Why We Believe
All Modern
Versions Of The Bible
Are Inferior To
The King James Version
Psalms 12:6-7; 100:5; Isaiah 40:8
Introduction
A. God's Word was already complete
in heaven before He gave it to man (Psalm 119:89).
B. God gave His Word to man through specifically chosen persons. He used
them to write down His message word for word (II Peter 1:20-21; II
Timothy 3:16).
C. God promised to
preserve His Word to all generations (Isaiah 40:8; Psalm 12:6-7; 100:5).
The doctrine of preservation means that God's inspired Word would not be
changed, corrupted or lost.
D. The original writings by those
who were chosen to record God's Word are called "original
manuscripts" or "autographs."
(1) There are no original manuscripts still existing today.
(2) There are, however, many
copies and translations still in existence. They are between 1,000
and 1,500 years old.
(3) The "original
manuscripts" of the New Testament were written in the Greek
language. Today none of the original manuscripts remain. However,
there are over 5,200 ancient copies and translations still in
existence, some are translations in other ancient languages such as
Syrian or Latin.
E. Of those 5,200 manuscripts of
the New Testament, the majority of them agree with each other and are
essentially the same. A small minority of -the 5,200 manuscripts (copies
& translations) do not agree with the majority of the manuscripts
and often do not even agree with each other.
The majority of the manuscripts
(about 90% of all the 5,200) were used as the basis of the King James
English Version. For this reason, we say the KJV is a translation from
the Majority Test. This Majority Text is sometimes called the
Traditional Text or the Received Text (Textus Receptus).
The translators of the KJV did not
accept the small group of manuscripts, which are different from the
Majority Text. That small group of manuscripts (about 10% of the 5,200)
is called the Minority Text. There have been more ancient manuscripts
discovered since the KJV was first published in 1611 AD However, these
newly discovered manuscripts generally support the Minority Text and not
the Majority Text.
All modern English versions of the
Bible are translated from the Minority Text. This includes the New
International Version, New American Standard Version, Revised Standard
Version, Good News for Modern Man, Today's English Version, etc
When the KJV was translated, it
was from the Majority or Traditional Text.
For the following reasons, we
accept the KJV above all modern
- THE MODERN VERSIONS ARE
TRANSLATED FROM AND BASED UPON THE MINORITY TEXT RATHER THAN THE
MAJORITY OR TRADITIONAL TEXT.
- THE MODERN VERSIONS ARE
TRANSLATED FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS, WHICH BASICALLY CAME FROM AN AREA
OF MANY DOCTRINAL HERESIES.
A. In the early centuries
after Christ there was much error taught in and around Alexandria,
Egypt.
B. The manuscripts in the
Minority Text come generally from that area of the world. Therefore,
sometimes the Minority Text is called-the Alexandrian Text.
- THE MODERN VERSIONS
ARE BASED UPON MANUSCRIPTS, WHICH HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED IN SOME PARTS.
A. Of the 5,200 New Testament
ancient manuscripts existing today about 10% (Minority Text) of them
do not agree in many passages and verses with the other 90%
(Majority Text).
B. The two most important
manuscripts of the Minority Text are called Vaticanus and the
Sinaiticus. These two manuscripts disagree with each other over
3,000 times in just the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John).
- THE MODERN VERSIONS
ARE BEING PROMOTED BY THOSE WHO ARE LIBERAL OR NEO-EVANGELICAL.
A. More and more fundamentalists are beginning to use
the Modern Versions.
B. As a whole though, those
who are not fundamentalists criticize the King James Version and
promote those versions based upon the Minority or Alexandrian Text.
- THE MODERN VERSIONS
ARE BASED ON SOME OF THE MINORITY MANUSCRIPTS WHICH HAVE ONLY BEEN
DISCOVERED IN THE LAST 200 YEARS.
A. If these newly discovered
manuscripts are the real and accurate copies of our New Testament
then that means for many centuries believers did not have an
accurate copy of God's Word.
B. That means from the time
those manuscripts were lost until they were discovered in recent
years many generations did not have the preserved Word of God.
C. But we must remember that God promised to
preserve His Word to every generation
D. I accept the King James
Version because it was translated from the Majority Text, which has
always been available in every generation.
E. We believe in the inspiration and the preservation
of the Bible.
CONCLUSION
We at Berean Baptist Church
recommend the KJV over all modern English versions for the reasons
outlined here.
