ST. VALENTINE: WHO WAS HE? -- REVISITED

“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

Valentine was a Roman priest born c. 226 A.D. and was said to have been martyred c. 270 A.D., on February 14^th. He is regarded a saint by virtue of his martyrdom, for the Roman Church had no formal canonization process until the 10^th Century A.D. 

The history of Valentine is very sketchy to say the least. The following is from the Lives of the Saints (1959):

 St. Valentine, a Roman priest, together with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs who suffered during the reign of Emperor Claudius II in the 3^rd Century.1

Other accounts of his life state that he would secretly perform marriages for soldiers so they would be deferred from military service. The emperor believed married soldiers would not fight as well as single men. For this he was placed under arrest and during this time the judge, Asterius, tested Valentine’s faith by asking him to heal his adopted daughter’s blindness. Valentine succeeded and found favor with Asterius and converted him and his household.

He later was arrested again for evangelizing and sent to the Emperor Claudius II. Again he found favor with the Emperor until he tried to persuade Claudius to embrace Christianity. Claudius commanded that Valentine renounce his faith, when he refused, Claudius ordered that he be beaten with clubs and then was beheaded.  

Legend has it that just prior to his death, he wrote to the girl who he had restored her sight and signed it “from your Valentine.” However, there is actually no historical evidence to this legend. But what may have arisen from this was the institution of February 14^th as the feast of St. Valentine in 495 A.D. by Pope Gelasius I. The Pope’s strategy was to suppress the ancient Roman festival, Lupercalia, a pagan celebration of love and fertility honoring the goddess Juno Februata. The highlight of the festivities included the pairing of boys with girls by a lottery—the drawing of names in honor of the goddess. The Lives of the Saints account describes the Pope's tactic:

To abolish this heathen practice the names of saints were substituted on billets [notes] drawn upon this day. The custom has nothing to do with St. Valentine, except that the feast precedes February 15^th, the day on which the goddess Februata Juno was honored in this manner.2

Apparently Pope Gelasius’ scheme took root over the centuries and transformed a pagan fertility festival for Juno Februata into merely a day of expressing love for beloved ones.

In 1382, the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, wrote a poem for the first anniversary of King Richard II and his wife Anne. Titled “Parliament of Fowls,” it paid  homage to the annual event of birds choosing their mates. The opening lines state:

"For this was on Saint Valentine's Day

When every bird comes there to choose his match.”

After much research, it was concluded by Jack Oruch, that there is no suggestion in literature between Valentine and romance prior to Chaucer, and that Chaucer is most likely "the original mythmaker” of the modern correlation of romance with Valentine’s Day.3

So now we have a holiday of children, passing heart decorated cards to one another with the wishes of "I'm Yours" and “Be My Valentine.” And adults exchanging candy, flowers, gifts and sharing romantic settings.

But this seems far from the original intent of commemorating St. Valentine. And maybe the Roman Church came to realize that hearts, cards and flowers have nothing to do with what little is known of Valentine, the martyr. And even today most do not even know who he was or why the day was even established. For in 1969 the Roman Church removed St. Valentine from its calendar of feast days. Since then, February 14^th has been known throughout our culture as simply “Valentine’s Day”, minus the "St." Referring now to the Valentine cards and not to the saint for whom it was originally attributed.

St. Valentine may not have had an awe inspiring life as St. Patrick or St. Francis of Assisi, yet what is known of Valentine is that he was a staunch advocate for the Christian faith and encouraged others who were about to be martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. It would have been better if the virtuous love which Valentine had for his Savior and for those he comforted in the 3^rd Century A.D. had been emphasized as the reason for honoring him on February 14^th.

On A Personal Note

St. Valentine’s Day has always been a special day for me—it just so happens my birthday falls on St. Valentine's Day every year! My mother spoiled me by making a heart shaped cake and serving White House Cherry ice cream—a tradition that my wife has carried on to this day.

It was also the birthday of my godfather and great uncle, Valentine Betancourt (1913-1981). He lived in Mobile, AL, but I would see him frequently in the summertime when he traveled north for his business of procuring Christmas trees. In the late 1950's, in preparation for the Catholic rite of Confirmation, we were instructed to claim a saint’s name as our patron, and of course, I chose Valentine.

