Is your Bible Holy? – 6 February 2024, Anno Domini

 

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HE words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.  (Psalm 12:6)

 

Racism is a favorite mantra of the left anytime an issue of public policy is introduced to promote merit in hiring. It is a favorite tool of the radical political left. Well, politics is not the only source of such irrational name-calling. It also exists in the religious and spiritual realm as well. If any church uses the King James versions they are labelled ‘King James Only’ as if a derogatory term. What of those who used it for centuries?

 

An example of a rant is the subject of today’s presentation on the King James Bible.

 

Our church uses the King James Bible in worship and for all authority in doctrine. We also recognize any of the other Bibles that are based on the Received Text such as the Geneva Bible, Matthew’s Bible, Coverdale, Great Bible, Bishop’s Bile, etc.

 

Modern theologians of the liberal mode scream ‘idolatry’ and King James Only nonsense when we insist on these Bibles based upon those used by the Great Reformers.  If we do not agree, they simply shout more loudly. They all desire their OWN bibles that allow for favored sins – for example the gender-neutral bibles.

 

What is the issue? Article VI of the Articles of Religion of the Reformation Church of England stipulates the New Testament Books of the Bible as commonly received by them at the time. That text was the Received Text for which men were willing to die at the stake to defend every word. This text was the primary text of all protestant Bibles for centuries. IT is the Bible that has inspired Britain and America from our early foundations.

 

The language of the King James Version is majestic, eloquent, precise and reverent. Those who advocate the modern versions such as the NIV and ESV will often claim that these versions simply translate the Bible into more commonly understood language. This is a ruse for it is not the wording that is at issue as much as it is the underlying spurious manuscript evidence used in translation of these modern versions.

 

The Westcott-Hort manuscripts were not used by the ancient church even though their existence was known. Why? Well, one reason is that they are lacking completeness in many respects. Verses are missing with only a blank space there to indicate their absence. The Westcott-Hort (W-H) Manuscripts are comprised of mainly two manuscripts – the Sinaiticus and the Vaticanus. These were discovered by a fellow named Tichendorf in the 19^th century. The Vaticanus had been in the possession of the Vatican for centuries earlier, yet, even Jerome did not use it in translating the Vulgate Bible for Rome. These two manuscripts represent only 5% of the manuscript evidence of the Bible while the Received Text (Textus Receptus) is based on 95% of the available manuscript evidence. Moreover, the manuscript evidence of these texts agree with each other in every important detail – not true of the Westcott-Hort (so-called NU-text).

 

These manuscripts of W-H are missing key verses and passages. They often change the fundamental meaning of verse – for example: in John 3:16 our Lord is referred to as the ‘one and only Son of God’ which is completely inaccurate. It demeans the divinity of Christ since Adam was named a son of God and we of faith are called the sons and daughters of God. So how could Christ be the one and only Son since others are so called by Scripture? The Received Text Bibles translate the title of our Lord in the same verse as the “Only Begotten Son” which differentiates His Sonship from those of us who are the adopted sons and daughters. Our Lord is of the same substance, nature and character of the Father – we, however, are His adopted children who were conceived in sin.

 

Another interesting point is this. The King James version is in the public domain in every place but Great Britain. In Britain, the text belongs to the Crown which has never refused the printing of the Bible to any who desire to do it. The Bible should rightfully belong to God and His Church – not a government copyright as in the case of the modern versions. These belong to man and not God since permission must be granted to cite more than fourteen verses in most cases. I can print and publish as many King James Bibles as I please without getting permission from some publisher who holds a copyright. The Bible belongs to God alone!

 

There is no justification for the claim that the Bible must be brought down to the street language of the day. God is Holy and some deference should be observed in addressing His Majesty. We should train our children up to the language of the King James Bible – not down to the street level.

 

There are many other reasons that the modern versions, based on the so-called NU-text, should be shunned. Time and space does not afford these to be addressed in this short article; however, if you would like to research the issue in detail, we will be glad to accommodate with many respected works of others. Let’s keep the Bible Holy!