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The Prince of Preachers on the Usefulness of Textual Criticism
When Charles Spurgeon is mentioned, he is almost always celebrated as the Prince of Preachers—a communicator of extraordinary clarity, force, and eloquence. And rightly so. Spurgeon was a masterful expositor who loved the Lord and proclaimed the Scriptures with bold conviction. His life and ministry remain a towering model of Christian devotion, both for believers in general and preachers in particular. Yet one dimension of Spurgeon’s preaching is often overlooked: his careful attention to the textual issues of the Bible in its original languages. Throughout his sermons and writings, Spurgeon demonstrated an awareness that not every manuscript reading or translation was equally certain. He was deeply committed to ensuring that what he proclaimed from the pulpit was the genuine Word of God. In practice, this meant that Spurgeon regularly and thoughtfully engaged in textual criticism (textual criticism is the scholarly process of comparing manuscripts to determine the most accurate original…
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Some of the Errors in the King James Version
One of the reasons people hold to the King James Only viewpoint is that they are under the mistaken impression that the King James was a translation that was made without error by the translators. In this article, I want to look at the historical development of the KJV and make some specific notes about the verifiable errors that existed in the original 1611 translation, and how those were changed in future editions. Pretty fascinating stuff! The Need to Update the King James Version The KJV was originally published in 1611 by translators who followed 15 principles of translation. However, as the years passed, the KJV (also known as the Authorized Version) was in serious need of an update. Because English grammar and spelling had changed, in 1762, a Cambridge printer, Joseph Bentham, made many revisions. These revisions updated the spellings, punctuation, and the like. However, this version never caught…
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The 15 Rules Behind the Making of the KJV
I have great respect for the King James Version (KJV)—many of the verses I quote still come from the regal English. Yet I have also met sincere Christians who have been taught that the KJV itself, not merely the Hebrew and Greek beneath it, is inspired in a unique sense. Is this true? Was the KJV inspired? Did the translators of the KJV think that they were creating a new inspired product? The 15 Guiding Rules for the Translators When King James commissioned the work in 1604, Bishop Richard Bancroft drafted fifteen rules to govern the project. Revisiting those rules helps us appreciate the KJV’s achievement without mistaking it for a miracle or misunderstanding its purpose. Here, then, are the fifteen principles that shaped the making of the King James Bible. Interesting Observations on the Rules Translation rules 1, 6, and 14 are interesting. Rule #1 mandated that their translation use the Bishop’s Bible as…
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Why Lucifer is Not Satan’s Name
For most people, Lucifer is synonymous with Satan. Christians and non-Christians regularly refer to Satan as Lucifer, whether in Bible studies about Satan’s fall, or in classic literature, music, and poetry. For example, John Milton’s epic “Paradise Lost” regularly refers to Satan as Lucifer. “Lucifer Rising,” a 2008 release by Candlemass (a so-called Swedish “doom metal” band) also contains the following lyrics: Oh, blessed the children of doomAs they dance on the meadowsOh, poet and merchant and witchYou know the master is here Lucifer, Lucifer, Lucifer rising For the record, I have never heard the above song, but just was looking through different songs that contained a reference to Lucifer. Regardless, it is rather easy to see with brief searches that Lucifer is a popular name to reference Satan. This identity was even picked up by Hollywood, where Jerry Bruckheimer and DC entertainment were involved in a TV series called…
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Book Review: Authorized—the Use & Misuse of the King James Bible
Every so often I try to write a brief book review on a book that interests me. Because I have written in some detail about the King James Version, I was sent Authorized: The Use & Misuse of the King James Bible, written by Mark Ward. Mark received his PhD in NT Interpretation at Bob Jones University, and currently works for Faithlife. He works in a variety of capacities, one of which is being an academic editor for Lexham Press. He also blogs at By Faith We Understand. Authorized is an interesting take on the KJV Only issue because it approaches the issue from an English language perspective. Most books that deal with the KJV deal with mistranslations or inadequate manuscript support. However, the approach in this book is to have a serious discussion about some of the problems of reading the KJV in English. Reading the KJV in English…
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Seven Posts about the King James Version
I have done a fair bit of reading, research, and writing on the King James Version. Part of the reason I have spent much time on the issue is because I have often heard the teaching that modern English Bible translations are theologically dangerous. I have had many charitable exchanges with friends who have argued that we should only use the King James Version, and my heart desires people to think biblically and accurately about Bible translations. Thus, I thought it would be helpful to list all of the posts I have written about the King James Version for easy accessibility. In light of this, the following posts deal with various issues pertaining to the King James Version and Bible translation in general. 1. Thou Shalt Not Only Use the King James Version This post acts as an introduction to the King James Version and briefly discusses why it is…
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The Received Text, the KJV, and Erasmus
We can’t talk about the KJV without talking about the Received Text (often called the Textus Receptus, or TR for short). The Received Text is the Greek text which underlies the KJV. It is called the Received Text because that was the phrase used in the introduction of the Elzevir brothers 2nd edition of their Greek New Testament in 1633. The phrase “Received Text” became a moniker to refer to the Greek text from Erasmus in 1516 on. This Greek text is largely different from the Greek text which underlies the modern versions (NASB, ESV, NIV, etc.). Why does that matter? Modern versions (NASB, ESV, NIV, etc) use a translation philosophy which is usually called an “eclectic approach,” This means they evaluate over 5,800 Greek manuscripts, looking at patterns, external and internal evidence, and thereby determining what the original Greek manuscript read. Some of these manuscripts that are utilized in the…
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Common Arguments from Those Who Hold to KJV Only
In the last two posts we have discussed some of the problems with holding to the KJV as the only translation that should be used today. The first post addressed the general background of the translators who worked on the KJV. The second post looked at differences between the 1611 KJV and the modern KJV. Today I want to address some of the common arguments that are used by those who hold to the KJV only position. 1. There has to be a Bible version that is completely inerrant, hence God gave us the KJV. There are multiple problems with this. First, is it true that God has to give us an inerrant translation? No, God never promised us an inerrant translation. He promises His Words are perfect and inerrant (which is in the form of the original text). However, saying that God has to now provide an inerrant translation…
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Thou Shalt Not Only Use the King James Version
My first Bible growing up was the King James version. I did not only use the KJV, but I memorized all my verses in the King James version and I learned much reading through its stories. Then, one day my parents got me the New King James version. It was a lot easier to read, and I memorized more verses. Years later, in high school I switched to the New American Standard Version. After college, I decided to make the switch to the English Standard Version. Thus, I have run the version gamut. In high school I first ran across people who said that you should only use the King James Version. This always struck me as a bit odd, but I better understand now where they were coming from. It is important to differentiate between two groups. First, there are people who only use the KJV because that is…