 

Source Material

• Butler, Alban (1903). The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, New York, NY: Kenedy, pp. 413-414. 
• Hoever, Hugo [Ed.] (1959). Lives of the Saints, New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing, p. 75.
• https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/St._Valentine [Retrieved February 9, 2023]
• https://www.history.com/news/6-surprising-facts-about-st-valentine [Retrieved February 6, 2023]
• https://catholicism.org/saint-valentine-269.html [Retrieved February 6, 2023]
• https://www.livesofthesaints.com/saint-valentine/ [Retrieved February 6, 2023
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day#Folk_traditions [Retrieved February 8, 2023]
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Valentine [Retrieved February 8, 2023]
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Valentines-Day [Retrieved February 8, 2023]
• https://www.answers.com/Q/When_was_Saint_Valentine_canonized [Retrieved February 8, 2023]
• https://literarysum.com/the-parliament-of-fowls-a-brief-overview-by-geoffrey-chaucer/ [Retrieved February 4, 2025]
  

 

[1] Hoever, Hugo [Ed.] (1959). Lives of the Saints, New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing, p. 75.

[2] Hoever, p. 75.

[3] Oruch, Jack B., "St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February", Speculum, Vol. 56, No. 3 (July, 1981), p. 565.

 

 

© 2025 David M. Rossi

 

PRACTICE OF SIN AND LAWLESSNESS - 1 JOHN 3:4-5

Verses 4-5: Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.

Now John’s discussion turns to the inconsistency of the believer who continues a sinful life. Lenski correctly sums up John’s stance in verse 4 that “This is a fact, and there are no exceptions.”1 It stands to reason that practicing righteousness, as John stated in 2:29, is the opposite of practicing of sin.

As stated in 2:29, this word ‘practice’ is not exactly the same as someone practicing a musical instrument or rehearsing their lines for acting. The doctor practicing medicine when tending to a patient is nearer to John’s meaning of practice. The meaning of this word ‘practice’ implies “any external act as manifested in the production of something tangible.”2  The inference here is that a believer’s life that is evidenced by consistent production of habitual sin is in contrast to a life which should be producing righteousness.

So, what exactly is sin? The Greek word, as defined concisely and literally, means “to miss the mark.”3 The ‘mark’ is the established commands of God, the indicators for us to aim for—to obey His commands (John 14:15; 15:10). When believers are in violation of His commandments (2:3-4) they miss the mark and sin against God, for every infraction of His commands is sin.

We sin because we have an old sin nature. We are born with the proclivity to sin as a result of Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12ff). The Apostle Paul describes our old sin nature as our ‘old self’ (literally: old man):

That, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind. (Ephesians 4:22–23)

Dr. Ryrie explains that the old self, forever linked to the believer, is

...all that a person is before salvation, which is made “old” by reason of the presence of the new life in Christ. Though separated from its power, its presence has not been eradicated; therefore, we are exhorted to lay it aside.4

We are also commanded to “lay aside the deeds of darkness” (Romans 13:12), meaning all of the sinfulness related to the old self. Since this exhortation is communicated by other writers of Scripture besides the Apostle Paul, this would be an instructive study for all believers. The following verses describe exactly what characteristics of the old self we should lay aside. (Romans 13:12; Ephesians 4:22, 25; Colossians 3:8; Hebrews 12:1; James 1:21; 1 Peter 2:1).

Lawlessness

John advances the issue by asserting that those who produce sin also produce lawlessness—the violation of laws. Our Lord’s commands constitute His laws on how we are to live this life of faith. Their objective is to restrain our evil tendencies so that we might become imitators of Christ (1 Peter 2:21; Philippians 2:5). Therefore, His laws are intended to control the hearts and conduct of men5 (James 2:8; Galatians 6:2; Romans 13:8).

Next is John’s absolute statement that sin is lawlessness. Dr. L.S. Chafer maintains that “sin is, in its essential character, a lawless departure from the purpose and will of God.”6 This describes an active revolt against God, illustrated by man choosing his will instead of the prefect will of God. This is evident today in our culture and churches by those who are doing what they have determined to be right in their own eyes. A study of the period of the Judges demonstrates that this same spirit of anarchy resulted in chaotic conditions (Judges 17:6; 21:25; cf. Proverbs 21:2-3).

