False Accusations against the KJV.

Recently I unexpectedly found myself in the midst of a King James Version discussion with several college to young adult age people. I have pounded the subject out many times both in writing and verbally and have no desire to continue doing so, BUT the issue keeps resurfacing and is very important, so alas I do find myself in the battle often and rightly so.

There were some interesting arguments made against the King James Version that I found concerning, not only because I disagree with them, but because they are circulated in error (be that malicious intent or simple ignorance, the cause is irrelevant as the effect is the same.)

Here are the main arguments against the KJV per the discussion I was involved in.

1. “If you are for the KJV you are a heretical KJV-only person and hold to the 1611.” 

2. “The KJV is too hard to understand for the average 21st century American.” 

3. “The KJV’s language (thees and thous) is outdated.”  

4. “The KJV  English is Shakespearean.”

5. “The KJV mistranslated the Greek on many occasions and is therefore inferior to other versions.” 

I wish I could say I had never heard these accusations, but they are unfortunately par for the course. I may be accused of being a tad cynical, but I submit these arguments to be petty, ignorant and false. I don’t mean to insinuate the arguer is stupid or evil, they are most likely sincere but greatly misinformed or uniformed. Ignorance per se is not a malicious term for an uninformed person. Please understand I am not attempting to berate or degrade someone who uses such arguments. I am sincerely a bit disappointed with the professor or “cemetery” that taught them the arguments.

Here is my hopefully gentle and gently perceived response to the arguments:

1. Such a statement is quite unfair and makes a severe polarization. It is quite possible to be pro-KJV without holding to a KJVO position. The difference in the positions is vast and distinct. To sweep them into a singular position is ignorant and deceiving. Sadly it is a regularly employed tactic used by the Wescott / Hort camp most notably in the epic Wescott Hort manifesto “From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man“: that book was the most influential and distorting work of our lifetime.

2. The KJV is rated on a 5th or 6th grade reading level, depending on the child’s pre-education grasp of vocabulary. Great works are never thrown out due to the reader’s lack of education or skill. This is either a testament to the United States’ ever declining literacy rate and the failure of the Public Education System. How can the KJV be considered faulty based on men’s failure to read?

3. The language, specifically “Thees and Thous” are specific pronouns lost in modern vernacular. To erase them is to lose great portions of meaning and specificity.

4. William Shakespeare had no influence on the KJV and preferred the Geneva Bible. The English in the KJV is actually called Elizabethan English and is classified by English  scholars and experts as MODERN ENGLISH. That is quite a shock to most, but 100 percent true.

5. (This one rubs raw a personal peeve of mine.) There are two Greek texts. Sadly, most Bible students are taught that the KJV mistranslated the Greek in many places. Such is the teaching of Doctrines classes in most Christian universities; BJU is certainly no exception. However, propagators of this error fail to mention the existence of two very different texts: The liberal, heritically influenced, unreliable and man-made text known as the Critical Text or as the Wescott Hort camp refers to as “the Alexandrian Text” and the providentially preserved, accurate, trusted, proven text, the Byzantine Text, or as the WH camp hates to call it, the Received Text or Textus Receptus.

So in light of that rarely mentioned fact, the KJV does not line up with the Wescott Hort / Critical Text; and thank the LORD! It instead lines up perfectly with the Textus Receptus. So in stead of admitting the KJV lines up with the TR, Wescott Hort supporters say the KJV mistranslates the Greek (their beloved Critical Text.) I do not make accusations lightly but that is deceptive and a lie. Now many who repeat those false teachings have no idea what they are truly saying so I give them benefit of the doubt and am careful not to throw accusations around at them, but Bible teachers and scholars and cemetery professors should know better and at least be fair and tell the whole story.

My conclusion is simple: No attempt of man nor spirit to destroy the authenticity and divine preservation of the KJV will ever succeed. It is the best available translation for the English-speaking people and has stood the test of time, accuracy and men’s vain attempts to undermine the Scriptures and pervert the Word of God.

Thoughts on BJU Bible Conference 2011

I have been attending Bible Conferences at Bob Jones University for eight years; four in the Academy and four in the University. While there have been conferences where a particular sermon stood out as powerful and memorable, never before in my eight years of attending have so many powerful and convicting messages been preached in a single week, and all with the same underlying theme.

The speakers were assigned no theme, but each message pointed us back to the power and sufficiency of the Word of God.

My favorite sermons were:

Jeremiah - Bud Steadman – The text was Jeremiah 1, a passage the Lord has used in my life many times. Jeremiah was chosen before birth as a prophet to Israel and the nations. The Lord chose him to spend 40 years preaching repentance and coming judgment, knowing that no one would repent. Jeremiah had hesitations about his calling–saying he was too young and inexperienced. The Lord comforted Jeremiah with the fact that He was with him and was the true source of his message.

