The King James Bible’s Authentic Source Texts (I)
Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo
Dr D A Waite, President of the Dean Burgon Society, Dr Christian Spencer, pastor of the historic Bible Presbyterian Church of Collingswood, esteemed members of the executive committee and the advisory council, friends of the Dean Burgon Society. I come to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and I bring greetings from Singapore, from True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church and the Far Eastern Bible College. Although I regret not being able to be with you physically, I am glad I can at least be with you virtually, thanks to modern technology.
Introduction
The question I want to raise today is the same question raised by Dr David Otis Fuller in 1970 when he published his book—Which Bible? It remains a pertinent question. Where is God’s Word today? There are over a hundred modern versions of the English Bible and over 5000 Greek manuscripts today. The scholars are telling us, “No two manuscripts are alike.” We are told that we do not have the inspired originals, the autographs have long perished. What we have today are copies of the copies of the copies … of the autographs. And the over 5000 copies we have today are full of errors; there are hundreds of thousands of mistakes they say. Evangelicals today who have embraced such a view of Scripture are telling us that the Bible was only infallible and inerrant in the past—in the beginning, but it is not so infallible and inerrant today. They say some words might have been lost or corrupted, but they assure us that no doctrines are affected. Is this supposed to comfort us and build us up in the faith? I find no comfort at all in such words and such thoughts. They tear me away from the perfection of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the veracity of His forever infallible and inerrant words.
Now, this can be applied to the Bible versions as well. No two versions are the same. In fact, some read very differently. The hundred modern versions of the Bible today have caused a whole lot of confusion in the Church. Where is God’s Word? Which is God’s Word? Do we have a clear and certain answer? Do we have a “more sure word of prophecy” (2 Pet 1:19)?
Does the answer come from the textual scholars and their rationalistic rules of textual criticism? The answer is no! The textual critics and their conjectures have only brought us to a dead end of unbelief and uncertainty. I have been schooled by such textual critics and learned their textual critical rules when I was in seminary. I might appear very educated when I use them, but ultimately I found them to be incompatible with biblical faith and doctrine. Instead of building up my faith in God’s Word, they cause me to question and doubt the words of God. Do we really have all the words of God today? I found that I could not affirm the present perfection of God’s words through textual criticism. It is impossible to identify God’s words through such critical methods and rationalistic presuppositions. The true biblical scholar should be “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor 10:5).
What we need are God-given principles and not man-made rules in our identification of the authentic and authoritative Scriptures the Lord had inspired and preserved. I would like to submit to you seven biblical axioms which would guide us in our thinking and determination of what are precisely the authentic and authoritative source texts of Holy Scripture.
(1) Epangelical Axiom
God has promised many things to His people, and one of the most important promises besides the promise of salvation is the promise of Scripture, that His inspired words once given will be forever preserved. We know this from Psalm 12:6, 7, “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 for ever.” Those who deny that the Bible teaches preservation are wont to disagree, saying that verse 7 refers to the preservation of His people, not His words. I will not go into the good and sound exegetical arguments for the preservation of the words of God here, but just share with you what the late Dr Carl McIntire who was the founder of the Bible Presbyterian Church of the United States, the first pastor of this historic Bible Presbyterian Church of Collingswood said about Psalm 12 in a sermon he preached back in 1992. He said,
Now come verse 6, ‘The words of the
LORD are pure words,’ not one of them
is mistaken, ‘as silver tried in the furnace
of earth, purified seven times.’ All the
dregs are out. Here is a marvelous
affirmation and vindication that God’s
Word is perfect. … Now, ‘The words of
the LORD are pure words.’ And then
verse 7, how I love this: ‘Thou shalt keep
them O LORD,’ that is, keep His words;
‘thou shalt preserve them from this
generation forever.’ No matter what
happens, one generation comes and
another passes away, God is going to
preserve His words … from one
generation to another. The words of God
will be preserved throughout all the
generations.
