One
of the worst attacks on the Bible made by increasing numbers
of KJV Onlyists has to be their penchant for ridiculing
and flat-out denying the importance of the biblical Autographa.
(Not
that this is totally without precedent; well-known KJV Onlyist
Peter Ruckman has taken swipes at the Autographa by way
of its original lanaguages, in that he suggests that the
KJV can "correct" the underlying manuscripts.)
Within
the in-house Christian Bible versions debate, the KJV Onlyists
are definitely the first to degrade the Autographa. I have
as yet to see a sincere, conservative modern version using
Christian make light of the autographa, from which all Bible
versions derive, including the KJV.
It
is not enough for the KJV Onlyists to insult the NIV or
NKJV and other representations of God's Holy Word, which
they do on a routine basis. They go further to attack
the very foundation of our Scriptures.
In
what seems to me a new trend among KJV Onlyists is that
of referring to those who rightly defend the concept of
absolute, complete inerrancy belonging to the Autographa
alone as being "Autograph Onlyists" or "Original
Onlyists." One such example can be read on the KJV
Onlyist web page "Inspiration:
True or False."
As a
brief aside, the author of the "Inspiration: True or
False" page states:
He has
created a false dichotomy. The Bible he 'holds in his hand'
can be considered 'inspired' to the degree that it faithfully
reproduces what the Holy Spirit first and directly inspired
the initial writers of Scripture to say.
His
King James Version did not drift down from heaven by way
of golden wings; it had to undergo a creation at the hands
of fallible men, as have all other Bible versions.
I suppose
that the term "Original Onlyists" is a tautology,
so that this phrase may be technically true, but when one
reflects upon why and how
the KJV Onlylists are using this term, one should be
alarmed by it.
The
KJV Onlyists are having to downplay the traditional, correct
undertanding of biblical inerrancy and the importance
of the Autographa in order to defend their false KJV Only
teaching.
It
is goes from beyond amazing to revolting that a
group of people would undermine the Scriptures that they
claim to love so dearly all in order to uphold
their favorite Bible version. The integrity of, and true
history behind, the Scriptures takes a back seat to a pet
version of 17th century Anglican origins. Incredible.
I recognize
that it is a possibility that KJV Onlyists do this sort
of thing beause they are uneasy with the reality of the
situation: the Autographa no longer exist, and all we have
are imperfect copies of them, resulting in imperfect versions.
They
realize, I think, that to leave KJV Onlyism is to leave
a biblical security blanket. KJV Onlyism must be comforting
to them, since it fills their obsessive need to believe
that a version, the KJV, is a carbon copy of the very set
of Autographa that we no longer have and which they seem
to detest. In a way, then, I do feel somewhat sorry for
them.
However,
my disgust over the KJV Onlyist dismissal or denial concerning
God's work as accomplished with the Autographa, and the
damage these views ultimately do to the Bible, overrides
any such sympathy.
Leave
it to a KJV Onlyist to downgrade and ridicule the very documents,
the only documents, that God Himself wrote directly and
which made the KJV possible, let alone all other versions.
