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A Look At The KJVO Myth
A Look At The KJVO Myth
Rather than try to answer every individual post at this time, I believe it's time to examine the myth itself, and some of its points...and to show them wrong. This is in the light of someone saying Pastor Enyart has no Bible nor final authority because he doesn't subscribe to the KJVO myth.
First, what IS the KJVO myth? it is a set of doctrines that state that the King James Version is the ONLY valid English Bible translation there is, that the earlier English Bibles were incomplete and the later ones corrupt. This myth is believed in more or less degree by a small but vocal minority of Christians throughout the English-speaking world, as well as by some pseudo-Chritians and cult members. Now, let's briefly look at how it began.
The current KJVO myth began in 1930 when Dr. Benjamin Wilkinson, a SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST preacher/teacher/official, published an error-filled book, Our Authorized Bible Vindicated. Some other people before this had proclaimed KJVOism, but they were little-known to the public-at-large, & there was no grass-roots KJVO movement. This book DID attract the attention of some if the general public, and marked the beginning of the current myth.
As I just said, this book is full of errors. Some of them are lesser-known to the public, such as his assumption that the Waldensian Bibles were based upon the Byzantine mss & not the Latin Vulgate. But many are much better-known, such as his assertion that the AV translators labored under great travail & suffering. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those men worked in the lap of luxury as provided by King James, and their boss, Archbishop Bancroft. He also missed the dates of the Council of Trent badly.
Now, let's look at one of his best-known errors...He asserted that Psalm 12:6-7 are about the preservation of God's words. I know he didn't ORIGINATE such foolishness, but, having access to a large library, one would think he woulda researched this item before writing it into his book. Clearly, he failed to do so. A simple reading of the AV 1611 woulda provided all the research he needed, as it has this marginal note for V7..."Heb.him, I. euery one of them". Also, the Geneva Bible has "him" in V7.
We recognize BW as the "daddy" of the modern KJVO myth because virtually every KJVO author who followed has copied at least SOME of his errors.
Wilkinson was followed by J.J.Ray who, in 1955, published God Wrote Only One Bible. This book copied almost half of Wilkinson's book, with some new assertions by Ray. For example, he gave a table of words, sentences, and verses he insisted were left out of modern Bibles, but he failed to provide one peep of PROOF that they belonged there in the first place. Thus, Ray became the first KJVO author to use circular reasoning, assuming without any proof that the KJV was always automatically right in every word. And, along with most of Wilkinson's lesser-known errors, he copied the Psalm 12:6-7 item. Once again, we see a KJVO author whose research was shoddy, to put it mildly. as he copied most of Wilkinson's goofs blindly, with virtually no research as to their veracity. BUT...RAY ADMITS IN HIS BOOK(PGs.30-31, 102)THAT THERE ARE SOME POOR TRANSLATIONS IN THE KJV THAT DEMAND REVISION! This fact is not mentioned by the large majority of the KJVO authors who followed Ray, and I don't know if this is due to lack of research or deliberate ignorance. But Ray failed to give ANY acknowledgement to Wilkinson for his work, upon which Ray's book much depended.
Ray's book had a much-larger readership than Wilkinson's, due to the broad reach of modern advertising media...but try to find any info about Ray himself. Why, if he believed what he wrote was so true, would he have used a pseudonym, if that's the case? His Eye-Opener Publications has a Eugene, Or. address but the few Jasper James or James Jasper Rays whoi've ever lived in that general area are NOT the author J.J.Ray. He supposedly died in the 1980s, but NO death notices for anyone with that name, or even being CLOSE to it can be found within ANY of the records of Eugene, or the surrounding counties. Why all the secrecy? What was Ray afraid of? The tax man, perhaps?
