Living Fossils of the Herbozoic (2)

I spent some time listening to Ernest L. Martin (ELM) tapes back in the eighties.  Martin left his job teaching at unaccredited Ambassador College in Pasadena in the mid-70s in order to follow his own star, drawing a significant number of people out after him.  Lester Grabbe left AC some time later, but the difference between the two men was significant.  While Grabbe went on to build a very real and deserved scholarly reputation, Martin established something called the Foundation for Biblical Research, and began issuing tapes and booklets to publicise his new teachings.  These included a variety of universalism (of the sort promoted by A. E. Knoch's Concordant Publishing Concern), 'progressive revelation', and a number of dissenting positions from his years serving under Herbert Armstrong (Sabbath, tithing, prophecy etc.) 

Martin's style was consistently approachable, perhaps largely because it had almost no historical critical content.  To say he was popular among his target audience is to understate things, and he was widely regarded in the ex-Armstrong diaspora as a gifted scholar.  Certainly he played the 'new truth' game extremely well.  Every issue of his newsletter, The Foundation Commentator, seemed to trumpet an exciting new biblical understanding, often related to 'prophecy', thus keeping his followers focused and motivated.  This enthusiastic approach was highly effective, however academically lightweight it may have been.  Martin proceeded to issue impressive looking books under his own imprint, many of which are still available.  Some regard his The Star that Astonished the World as the magnum opus, bringing together his fascination with the Bible and meteorology in an attempt to identify the "star of Bethlehem".  It was credible enough to inspire displays in many planetariums.

Martin died in 2002.  A group called Associates for Scriptural Knowledge carries on his legacy, and his son Samuel has another small ministry based in Jerusalem.  Helping facilitate both (along with James Tabor's Original Bible Project) is an intriguing Pasadena-based online bookstore operation, CenturyOne Books.

CenturyOne Books ("The First Century's Biggest Bookstore") regularly advertises the ELM-inspired "Original Order" Bible in the Biblical Archaeology Review, and is now recycling Ernest Martin's rambling tapes in CD form.  It was the sight of this full page ad in the May/June issue that created a jaw-dropping personal deja vu moment.

As I said at the beginning, I've heard a few of the ELM tapes.  To imagine that they've been repackaged as an "exciting new [?] 6-volume, 40-CD" 'oral commentary' series on the Hebrew Bible is, well, remarkable.  In fact, the thought of anyone spending all those hours listening to ELM is more than enough to make my eyes water.  Those who can read between the lines will be able to judge the quality of the "scholarly reviews" offered.  Take W. H. C. Frend's comments for example: "All neatly tied up, with other interesting speculations... Martin's reconstructions read convincingly."  Not exactly a ringing endorsement.  Nor is it likely that Frend, who died in 2005, was reviewing these 40-CD "capsule commentaries", despite the impression the ad gives.

The advertising copy in the BAR begins, "What better way to boost your 'Old Testament IQ'...!

I realise that it's a rhetorical question, but it wouldn't be too difficult to offer a fairly extensive list of suggestions...

Living Fossils of the Herbozoic (1)

Thumbing through the May/June issue of the BAR I nearly had a coronary, right there in the Borders store in Albany.  A double shot of Ernest Martin in two full page ads.

The first was for "The Holy Bible in its Original Order" (page 7).  This volume had its genesis in the desire of Ernest L. Martin (often referred to as ELM) to 'restore' the Bible to its 'original' order.  The initial idea, according to James Tabor, was to gain permission to reprint the long forgotten Rotherham translation in an appropriately reshuffled edition.  The 'original' order for the New Testament was, according to Martin:

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts... (so far so conventional).
James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude... then,
Romans, 1 Cor., 2 Cor., Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians...
1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Hebrews, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and, finally,
Revelation.

You learn something new each day.

I'm not sure how ELM worked that out, or how the book order could be considered such a significant issue, but he self-published a large tome on the subject (The Original Bible Restored, which weighs in at over 500 pages and is still procurable on Amazon).  There was strong support for the idea among his followers, disenchanted adherents of one-time ad man turned apostle, Herbert W. Armstrong.  (Martin had been Professor of Theology at Ambassador College prior to the convulsions of 1974, and one of Herb's most influential lieutenants.  His doctorate - in education - was also from unaccredited AC.  Wikipedia calls him an archaeologist, but that's definitely a stretch.)  Eventually it was decided to go it alone with this 'original' Bible, which was a mistake.  Martin died before the translation project got off the ground.

Loyal supporters decided to continue with the project which, some years ago, fell into the hands of Dr. Tabor (UNC, Charlotte), another former Ambassador lecturer and disciple of Armstrong.  There's little indication however that "The Original Bible Project" will ever now see the light of day, with Tabor's last web entry advising progress on The Transparent English Bible dated November 2009.

But fear not little flock!  Into the breach stepped Fred Coulter, an ex-Armstrong minister, and one of the few who'd bothered to learn Greek at AC.  Fred released his own 'original order' New Testament in 2004, and later bought the rights to a KJV clone to bung together the Old Testament part (after, I assume, water-boarding the appropriate proof texts till they surrendered) with his New Testament.  The result was the very expensive item ($119.50 or $99.50, depending on the cover) advertised in the BAR.  My advice?  Save your money.

So far nothing new.  This 'unique' Bible has been promoted in the pages of the BAR for a very long time.

No, the near coronary occurred when I flicked over to page 13.

(To be continued)