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“Every
word of God is
pure: he is
a shield unto them that put their trust
in him. Add thou not unto his words,
lest he reprove thee, and thou be found
a liar.” – Proverbs 30:5, 6
“Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my words
shall not pass away.” – Matthew
24:35
“For
we know in part, and we prophesy in
part.
But when that which is perfect is
come, then that which is in part shall
be done away.” – I Corinthians 13:9,
10
1.
Is the King James Bible the Word of God?
Somewhere
on the face of the earth today, there
must be a book that is 100% without
error, the very words of God.
God promised repeatedly
throughout the Bible to preserve his
word forever on the earth.
“The
words of the LORD are pure words: as
silver tried in a furnace of earth,
purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD,
thou shalt preserve them from this
generation forever.” – Psalm 12:6,
7.
If man shall not live by
bread alone but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God, then
surely God has made his every word
available to us.
But where is God’s word?
The
obvious choice is the King James Bible.
God’s word has been available
in many forms in the past, of course
(i.e. before 1611, etc.), but for our
generation God has provided the King
James Bible.
The King James Bible is not only
the best-selling and most translated
book in the history of mankind, but is
also the Bible that God has used unlike
any other in history.
In
the Old Testament God chose the nation
of
Israel
to be His tool to bring the gospel and
the word of God to the world.
This is why he chose to deliver
the Old Testament scriptures in the
Hebrew language.
In the New Testament God chose
the Gentiles to be his chosen vessels to
carry the gospel to the world, which is
why he delivered the New Testament to
mankind in the Greek language. Shortly
thereafter
Antioch
and other Syrian-speaking areas became a
great hub of the gospel; therefore
multitudes of copies of the Bible in the
Syrian language were produced.
In
the 17th and 18th
centuries, the nation God was using the
most was the nation of
England
. Over
time, the
United States of America
picked up the torch of the gospel and
has been used by God unlike any other
nation.
The
United States
has mightily been used by God to take
the gospel to the world.
English has also become the
universal second language of the world.
In God’s foresight, he supplied
the English-speaking people with a
perfect preservation of his word, the
King James Bible.
Since then, the King James Bible
has been translated directly into
hundreds of languages and has been the
standard for numerous other foreign
language translations.
If
the King James Bible is not God’s
word, then where is God’s word?
It must be somewhere, and there
is no parallel to the magnificent
perfection of the King James Bible.
Nor is there any other Bible that
has been used anywhere close to as much
as the King James Bible has been used to
further God’s work.
2.
Do the Original Greek and Hebrew
Manuscripts Still Exist?
Many
believe that God’s preservation and
perfection only exist in the
“original” Greek and Hebrew
manuscripts.
There are several problems with
this.
First of all, the original
manuscripts no longer exist.
There is no manuscript of any
book of the Bible that is even within a
hundred years of the original age.
This is because paper decomposes
and does not last through the centuries.
Therefore, the Greek and Hebrew
texts we have today are copies of
copies, translations, compilations, etc.
This
lends the question, “which Greek text
is correct?”
The ready answer is, “The
Textus Receptus, of course!”
Yes, but which of the 38 versions
of it?
“The one the King James Bible
was translated from!”
Wrong.
The King James Bible was not
translated from any one edition of the
Textus Receptus, but from all available
manuscripts as well as heavy reliance on
Syrian editions.
The edition of the Textus
Receptus used today by the majority of
King James Bible-believing colleges and
seminaries was produced in 1633 - after
the King James Bible (1611).
It was actually produced from
the King James Bible.
Not only that, but a fire
destroyed all the notes of the King
James Bible translators shortly after
the work was completed, so we are left
with almost nothing as to which texts
they actually translated from but pure
guesswork.
“For
we know in part, and we prophesy in
part.
But when that which is perfect is
come, then that which is in part shall
be done away.” – I Corinthians 13:9,
10.
This verse was written by the
apostle Paul, who only had a partial
Bible (the Old Testament).
The word “perfect”
in the Bible means complete (see James
1:4 et al).
Today we have the complete,
perfect King James Bible, and as God
promised, that which was in part has
been done away (i.e. the original Hebrew
and Greek manuscripts used in time past,
which were only a part of the Bible
respectively).
3.
Why Do Preachers Correct the King James
Bible?
If
God has not preserved the original
manuscripts, then why in the world do
fundamentalist preachers all over
America
go back to “the” Greek to correct or
augment the King James Bible?
They are correcting the perfect
Bible with a copy of a copy (the 1633
so-called Textus Receptus).
By correcting the Bible, they
become the authority for their
congregation by dictating to their
people what the Bible “really” says.
This reminds me of the Dark Ages
when the Catholic Church told the masses
that they could not understand the Bible
for themselves but needed the Church to
interpret it for them.
Perhaps
pride has something to do with it.
Going back to “the Greek”
puts the pastor on a pedestal above the
laymen in his congregation and gives him
a way to seem more intelligent to his
people.
If a pastor wants his people to
respect his knowledge, perhaps he should
increase his study of the King James
Bible and find the “hidden manna” to
give to his people, rather than
producing bogus revelations by going to
a foreign language which he does not
even speak anywhere close to fluently.
After
speaking with scores of “Greek
experts” and preachers who frequently
reference the Greek, and having been
fluent myself in 3 foreign languages, I
have never met one who could even say,
“Hello, how are you doing?” in
Greek, much less have a complete
knowledge of the language.
What they do know is how to use a
Greek/English dictionary or lexicon to
tell them what the Bible “really
means.”
It would appear then that the
dictionary has become their final
authority rather than God’s word.
Who wrote this lexicon that
supersedes the King James Bible in their
mind?
The lexicon was certainly not
inspired by God.
The
King James Bible is God’s word and
does not need any additions or
corrections.
We ought to thank the Lord that
we are privileged to have been born in
America
and have such easy access to the pure
word of God.
Many people throughout the world
are not even privileged to have a part
of the Bible or any translation of the
Bible, but we in
America
have the perfect, complete King James
Bible.
Let us appreciate this gem for
what it is and work to reach the rest of
the world with its saving power and
life-changing truths.
Here
is an audio sermon dealing with
this subject:
The
following file is in mp3 format. You
must right-click on this file and
"save target as"
to download it to your computer.
Pastor
Steven L Anderson
"The
King James Bible"
06/04/06am Sunday
Source
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