Looking For The Lamp
Dr. Charles A. Barrier
PREFACE
From the completion of the Authorized King James Bible (AKJB) in 1611 to around 1880, there was no question among the common man (Mark 12:37), in England or America, as to where God’s word was for the English speaking people. When asked, even the unregenerate English speaking man would quickly identify the Authorized King James Bible as God’s word. But, when the first modern English Bible translation was completed in 1885 (Revised Version), it began to cast doubt and create controversy and confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) about the once revered and respected Authorized King James Bible. Based on the research that I have conducted, and the information that I have gathered, it is this author’s sincere conviction that the Authorized King James Bible of 1611 is still God’s pure word perfectly preserved for the English speaking people. It is still THE LAMP (Psalm 119:105) that God wants us to use to light our path during these dark and dreary last days. I believe that the information contained within the pages of this booklet will clearly prove this to the honest reader who sincerely wants to know the truth about this issue.
With so many works that are already available on this subject, why produce another one? The answer is simple. Because of the enormous volume of in-formation that is available on this subject, even the most avid reader can quickly become overwhelmed and give up their search for the truth concerning God’s word and its location. The purpose of this booklet is not to offer new information or insight concerning this subject, but it is a simple and easy to understand summary of essential information that I have collected on this issue during my research. In other words, you get to eat the meal without spending all day in the kitchen cookin’! If you would like to do more research on this subject after you have read this booklet, there will be a recommended reading list in the back that will give you additional references, materials, and resources.
THE PROMISE THAT GOD WOULD PROVIDE HIS PERFECT WORD
First of all, God promised that He would provide His perfect word for us. See Psalm 12:6-7, Isaiah 40:8, and 1 Peter 1:23-25 in an AKJB. Now, there are several things that God cannot do. He cannot lie. See Num. 23:19 and Titus 1:2. And, He cannot break a promise. See 2 Cor. 1:20. Therefore if the Lord said that He would provide His perfect word for us, then we can be assured that He did!
THE PLAN FOR GOD’S PERFECT WORD
Not only did God promise that He would provide His perfect word for us, but He also expected us to do 7 things with it:
1. STUDY IT – 2 Timothy 2:15
2. BASE OUR FAITH ON IT – Romans 10:17
3. LIVE BY IT – Joshua 1:8, Luke 4:4
4. MEMORIZE IT – Psalm 119:11
5. OBTAIN SALVATION THROUGH IT – John 5:39, James 1:21, 1 Peter 1:23
6. READ IT – 1 Timothy 4:13
7. PREACH IT -2 Timothy 4:2
Now, if God promised to provide His perfect word for everyone, and told us that we are to study it, base our faith on it, live by it, memorize it, obtain salvation through it, read it, and preach it …WHERE IS IT? What is the best way to locate something? The best way to locate something is to first find out WHERE IT IS NOT. With that in mind, we will try to locate God’s word for the English speaking people by PROCESS OF ELIMINATION.
THE PROBLEMS WITH MODERN BIBLE TRANSLATIONS
The following section will provide a brief overview of some of the problems that I have discovered with a few of the most popular modern English Bible translations that are on the market today. We know that Proverbs 30:5 says, “Every word of God is pure…” Consequently, if we find any impurities in a modern English Bible translation, we can eliminate that translation from consideration as God’s word for the English speaking people. Please review the following information.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV) The owner of the copyright for the NIV is Rupert Murdock. Rupert Murdock is the largest producer of pornography in the United States. He also produced the hit TV shows The Simpsons and Married With Children. After interviewing Mr. Murdock for an article that was published in the New York Times, the journalist who wrote the article said that during the interview, “I felt like I was in a room with the Devil himself.” (referring to Mr. Murdock).
The head of the Old Testament revision committee was a man named Martin Woudstra. Mr. Woudstra was an open professing homosexual who often campaigned for gay rights. He died of AIDS later in life (Reported by Michael Penfold of England, UK, in November of 1997 on the website www.jesus-is-lord.com).