The next major KJVO author was Dr. David Otis Fuller, a regular Baptist pastor, who, in 1970, published Which Bible? In this book, he heavily copies both Wilkinson and Ray, while adding a few imaginations of his own. Almost one-half of this book is copied from Wilkinson, and much of the rest from Ray, copying most of their errors. For instance, he copied the Psalm 12:7 thingie almost verbatim. But unlike Ray, he at least gave some credit to Wilkinson, who died in 1968, for his work. But this is where his HONESTY ended. While editing out some of Wilkinson's errors, he also tried to conceal the fact that he was a CULT OFFICIAL. Current KJVOer Dr. Donald A. Waite with whom Fuller worked, has criticized him for this. (Fuller died 1988; Waite is still living as of this writing.) Fuller also re-arranged the views of the late Charles H. Spurgeon concerning the Textus Receptus, the Greek texts, and the KJV itself. (Since this is an overview and not a minutely-detailed study, I won't go off into the nuts & bolts of this misrepresentation; both Fuller's book and Spurgeon's writings are readily available.) He was the first to bring Dean John Burgon into the mix, as Burgon wrote a scathing denunciation of Westcott & Hort. He founded the "Dean Burgin Society", currently headed by Waite. What neither Fuller nor waite have mentioned is the fact that Burgon wrote an almost-equally-scathing critique of the Textus Receptus, stating in no uncertain terms that the TR needed extensive revision, citing some 120 verses in Matthew alone that needed changes, as he set forth in revision Revised, pgs. 17, 21(Note 3), 107-108. Thus, Waite is continuing some of Fuller's dishonesty.
Another thing Burgon believed was this: "But I would especially remind my readers of Bentley’s golden precept, that ‘The real text of the sacred writers does not now, since the originals have been so long lost, lie in any MS. or edition, but is dispersed in them all.’ This truth, which was evident to the powerful intellect of the great scholar, lies at the root of all sound Textual Criticism." (John Burgon, The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels, ed. Edward Miller (1896; rpt. Collingswood, NJ: The Dean Burgon Society Press, 1998), p. 26.)
Fuller also distorted the views of Robert Dick Wilson, saying Wilson found no errors in the TR, masoretic text or the KJV, when indeed he HAD found errors. Again, I'll leave the minutiae to those interested.
We must regard Fuller as the main exponent of the current KJVO myth, as he was the first KJVO author with the full powers of worldwide media available, allowing him to easily hawk his wares worldwide. Thus we see that the KJVO myth was born in error, raised in more error, maturing in yet more error along with a large dose of DISHONESTY. How can ANY CHRISTIAN say this is from GOD?????????
Now, ler's look at some of the main doctrines of the KJVO myth as it stands todaystarting with some of the more heretical and ridiculous: (Note: I'm not gonna fool with the insanity of Peter Ruckman, the man who prophisied that Janet Reno was gonna have him whacked, and that the Antichrist will be a ten-foot tall black-lipped alien who will arrive in a spaceship a mile wide.)
1.) "Gimme the KJVO that Paul used!" ...Needs no comment; its absurdity is self-evident.
2.) "Psalm 12:6-7 are about the preservation of God's words."...The absurdity of this assertion is borne out by the AV 1611 itself, as written above.
3.) "The MVs deny the Deity of Christ by calling Joseph His father in Luke 2:43."...The morons who thought THIS one up didn't read their KJVs very well. All they had to have done was read FIVE VERSES FURTHER to have seen the KJV doung the SAME THING. This woulda saved them making fools of themselves. Same for the equally-stupid people who still hawk that drivel. The Greek in V 48 is "pater", which most people know means "father". And in Luke 2:27, where the KJV says "parents", the Greek is "goneus", which means...PARENTS. We ALL recognize Joseph as Jesus' earthly stepfather.
4.) "The English language reached its zenith in the late 1500s & has been "dumbed down: ever since."...a simple reading of any extant material from that time, and not just a Bible, quickly shows how absurd THAT one is!
5.) "The ONLY way to salvation is through coming to Christ by the reading of the KJV, or a version in another language made from the KJV."...This is patent heresy, adding a man-made requirement to GOD'S way of salvation. Salvation is by CHRIST HIMSELF, and not by any translation of His words.
6.) "God's word was purified in English seven times, culminating in the KJV." When was God's word NOT pure? What a crock. This assertion is HERETICAL.
