. 15:1. "There is a present rest of God... into which believers may, and therefore should, enter by faith (Heb. 3-4)." There is a current rest for believers (Matt. 1:1:28), but the reference in Hebrews refers to a future rest (Heb. 4:9.11) It is important to distinguish these. The present rest is rest from trying to save ourselves by our own efforts Thanks he to God, Christ gives us a full and eternal salvation by faith. The rest of Hebrews is to rest as God rested—that is rest from good (not evil nor dead) works. We should not rest from good works until home in the glory.
Josh. 5:2. "... circumcision... Spiritually it is mortifiying the deeds of the body through the Spirit." Circumcision means not only to mortify the deeds of the body but also to have a new position in Christ raised from among the dead (Co1.2:11,12) This requires not only the death of the DEEDS of the body hut also of the body itself. We are before God in a new heavenly position in Christ.
PSALMS 118:29. ".... (4)... As Priest, He offers Himself in sacrifice (P.s-a.22,- 40:6)... " The Lord was not a priest until His resurrection (Heb. 5:9,10;7:14). Note the importance that the writer puts to this fact in Heb. 7:11-28.
ISAIAH 14:12. "Lucifer" is not Satan but the Roman beast, head of the last form of the world Empire (Rev. 13:1-10). (See also the Notes of Ezek. 28:12 and Rom. 3:23.)
Dan. 7:8. The "little horn" is the "beast that rose out of the sea," the King of the revived Rome. (Rev. 13:1) Dan. 11:36-45 and 2 Thess. 2:4-8 refer to another, the Antichrist. ( Rev. 13. 11)
Dan. 12:4 AND 12. Here there is confusion. The "prince that shall come" is the Roman beast, Dan. 9:7 and Rev. 13:4-6. Dan. 11:36-38 and 2 Thess. 2:4 refer to the Antichrist.
Nah. 1:2. "... his holy law has been vindicated in the cross." The limiting word "law" is in no way suitable here. The very holiness of God was vindicated in the cross. (See Note, Rom. 3:21)
Hab. 2:3. See Matt. 5:17.
Zech. 11:7 AND 15. The "idol shepherd" and the foolish shepherd" both refer to the Antichrist.
Matt. 3:15. ".,Jesus... needed no repentance..." Amen! The priest in the Old Testament "was. first washed and then, anointed" but the Lord never was "washed," neither was He a priest when He offered Himself. Leviticus16:4 says that Aaron presented himself to offer the sacrifice dressed in "the holy linen coat... the holy garments..." He did not offer it in the priestly garments. This teaches us typically that Christ as a Holy Man offered Himself, not in the capacity of Priest. There is no conflict in the Scriptures. (See Heb. 7:14)
Matt. 5:17. "... (7) He mediated by his blood the New Covenant of assurance and grace, in which all believers stand (Rom. 5:2; Heb. 8:6-13)." We, the believers today in the day of the grace, we are not parties to the New Covenant. This is seen very clearly in Jer. 31-34 and Heb. 8:6-13. Both portions speak of Israel as party to the New Covenant, not the Church. The shed blood of Christ is, certainly, the blood of the New Covenant, but also much more. The New Covenant never gives the privilege of saying "Abba, Father," never establishes the believer "in Christ Jesus," does not give a heavenly place and portion as that which belongs to a member of the one body of Christ and the bride of the Lamb (Rev. 21:9) We are sons of God and a father does not need a covenant with his own children. See also the Notes themselves: "Especially is it necessary to exclude the notion... that the Church is the true Israel, and that the Old Testament foreview of the kingdom- is fulfilled in the Church." (Introduction to The Four Gospels) Furthermore, contrary to this Note (Matt. 5:17), the 'law of Christ" is the habit of His own life here as Man ("... as he walked," (1.1,12:6) is its meaning). It is not another law imposed on us after He delivered us from the law of Moses..
Matt. 13:43. "Me kingdom does not become the kingdom of the ‘Father' until Christ, having 'put all enemies under His. feet,' including the last enemy, death, has 'delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father' (1 Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 20:2)."
... the kingdom of his Father," is the heavenly portion of the resurrected saints over the millennium.
Matt. 19:28. The word "regeneration" does not mean new birth. In Titus 3:5 also it refers, as here, to a new order—that of the new creation to which the believer has been brought.
Matt. 24:3. ".... Verse 15 gives the sign of the abomination Dan.9:27, note) the 'man of sin' or 'Beast ' (2 Thess.2:3- 8)..." The image here it is that of the Beast. 2 Thess. 2:3-8 is the Antichrist.