The Apostle Paul addressed this issue with the Romans and provided the means to resolve lawlessness:

I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. (Romans 6:19)

And elsewhere Paul provides further advice:

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)

What we as believers need to learn from this is that if we truly desire to live this life of faith according to His will and purpose, it is essential that we endeavor to obey His commands. For us to become slaves to producing righteousness, we must “abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22). This is how we can achieve stability and inner peace during these turbulent times. Otherwise, we will be “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14).

 An Important Reminder

In verse 5 John reminds us of two very important truths. The first one refers to something which they certainly knew—the reason for the Incarnation of Our Lord. It is denoted by the word appeared, meaning that Jesus Christ, Who existed with the Father in eternity, became manifest in human flesh (John 1:14; 1 John 4:2; 2 John 7) for the purpose of taking away sins. This was the mission which Our Lord was sent by the will of His Father (John 6:38; cf. John 4:34; 5:30; 12:44). Therefore, He becomes our premier example for choosing to pursue God’s will for our lives. By regarding sin nonchalantly and choosing to flagrantly sin, we demonstrate an arrogant disdain for Our Lord’s objective of taking away sins and thus we become “enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18).

Second, there should be no doubt in our minds that in Jesus Christ “there is no sin.” The early Apostles understood this when Peter described Our Lord as “the Holy and Righteous One” (Acts 3:14) and later wrote in his first epistle:

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth. (1 Peter 2:21–22)

Note that there is sufficient Scriptural evidence to substantiate the fact of Our Lord’s impeccable character:

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15; cf. 7:26)

He gave us the example of how to resist sin when He was tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13) He refuted him at each point of temptation with His knowledge of Scripture, saying “It is written.”

How well do we know God’s Word? Do we have His truth ready in order to help avoid temptation to practice sin?

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[1] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 11.455.

[2] Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G4160.

[3] Strong, J. (1995). In Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

[4] Ryrie, C. C. (1995). Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 update+-. Chicago: Moody Press, p. 1799 note.

[5] Zodhiates, G3551.

[6] Chafer, Lewis Sperry (1976). Systematic Theology, Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press 2.263.

 © 2025 David M. Rossi

 

WE WILL BE LIKE HIM - 1 JOHN 3:2-3

Verses 2-3: Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He [it] appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Continuing from verse 1, John emphasizes our present position: that we are children of God, His spiritual offspring. But it has not yet appeared what we will be. The Greek word for appeared means to be made visible or manifest, W.E. Vine clarifies this:

The Scriptural sense of the word, is more than to “appear.” A person may “appear” in a false guise or without a disclosure of what he truly is; to be manifested is to be revealed in one’s true character.1

The Apostle Paul describes this true character as the “new self2 who is being renewed to a true knowledge of the One who created him” (Colossians 3:10). When John states what we will be, he is suggesting that our new self will become “something inconceivably glorious”3 in the future, when our time is finished here on earth. It will entail not only our spiritual transformation (Romans 12:2) but also our physical change into an immortal body (1 Corinthians 15:53ff).

But now a problem arises in the interpretation of this verse. The reason being that the next phrase could be translated from the Greek in two ways: “when He appears” or “when it appears.” The latter seems to be the logical choice, referring back to “it has not appeared,” with reference to our true character.4 So that when our true character (it) has been made manifest (appears), we have the assurance of knowing that “we will be like Him.” The question is: in what way will we be like Him? One thing for certain, we will not be like Him in His deity. Therefore, we must recognize that what John is referring to is our future spiritual and physical composition.

John elaborates upon this, stating in effect, that without a doubt “we will see Him just as He is.” This is an absolute truth statement. Which means we will need to take John’s word on this, for he saw Our Lord during His early 30’s on various occasions while He was on the earth: in the flesh (John 1:14); at the Transfiguration event (Luke 9:28-36); in His resurrection body (John 21). Thus, we will see Our Lord just as He appeared when John last laid eyes on Him ascending into Heaven (Acts 1:9-11). Our Lord provided proof of His resurrected body when He dispelled Thomas’ skepticism (John 20:19ff) and descriptive details of the nature of His present resurrected body, that it is physical and not spiritual:

“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:39)

By this verse, John is claiming that we have a future beyond the initial stage of being a child of God: spiritually, when we achieve maturity in the knowledge of the truth (1 John 2:21; cf. Ephesians 4:13) and physically, upon leaving this present world when we will be like Him in our new resurrected immortal body, just like the Our Lord’s (cf. Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49; Philippians 3:21).