7.) Finally, one which has been presented right here: " The multi-version or modern-version used has no final authority." First, there's not a bit of Scriptural support for such a silly notion. Second, the KJVO has no Scriptural permission to build his/her own final authority from any one Bible version. The TRUE Christian considers the TOTAL WORD OF GOD , and every part thereof, as the final written authority...NOT just one part, book, or chapter. This is a completely-unfounded point, based upon IMAGINATION AND GUESSWORK, and not FACT.
Those were a few of the more absurd, easily-shown-wrong points of the KJVO myth. Here are a few that the KJVOs assert, but cannot prove. As THEY are the "plaintiffs" in this case, THEY have the "burden of proof" to present evidence to prove these correct. With many years in which to do so, they've failed miserably.
8.) "The KJV is made from superior texts."...This is recognized by KJVOs as the only PROVABLE point of their whole program. However, it's mostly a game of "MY scholar can whup YOUR scholar". This debate has been going on for well over a hundred years, and is no closer to being resolved now than it was then. Right now, this assertion is not proven at all.
9.) "God has promised us a perfect Bible, and that Bible is the KJV."...There is NO SCRIPTURE where God promises a 100% purely-accurate, booboo-free Bible. Furthermore, if that was God's intent, HE, who made everything there is, could easily have preserved the original writings of His word, from the chronicler of Job onward and kept them before us all that time. This same GOD made every language & form of communication there is, and this same GOD oversees them all. More proof of this is seen in the uncontested fact that no one language will translate 100% into any other language.
And, taking the preservation verses fully in context, where's not one hint of His word's being preserved ONLY in the KJV or in only one version in any language whatsoever. When Jesus said, "Heaven & earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away", we must look at it with a PRACTICAL view. Millions of His words DID pass away. We have NO record of what He said before age 12. We have NO record of the actual words He used for mundane things such as buying a meal or performing carpentry work. We don't know what He wrote in the dust as the woman caught in adultery was brought before Him. What we DO have is every last thing JESUS wanted preserved. That is JESUS' intent in this verse, as reality proves.
10.) "Modern versions are made from the corrupt text of Westcott and Hort."...This is far from the truth. Modern Bible translators have many more mss available to them than did the AV men, or earlier translators. These translators do NOT rely upon just one set of mss or even one "family" of them. They use an eclectic mix of mss, compared with each other, to attempt to combine the various readings for the best translation, while considering older translations also, as did the AV men. Of course the works of W&H are CONSIDERED, but they do NOT serve alone as the basis for any newer version. It would be disingenuous of any modern translator, if not outright SINFUL, to not consider every available ancient source.
Next,, let's touch briefly upon OUR PROOFS that the KJVO myth is false.
1.) There's absolutely NO SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT for One-Versionism of any kind, although in many ancient examples, there was only one version in one language available. But again, there's simply NO SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT for the KJVO notion.
2.) Every one of KJVO's tenets have been proven false. EVERY ONE. Most of them were founded by GUESSWORK.
3.) The AV 1611 itself disposes of several of the KJVO false tenets, such as the Psalm 12:6-7 thingie and the "No ancient LXX" assertion.
4.) The entire set of doctrines and theories was founded by a cult official and spread by DISHONEST authors.
5.) The KJVO myth is entirely MAN-MADE, its history well-known. NOTHING so rife with dishonesty could POSSIBLY have come from GOD!
Finally, let me say that there is ONE LEGITIMATE REASON to be KJVO ...PERSONAL PREFERENCE. If one grew up reading the KJV(or any other one valid version) and that version was most familiar and understandable to that person, there's absolutely nothing wrong with staying with it.
I believe the AV/KJV to be a perfectly-valid and excellent version. But it's not the only game in town. In His providence, God has caused His word to be translated into today's langiages, including today's English. The AV was in the best English of its day, and there's no such thing as "Church English".
The KJVO myth was founded upon error and spread with a great deal of dishonesty added, and with virtually NO PROOF. BEWARE THE LEAVEN OF THE KJVOs.IT'S MADE FROM POISON MUSHROOMS!
