Report & Audio of the Christ in the Text Conference

The Christ in the Text conference was held at the international headquarters of the Trinitarian Bible Society on 12 June 2025. Many gathered from around the UK and overseas to reflect on the central place of the Lord Jesus Christ in the written Word of God. The conference focused on how the person and work of Christ are revealed throughout Scripture, and what this means for faithful translation today.

Rev. Bartel Elshout, Pastor of Kalamazoo Reformed Church, Michigan, and Chairman of TBS USA, delivered two deeply theological and devotional addresses. In The Living Word, Christ, Revealed in the Written Word, he outlined five biblical roles of Christ: as the eternal Logos through whom all things were created; the incarnate Word who reconciles sinners to God; the inscripturated Word, with Scripture as the Spirit-inspired testimony of the Son; the essential focus of all true preaching, requiring ministers to ‘dig in your text until you find Christ’; and the eternal, living Word, who will be the centre of heavenly worship. He concluded by affirming the church’s solemn duty to protect, preserve, publish, promote, and proclaim the written Word—recognising that Satan seeks to obscure Christ by corrupting the text.

In his second address, The Law of God: Foundational for all of Scripture, the Rev. Elshout stressed that the moral law is not only a revelation of God’s good pleasure, but also foundational for the gospel. Thus, it is a foundation for the whole of Scripture. The law exposes sin and magnifies grace, preparing the heart for Christ.

Pastor Tom Jamison from Israel gave a presentation on Honouring Christ in the Hebrew New Testament, highlighting the need for a revised Delitzsch Hebrew translation. He showed how the TBS revision corrects significant doctrinal weaknesses in modern Hebrew New Testaments, particularly regarding the deity of Christ. Through side-by-side comparisons, Jamison demonstrated the clarity, fidelity, and theological strength of the updated Delitzsch text for a new generation of Hebrew readers.

The final address of the day came from Jonathan Arnold, General Secretary of the TBS. In Do the Modern Omissions of Christ in the Text Matter?, he warned that changes found in modern translations—such as the removal of 1 Timothy 3.16 and Acts 8.37—diminish essential doctrines like the Trinity and the incarnation, and contradict the historic Christian belief in the providential preservation of Scripture.

The conference concluded with prayer. It was a rich and timely reaffirmation of Christ’s place at the heart of the Bible.