Te Authorised Translation Defended

(Article for publication week of 2-10-2010 AD)

"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you " (I Peter 1:24-25).

We have been for the past several months writing on the doctrine of scripture, and our last three articles have dealt with the preservation of scripture. "The word of the Lord endureth FOREVER"! The Lord has preserved His word to all generations, including our own. We believe the Lord has preserved His word in the Received Text, the underlying text of the King James translation, the Geneva Translation, and the Tyndale translation among others. This is the first and most important reason why we defend and use the Authorised Translation. Most modern translations are derived from the Greek text compiled by Westcott and Hort in the late nineteenth century and is based on the corrupt Vatican and Sinai texts. If you would like to study this subject further, I highly recommend a very scholarly book by Dr. E. F. Hills entitled "The King James Version Defended." It is available online and can be easily found by a Google search.

The second reason why we use the Authorised Version (aka the KJV) is that is very clear on the Person of Christ. The Westcott and Hort texts, and the translations derived from them are much less clear concerning the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. You may compare the following texts: Psalm 45:6; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Matthew 19:16-17; Mark 1:1; Mark 15:28; Luke 24:52; Acts 20:28; I Timothy 3:16 and I John 5:7 among many others. Since all scriptures lead us to Christ for salvation (John 5:39; Luke 24:44), it is apparent to my mind that the Hebrew and Greek Texts and the English Translation that most exalts Christ would be the most reliable text. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:14), so it is reasonable that the text that gives the most glory to Christ would be the one inspired by the Holy Spirit and preserved by God's Providence. The King James Translation glorifies Christ more than the modern translations, is clearer on His Deity and shows us the way of salvation through Christ Alone.

You need to know that the corrupt texts that underlie most modern translations were the ones used by ancient heretics like Origen and Arius and is used by modern day Arians like the so- called "Jehovah's Witnesses." For example the New International Version and the translation of the Watchtower Society both omit I John 5:7, one of the clearest Trinitarian texts in the Bible.

In our day when the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ is constantly being attacked, it is imperative that we use a Bible that is very clear on our Lord's glorious Person. The King James Bible clearly says that Christ is the Second person of the Holy Trinity, that He is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, that he was born of a virgin, that He died as a substitute for all who would believe in Him, that he arose from the dead, ascended to the Father and that He shall return the second time to raise the dead and judge the world. I urge you to hold tenaciously to the Authorised Translation. I will have more on the subject next week (DV).