A Look At The KJVO Myth
Rather than try to answer every individual post at this time, I believe it's time to examine the myth itself, and some of its points...and to show them wrong. This is in the light of someone saying Pastor Enyart has no Bible nor final authority because he doesn't subscribe to the KJVO myth.
First, what IS the KJVO myth? it is a set of doctrines that state that the King James Version is the ONLY valid English Bible translation there is, that the earlier English Bibles were incomplete and the later ones corrupt. This myth is believed in more or less degree by a small but vocal minority of Christians throughout the English-speaking world, as well as by some pseudo-Chritians and cult members. Now, let's briefly look at how it began.
The current KJVO myth began in 1930 when Dr. Benjamin Wilkinson, a SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST preacher/teacher/official, published an error-filled book, Our Authorized Bible Vindicated. Some other people before this had proclaimed KJVOism, but they were little-known to the public-at-large, & there was no grass-roots KJVO movement. This book DID attract the attention of some if the general public, and marked the beginning of the current myth.
As I just said, this book is full of errors. Some of them are lesser-known to the public, such as his assumption that the Waldensian Bibles were based upon the Byzantine mss & not the Latin Vulgate. But many are much better-known, such as his assertion that the AV translators labored under great travail & suffering. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those men worked in the lap of luxury as provided by King James, and their boss, Archbishop Bancroft. He also missed the dates of the Council of Trent badly.
Now, let's look at one of his best-known errors...He asserted that Psalm 12:6-7 are about the preservation of God's words. I know he didn't ORIGINATE such foolishness, but, having access to a large library, one would think he woulda researched this item before writing it into his book. Clearly, he failed to do so. A simple reading of the AV 1611 woulda provided all the research he needed, as it has this marginal note for V7..."Heb.him, I. euery one of them". Also, the Geneva Bible has "him" in V7.
We recognize BW as the "daddy" of the modern KJVO myth because virtually every KJVO author who followed has copied at least SOME of his errors.
Wilkinson was followed by J.J.Ray who, in 1955, published God Wrote Only One Bible. This book copied almost half of Wilkinson's book, with some new assertions by Ray. For example, he gave a table of words, sentences, and verses he insisted were left out of modern Bibles, but he failed to provide one peep of PROOF that they belonged there in the first place. Thus, Ray became the first KJVO author to use circular reasoning, assuming without any proof that the KJV was always automatically right in every word. And, along with most of Wilkinson's lesser-known errors, he copied the Psalm 12:6-7 item. Once again, we see a KJVO author whose research was shoddy, to put it mildly. as he copied most of Wilkinson's goofs blindly, with virtually no research as to their veracity. BUT...RAY ADMITS IN HIS BOOK(PGs.30-31, 102)THAT THERE ARE SOME POOR TRANSLATIONS IN THE KJV THAT DEMAND REVISION! This fact is not mentioned by the large majority of the KJVO authors who followed Ray, and I don't know if this is due to lack of research or deliberate ignorance. But Ray failed to give ANY acknowledgement to Wilkinson for his work, upon which Ray's book much depended.
Ray's book had a much-larger readership than Wilkinson's, due to the broad reach of modern advertising media...but try to find any info about Ray himself. Why, if he believed what he wrote was so true, would he have used a pseudonym, if that's the case? His Eye-Opener Publications has a Eugene, Or. address but the few Jasper James or James Jasper Rays whoi've ever lived in that general area are NOT the author J.J.Ray. He supposedly died in the 1980s, but NO death notices for anyone with that name, or even being CLOSE to it can be found within ANY of the records of Eugene, or the surrounding counties. Why all the secrecy? What was Ray afraid of? The tax man, perhaps?
