A Tribute to Edward F. Hills

Dane K. Jöhannsson 

Lead Pastor, Agros Reformed Baptist Church 

Many of you who follow the text-critical work on this blog (or our YouTube channel) are aware of the significant textual critic of the previous century, named Edward F. Hills. He was one of the 20th century’s top New Testament text critics. He graduated summa cum laude (majoring in classical languages) from Yale University in 1933, with a Th.D. from Westminster Theological Seminary in 1935, a Th.D. from Columbia Theological Seminary, and a Th.D. in New Testament textual criticism from Harvard.
 
His work on the defense of the Textus Receptus (or Traditional Text) has helped countless believers through his book “Text & Time” (published for many years under the somewhat misleading title “The King James Version Defended”). If you are unaware of Hills or his work, I highly recommend him to you.
 
If you are looking for a good introduction on Hills to get your feet wet, Rev. Christian McShaffrey has recently published Hills’ personal mémoir on his church website. It is brief and really gives you a good intro into the man and his work. You can access the article here: https://www.fivesolas.church/tribute-to-dr-hills
 
I pray that the publishing of Hills’ mémoir will be used of God to open many people’s eyes to one of the most important issues of our time, namely, confidence in the text and teachings of the Holy Scriptures.