Luke 16:23. "Hades since the ascension of Christ....a change has taken place which affects paradise" No change has taken place. Eph. 4:8 (misquoted in the Note) does not refer to "leading" CAPTIVES, but "captivity captive." The Lord Jesus "descended first into the lower parts of [not under] the earth." He was among the poor and humble of the earth and ascended from the earth (Acts 1), not from under the earth. The passage in Ephesians teaches us that He led captive, set us free from, everything that could hold us back in the path of faith and in the exercise of the gifts He has given. 1 Peter 3:19 is often mistakenly linked with the error of this Note. It reads: "By in which also he Christ went and preached unto the spirits which are in prison..." The verse is explained by chapter 1 verse 11 of the same epistle: "... the Spirit of Christ which was in them 'the prophets'.. testified beforehand.. " Christ preached by the Spirit in Noah to those disobedient in Noah's day who were in prison in Peter's day.
Luke 18:8. The reference IS to personal faith.
John 3:3. "Regeneration" is not found here. (See Matt. 19:28 above). "The condition of the new birth is faith in Christ crucified. " John 1:13 comes doctrinally before verse 12 and shows that it was those who were already born again that received Christ in verse 12. "New birth" is the new nature in contrast to the old, and is applied to the saints of all dispensations. The Lord refers to it as one of the "earthly things" in John 3:12. "... heavenly things" include "eternal life," which is enjoyed only by the Christians of this age, who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, after the cross (vs.14): In the synoptic Gospels (Matthew—Luke) "eternal life" speaks of the life in the earth during the future age of the kingdom. Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:10; 4:24; and Col. 1:27 speak of the full Christian status and relationship. These are more than the new birth which is applied to believers other than Christians, even to those before and after the day of the grace.
John 20:17. "... was on His way to present the sacred blood in heaven... He had so ascended and returned." This is to force a Biblical "type" to be an "anti—type." A "type" is a type of the truth revealed in the New Testament, not the reverse. Heb. 9:12 does not say that Christ entered "with" His own blood but "by" (in the power or character of) it He "entered in once into the holy place..." Mary Magdalene wanted to embrace Christ (have a relationship to Him) before His entry into His resurrection glory (John 13:32), which was not possible. The Greek word for "touch" is different when He speaks to Thomas in John 20:27.
Rom. 3:21. "The righteousness of God is neither an attribute of God, nor the changed character of the believer, but Christ Himself who fully met in our stead and behalf every demand of the law, and who is, by the act of God called imputation (Lev. 25:50; James 2:23), made unto us... righteousness' (1 Cor. 1:30)." This Note ignores the verse itself which says "without law," saying that we are saved BY law—by Christ meeting the demands of the law! It is regrettably wrong. Justification is not answering to the law of God for us (the law never permitted that one person could answer for another—it says: "The man that doeth them shall live in them" (Ga1.3:12).
God is light and God is love (lJn.1:5 and 4:8). The righteousness of God IS an attribute of God: "that which is justly and necessarily attributed to Him by virtue of Who and What He is." His righteousness in this time is manifested by the act of God whereby He justly declares righteous one who believes on Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 1:30 is not imputation but definition:
... who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness
..." If this verse were imputation we would be as wise as we are just by faith, since it speaks of "wisdom" as well as "justification". The Lord Jesus Christ glorified God by the work of the cross of Calvary here in this world where the sin is "... Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself and shall straightway glorify him." (Th.13:31,32). God's glorifying the Man Jesus in response to His work is His righteousness—is according to, and necessary to, His righteousness. Declaring a sinner "just" is part of the recompense that Christ deserves and it is a demonstration in this time of God's righteousness. The blessing of the believer in this day is according to the glory that God owes to Christ—it is more than new "clothes", it is a new state, new position, "the glory of God," "in Christ Jesus," "co-heirs with Christ". The law of Moses never envisaged anything of this.
ANOTHER HAS SAID ON THE SUBJECT OF DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS: ".. HAS NOT GOD SET UP ANOTHER KIND OF RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN THAT OF LAW? AND IF SO, THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW CANNOT ACCOMPLISH THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS, A RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS NOT THE ADEQUATE FULLFILLMENT OF MAN'S OBLIGATIONS (AND THE LAW CAN DO NO MORE), BUT THE GLORIFYING OF GOD'S NATURE FULLY, SO THAT HE IS GLORIFIED IN BLESSING ACCORDING TO ALL THAT NATURE IS....IT IS ACCORDING TO WHAT HE IS, NOT WHAT MAN OUGHT TO BE MERELY....FOUNDED ON CHRIST’S WORK IN MANHOOD, BUT IN WHICH GOD HIMSELF WAS GLORIFIED, AND INTO WHICH MAN IS BROUGHT, SO THAT IN IT, HE, GOD, IS JUST AND THE JUSTIFIER OF HIM THAT BELIEVETH IN JESUS."