The next major KJVO author was Dr. David Otis Fuller, a regular Baptist pastor, who, in 1970, published Which Bible? In this book, he heavily copies both Wilkinson and Ray, while adding a few imaginations of his own. Almost one-half of this book is copied from Wilkinson, and much of the rest from Ray, copying most of their errors. For instance, he copied the Psalm 12:7 thingie almost verbatim. But unlike Ray, he at least gave some credit to Wilkinson, who died in 1968, for his work. But this is where his HONESTY ended. While editing out some of Wilkinson's errors, he also tried to conceal the fact that he was a CULT OFFICIAL. Current KJVOer Dr. Donald A. Waite with whom Fuller worked, has criticized him for this. (Fuller died 1988; Waite is still living as of this writing.) Fuller also re-arranged the views of the late Charles H. Spurgeon concerning the Textus Receptus, the Greek texts, and the KJV itself. (Since this is an overview and not a minutely-detailed study, I won't go off into the nuts & bolts of this misrepresentation; both Fuller's book and Spurgeon's writings are readily available.) He was the first to bring Dean John Burgon into the mix, as Burgon wrote a scathing denunciation of Westcott & Hort. He founded the "Dean Burgin Society", currently headed by Waite. What neither Fuller nor waite have mentioned is the fact that Burgon wrote an almost-equally-scathing critique of the Textus Receptus, stating in no uncertain terms that the TR needed extensive revision, citing some 120 verses in Matthew alone that needed changes, as he set forth in revision Revised, pgs. 17, 21(Note 3), 107-108. Thus, Waite is continuing some of Fuller's dishonesty.
Another thing Burgon believed was this: "But I would especially remind my readers of Bentley’s golden precept, that ‘The real text of the sacred writers does not now, since the originals have been so long lost, lie in any MS. or edition, but is dispersed in them all.’ This truth, which was evident to the powerful intellect of the great scholar, lies at the root of all sound Textual Criticism." (John Burgon, The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels, ed. Edward Miller (1896; rpt. Collingswood, NJ: The Dean Burgon Society Press, 1998), p. 26.)
Fuller also distorted the views of Robert Dick Wilson, saying Wilson found no errors in the TR, masoretic text or the KJV, when indeed he HAD found errors. Again, I'll leave the minutiae to those interested.
We must regard Fuller as the main exponent of the current KJVO myth, as he was the first KJVO author with the full powers of worldwide media available, allowing him to easily hawk his wares worldwide. Thus we see that the KJVO myth was born in error, raised in more error, maturing in yet more error along with a large dose of DISHONESTY. How can ANY CHRISTIAN say this is from GOD?????????
Now, ler's look at some of the main doctrines of the KJVO myth as it stands todaystarting with some of the more heretical and ridiculous: (Note: I'm not gonna fool with the insanity of Peter Ruckman, the man who prophisied that Janet Reno was gonna have him whacked, and that the Antichrist will be a ten-foot tall black-lipped alien who will arrive in a spaceship a mile wide.)
1.) "Gimme the KJVO that Paul used!" ...Needs no comment; its absurdity is self-evident.
2.) "Psalm 12:6-7 are about the preservation of God's words."...The absurdity of this assertion is borne out by the AV 1611 itself, as written above.
3.) "The MVs deny the Deity of Christ by calling Joseph His father in Luke 2:43."...The morons who thought THIS one up didn't read their KJVs very well. All they had to have done was read FIVE VERSES FURTHER to have seen the KJV doung the SAME THING. This woulda saved them making fools of themselves. Same for the equally-stupid people who still hawk that drivel. The Greek in V 48 is "pater", which most people know means "father". And in Luke 2:27, where the KJV says "parents", the Greek is "goneus", which means...PARENTS. We ALL recognize Joseph as Jesus' earthly stepfather.
4.) "The English language reached its zenith in the late 1500s & has been "dumbed down: ever since."...a simple reading of any extant material from that time, and not just a Bible, quickly shows how absurd THAT one is!
5.) "The ONLY way to salvation is through coming to Christ by the reading of the KJV, or a version in another language made from the KJV."...This is patent heresy, adding a man-made requirement to GOD'S way of salvation. Salvation is by CHRIST HIMSELF, and not by any translation of His words.
6.) "God's word was purified in English seven times, culminating in the KJV." When was God's word NOT pure? What a crock. This assertion is HERETICAL.