The head literary consultant for the New Testament revision committee was a woman named Virginia Mollenkott. Ms. Mollenkott was an open professing lesbian who campaigned for gay and lesbian rights (From the Episcopal magazine, Witness, June 1991, pp. 20-23).
The NW translation committee claims to have just removed the “archaic” “thee’s, thou’s, thy’s, and ye’s,” making the Bible easier to read. There are only 18,636 of these so-called “archaic” words in the Authorized King James Bible. If the NW translation committee only removed the “archaic” “thee’s, thou’s, thy’s, and ye’s,” why does the NIV have 64,576 less words than the Authorized King James Bible? Could it be that they removed more than just the “thee’s, thou’s, thy’s, and ye’s”? Let’s see.
The following is a list of some of the WORDS that the NIV translation committee left out of their so-called Bible, along with how many times they were removed: CHRIST x 25, LORD x 350, JESUS x 290, GOD x 460, LUCIFER REMOVED ENTIRELY, DEVIL x 80, HELL x 40, HEAVEN x 160, BLOOD x 41, SALVATION x 42, LORD JESUS CHRIST x 24, and DRAGON x 21.
The following is a list of some of the VERSES that were left out by the NIV translation committee: MATTHEW 17:21, 18:11, 23:14, MARK 7:16, 9:44, 9:46, 11:26, LUKE 17:36, 23:17, JOHN 5:4, ACTS 8:37, 15:34, 24:7, 28:29, ROMANS 16:24, and 1 JOHN 5:7. Also 1/2 OF MATTHEW 6:13 and 1/2 OF JOHN 6:69 are also missing.
There are also numerous DOCTRINAL PROBLEMS AND CONTRADICTIONS found within the pages of the NIV Bible. The NIV Bible has ELHANAN KILLING GOLIATH (INSTEAD OF DAVID) IN 2 SAMUEL 21:19, TEACHES BAPTISMAL REGENERATION IN ACTS 8:36-38, MAKES JOSEPH JESUS’ FATHER IN LUKE 2:43, REMOVES GRACE FROM ROMANS 16:24, REMOVES THE SALVATION OF THE THIEF IN LUKE 23:42, REMOVES PAUL’S SALVATION IN ACTS 9:6, and TEACHES CALVINISM THROUGHOUT.
Also, the primary manuscript from which the NN was translated, is the Catholic Dark Ages text of 1582 called the Rheims Text. Because this ridiculously corrupt manuscript was used, the NIV translators have had to make over 90,000 additional changes to the NIV Bible since it was first published in 1978! This is amazing considering the fact that when the NIV came out in 1978 the translation committee assured us that it was God’s perfect word!
NEW AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION (NASV)
The following quote is from the Director of the NASV translation committee, Dr. Frank Logsdon, who is a noted and highly respected scholar and teacher. After the completion of the NASV, Dr. Logsdon made the following statement: must under God renounce every attachment to the New American Standard Version… I am afraid I’m in trouble with the Lord… We laid the ground work; I wrote the format; I helped interview some of the translators; I sat with the translators; I wrote the preface… I’m in trouble; I can’t refute these arguments; it’s wrong, it’s terribly wrong; it’s frighteningly wrong… I wrote my dear friend, Mr. Lockman, explaining that I was forced to renounce all attachment to the NASV… the product is grievous to my heart…The deletions are absolutely frightening… there are so many… Are we so naive that we do not suspect Satanic deception in all of this?… I don’t want anything to do with it …You can say the Authorized Version (KJV) is absolutely correct. How correct? 100% correct… If you must stand against everyone else, stand.” New Age Bible Versions, G.A. Riplinger, 1993.
The following is a list of some of the WORDS that have been removed from the NASV bible: LORD x 400, HELL x 41, and HEAVEN x 127. This is just a small sample.
