EllenWhite.info — The Ellen G. White Information WebsiteDid God send a prophet? |
Return to http://www.ellenwhite.info/conybeare-howson-cleveland-k.htm.
|
Distortion #9: Improper Use of Ellipses Makes Situation Look Worse
We previously discussed missing ellipses at the beginning and end of Sydney Cleveland's quotations. Below is the sixth example of improper punctuation used with an ellipsis in the middle of a quotation. The "..." marked in red should have really been ". ..." so that the reader knows that the parts being quoted come from different sentences.
That Cleveland understands that this is the proper way to do citations is evident from page 18 of his book when he quotes A. G. Daniells from the 1919 Bible Conference Minutes. In that quotation when he fuses three paragraphs from two different documents from two different days into a single paragraph, Cleveland is careful to replace the missing 13,273 words and 167 paragraphs with two ". ..." and one "! ..." (though the "!" is really "." in the original).
It is interesting to note that the ellipsis marked in red represents 89 words, including all the wording Sydney Cleveland quotes for his second comparison.
| Sketches from the Life of Paul Ellen G. White, p. 62 |
Life and Epistles of Paul Conybeare & Howson, p. 174 |
Scripture |
| "Timothy had been converted through the ministration of Paul, and was an eye-witness of the sufferings of the apostle upon this occasion."—p. 62. | "Timothy ... was converted by St. Paul himself, ... was a witness of St. Paul's injurious treatment."—p. 174. | |
| "In one of the epistles of Paul to Timothy he refers to his personal knowledge of this occurrence."—p. 62. | "... second Epistle to Timothy reminds him of his ... personal knowledge of the sufferings he had endured."—p. 174. | |
| 12 out of 129 words are the same or similar, but not found in the Bible account. | 12 out of about 398 words are the same or similar, but not found in the Bible account. | |
|
Timothy had been converted through the ministration of Paul, and was an eye-witness of the sufferings of the apostle upon this occasion. He stood by his apparently dead body, and saw him arise, bruised and covered with blood, not with groans or murmurings upon his lips, but with praises to Jesus Christ, that he was permitted to suffer for his name. In one of the epistles of Paul to Timothy he refers to his personal knowledge of this occurrence. Timothy became the most important help to Paul and to the church. He was the faithful companion of the apostle in his trials and in his joys. The father of Timothy was a Greek; but his mother was a Jewess, and he had been thoroughly educated in the Jewish religion. |
But before we leave Lystra, we must say a few words on one spectator of St. Paul's sufferings, who is not yet mentioned by St. Luke, but who was destined to be the constant companion of his after-years, the zealous follower of his doctrine, the faithful partner of his danger and distress. St. Paul came to Lystra again after the interval of one or two years, and on that occasion we are told4 that he found a certain Christian there, "whose name was Timotheus, whose mother was a Jewess, while his father was a Greek," and whose excellent character was highly esteemed by his fellow-Christians of Lystra and Iconium. It is distinctly stated that at the time of this second visit Timothy was already a Christian; and since we know from St. Paul's own expression,—"my own son in the faith,"5—that he was converted by St. Paul himself, we must suppose this change to have taken place at the time of the first visit. And the reader will remember that St. Paul in the second Epistle to Timothy (iii. 10, 11) reminds him of his own intimate and personal knowledge of the sufferings he had endured, "at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra,"—the places (it will be observed) being mentioned in the exact order in which they were visited, and in which the successive persecutions took place. We have thus the strongest reasons for believing that Timothy was a witness of St. Paul's injurious treatment, and this too at a time of life when the mind receives its deepest impressions from the spectacle of innocent suffering and undaunted courage. And it is far from impossible that the generous and warm-hearted youth was standing in that group of disciples, who surrounded the apparently lifeless body of the Apostle at the outside of the walls of Lystra. 4 Ibid. xvi. 1. 5 1 Tim. i. 2. Compare i. 18 and 2 Tim. ii. 1. It is indeed possible that these expressions might be used, if Timothy became a Christian by his mother's influence, and through the recollection of St. Paul's sufferings; but the common view is the most natural. See what is said I Cor. iv. 14, 15: "As my beloved sons I warn you; for though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." |
Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek. (Acts 16:1) |
|
Copyright © 2005 |
Send comments and questions by going to: /var/www/ellenwhite.info/web/FEEDBACK_EMAIL. |
 AdventWeb |