1. YOU NEED IT TO FIND THE MEANING OF THE WORDS IN THE BIBLE.
If you don’t understand the meaning of the words of the Bible, you don’t understand the Bible. It is necessary to take the time to look up every word you don’t understand. See, for example, Charity, Glory, Grace, Hope, Joy, Justify, Mystery, Propitiation, Sanctify.
2. YOU NEED IT TO STUDY OUT-OF-USE WORDS AND DIFFICULT PHRASES FROM THE KING JAMES BIBLE.
(Examples are Abusers of Themselves with Mankind, Besom, Blood Guiltiness, Conversation, God Speed, Helpmeet, Itching Ears, Nephew, Set Them At One, Superfluity of Naughtiness, Taken with the Manner.)
3. YOU NEED IT TO DO TOPICAL STUDIES, TO STUDY DOCTRINE.
There is an extensive system of topical cross references. The student can study the full range of a Bible topic by following the suggested cross references from entry to entry. For example, consider the cross references listed after the entry on SIN -- Adam, Carnal, Concupiscence, Fall, Fault, Filthiness, Flesh, Froward, Gospel, Grace, Heart, Impenitence, Impudent, Iniquity, Jesting, Natural Man, Old Man, Perverse, Presumptuous, Pride, Rebellion, Repentance, Stiffhearted, Stubborn, Transgression, Trespass, Unclean, Ungodly, Superfluity of Naughtiness, Unrighteous, Vile, Winketh, World.
4. YOU NEED IT TO STUDY EXTRA-BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN TERMS.
There are many words that we hear at church and in Christian circles that are not Bible words and are not in most Bible dictionaries but they can be found in the Way of Life Encyclopedia. (Examples are Apostate, Catechism, Christmas, Denomination, Faith Promise, Rapture.)
5. YOU NEED IT TO STUDY VARIOUS ISSUES RELATING TO MORALITY AND PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN LIVING.
(Examples are Adultery, Capital Punishment, Child Training, Cremation, Dancing, Divorce, Employment, Home, Homosexuality, Modesty, Pacifism, Polygamy, Wine.)
6. YOU NEED IT TO STUDY OLD TESTAMENT TYPES OF CHRIST.
(Examples are Ark, Day of Atonement, Boaz, Brass Serpent, Cain, Candlestick, Coat, High Priest, Joseph, Melchizedek , Offerings, Passover, Tabernacle.)
7. YOU NEED IT TO FIND THE MEANING OF BIBLE CUSTOMS.
(Examples are Agriculture, Calendar, Military, Money, Music, Weights and Measures.)
8. YOU NEED IT TO STUDY BIBLE PROPHECY.
The Encyclopedia contains the equivalent of an entire Bible Institute course on prophecy. (Examples are Allegorical, Antichrist, Covenant, Daniel, Day of the Lord, Dispensationalism, Double Fulfillment, Gog, Great Tribulation, Kingdom of God, Judgment, Revelation, Second Coming, Seventy Weeks.)
9. YOU NEED IT TO STUDY PROPER NAMES IN THE BIBLE.
(Examples are Aaron, Benjamin, Cain, Gamaliel, Joshua, Lot, Mesopatamia.)
10. YOU NEED IT TO DO RESEARCH INTO THE CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS AND MOVEMENTS.
The history, doctrinal position, and present status of major denominations and movements are included. (Examples are Anglican, Assemblies of God, Brethren, Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement, Eastern Orthodoxy, Episcopal, Evangelical, Fundamentalism, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Presbyterian, and World Council of Churches.)
11. YOU NEED IT TO DO RESEARCH INTO CULTS AND FALSE GROUPS AND TO EXAMINE PROMINENT FALSE DOCTRINES.
(Examples are Adam, Annihilation, Christ’s Deity, Christian Science, Daniel, Eternal Security, Inspiration, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jonah, Modernism, Mormonism, Moses, Neo-orthodoxy, Red Sea, Roman Catholic Church, Sabbath, Seventh-day Adventism, Soul Sleep, Tongues Speaking, Unitarian.)
12. YOU NEED IT TO STUDY CHURCH POLITY.
The Encyclopedia is a practical manual for church leaders and missionaries. (See, for example, the studies on Apostle, Baptism, Church Discipline, Deacon, Evangelism, Footwashing, Lord's Supper, Ordination, and Pastor.)
13. YOU NEED IT TO STUDY CHURCH HISTORY.
Many entries relating to church history are included. (Examples are Catabaptist, Inquisition, Manichean, Paulicians, Pedobaptism, Protestant, and Roman Catholic Church.)
14. YOU NEED IT TO DO RESEARCH INTO THE SUBJECT OF BIBLE VERSIONS.
This Encyclopedia is a virtual handbook on Bible Versions. (See, for example, Apocrypha, Bible Versions, Erasmus, Masoretic Text, Preservation of Scripture, Received Text.)
15. YOU NEED IT FOR PREACHING AND TEACHING.
The doctrinal material in this Encyclopedia is presented in a practical manner with outlines that can be used for teaching and preaching. They can be used in the pulpit, Sunday Schools, Bible Colleges and Institutes, home schools, prisons and jails, nursing homes, etc. (Consider the outline, for example, for ANGELS: I. Do Angels Exist? II. What is the Origin of Angels? III. Divisions of Angels into Good and Evil. IV. What Are Angels Like? V. How Many Angels Are There? VI. What Do Angels Do? VII. What Can Christians Learn from Angels? VIII. The Angels Associated with the Seven Churches in Revelation 2-3.
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Goal:Distributed by Way of Life Literature Inc., the Fundamental Baptist Information Service is an e-mail posting for Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. Our primary goal with the FBIS is to provide material to assist preachers in the edification and protection of the churches.
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