Rom. 3:26. God justifies "... a sinner than believes in Christ; that is, one in whose behalf Christ has met every demand of the law (Rom. 10.4)." The law did not require that one should die for another—in fact it prohibited that (See Rom. 3:21, above). Salvation is not by works of law, whether accomplished by Christ or by another. Christ (blessed Savior!), obeying a commandment not of the law of Moses (John 10:18), was made a curse under Moses' law (Gal. 3:13) to redeem the Jews that were under it (the Gentiles were not under the law (Rom. 2:14).
Rom. 6:6. ".. make this good (our old man was crucified with him ... in experience, reckoning it to be so by definitely 'putting off’ the old man and 'putting on' the new." The exhortation to 'put off' and 'put on' is not found here, since God says that it has already been done in the cross of Christ. "... put off" and "... put on" in Eph. 4:22,23 should be translated in the past tense (something already done), as Col. 3:9,10. The old nature is something different and remains a constant problem.
Rom. 7:15. Paul is not "in defeat" here. The verse speaks of the experience of a person able to set the elements of the experience before us as being out of and beyond it in his own soul. It is the experience of one born again but as yet does not understand that we are freed from "the law of sin." Trying to keep the law in his own strength, he learns that he can not. The chapter shows us the experience by which we learn that only in the power of the Holy Spirit can we obey. The new nature has no strength in itself. It does not struggle against the flesh, it is the Spirit who does so (Gal. 5:17). All the strength of the believer is in the Holy Spirit that dwells in everyone that believes "the gospel of your salvation..." (Eph. 1:13)
Rom. 11:5..There is confusion here between the believers of Rev. 7:3-8 and 6:9-11. These will be martyred during first half of the seventy week of Daniel, those are the ones Which "come out of great tribulation." (7:14) —these last are not martyrs.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 9:27. "The apostle is writing of the service, not of salvation." No, he includes both, salvation and service, contrasting himself with any counterfeits (as Judas) that were serving hut did not have faith. We know that the apostle did not fear losing his salvation, it is only that he shows that preaching does not save, only faith in Christ does. ".. when I have preached to others, I myself should he a castaway." He applies the truth to himself rather than accuse anyone else (See 1 Cor. 4:6).
Gal. 6:2. See Note, Matt. 5:17 above. Eph. 4:8. See Note Luke 16:23 above. Eph. 4:22,23. See Note, Rom. 6:6 above. Col. 3:2,10. See Note, Rom. 6:6 above.
Titus 1:5. "... the qualifications of an elder become part of the Scriptures for the guidance of the churches in such appointment [of elders]." It is evident that the churches cannot appoint elders as Paul sent Titus to Crete to do it. The apostle then gave him instructions to return (Titus 3:12), thus ending a specific mission to be carried out with apostolic authority. This authority, no longer present on earth, is necessary for the appointment of elders. Love needs no "appointment" in order to serve.
FIRST PETER 1:20. Tut Scripture nowhere declares what it is in the divine foreknowledge which determines the divine election and predestination." It is not a predeterminant "what" in the divine foreknowledge which determines election. Some mistakenly believe that God knew beforehand who was going to believe (a "what") and therefore chose them. Foreknowledge is of persons, not of facts about them. "For WHOM he did foreknow, he also did predestinate..." (Rom. 8:29) Love, not knowledge, is the basis of foreknowledge.
FIRST PETER 3:19. See Note Luke 16:23 above.
FIRST John 1:7. "n) walk in the light is to franklv confess both Ain in the nature and sins in the life1." All believers walk all the time in the light. It is not HOW we walk but WHERE. "but if we walk in the light, AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT..." Certainly, there is no question of "how" God walks, nor of us either. Our communion more properly is treated of in chapter 2:1,2. (See Note, Ex. 27:20 above.)
W. M. W.
"PROVE ALL THINGS; HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD.... BUT SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE, MAY GROW UP INTO HIM IN ALL THINGS, WHICH IS TIIE HEAD, [EVEN] CHRIST."
(1 THESS. 5:21 AND EPH.4: 15)