In the fourth session, a visibly nervous Ken Schaap, tries to explain that (various of) the differences in editions of the King James Bible are “translation changes”, and that changes are the results of “retranslations”. He makes many mistakes, both in his manner and in the facts which he gives, indicating that he is not confident on the topic, and bewraying the fact that he does not really know what he is speaking about.
He makes some astonishing false statements, based on his ignorance, such as, “Therefore, what the translators did in 1611 was not complete, because it was missing 47 words”. In reality, the version text and translation were complete, and the translators cannot be charged with producing an inferior work. He makes the erroneous assumption that what is printed in 1611 must be the translators’ intended work as far as every last detail of the presentation. But since it is clear that the translators did not intend nor were the authors of the printing errors, already it can be pointed out that the translators cannot be summarily be blamed for doing an incomplete work.
He argues: 1. Words were added later. 2. Therefore the 1611 translators’ work was incomplete. 3. Therefore the translators were not inspired. This is entirely an incorrect line of reasoning. The reality is that the translators were not inspired, but that has nothing to do with the purification of the presentation in later editions. The truth is that the translators got the text and translation right, and that the kind of work that was required in the King James Bible was in regards to the accurate printing, standardised language and regularised presentation (e.g. italics and other consistencies). In short, presentation issues cannot be used to accuse the translators of making a wrong translation! This is because it is possible to argue that a right translation was made, without any requirement for “inspiration” to ensure it. Moreover, if the translation was right, there is no need anymore to uphold the original languages as an authority, whereas if we do not yet have or know whether or not we have the Word of God exactly in English, then (just as the modern versionists) we must be dependant on the error-based claims of those who emphasise the original languages.
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