Bible Versions Questions and discussion about the Bible version issue.

 
 
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Old 02-10-2009, 12:45 AM
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THE CONFLICT

James White, in his book, writes that his view on the King James Controversy is that it is a conflict. This is true. It is a spiritual conflict that is playing right now for the minds of Christians everywhere. The battle is to do with truth, and getting the truth to be understood.

ERASMUS’ NEW TESTAMENT

The King James Bible issue is not made or broken on Erasmus, and what he accomplished. The battle is whether or not we have a perfect presentation of the underlying text in an English translation right now on Earth.

James White points to Erasmus and how he decided to portray instrumentally the New Testament, showing human errors, or his critical choices and the annotations in such a way as to deny the infallibility or perfection of Erasmus’ work.

The reality is that Erasmus is only one part of the working of the providence of God, and the ultimate form of the text of the King James Bible lays with the translators themselves, who produced an independent variety of the textus receptus. We see that King James Bible is the final form of the Received Text today.

James White shows how people were criticising Erasmus for going to the Greek, when he could have stayed with the Romanist’s Latin. James White attempts to link this with the doctrine of KJBOists, who say that we do not need the Greek (because we have the Bible in English).

The tremendous difference that James White does not show is that the Vulgate needed to be corrected in light of the Greek Tradition, and that by taking to measure all sources and witnesses, the correct text of Scripture could be recovered. Once that was completed (and it was completed with the making of the King James Translation), there would be no need to go to the Greek or Latin any more. Thus, the KJBO accepts the initial foundation of the original language basis with other witnesses in the forming of the Bible into its final form, quite unlike the ardent Catholic who believed that whatever edition of the Vulgate was in vogue was infallible, and required no correction. The point is that the Vulgate needed correction, whereas the King James Bible comes out of that process of correction (as primarily based upon the Greek with reference to the Latin).

Since the King James Bible has been made from the right springs, and has been checked and used by so many godly men, it is the height of pride, unbelief and foolishness to come up with a doctrine that requires the correction of the King James Bible. Unlike the Vulgate, the King James Bible does not require correction. In fact, going to the Greek today to change the King James Bible is always corruption, impure, error and wrong.

VARIETY OF TRANSLATIONS WERE PROFITABLE

Anti-King James Bible only writers like to point out that the translators of the King James Bible wrote that variety of translations is profitable for finding out the sense of the Scriptures.

The modern version proponent immediately uses this to say how the King James Bible translators must think it is good that there are more modern versions than ever.

But this is not what the translators meant. They said that they were consulting the variety themselves, so that we would have one more exact translation of the holy Scripture in the English tongue. Ultimately, that denies having any other translation of the Scripture except the King James Bible.

In reality, once the variety had been consulted, only one correct text and translation was presented in the King James Bible. Whatever went into the margins was additional, peri-logical or notational. The margins were not provided so that we could pick and choose between them and the text. The margins were not provided to cast doubt on the text. They were there to show other thoughts, including some possible other renderings or translations, which the consensus and sound judgment of the translators rejected.

Many people have studied the Scripture, looked at the margins and the overwhelming judgment of English-speaking Christianity is that the margins are rightly marginal. They are not the very exact sense of the Scripture.

But the modernist tries to use the fact that the margins exist for the very purpose that the translators denied, namely, that they cast doubt upon the knowledge of what actually rightly is the Scripture.

ERROR IN GOD’S PRESERVATION OF THE KJB?

The preservation of God’s Word is providential. The KJB is only the way by which the preservation was finalised. In reality, the Scripture was scattered from the time of the original autographs until 1611, so that the underlying text was never presented correctly in any single manuscript or Bible to that time.

The issue of having a correct text and translation is different to having a perfect presentation.

The KJB was the end result of the gathering of the correct text and translation, however, the KJB itself went through a purification of editions that refined merely the presentation.

Let no one mix up preservation with perfection. Perfection in any single manuscript is unlikely, except for the Autographs and some immediate copies.

The Scripture was not preserved as perfect in a single entity (e.g. no golden plates at Constantinople in the year 1000). The perfect Word was in fact scattered in many MSS, in many witnesses, etc. Thus, there was a gathering process that was occurring, it happened in part in Latin, but primarily in Greek with TR editions, and more importantly with English Versions, and most importantly, finally and supersuccessionally in the King James Bible.

The perfect Word that was in the Autographs must have been scattered, then gathered, and translated into English, so that the perfect Word was recovered, and the preservation was complete. The next state has been the preservation of the perfect text and translation.

As a subset, the purifying work of the presentation of the King James Bible has been to ensure that the perfect text and translation of 1611 has been presented free from any presentational imperfection.

Modern translations display a different text and translation, and they are edited sometimes, and there are presentational errors in them, e.g. typographical errors.

God's providential work in history takes into account (simplistically):
1. the scattering of the text from the autographs to the gathering of the Reformation time,
2. the refining of the main Protestant English translations, and
3. the purification of the presentation of the lineage of proper traditional King James Bible editions.

Moses wrote, "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." (Deut. 32:4).

Moses did not see the whole Old Testament. And yet, we would say that having only five books of Scripture is an imperfect Canon. How could God's work be perfect? Clearly, God's work in history must be taken in the total view. God's work when seen in the big picture is perfect.

In regards to text: The inspiration was perfect. Copies were not. But then God was able to providentially outwork so that there was a perfect critical amassing in one Bible.

Were true Christians saved when they practised only infant baptism? Does God require new born Christians to be fully developed? Why would it be wrong to have the book of God only perfectly rendered in 1611, and no perfect single volume in Earth in, say, 1517 A.D.?

IS THE KJB ALONE = WORD OF GOD ALONE TRUE?

James White has reduced King James Bible only as meaning that there is no other possible Scripture. This implication is false. Clearly, there have been many copies of the Scripture in many languages. Even the Alexandrian copies, as corrupt as they are, exhibit Scripture.

The issue in not the existence of Scripture, the issue is that one manifestation of the Scripture is perfect, namely, that there is a perfect text and translation. In regards to use for the King James Bible believer, the formula “the KJB alone = the Word of God alone” is only true in regards to the final and supersuccessionary form of Scripture. In other words, no Bible ever presented 100% what the Autographs had with 100% accuracy except the KJB. Therefore the KJB should be used as the standard. Indeed, it should be the world standard.

This authority is not because the King James Bible was made by inspiration from 1604–1611 as James White implies is believed. The authority of the KJB as being perfect is because it is a self-authenticating argument, consistent with internal and external evidence.

This is lamely accused of being “circular reasoning”. However, the existence of God Himself is based on “circular reasoning”, therefore, there is a proper, logical and consistent use of the self-authenticating argument in regards to absolute truth. Importantly, it is possible and easy to objectively show the existence of God, and likewise to make great inquiry of the truth of the perfection of the KJB.
 

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