There are also numerous DOCTRINAL PROBLEMS AND CONTRADICTIONS found within the pages of the NASV Bible. The NASV REMOVES JESUS AS THE WAY OF SALVATION IN JOHN 6:47, REMOVES CHRIST AS THE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH IN PHILIPPIANS 4:13, and TURNS JESUS INTO THE “SERVANT” OF GOD INSTEAD OF THE “SON” OF GOD IN ACTS 3:13 AND 3:26, LINING UP WITH THE FALSE DOCTRINAL TEACHINGS OF THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES CONCERNING THE DEITY OF CHRIST!
When the NASV was first published, the NASV translation committee heralded it as “God’s perfect word:’ Yet, between 1995-1996 they made 6 revisions, 24,338 changes, and 6,966 new omissions.
New King James Version (NKJV)
When the NKJV first came out, it had a mysterious symbol stamped on it called the TRIQUETRA.
Many people believe that this is a symbol for the Holy Trinity, but this is false and much to the contrary! It is actually a witchcraft symbol used to represent the Pagan Trinity or Unholy Trinity, and is a number symbol representing an intertwined 666. This symbol was popularized in the early 1900’s by Satanist Aleister Crowley, and was used to represent the Royal Arch of Lucifer (Satan).
This same symbol appears on the cover of an album produced by the Satanic rock group Led Zepplin, as well as on the cover of the New Age Luciferian book called the The Aquarian Conspiracy.
It also appears on the hammer (Mjolnir) of the pagan god of thunder, Thor, in the movie Thor, produced by Paramount Pictures through Marvel Entertainment.
The NKJV bible has 19,755 fewer words than the Authorized King James Bible, again claiming to have only removed the “archaic” thee’s, thou’s, etc. See page 9, paragraph 3.
The following is a list of some of the WORDS that the NKJV translation committee has removed from their so-called Bible, along with how many times they were removed: LORD x 66, GOD x 51, HEAVEN x 50, REPENT x 44, BLOOD x 23, HELL x 22,
JEHOVAH HAS BEEN REMOVED ENTIRELY, THE PHRASE “NEW TESTAMENT” HAS BEEN REMOVED ENTIRELY, DAMNATION HAS BEEN REMOVED ENTIRELY, DEVILS HAS BEEN REMOVED ENTIRELY.
As with the other translations that have been covered, there are also numerous DOCTRINAL PROBLEMS AND CONTRADICTIONS found within the pages of the NKJV bible. One example is the ATTACK ON THE DEITY OF CHRIST in the following verses: MATTHEW 20:20, ACTS 3:13, ACTS 3:26, 4:27, and REVELATION 1:6. There are many more doctrinal problems and contradictions found in the NKJV bible, but at this juncture time and space will not permit them to be listed.
This concludes our brief overview of some of the problems that I have found with a few of the most popular modern English bible translations on the market today. You may be saying what about the Living Bible (which originally listed the curse word “S.O.B.” in 1 Samuel 20:30), Today’s NIV, Contemporary English Version, Etc.? There is not enough space to list all of the problems with all of the modern English bible translation on the market (there have been over 200).
You must simply trust me when I say that I have reviewed many of them, and what I have listed here is as good as it gets. Most of the rest are much worse than the NW, NASV, and NKJV. As I have stated before, Proverbs 30:5 says, “Every word of God is pure …” There is no question that all modern English bible translations contain gross impurities. With that said, by process of elimination we can safely remove all modern English bible translations from consideration as God’s perfect word for the English speaking people.
THE PROCLAMATION OF MODERN BIBLE SCHOLARS
When faced with these facts about the modern English bible translations that are on the market today, most modern Bible scholars will make this shocking proclamation “There is no perfect English Bible translation.” When asked where God’s perfect word is, they will immediately say “IN THE ORIGINALS;’ meaning the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts or autographs that were penned by the original writers.
Now, this is the point where the common man who has some common sense (something most Bible scholars are lacking) will stop, scratch his head, and say why would the Lord ask us to study, base our faith, live by, memorize, obtain salvation through, read, and preach His perfect, pure, preserved word, and then put it in languages (Hebrew and Greek) that less than 2% of the known world can read, write, or understand? The answer is simple … HE WOULDN’T! We serve a God that is not only big enough to create the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1), raise His Son from the dead (Matthew 28:6), and save our soul from hell (Romans 10:9), but He is also big enough to preserve and produce a copy of His perfect word in English for the English speaking people as well (Psalm 12:6-7).