This Hope

What is ‘hope’? Most people define it as the dictionary does: “To wish for a particular event that one considers possible,”5 accepting the possibility that what is wished for may not come to pass. But that is not Biblical hope. Biblical hope is best defined as “a looking forward to in confident expectation.”6

Whenever we see this word ‘hope’ in Scripture, we should understand it to mean ‘confident expectation.’ When we consider any of God’s grace provisions—salvation (Romans 8:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:8); eternal life (Titus 1:2; 3:7); our resurrection (Acts 23:6; 24:15); future glory (Romans 5:2)—we can have a confident expectation of the certainty that He will fulfill what He promises. The writer of Hebrews emphasized this aspect of our hope in God’s eternal provisions, that “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19). And this is what John is saying here, that we can be confident that we will be like the Lord Jesus Christ when we see Him after our time on earth has ended.

Therefore, John maintains that for every believer this hope should be fixed on Him. The word fixed is an added emphasis of the Greek phrase: upon Him. Wuest asserts that “the idea is, ‘hope resting upon Him,’ or ‘hope set on Him.’”7 The Apostle Paul concludes that we should be “Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13).

Purified Believers

John concludes that when believers have this hope fixed upon the knowledge that at a future time “we will be like” Jesus Christ, that the rightfully expected response should be to consistently purify oneself. This requires the believer to know and confess their sins (1 John 1:9) and to develop “the habit of resisting every defiling influence and keeping oneself free from it.”8 To achieve this the Psalmist prescribes: “Depart from evil and do good, So you will abide forever” (Psalm 37:27).

However, how can we accomplish this? We must remember Our Lord stated that “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5b). So we dare not attempt this in our own strength. We need a power source that will separate us from evil in order to achieve this purity, that power has been made available for us by the sanctifying Word of truth (John 17:17) that we acquire by the Holy Spirit’s teaching (John 14:26; 16:13).

The fact is, we need to be pure in order to be effective in our walk of faith. Jesus Christ doesn’t need to become pure; He proved that He is pure by His holy life, having successfully resisted “every vile and sinful surrounding and temptation.”9 It is the reason why John can decisively state without any ambiguity, that the essence of Our Lord Jesus Christ is that of absolute purity.

Are we striving in our moment-by-moment walk of faith to be pure, just as He is?

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[1] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). In Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.32.

[2] KJV—“new man”

[3] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc, 2.531.

[4] Vincent, Marvin R. (n/d). Word Studies in the New Testament. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 3.44; Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1 John 3:2.

[5] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition,     https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=hope [Retrieved  October 8, 2024]

[6] Swanson, J. (1997). In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[7] Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 13.145.

[8] Vine, W. E. (1996). Collected Writings of W.E. Vine. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1 John 3:3.

[9] Van Ryn, August (1948). The Epistles of John, New York, NY: Loizeaux Brothers, p. 91.

 

© 2025 David M. Rossi

 

A NEW DAY IN AMERICA?

January 20, 2025 is the Inauguration Day of the newly re-elected president, Donald J. Trump. There was great fanfare among conservative Americans over the landslide victory and the securing of a major mandate. It was asserted that this victory was because of the negative impact of 12 years of progressivism imposed upon the United States, aimed at dismantling the underlying principles of our great republic.

However, many Christians today rightly conclude that these days are evil (Ephesians 5:16), not simply because the moral infrastructure has been obliterated, but because our culture elevates and promotes the individual’s personal values as sacred and that any and all virtues are archaic and obsolete. This is at the core of our country’s decay, as we wallow in unquestionable decadence. We are “slouching towards Gomorrah”1 while the Liberal culture shrieks how dare we question their depravity.

Who Can Save Our Country ?