7.) Finally, one which has been presented right here: " The multi-version or modern-version used has no final authority." First, there's not a bit of Scriptural support for such a silly notion. Second, the KJVO has no Scriptural permission to build his/her own final authority from any one Bible version. The TRUE Christian considers the TOTAL WORD OF GOD , and every part thereof, as the final written authority...NOT just one part, book, or chapter. This is a completely-unfounded point, based upon IMAGINATION AND GUESSWORK, and not FACT.
Those were a few of the more absurd, easily-shown-wrong points of the KJVO myth. Here are a few that the KJVOs assert, but cannot prove. As THEY are the "plaintiffs" in this case, THEY have the "burden of proof" to present evidence to prove these correct. With many years in which to do so, they've failed miserably.
8.) "The KJV is made from superior texts."...This is recognized by KJVOs as the only PROVABLE point of their whole program. However, it's mostly a game of "MY scholar can whup YOUR scholar". This debate has been going on for well over a hundred years, and is no closer to being resolved now than it was then. Right now, this assertion is not proven at all.
9.) "God has promised us a perfect Bible, and that Bible is the KJV."...There is NO SCRIPTURE where God promises a 100% purely-accurate, booboo-free Bible. Furthermore, if that was God's intent, HE, who made everything there is, could easily have preserved the original writings of His word, from the chronicler of Job onward and kept them before us all that time. This same GOD made every language & form of communication there is, and this same GOD oversees them all. More proof of this is seen in the uncontested fact that no one language will translate 100% into any other language.
And, taking the preservation verses fully in context, where's not one hint of His word's being preserved ONLY in the KJV or in only one version in any language whatsoever. When Jesus said, "Heaven & earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away", we must look at it with a PRACTICAL view. Millions of His words DID pass away. We have NO record of what He said before age 12. We have NO record of the actual words He used for mundane things such as buying a meal or performing carpentry work. We don't know what He wrote in the dust as the woman caught in adultery was brought before Him. What we DO have is every last thing JESUS wanted preserved. That is JESUS' intent in this verse, as reality proves.
10.) "Modern versions are made from the corrupt text of Westcott and Hort."...This is far from the truth. Modern Bible translators have many more mss available to them than did the AV men, or earlier translators. These translators do NOT rely upon just one set of mss or even one "family" of them. They use an eclectic mix of mss, compared with each other, to attempt to combine the various readings for the best translation, while considering older translations also, as did the AV men. Of course the works of W&H are CONSIDERED, but they do NOT serve alone as the basis for any newer version. It would be disingenuous of any modern translator, if not outright SINFUL, to not consider every available ancient source.
Next,, let's touch briefly upon OUR PROOFS that the KJVO myth is false.
1.) There's absolutely NO SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT for One-Versionism of any kind, although in many ancient examples, there was only one version in one language available. But again, there's simply NO SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT for the KJVO notion.
2.) Every one of KJVO's tenets have been proven false. EVERY ONE. Most of them were founded by GUESSWORK.
3.) The AV 1611 itself disposes of several of the KJVO false tenets, such as the Psalm 12:6-7 thingie and the "No ancient LXX" assertion.
4.) The entire set of doctrines and theories was founded by a cult official and spread by DISHONEST authors.
5.) The KJVO myth is entirely MAN-MADE, its history well-known. NOTHING so rife with dishonesty could POSSIBLY have come from GOD!
Finally, let me say that there is ONE LEGITIMATE REASON to be KJVO ...PERSONAL PREFERENCE. If one grew up reading the KJV(or any other one valid version) and that version was most familiar and understandable to that person, there's absolutely nothing wrong with staying with it.
I believe the AV/KJV to be a perfectly-valid and excellent version. But it's not the only game in town. In His providence, God has caused His word to be translated into today's langiages, including today's English. The AV was in the best English of its day, and there's no such thing as "Church English".
The KJVO myth was founded upon error and spread with a great deal of dishonesty added, and with virtually NO PROOF. BEWARE THE LEAVEN OF THE KJVOs.IT'S MADE FROM POISON MUSHROOMS!