Now, I want to give you some startling facts that modern Bible scholars do not want you to find out about their so-called “originals:’ First of all, not even Jesus read from the “originals” during His earthly ministry. In Luke 4:16-20 when Jesus went into the Synagogue at Nazareth, He read from the book of Isaiah. The original book of Isaiah was completed over 800 years (Ussher’s Chronology) before Christ even came to this earth, and by that time it was long gone. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was not reading from the “original,” He was reading from a perfect copy of the “original” preserved in His language! Now, let me ask you a question … do you think that our perfect Saviour, who is the living Word ( John 1:1-3), would have read Scripture from an imperfect copy of His very own words? Of course not! The same situation occurred with Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:26-35, when he also read from a perfect copy of the book of Isaiah preserved in his language.
Another thing that modern Bible scholars do not want you to know is that all of the “original” manuscripts or autographs from the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament had disappeared by the 3rd century A.D. The only manuscripts that existed after 300 A.D. were copies of the originals that had been made by the scribes of that day. No one has seen an “original” since that time, and anyone who says that they have seen, referenced, or read the “originals” is quite frankly a liar.
Once the modern Bible scholar is confronted with this information, he will make one more desperate attempt to hide the fact that the Authorized King James Bible is God’s perfect word for the English speaking people. He does this by admitting that you cannot get your hands on the “originals” anymore, but states that all modern English Bible translations (he is usually referring to the one that he uses, his school uses, or the one that he promotes) are superior to the Authorized King James Bible because they were translated out of the “OLDEST AND BEST MANUSCRIPTS OR COPIES.”
Now, that is what we call a half-truth which is still a lie! (see Genesis 20:1-12) All modern English Bible translations were translated out of the OLD-EST MANUSCRIPTS available, but they certainly were NOT THE BEST MANUSCRIPTS as you will see in the following information.
All English Bibles were translated out of one of two lines of manuscripts:
Now back to the corrupt Alexandrian line of manuscripts. There are three significant sets of manuscripts that later spun out of this corrupt Alexandrian line, and became the primary manuscripts that all modern English Bibles were and are translated from
THE ALEXANDRIAN MANUSCRIPT LINE
This is the line of manuscripts that modern Bible scholars call the “oldest and the best:’ They are the oldest available manuscripts based on carbon testing and other testing methods, but there is a very good reason for that. The reason these manuscripts are the oldest available manuscripts to date is because the early church knew they had been translated, tampered with, and corrupted by Egyptian mystics, philosophers, and agnostics in Alexandria, Egypt. The early church fathers refused to use these manuscripts; because of this, they were eventually “shelved” and suffered little to no wear because of their lack of use. Many years later, they were rediscovered, and labeled as the “oldest” available manuscripts and therefore the “best” manuscripts to translate a Bible from.
An interesting side note to this is that all references to Alexandria, Egypt in the Bible are negative. It was such a wicked place that God would not allow Joseph’s bones to remain there after he had died. See Exodus 13:18-19.
THE SINIATICUS TEXT
This corrupt “masterpiece” was discovered in 1844 by a trapist monk named Tishendorf. He found it in a trash heap on Mount Sinai near his monastery. Each page had corrections made by at least 10 different people resulting in over 12,000 changes, revisions, and omissions.
THE VATICANUS TEXT
This “jewel” was found in 1481, and is now kept at the Vatican Library in Rome. It was missing Genesis 1:1-46:28, Psalms 106-138, Romans through Philemon, 4 chapters of the book of Hebrews, and all of Revelation. Yet it is still heralded as an “oldest and BEST” manuscript!
THE WESTCOTT AND HORT TEXT
This text was translated and compiled from the above mentioned manuscripts, along with other corrupt manuscripts, by two men… Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton A.J. Hort. These men were drunkards, heretics, necromancers, and members of a secret Luciferian society called the Ghostly Guild.
