The
KJV Verses KJV Onlyism
Was
the KJV Attacked First?
October 20, 2003
Some
KJV Onlyists twist the rejection of, or at least the disdain
for, the Textus Receptus in the late 19th century as being
some sort of an "attack" on the KJV, when, in
reality, it was no such thing. KJV Onlyists are simply expressing
sour grapes that their favored text, the TR, was at long
last dethroned.
KJV
Onlyists, who are often in a state of paranoid delusion,
construe anything and everything to be "anti KJV"
and will not hesitate to connect it to conspiratorial plots.
Lest the reader think I am exaggerating, witness a section
from a KJV
Onlyist's web page, in which mention of a "secret
war" in regards to the KJV is being made:
There
is a war being fought today inside the Church. It is a
secret war[xxviii]; a war fought behind seminary walls
and the doors of book publishers and in the libraries
of ministers. It is a war that Satan wants to keep in
the shadows until it is too late, and Satan is using his
tremendous power for deceiving subtlety as his primary
weapon. This is a war to disarm the Church. It is a war
of misinformation, distortion and lies
For
the historical nature of this war see the classic work
by David Otis Fuller, Which Bible, Institute For Biblical
Textual Studies, Grand Rapids, MI, 1995. For the spiritual
nature of the conflict see Gail Riplinger's, New Age Versions,
AV Publications, 1993.
KJV
Onlyists have been known to provide quotes from those contemporaries
of Westcott and Hort who heaped scorn upon the Textus Receptus.
(Never mind that the KJV and the TR are not exactly the
same thing anyway, as they do not agree completely, so what
does this matter?)
I cannot
help but note that it does not trouble these particular
KJV Onlyists that their favorite KJV Onlyist authors heap
scorn and derision upon contemporary texts, such as the
UBS-NA. How many of them send e-mails to Peter Ruckman et
al asking them to stop such unbecoming mud slinging?
Biblical
scholars Westcott and Hort's new ideas and views of textual
criticism methods, and the new discoveries of ancient biblical
mansucripts, are what led to the secondary position of the
TR in the late 19th century.
The
KJV Onlyist would have you believe that this disfavor of
the Textus Receptus was done out of hate for the KJV, as
some sort of anti- KJV vendetta, or else some Satanic, New
Age, Roman Catholic plot to eradicate the world of the KJV.
I am
willing to theorize that there was no formal, organized
body of "anti KJV" people distributing anti KJV
tracts and information in the 19th century.
I know
that some KJV Onlyists would be quick to find an isolated
quote here or there containing a negative comment about
the KJV from a 19th century person (probably a scholar or
theologian), if such exists, but these would not necessarily
constitute an "anti KJV" movement, but only the
ramblings of one or two malcontents.
Citing
things like
the
knee-jerk panic of some 19th century KJV users (usually
preachers) to the new texts and textual critcism methods
of their time and
the
in-house debates of scholars who may have pronounced the
TR garbage in the journals made for their peers
won't cut it.
The
question is, were the TR detractors seeking to popularize
anti KJV feelings? Was it their honest- to- goodness goal
to convince the layman in the church pew to stop using his
KJV? The answer is "no."
If
it could be shown there was a consistent, large scale, well
organized effort to intentionally dissuade everyday Christians
from using the KJV, the KJV Onlyist may have more of a case.
One
way to determine if it was the goal to rid American society
of the KJV would be to find out if there was a plethora
of tracts and pamphlets printed for precisely that purpose
to distribute to the general public.
But,
I suspect, if people of the late 19th century had computers
and the web, one would not find any massive amount of anti-
KJV grumblings or even anti- KJV books being sold on amazon.com.
There most likely would not have been tens to hundreds of
"anti KJV" chat rooms and discussion boards.
Even
if one could find mass marketed literature of the period
encouraging others to use a version besides the KJV, one
would have to take the motive and the tone of it into account.
For
example, was that literature (if it exists) simply arguing
that "xyz" version was more reliable and accurate
than the KJV, or was it tainted in rhetoric such as "Throw
away your ungodly KJVs because they are Satan's doings?"
Further,
some KJV Onlyists operate under a faulty assumption that
any sort of criticism of the KJV, no matter its
motive, merit and truthfulness, is bad.
They
do so because they
are not willing to admit that the KJV is not exempt from
the same shortcomings and issues that all other Bible versions
have and will always continue to have.
Any
"anti KJV" comments they would submit as proof
of a wide scale anti- KJV movement of days past (or even
of today), therefore, are highly suspect, as they would
no doubt feel that legitimate comments such as,
"The translational choice of the word 'Easter' in the
KJV is a mistake or at least sloppy and inaccurate, as it
should properly be rendered 'Passover'"
would
be regarded by them as "anti KJV" or as an "attack"
on the KJV.
It is
important to realize that KJV Onlyists consider any attack
on "the Bible" to mean an attack on only the
KJV.
Therefore,
some of them would not hesitate to find statements by 19th
century atheists (or liberal scholars or whomever) who scoff
at the Bible to mean that such an atheist had in mind only
the KJV.
The
KJV Onlyist would cite such a comment as though such an
atheist (or liberal scholar) would be any happier with a
modern day version, which we know they would not, as all
versions contain the things they reject: episodes of supernatural
occurrence (e.g., the virgin birth, Jesus' resurrection).
Placing
Blame Where it Belongs: The KJV Onlyists Began the Attacks
on the Bible
The
KJV Onlyists started the attacks against the Bible by trying
to convince your average "Joe Blow" Christian
that there is something terribly amiss about his Bible version
and that only the KJV can be trusted.
The
KJV Onlyists were the ones who began trying to push their
version opinions on the masses by printing numerous books
and tracts and by posting anti- modern version information
on the web, all for the express purpose of getting Christians
to doubt, and to stop using, modern versions.
They
are the ones who limit their church memberships and fellowship
to people who use only the KJV.
These
days, KJV Onlyists have taken to attacking the biblical
autographa. To read more about this frightening trend, please
read KJV
Onlyists Attacking the Biblical Autographa
