WHY WE USE THE KING JAMES BIBLE
GOD'S BEST GIFT
The demand to replace the King James Bible (KJB) is closely related to the current move to reunite the churches, a major issue confronting Christendom today. In practical terms, reunion means the return of Protestants to Rome. It is no secret that the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) regards herself as the sole legitimate inheritor of the Apostolic Church. This is her "Divine Charter" which is immutable and non-negotiable.
The one big obstacle standing in the way of any Romeward pilgrimage is the KJB. This English Bible stands rock firm in the path of Church Union, in particular Anglican-RCC reconciliation. The Anglican Church occupies a strategic position in ecumenical reunion as it is the largest single denomination among Protestants and it is the closest to the RCC in doctrine, practice and liturgy.
Ecumenical union demands, among other things, a common Bible. The KJB is its stumbling block. Its removal has therefore become an urgent and key issue among ecumenists. Unless and until the KJB is dethroned from its supreme and dominant position, ecumenical union will not materialize.
Why we use the KJB
From the beginning Calvary B-P Church has used the incomparable King James Bible (KJB), and shall continue to use it for four vital and timeless reasons.
1) The KJB is based on original language texts from ancient sources vastly superior to the texts of the modern versions. The Ben Chayyim Hebrew Text (also called the SECOND GREAT RABBINIC BIBLE) underlies the KJB. For the New Testament, the KJB used the Traditional Received Text (Textus Receptus), accepted by the Church, and has been attested by an over-whelming array of evidences.
2) The translators of the KJB were godly men of greater scholarship, believing with all their heart that the Bible was "from heaven, not from earth, the author being God, not man; the form, God's word, God's testimony, God's oracles, the word of truth, the word of salvation; ... the effects, light of understanding… repentance from dead works, newness of life… the end and reward of the study thereof, fellowship of the saints, participation of the heavenly nature...."
The men were scholars of the highest caliber. Citing one of them as an example, Dr Lancelot Andrews was conversant with 15 languages and did his devotions in Greek from a manual he wrote himself.
3) The KJB translators employed the Ver-bal Equivalence and the Formal Translation Technique. Their high view of God's Word is reflected in their translation technique. The Word of God is kept intact. Any word used to make the text more readable is in italics to tell the reader that this was not in the original text.
4) The KJB is superior in its theology. This is the inevitable conclusion because of the above three reasons. When God's Word is kept intact in the translation the doctrines are also kept pure and unadulterated.
A Common Bible
A Common Bible
Of the many new English versions that have appeared, three are closest to the ideal for a Common Bible - versions which have helped to bridge the gap between the RCC and the Protestant Churches. In each of these three versions certain vital doctrines have been attacked, removed or compromised by the translators, making these versions unacceptable and dangerous for believers. These three doctrinally unsound versions are the New English Bible (NEB), the Revised Standard Version (RSV), and Today's English Version (TEV), also known as Good News for Modern Man.
Due to brevity of the article, we summarise a few of the chief defects of the RSV, the TEV and the NIV.
The REVISED STANDARD VERSION (RSV)
This version is unacceptable for these reasons:
1) It is the property of the National Council of Churches in USA, that liberal-modernist-Marxist member of the World Council of Churches. For this one reason alone, no loyal disciple of Jesus Christ should support the RSV, the product of an anti-Christian organisation.
2) Of the 95 men engaged in the compilation of the RSV, 30 had known affiliation with Communist-front organisations. Some of the translators had written articles in which they denied the vital doctrines of the Deity of Christ, His Virgin Birth and His Atoning Death.
With such men entrusted with the translation, need one be surprised that vital doctrines are tampered with in the RSV?
3) Eminent Bible scholar and theologian Dr David Otis Fuller detected 1138 mistranslations, deletions and perversions in the RSV.
4) Twelve of the editors of the RSV were also editors of the infamous "Interpreter's Bible" of 12 volumes and 8 million words, described as the "greatest attack on the Scriptures since the days of the Caesars". The Interpreter's Bible dismisses the Bible miracles as myths, fables, legends and tradition.
5) The Deity of Christ is attacked in Isaiah 7:14 where "virgin" is translated "young woman".
6) The RSV is said to come close to the ideal Bible for evangelicals and non-evangelicals. It is a fore-runner of the Common Bible much sought after by ecumenists.
7) There are over 20 other objections to the RSV described in detail in The Trinitarian Bible Society publication "The Divine Original". The reader is recommended to read these for himself.
TODAY'S ENGLISH VERSION
(GOOD NEWS FOR MODERN MAN)
TODAY'S ENGLISH VERSION
(GOOD NEWS FOR MODERN MAN)
This is another unfaithful, perverted and poisonous version.
1) It is produced by the United Bible Societies of USA, which body includes Roman Catholics among its members.