So what is God’s plan for curing the sickness of an evil culture? He has chosen to use mature, alert believers as His witnesses for the gospel; so that many might believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and enjoy His eternal life and not end up in the Lake of Fire. Faithful believers going about His work, can be influential in changing the course of human history and provide prosperity and protection2 to our nation; revitalizing and rescuing it from experiencing God’s judgement. For this is the responsibility of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are to be the “salt of the earth,” the instrumental preserving and cleansing factor representing Our Lord. We are also to be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14) to enlighten our fellow citizens with the gospel of salvation so that the nation may experience the blessings of God.

Our Course of Action

Since the spiritual battle for our nation is in the hands of believers of Jesus Christ, we have two options to choose from: to despair or to advance.

First, we could choose despair, meaning we would retreat from our Divine responsibility by rejecting the power of the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses to a fallen world (Acts 1:8). Looking at all the cultural decay and corruption it is easy to exclaim: “We’re finished!” and give in to what appears to be hopeless. On a larger scale we have never had to contend in our country with what the early Apostles underwent. Consider what the Apostle Paul believed in the midst of his trying times:

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8–9)

And expressed how he was confident that,

Who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us (2 Corinthians 1:10)

To despair is the sin of unbelief—the embracing of hopelessness and the false notion that God is powerless to deliver. Note how the Psalmist came to realize how wrong he was to give in to despair “against an ungodly nation” (Psalm 45:1):

  Why are you in despair, O my soul?

And why are you disturbed within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,

  The help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 43:5)

Second, if we indeed believe that we are in a battle, the best plan of action would be to advance upon the opposition. A great strategy in military battle is to advance to high ground—a position of superior advantage. For us to take the high ground we demonstrate the belief that we are on God’s side and have confident expectation that He can and will provide the victory (Proverbs 21:31; 1 Corinthians 15:57).

The high ground for the believer is not marching and demonstrating in the public square; there are no Scripture to support this type of activity. The Apostle Paul described exactly what our battle consists of:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

And since this is our struggle, Paul explains how we are to array ourselves for battle:

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil...Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:11 & 13)

What is often missed when reading these verses is the phrase “having done everything, to stand firm” and then repeated as a command to “Stand firm” (v.14). Once we have done everything necessary in preparing for battle we are to stand firm with great resolve and confidence, without becoming despondent. This is exactly what Moses told the Israelites when confronting the Egyptians: “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today” (Exodus 14:13a).

In the following verses of Ephesians 6:14-17 he summarizes the armor we have been given. All but one is designed to defend ourselves. The final piece of armor is meant to be used offensively: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (v.17). Marching on Washington D.C. or local protests will never defeat the evil enemy. We are to use our knowledge of God’s Word as the only authorized weapon against the dark forces confronting us in our culture.

The Struggle on Two Fronts

We must face the fact that our struggle is on two fronts: the unbelieving world and liberal Christian denominations. The unbelieving world holds to arbitrary “truths” that vary from one individual to another; while liberal Christians pick and choose the Biblical truths of their penchants, often ascribing their own slant on them according to their emotional sentiments—much of the time to appease cultural dictates.

For the unbelieving world has no view of Scripture, and rejects it outright; whereas the liberal Christian has a weakened view of Scripture, rejecting the absolute authority and reliability of God’s Word. Therefore they both end up in the same place having no final objective authoritative truth, where everything is relative and everyone invents their own “truth” standard.3

Since the battle is an assault upon the absolute truth of Scripture, the obedient Christian must utilize the only weapon that can counteract untruth: the sword of the Spirit—the Word of God. It requires that we know, understand and are able to accurately handle the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15); speaking and living His truth into our culture—with humility and confident of God’s victory.

Are we willing to do the hard work of studying daily to be prepared?

Conclusion

Never let it be forgotten: Jesus Christ is our Savior—He controls history, for He is the “Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 21:6). Donald J. Trump is not our savior. Even though he my lead our country back to political and economic greatness again and he may even ensure that personal freedom and liberties be restored along with the freedom of religious expression. But he will never single-handedly spiritually revive our nation—that is the commission invested to all believers of Jesus Christ.

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[1] Bork, Robert H. (1997). Slouching Towards Gomorrah, New York, NY:ReganBooks.

[2] Thieme, R.B., Jr. (2022). Thieme’s Bible Doctrine Dictionary, Houston, TX: R.B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries, p. 197.

[3] Schaeffer, Francis A. (1985). The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 4.335.

 

© 2025 David M. Rossi