Which Bible is the Word of God
©2000 by James M. Frye
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: All scripture
quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Bible. Any
deviations are not intentional. All underlines, bold and items
within parentheses are the author's. _______ Introduction There are many different
"Bible" versions today claiming to be the Word of God.
Each one tells us that it is the most reliable, most
accurate, etc. etc.. But which of them is God’s Word? Since
they all disagree with one another, we can’t possibly say
that they all are. Can we? Are we to suppose that God has written
more than one Bible and that he makes statements in one and then
disagrees with himself in another? No, of course not. God only
wrote one Bible. How, then, do we go about
determining which "Bible" is the Bible? If we look to
human opinion for the answer, we will find nearly as many
opinions as we find people. One person will like one. Another
person will prefer another. Yet a third person will assure us
that it really doesn't matter, telling us that any of them will
do just fine. Since we aren’t interested in
human opinion here, we need to look to scripture for help in
resolving this issue. There are two questions that we will need
to consider. 1) Which is the correct text? 2) Which is the proper translation
of that text? In this booklet we will look to
scripture for help in answering these questions. The
Translation Question First, let's deal with the
translation question. There are two primary methods that are used
to translate scripture. 1) Formal
Equivalency 2) Dynamic
Equivalency The Formal Equivalency method
seeks to translate scripture literally (word for word). The
Dynamic Equivalency method seeks to translate scripture by
paraphrasing (put it into your own words). Which is the proper
translation method? Even apt translators using an
"inferior" method of translation, can only produce an
"inferior" translation. In order to determine the
proper method of translation, we must first understand the
doctrine of verbal inspiration.
The
Doctrine of Verbal Inspiration The Bible teaches that God worked
in such a way that the writers of scripture wrote exactly what He
wanted them to write. 2 Timothy
3:16 2 Peter
1:20-21 1
Corinthians 14:37
1
Thessalonians 2:13 We must also keep in mind that
this inspiration extended to the very words. 1
Corinthians 2:13
Exodus
24:4 Jeremiah
30:2 The
Translation Question Answered As I stated earlier, the Formal
Equivalency method seeks to translate scripture literally (word
for word) while the Dynamic Equivalency method seeks to translate
scripture by paraphrasing (put it into your own words). Which is
the proper translation method? The Doctrine of Verbal
Inspiration taught us that God inspired the very words
of scripture. Since words were the unit
of inspiration, words should also be the
unit of translation. Let's see what God thinks about people
changing His words. Revelation
22:18-19 So we know that the Formal
Equivalency method is the proper method of translation. Translations produced by the
"inferior" Dynamic Equivalency method are
"inferior" translations. More than that, they are very
displeasing to God, who does not like his words to be changed. The
Textual Question Now, let's deal with the textual
question. When it comes to the Old Testament, virtually all
translations come from the same Masoretic Hebrew text (although
some versions alter this text in a number of places). When we come to the New Testament,
there are primarily two types of Greek texts that are used. #1) The Textus
Receptus #2) The Modern
Critical text Which of these texts is the
correct text? Even apt translators working from an
"inferior" text can only produce an
"inferior" translation. In order to determine which
text is the correct text, we must first understand the doctrine
of providential preservation. The
Doctrine of Providential Preservation The Bible not only teaches that
God inspired the words of scripture. It also
teaches that God would preserve the words of
scripture. Psalm
12:6-7 Matthew
24:35 1 Peter
1:23-25 Notice that God said that he would
preserve both his word and his words. God’s word
refers to the whole Bible. God’s words refer to
the individual words in the Bible. The
Textual Question Answered The doctrine of Providential
Preservation taught us that God would "Preserve" his words.
Since God promised to preserve his words, upon which of these
texts do we see the hand of God's Providential Preservation? 1) The Textus Receptus has been in
continuous use in the church from the earliest days until now. 2) The Modern Critical text is
based upon manuscripts which were lost to the church for a period
of over 1000 years. So we know from The Doctrine of
Providential Preservation that the Textus Receptus
is the correct text. Other
Reasons for Rejecting the Modern Critical Translations Not only does the Modern Critical
text show a lack of providential preservation, it also has other
problems as well. 1)
It is Based upon Only 1% of the Manuscript Evidence Here is the manuscript evidence.
These figures are from 1992 and may have changed slightly.
(Figures from "Defending The King James Bible" by D.A.
Waite page 56.) Manuscripts
Supporting the Textus Receptus and the KJV
Papyrus Fragments . 75
Uncials
……………. 258 Cursives
……….… 2741
Lectionaries ……..