2) The TEV describes itself as "genuinely ecumenical, hailed by representatives of every church from Baptists to Jesuit Father Abbott of Rome's Christian Unity Secretariat, who describes it as 'a masterpiece of modern linguistic study'." The TEV is accepted by Roman Catholics.
3) The TEV attacks the Deity of Christ.
- a) In Luke 1:27 "virgin" has been changed into "girl" in two places. This is an attack on the vital doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Christ. b) Luke 2:33 ascribes to Joseph the paternity of Jesus. c) In John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18 the word "begotten" has been deleted, thus denying that Jesus is the "only one who had God as Father of His physical nature", being conceived of the Holy Spirit.
4) In Ephesians 1:7 the blood atonement is attacked, being replaced by "death".
5) In 1 Peter 2:2 the TEV rendering implies that salvation is by works, which is contrary to the great doctrine of salvation by faith.
6) In Matthew 16:18 the TEV has made Peter "the rock" instead of "little stone". This mistranslation is to justify the Roman Catholic dogma that the Church was to be built by Christ on Peter, and not on Christ the Rock and chief Cornerstone.
7) The Trinitarian Bible Society's pamphlet "Good News for Modern Men" has a more detailed treatment of the subject to which the reader is referred.
The NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)
The NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)
The NIV is widely acclaimed by some as a readable, reliable, and trustworthy version of the Bible. B-P Church rejects this claim. We regard the NIV as a deficient and defective Bible on the grounds that the translation was based upon false and erroneous assumptions.
1) Readability should play but a small part in one's choice of a Bible version. Christians, especially church leaders (who hold grave responsibility for the care for God's flock entrusted to them), should realize this. A "readable" Bible translated from unreliable or corrupted texts is the greater danger to those who read (having being attracted by its "readability"). In actual fact readability is a highly subjective matter.
The primary and decisive criteria in the choice of Bible versions should be the accuracy of the original manuscripts and the integrity of the translators. These two criteria hold far greater weight than mere readability.
2) The philosophy of men behind the translation of the NIV was sadly defective. They worked on the assumption that the accuracy of their translation was in the reflection of the thinking of the Bible writers, and not in its adhering to the very jot and tittle of God's Word as our Lord had ruled (Matt 5:18). To quote: ''the first concern of the translators has been the accuracy of the translation and its fidelity to the thought of the biblical writers (emphasis ours)."
By this admission they adopted the diabolical technique known as Dynamic Equivalence. Guided by this principle, it matters very little which Greek manuscripts were used. Words are freely removed or added so long as the translators felt that the thought of the biblical writer was retained.
Another serious weakness of the NIV is the fact that the translators were drawn from a variety of denominations including Anglican, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Brethren, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Nazarene, Presbyterian, Wesleyan, etc., in order to "safeguard the translation from Sectarian bias". Their aim is to please man rather than God.
3) The Greek manscripts adopted by the NIV translators, namely the Westcott and Hort or Nestle/Aland text, are significantly inferior material. The editors of the 26th edition of Nestle/Aland Greek Text "was made up of a committee consisting of Kurt Aland (who is an unbeliever), Matthew Black (an unbeliever), Carlo M. Martini (a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church), Bruce Metzger (who is from Princeton, a man who demonstrated his apostasy as editor of the Reader's Digest Bible), and Alan Wigren (from Chicago, an apostate also)."
4) The NIV was translated based upon the false assumption that the earlier manscripts are more accurate. This is false because earlier manscripts could have been copied from a corrupt text. According to Westcott and Hort, and the NIV translators, the two oldest manscripts are the "Aleph" and "B" and they are the most accurate. They failed to let the public know that both of the "Aleph" and "B" are Alexandrian texts discovered in the dry climate of Alexandria, Egypt, which was the hot bed of Gnosticism and other heresies. They were probably pre-served because they were "not used by the church ... they realized they were full of heretical changes. ... If they had been used, they would have been worn out.... "
Based upon these false assumptions, the NIV translators have omitted the following verses:
"Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting" (Matt 17:21). "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost" (Matt 18:11). "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo-crites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation" (Matt 23:14). "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear" (Mark 7:16). "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:46). "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses" (Mark 11:26). "And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors" (Mark 15:28). "Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left" (Lk 17:36). "(For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.)" (Lk 23:17) "For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had" (Jn 5:4). "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (Acts 8:37). "Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still" (Acts 15:34). "But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of his hands" (Acts 24:7). "And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves" (Acts 28:29). "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen" (Rom 16:24). "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" (1 Jn 5:7).
Portions too large to omit from the main text of the Bible are noted with misleading statements like "the earliest and most reliable manscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have…" in order to cast doubts on the reliability of these biblical texts.