When you hear some Bible scholar or preacher reference the so-called “originals,” they are usually referring to the above mentioned manuscripts, or Hebrew and Greek texts such as Adolph’s Text, Nestles Text, Aland’s Text, or Metzger’s Text (all of which had 80-800 changes made to them after they were put in print), all prepared by using the corrupt manuscripts mentioned above.
THE ANTIOCH MANUSCRIPT LINE
There is only one English Bible on the market today that comes from this pure line of manuscripts, and it is the Authorized King James Bible. All references in the Bible to Antioch are positive! It is where the disciples were first called Christians. It was the origin of most of the missionary support and efforts of the early church. And, there were few mystics, philosophers, or agnostics in that area to influence these manuscripts.
There are 2 sets of pure manuscripts that came out of the Antioch line. These 2 sets of manuscripts are NOT THE OLDEST MANUSCRIPTS available, but they are without a doubt the BEST MANUSCRIPTS! Before I introduce you to these manuscripts, let me first tell you why they are not as old as the corrupt ones that we have listed. They are not as old because they were used so much by the early church fathers that they wore out very quickly, and had to be replaced over and over again. This is why none of these manuscripts date back as far as the corrupt ones. With that in mind, let’s look at the two sets of manuscripts from Antioch that were used and considered to be pure by the early church.
THE MASORETIC TEXT
This is the OLD TESTAMENT HEBREW TEXT that is still recognized by all Orthodox Jews as God’s perfect word for the Old Testament books of Genesis through Malachi. It was the primary Hebrew manuscript used to translate the Old Testament for the Authorized King James Bible. It is also known as the Jacob ben Chayyim Hebrew text.
THE TEXTUS RECEPTUS
This is the NEW TESTAMENT GREEK TEXT that was also known as the Greek Syriac Byzantine Type Text Of Lucias Of Antioch, the Received Text, and the Majority Text. And, rightfully so, as it was recognized to be pure, and received and used by the majority of the Greek speaking churches during the early church period. It was the primary Greek manuscript used to translate the New Testament for the Authorized King James Bible.
When the translation work for the Authorized King James Bible was being done, all available manuscripts …both pure and corrupt … were reviewed. The ones that were deemed corrupt were discarded, while the ones that were deemed pure were used. Modern translation committees took the exact opposite approach. They discarded the pure manuscripts, and used almost exclusively the corrupt ones!
THE PRESERVATION OF GOD’S PERFECT WORD
The question often arises as to how God can use the hands of sinful and imperfect men (Romans 3:23) to produce a perfect copy of His word (Proverbs 30:5), and then pass it down through 1,000’s of years to you and I without error. In His foreknowledge, the Lord knew that this question would be asked, so He left us the exact plan, pattern, and procedure that He used to produce and preserve His pure and perfect word for you and I in our language.
Using the greatest chapter in the Bible on the preservation of scripture, Jeremiah chapter 36, we will see just how the Lord accomplished such an amazing feat. Note the following easy to understand outline on the preservation of scripture taken from Jeremiah 36:1-32.
INSPIRATION
2 Timothy 3:16: ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God…”
Inspiration is defined as the infusion of thoughts, words, and ideas into the mind of man through Di-vine communication (American Dictionary Of The English Language, Noah Webster, 1828). It is often referred to as “the breath of God” or “God-breathed” in relation to Scripture. In other words, for the Scriptures to be called God’s Word, it had to come from God Himself. And, by inspiration, it did! You can see this clearly in Jeremiah chapter 36.
Jeremiah 36:1: “…this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD…”
TRANSLATION
The act of transferring God’s inspired word from one source (in this case the mind of Jeremiah) to another source is called “translation”. There are 3 things needed to make this happen:
PROCLAMATION
Jeremiah 36:2: “Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee …”
For the Lord to approve of a translation of any kind, He has to call for it Himself. Also, when the translation is complete, it must contain ALL of the inspired words that He relayed to the original hearer! Do you think that the Lord would call for a translation that leaves out or removes His words? Of course not!