2143
Total
……………...5217 Manuscripts
Supporting the Modern Critical Text and the New Versions
Papyrus Fragments . 13
Uncials
………………. 9
Cursives
……………. 23
Lectionaries
…………. 0
Total
………………… 45 The
Final Score is: KJV - 5217 -vs-
NIV - 45 KJV - 99% -vs-
NIV - 1% Why would anyone want a
translation that is supported by only 1% of the manuscript
evidence, when they can have a one that is supported by 99% of
the manuscript evidence? 2)
The Corrupt Nature of the Manuscripts Upon Which it is Based The Modern Critical text is based
primarily upon two manuscripts. These manuscripts are often
referred to, in the footnotes of modern translations, as "the
oldest and best". The two so-called
"oldest and best" manuscripts are Codex Vaticanus (B)
and Herman C. Hoskier, who collated
these two manuscripts, gives 924 pages of documentation in
"Codex B and It's Allies, A Study and An Indictment"
that these two manuscripts are two of the most corrupt
manuscripts on the face of the earth. Aleph and B disagree
with each other in over 3,000 places in the 4 gospels alone! What
do others who have examined these manuscripts have to say about
them? Dr. Scrivener writes of
Sinaiticus (Aleph): "The Codex is covered with
such alterations – i.e., alterations of an obviously
correctional character - brought in by at least ten
different revisers, some of them systematically spread over every
page..." Dean J. W. Burgon writes of
Sinaiticus (Aleph): "On many occasions 10, 20,
30, 40 words are dropped through very carelessness. Letters and
words, even whole sentences, are written twice over, or begun and
immediately cancelled; whereby a clause is omitted because it
happens to end in the same words as the clause preceding, occurs
no less than 115 times in the New Testament." Dr. Scrivener (citing Dr.
Dobbin) writes of Vaticanus (B): "He calculates that Codex B
leaves out words or whole clauses no less than 330 times
in Mathew, 365 in Mark, 439 in Luke, 357 in John, 384 in the
Acts, 681 in the surviving Epistles; or 2,556 in all." Dean J.W. Burgon writes of
Vaticanus (B): "Matthew 21:4, five words
written twice over; Matthew 26:56-57, six words; Luke 1:37, three
words or one line; John 17:18, six words. These however, are but
a few of many." (Quotes taken from "Final
Authority" by William P. Grady pages 103-105.) These are the so-called
"oldest and best" manuscripts. They are not worth the
paper that they are written on. Putting
It All Together In the beginning of this booklet
we set out to answer two questions. 1) Which is the correct text? 2) Which is the proper
translation of that text? After looking to scripture for the
answer to these questions we have learned the following: 1) We know from the
doctrine of Providential Preservation that the Textus
Receptus is the correct text. The following translations are not
based on the Textus Receptus. They come from the
incorrect Modern Critical text and should, therefore, be
rejected. Examples
of Modern Critical Translations. The New International Version
(NIV) Today’s English Version (TEV) The New Living Translation (NLT) The Contemporary English Version
(CEV) The New American Standard Version
(NASV) The New Revised Standard Version
(NRSV) 2) We know from the
doctrine of Verbal Inspiration that the Formal
Equivalency method is the proper translation
method. The following translations are not
translated according to the Formal Equivalency method.
They are translated by the incorrect Dynamic Equivalency method
and should, therefore, be rejected. Examples
of Dynamic Equivalent Translations The New International Version
(NIV) Today’s English Version (TEV) The New Living Translation (NLT) The Contemporary English Version
(CEV) Of all the "Bibles" that
are readily available today, there is only one that comes from
the Textus Receptus and is translated according to the Formal
Equivalency method - the Authorized Version (KJV). The New King James Version (NKJV),
although it claims to be a "Formal Equivalent"
translation, contains many (over 2000) instances of "Dynamic
Equivalency". In the preface, (the NKJV) claims to be
essentially the same as The Authorized King James Version (KJV)
except that the language has been updated. Instead, it has
thousands of changes that have nothing to do with updating the
language at all. Where the language is updated, it is often
updated incorrectly or in ways that change the entire meaning of
a passage. In this booklet we made a
distinction between the word of God,
and the words of God. God’s word
refers to the whole Bible. God’s words refer to
the individual words in the Bible. Many modern
translations today, although they may contain some of the words
of God, are not the word of God
(in its entirety). Since they are based upon corrupt manuscripts
and/or incorrect translation methods, many of God’s words
have been changed, removed, or added to. These
"Bibles" are not the word of God! God’s
true word (Bible) contains all of God’s words. Luke 4:4 If you would like to have a Bible
that contains all of the words of God, get a copy
of the Authorized Version (KJV). It is the word of
God!
Amen!
Codex Sinaiticus (Aleph).
| This is a Grace Bible Church Publication - James M. Frye and the Grace Bible Church has a great desire to see that these false teachings are exposed and refuted by the Word of God. It is their desire to produce materials that may be placed in the hands of God’s people — to enable them to share the truth with those who have been misled by false doctrine. |