Jeremiah’s Message – Bud Steadman – Jeremiah 7-10 was the text. This sermon focussed on the message of Jeremiah and his audience’s response. Jeremiah ministered faithfully for 40 years, suffering imprisonment, mistreatment, deportation, forsaken by family, friends, rejected, ignored, despised and depression. Most men today, even in our circles, would have considered Jeremiah a total failure. He never saw a revival, a response, an altar call, a mission board’s founding, a church built; he did however get two books written–Jeremiah, the record of his “failure” of a ministry and Lamentations, his weeping and wailing over Israel’s rejection of God’s warning.

Men of God  - Bob Potter – Psalm 78 – This message hit the proverbial nail on the head. The single most destructive and rampant weakness in Fundamentalism and the church in general is the lack of godly fathers who lead their homes spiritually and make sure their children are brought up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

The Living Word of God – Rev. Innes – Hebrews 4:12 – This was the most convicting message to my heart. To see an elderly man so filled with passion and energy just over the fact that God’s Word is alive! How moving! So often we approach the Bible routinely and forget that it is literally alive with power–to either feed us and grow us in Christ-likeness or to expose and reveal the wickedness of our hearts. The Bible can pierce the deepest strongholds of the human mind and heart–cutting apart our pride and excuses with razor sharp precision. This message will be my most memorable  in eight years of Bible Conferences.

In addition to the blessing this message was to me, Dr. Bob Jones III said it was the confirmation in his heart of the Holy Spirit’s coordination of the theme “The Word of God” for the conference. He also said he was greatly moved and convicted by it and that he believed the Lord was telling us that we need to return to the old landmarks; he said that perhaps we have been too engaged in the culture and had lost our bearings.

I believe we and the church overall has been too concerned that we fit into the current culture and we do need a shift back towards the old landmarks. We must stop worrying about offending the culture and stay true to the Scriptures in spite of the culture.

This last week was a tremendous blessing to me, students, faculty and staff and I believe was specifically orchestrated of God to bring about reform and a return to the “old paths” spoken to us by the prophet Jeremiah.

Thoughts on “Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing” Chapels

I really enjoyed last week’s emphasis on missions at BJU. It was a great reminder to be soul-conscious wherever we go. I especially enjoyed the class lecture Dr. Bob Rutledge gave my Middle Eastern History class on reaching the Muslim world. It was a real challenge and conviction to my heart that will not soon be forgotten.

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The Chapel messages by Rev. J.D. Crowley were ones that caught my attention. I never seek to enter a service preparing to censor or critique the speaker, and I would never try to undermine a guest speaker; I could not help but see an underlying message being presented. There was a phrase or two, that are related in thought, that kept surfacing throughout the week: “Become all things to all men” and “focus on the Gospel and don’t make minor issues major issues.” I realize that some of what he was speaking about referred to following the letter of the law as a legalist and lacking the heart relationship. I do agree with that and understand why people are frustrated with it. But that is not all he meant. Though I initially believed him to mean simply to not judge cross-cultural differences that are not essential to the Gospel, the broader context presented a need to preach salvation and Christ alone and that all other aspects of the Christian life were cultural or personal preferences. I am not attacking Rev. Crowley, for I do not know his heart and cannot judge his motives, but I am pointing out the inevitable message and where it comes from.

Don’t crucify me yet, please hear me out.

This message of “keep the gospel the main thing” is not at all original with Rev. Crowley, for I have heard and read this from men and organizations such as C. J. Mahaney, John Piper, Mark Dever, Al Mohler, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Together for the Gospel etc. What is going on?

The idea of “becoming all things to all men” is perfectly valid in situations like not serving an orthodox Jew a ham sandwich during a witnessing opportunity or not wearing a suit coat in an African village, but the way we heard it presented it was an underlying way of saying worship methods, music choices, and even social drinking choices are cultural and minor preference issues.

“We must preach the Gospel, which is ‘salvation by Christ alone’ but we must not discard the Biblical mandate of  the changed and separated life that is lived in response to the Gospel.” [edited 10/25/10]

When discussing this with a friend, he said that he had worked in many cross-cultural missions situations and pointed out that Jesus and the disciples were not blending into the culture, but were sticking out—not in an offensive way—that got people’s attention and made Christ and His followers distinct. When Christians turn the “become all things to all men” into a license to place virtually no value on so-called “minor issues of preference,” they are hijacking that verse, using it out of context and promoting a worldly Christian lifestyle that might draw large numbers but will never cause the world to see a real difference in believers and will not further the cause of Christ.