PENMAN
God then selects someone to do the translating, and in this case it was a man by the name of Baruch.
Jeremiah 36:4: “Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.”
PROCEDURE
God had a specific way that He wanted His words recorded by the penman.
Jeremiah 36:18: “Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”
That was the procedure then, and that is the procedure still today. When you read your Authorized King James Bible, you are reading God’s words written (or printed) with ink in a book!
This was the process used to bring about what we would call the “original autograph”, which all Bible scholars agree was inspired.
DESTRUCTION
Jeremiah 36:23: “And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three of four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire …”
The “original’ was completely destroyed! This brings up two very interesting thoughts:
FALSE CLAIMS
When your favorite Bible teacher is taking you through a wonderful study on the book of Jeremiah, and he stops to say “here, the original says” or “here, the original means”, what is he referring to? It can’t be the original autograph of Jeremiah as Jeremiah himself did not have the “original” within a year after he wrote it (Ussher’s Chronology)!
FINAL AUTHORITY
If only the “original” was inspired, as many Bible scholars claim, then do we have an uninspired and unreliable version of the book of Jeremiah today? Did Christ use an uninspired and unreliable version of the book of Jeremiah in His day? And if so, why didn’t Christ say “in the original book of Jeremiah, it said…”? Do we have an impotent God that is so limited that He cannot keep His promise to provide for us a perfect copy of His inspired word?
PRESERVATION
Thankfully, we have a God that is bigger than any “original” and that is powerful enough to keep all of his promises, including the one He made to preserve His perfect word for you and I!
Note in the last 6 verses of Jeremiah chapter 36 how quickly, easily, and clearly the Lord settles the three most hotly debated issues regarding the preservation and inspiration of His word.
DIVINE INSPIRATION
When I make the claim that my Authorized King James Bible is the “inspired” word of God, as stated before, many “scholars” say that only the “original autograph” was inspired. And, for the Authorized King James Bible to be inspired there would have to be a double or second inspiration which cannot be found in the Bible. Really? If God only inspired that first “original autograph”, then how do you explain Jeremiah 36:27?
Jeremiah 36:27: “Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll [the original] …”
If that is not inspiration, then I don’t know what is! Someone once asked me, “Do you believe that the translators of the Authorized King James Bible were inspired when they translated God’s word from Hebrew and Greek into English?” To answer that question, I asked this question, “Do you believe that Luke was inspired when he translated Joel 2:28-32 from Hebrew to Greek in Acts 2:16-21, or was that part of the original autograph for the book of Acts uninspired?”
I will tell this little known story about the translators of the Authorized King James Bible and let you decide for yourself if they were “inspired” when they were doing their translation work. When the translators came to 1 John 2:23, they originally translated it… “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father…”
After passing the translation through the six separate groups, all agreed that something was missing. They all agreed to pray about the verse for a few days and come back together with their thoughts. When they came back together, they agreed to translate it…
1 John 2:23: “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.”
The last 10 words were placed in italics because they did not appear in the Greek manuscripts that they had at that time. But, they all felt strongly that the Lord would have them word the verse as such. Over 200 years later, archeologists discovered ancient Greek manuscripts that contained the last half of verse 23 exactly as the translators had worded it! Now, you tell me if they were inspired!
DIVINE PRESERVATION
Because of the inspiration, there was a definite preservation of God’s word and not one word was lost!
Jeremiah 36:32: “Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire …”
DIVINE ADDITION
Jeremiah 36:32: “…and there were added be-sides unto them many like words.”
These “like words” were not in the “original”, but were just as inspired and just as much a part of God’s word as what was written in the “original”! God used the translators of the Authorized King James Bible to add many “like words” in italics for clarity while translating from other languages. These italicized words are inspired and are to be considered God’s Words.
