Quote:
Originally Posted by Sons to Glory!
Not sure if you heard, but Bill went to be with the Lord a few years ago. He had a gift, skill and penchant for studying scripture, which he passed down to several ones here. They crack the books and dig into the Greek and we're all the better for it!
And you are most welcome to visit us any time, but if you don't care for excess heat, then I'd recommend coming some time other than June thru mid-September! (actually, we're flirting with triple digits right now . . .  ) |
I met Bill Freeman once when he visited us in Columbus ~1978. I remember chatting after the meeting about the Bible with a few brothers including Phil Comfort, who was not yet full-time. Out of the blue Phil asked Bill, "
with so many good Greek language helps available, do we really need to study Greek?"
Bill looked at him with an assured smile, "
God wrote in Greek." Simple as that.
With Bill's encouragement, Phil Comfort eventually went on to become a noted Textual Scholar in Greek, teach and writing, once he left the Recovery. Phil was always known as a "pure Wordist," using WL only as one reference among many. That upset a few higher-ups. Whereas TC viewed Phil Comfort as a threat, Bill encouraged him and I believe helped to initiate Phil's life-long work, post Recovery.
Years later another brother expressed some remorse concerning Phil, saying that perhaps the churches should have opened our hearts more to him. I said "no," that it was the "
heart of TC which was not large enough for Phil and his ministry. The churches loved him."
Phil left "the work" in the early 80's after being badly abused by TC and others in Cleveland. Bill left a few years later after receiving similar treatment at that infamous elders' conference in Feb. 1986. Every publication in the Recovery, including Bill's
The Christian, was abruptly halted by WL except, of course, for his own books. All brothers were forced by today's Blendeds to sign that "Letter of Allegiance" to WL. WL used NT examples like Barnabas and Apollos to condemn all those not "absolutely one" with his ministry.