I am not seeking to slander or cast negative vibes, but somebody needs to say something. I may not be eloquent or intellectual, but we are dealing with an attack on truth here. How can Christians ever hope to impact the world by blending in with them? How can we support those who teach this?

I love BJU, I know it’s not perfect, but it is one of the final remaining pillars of Fundamentalism; it hurts to see it sliding away from what so many in the past have stood and fought for.

I pray that God will preserve my school and keep it pure from the “cultural blendism” ever so popular among modern day evangelicals.

Though I am NOT representing BJU in this note and do NOT speak for BJU, I consider BJU my home away from home and want to see it remain undefiled from this modern-day philosophy.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Willis

BJU’s Smallest Society Strikes Back

The Bob Jones University men’s society, Phi Sigma Chi or the Sentinels, may only have 18 members and be the smallest men’s society on campus, but don’t tell them that.

Today, May 6, 2010, the Sentinels clinched a hard-fought victory over the men of the William Jennings Bryan “Bears” in the school’s annual scholastic bowl.

The scholastic bowl or the “scol-bowl” is a trivia match comprised of three eight minute rounds each followed by a bonus question. The topics of trivia include History, Bible, Science, Geography, Literature, Biology, Physics, etc.

Phi Sigma’s team consisted of three members: Jeremiah Langier, a Junior, Graphic Design major; Luke Hanna, a Sophomore, Bible major; and Anderson Rouse, a Sophomore, Political Science major.

Despite the society’s small numbers and against the odds, the Sentinels have shown a courageous stubbornness that has been the society’s lifeline amid daunting circumstances.

With Phi Sigma on the campus stage and the crowd of over 4,000 students cheering them on, who knows–perhaps this small band of brothers has some more surprises left in it’s bag of tricks.

Don’t be shocked if the society’s recruitment rate increases drastically next year; people are being forced to recognize the close brotherhood and fighting spirit that gives these sentinels the reputation of fighting Scotsmen, rather than American college boys.

A Grim Hour For Young Fundamentalists

1 Timothy 4

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

I have written many times on subjects where I give a verse and then exegete or explain it and add comments in regard to it. Today, I come to the blog to simply lament what I believe is the darkest day yet for Fundamentalism and young Fundamentalists. I am a student at Bob Jones University–the great bastion of Fundamentalism–yet I see the vast majority of students as those who care very little about the great doctrinal battles for which the school was founded to combat.

Most students, as in any Christian school, are  unconcerned with the core Fundamentals of the faith; they either don’t care or don’t wish to engage in debate over them.

My heart’s burden is for the young men and women of Fundamentalism, yet is even more attuned to the young preacher boys of Fundamentalism, for they have more to fight today than ever, and they have to fight it in college–before they even get out into a ministry situation.

The “Christian Church” is overrun with worldliness, worldly music, worldly worship and worst of all, leaders who are pulling their followers away from Fundamentalism and into New Evangelicalism and Neo-Calvinism.

My heart breaks and aches at the reality of these threats; they are no fantasy, no exaggeration, no overstatement; they are here knocking at our doorstep. What is most saddening to me is that so few are resisting and fighting, and so few are caring.

Even today, I was rebuked by a peer for standing so adamantly against these above listed new trends. What I told him is what I say again now; “I hate writing on such topics, but so few are and so few care.” I pray that God will awaken His children and help them see the great dangers and false doctrines being hurled at our youth and our next generation of preachers and church congregations.

To the young preacher boys, I humbly beg you to search out the Scriptures and remain true to the faith preserved by God and paid for in the blood of our forefathers. You have a goodly heritage, don’t betray it for new doctrines and for worldly worship.

To those who are our elders and veterans in the faith: Please don’t ignore these battles; help ground us in the Scriptures and in the pure doctrines of Scripture. Pray for us, that God would keep us unspotted from the world and the new doctrines of the modern church.

To those in Christian education and especially those who serve at BJU, I pray that you will have courage and never give into modern trends and new doctrines and worldly methods and worship. It is my prayer and desire to see BJU and other Fundamentalists remain firmly in the faith and in pure obedience to the Scriptures.

I hope and cry in prayer that God will spare my generation from ruin and compromise; I know not how people may feel about this post; some will be annoyed or even angry, but if that is the price I must pay, so be it. May God preserve a remnant for His name’s sake. I know I am young, inexperienced and even perhaps too bold at times, but I am bound by conviction to contend earnestly for the faith. Though no one join me, I will go on if God preserves my life.

May we as a generation of young Fundamentalists turn and repent from the influences of New Evangelicalism and Neo Calvinism and remain true to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.