THE PURIFICATION OF GOD’S PERFECT WORD
Psalm 12:6 says “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times:’ This is very important because the Authorized King James Bible is the only English translation that went through a 7
FOLD PURIFICATION PROCESS as described in Psalm 12:6. Note the seven sets of seven associated only with the AKJB:
1. IT TOOK 7 YEARS TO COMPLETE
It was commissioned in 1603, but the translation of the Authorized King James Bible officially began in 1604 and was completed in 1611.
2. IT WAS THE 7TH COMPLETE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
1. WYCLIFFE – 1380
2. COVERDALE – 1535
3. MATTHEWS – 1537
4. GREAT – 1539
5. GENEVA – 1560
6. BISHOPS – 1568
7. KING JAMES – 1611
It would do us well to stop at this juncture and address a question that often arises when dealing with this issue. The question that I am referring to is this …WHY WERE NONE OF THE OTHER ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS PERFECT? The answer again is simple. English was not an established ancient language like Hebrew, Greek, Old Latin, etc. English started as a culmination of several different languages such as Anglo, Saxon, Celtic, German, Vandal, and Goth to name a few. This mixture of people began to form a common written and spoken language between 700-900 A.D. in the area now known as England. By the early 1300’s, they had developed enough of a written language to produce a Bible (Wycliffe) in the raw and somewhat primitive English tongue of that time. Because the English language was incomplete and still evolving, there was not an English equivalent for all of the Hebrew, Greek, and Old Latin words found in the available manuscripts. This left some major gaps in Wycliffe’s translation of 1380. As the written English language continued to evolve, the most current edition of the English Bible was retranslated in an attempt to fill these gaps with the newly formed and developed English words which met the requirements of the manuscripts. By the Elizabethan period of the late 1500’s to early 1600’s, the written English language had fully evolved to its purest and finest form. Any so-called advancement, updates, or changes to the written English language from that point forward were considered to be destructive and degrading, and were called slang. That is why most court documents are still written in Elizabethan English today. That form of the written English language is so pure and perfect that it cannot be misinterpreted by anyone! It was during this Elizabethan period that God burdened the heart of King James I to put together the 7th and final English translation committee, that…there should be one more exact Translation of the holy Scriptures into the English tongue,” as stated by the translators in The Epistle Dedicatory found in the front of many Authorized King James Bibles. Literary experts agree that it is impossible to write any form of English purer than that of the Elizabethan period.
3. BIBLES FROM 7 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES WERE REVIEWED BY THE TRANSLATION COMMITTEE
1. HEBREW
2. ARAMAIC
3. GREEK
4. SYRIAC
5. OLD LATIN
6. GERMAN
7. ENGLISH
4. THERE WERE 7 REVISIONS OF SPELLING, PUNCTUATION, AND CAPITALIZATIONS ERRORS
These errors were made by the type setters and printers, not the translators. The revisions never involved alterations of the text, but simply corrected the errors that were made. These revisions occurred in the following years:
1. 1611
2. 1613
3. 1644
4. 1676
5. 1680
6. 1701
7. 1769
5. THERE WERE 7 ELEMENTS ADDRESSED BY THE TRANSLATING COMMITTEE
1. METER
2. ALLITERATION
3. BREVITY
4. CONTINUITY
5. VOCABULARY
6. VIEW OF HEBREW/GREEK
7. SYNCHRONIZATION OF SOUNDS
The last revision took place between 1767 and 1769 under the leadership of Dr. Benjamin Blaney of Oxford University. He collated editions of the Authorized King James bible from 1611,1638,1701 and 1762, and then carefully compared them while looking for spelling, punctuation, capitalization and grammatical errors. He made the necessary corrections, and published it as the Clarendon Edition through Oxford University Press in 1769. This edition was adopted by Cambridge University Press in the late 1800’s when editors at Oxford began introducing small but significant changes to the text of the 1769 edition. This edition is regarded as equivalent to the edition of 1611, has been used for over 200 years as the standard text for all genuine Authorized King James Bibles, and is considered to he free of any spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or grammatical errors.