I believe Dr McIntire interpreted the Scriptures correctly, and I am glad that this truth is once again preached in the sacred halls of this historic church.
(2) Linguistic Axiom
The inspired words that God has preserved are the original language words of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The divinely inspired Scriptures of 2 Timothy 3:16 are the Hebrew/Aramaic Old Testament and the Greek New Testament—the 66 books of Canonical Scripture. Strictly speaking, the divinely inspired or breathed-out words of God are not the translated words but the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words originally penned by Moses, the Prophets, and the Apostles. The sole, supreme, and final authority of the Christian Faith rests upon these very words of God in the original languages, not any other foreign language words be they English, Chinese, Spanish, Korean, etc. Although the King James Bible is a most blessed translation of the Bible in the English language being very faithful and true to the original language texts, it is not an “inspired” translation, and not superior to its underlying Hebrew and Greek texts.
The Dean Burgon Society is clear in its position and exposition as regards the verbal and plenary inspiration and preservation of the Holy Scriptures. This is clearly spelled out in its Articles of Faith II.A,
We believe that the Texts which are the
closest to the original autographs of the
Bible are the traditional Masoretic
Hebrew Text for the Old Testament, and
the traditional Greek Text for the New
Testament underlying the King James
Version (as found in “The Greek Text
Underlying The English Authorized
Version of 1611”).
We believe that all the verses in the King
James Version belong in the Old and the
New Testaments because they represent
words we believe were in the original
texts, although there might be other
renderings from the original languages
which could also be acceptable to us
today. For an exhaustive study of any of
the words or verses in the Bible, we urge
the student to return directly to the
Traditional Masoretic Hebrew Text and
the Traditional Received Greek Text
rather than to any other translation for
help.
It is clear that the priority and supremacy of the Bible is found in the original language texts and not in any version or translation. The late Lynn Gray Gordon, a Bible-Presbyterian minister and former General Secretary of the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions (IBPFM), in his book, The World’s Greatest Truths, published by the Far Eastern Bible College in 1999, rightly said, “Although the King James Version is free from error in thought, fact and doctrine, that is not to say this version is the ‘inspired version.’” We agree. We reject the “inspired version,” “advanced revelation,” and “super superiority” position of Peter Ruckman and Gail Riplinger. Although the King James Version is not an inspired version, we nonetheless uphold it as the Word of God because it is such a faithful, accurate and reliable translation of the originally inspired and providentially preserved words of God, and has blessed many millions of God’s people throughout the 400 years of its existence. This is no fluke, but God’s approval of the work of godly, scholarly and faithful translators at the time of the Reformation. So, as English readers and speakers, we would do well to stick to the good old version, the King James Version and its good old underlying texts. (To be continued)
Don’t Just Pray for Bananas
One thing I learned from our founding pastor, the Rev Dr Timothy Tow, was to use every inch of space for the Lord. Whether it be a piece of paper or a plot of land, let not any space go to waste. “Economy is the mother of prosperity”, he used to tell his students.
Our loving Father in heaven, who has promised to provide for our every need, requires us His children to work hard for Him with what He has given to us. In true Calvinistic form, Rev Tow would teach FEBC students about the balance between divine sovereignty and human responsibility: “Do not just sit in your room to pray for bananas. Go downstairs to the garden and changkol, and manna from heaven will come down.”
In our last missionary visit to the New Life Orphan Centre in Yangon, I instructed Bro Thangno to plant banana trees on the orphanage grounds. The orphanage sits on 8850 square feet of land, and there was plenty of space for cultivation. They already have a small vegetable plot. I advised him to use the remaining space to plant banana trees. The trees will not only add more greenery to the premises, but also provide shade and food in due time.
I am glad to report that he has heeded my advice to plant the trees. He wrote, “I have planted the banana trees in the second week of June and now one month has already passed. Thank God most of the trees we have planted are still alive though some have died. I send the picture of the banana trees that we planted in June 2011.” Yes, “Self help with God’s help is the best help” (T Tow). JK