6.THERE WAS A 7 FOLD APPROVAL PROCESS USED BY THE TRANSLATING COMMITTEE TO APPROVE EACH SECTION
7. THERE WERE 7 PERSONAL METHODS OBSERVED BY EACH TRANSLATOR
1. FEAR OF THE LORD
2. HUMILITY
3. BELIEF IN GOD’S WORD
4. CONSTANT PRAYER
5. OBEDIENCE TO SCRIPTURE
6. MEDITATION ON GOD’S WORD
7. REPEATED READING OF SCRIPTURES
THE PUNISHMENT OF THOSE WHO TAMPER WITH GOD’S PERFECT WORD
THE JUDGMENT
Please look up the following verses that warn against correcting, attacking, or tampering with God’s perfect word. See Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32, Proverbs 30:6, Joshua 1:7, and Revelation 22:18-19.
THE JUDGED
In essence, when you correct, attack, or tamper with the perfect word of God, what you are doing is calling God a liar. Please read the following solemn warnings found in the Bible. Look up Psalm 12:3-4, 31:18. Now, consider the following cases:
In 1977, Time Magazine recorded Kenneth Taylor, chairman and producer of the corrupt Living Bible, as stating that he lost his voice for “tampering with the word of God.”
According to his son David Shaft, Philip Shaft who was the director of the revision committee for the American Standard Version of 1901, permanently lost his voice after finishing the translation work.
S.P. Tregellwier, director of the corrupt New Greek Testament revision committee, permanently lost his voice after finishing his translation work.
Brooke Foss Wescott, co-director of the corrupt Wescott and Hort Greek Text used by most modern Bible translation committees, permanently lost his voice in 1878.
Edwin H. Palmer, Executive Secretary of the New International Version revision committee, suddenly dropped dead after making derogatory comments about the Authorized King James Bible.
After years of trying to destroy the credibility of the Authorized King James Bible, Truman Dollar took a gun, went into a graveyard, and killed him-self.
J.P. Philips, who served on several modern Bible translation committees, was unable to speak or write after 1961 at age 55.
When Don Wilkins, head of the New King James Version revision committee, was being interviewed on live TV, he was asked if he thought that God would curse him for messing with the Authorized King James Bible. He opened his mouth to respond, and suddenly became choked and could not speak audibly. After going to commercial, he came back and laughed it off as nothing more than a co-incidence.
THE PERFECTION OF GOD’S PERFECT WORD
The following represents some statistical phenomena associated only with the Authorized King James Bible. What you are about to read simply could not have been accomplished by the design of man alone. Truly, God had His hand on this one English Bible…the Authorized King James Bible of 1611!
There are 31,102 total verses in the Authorized King James Bible. When you add 3+1+1+0+2, you get 7! The number 7 is the number of perfection of completion!
Psalm 118 is the middle chapter in the Authorized King James Bible. There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118 and 594 chapters after Psalm 118. When you add 594+594, you get 1188. The middle verse in the Authorized King James Bible is Psalm 118:8 (1188!) There are 14 words (2X7) in Psalm 118:8, with the middle two words in the verse being …THE LORD. That makes THE LORD the center of the Authorized King James Bible! No modern Bible English Bible translation can claim that!
CONCLUSION
If you are looking for THE LAMP (Psalm 119:105) that God wants you to use to light your path during these dark last days, it is lit and shining brightly for the English speaking people, and it is the Authorized King James Bible!
The most important thing for you to know is not the information written in this booklet. The most important thing for you to know is that your sins are forgiven and that your soul is saved from hell. There is only one way for that to happen, and that is through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12), acknowledge that you are a sinner (Romans 3:23), turn from your sins (Luke 13:3), and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you and save your soul from hell (Romans 10:9 and 13). Have you ever asked Jesus Christ to forgive you and save your soul from hell? If you haven’t, do it right now before it is too late (Proverbs 27:1).
The above article, “Looking For The Lamp” was written by Dr. Charles A. Barrier. The article was excerpted from www.localchurchbiblepublishers.com
The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.
This article may not be written by an Apostolic author, but it contains many excellent principles and concepts that can be adapted to most churches. As the old saying goes, “Eat the meat. Throw away the bones.”
