ANSWER: 11 If we remove any of the italicized words we must either remove them ALL or accept them ALL as Scripture.
EXPLANATION: Following are the problems with removing the italicized words from the Bible:
1. Anyone who has ever translated from one language to another knows that words MUST be added to the finished work to complete the sentence structure of the new language.
All translators do this when translating the Bible. The King James translators were men of integrity so they put the added words in italics.
Example #1
Psalm 23:1 reads "The LORD is my shepherd" in the King James Bible. The word "is" was added by the translators to complete the sense of the sentence.
Psalm 23:1 in the New International Version reads, "The LORD is my Shepherd."
So it is plain to see that both sets of translators added the same word to complete the sentence. Yet the King James translators put the word in italics to inform the reader that they had added it.
Example #2:
John 1:8 reads, "He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light" in the King James Bible.
John 1:8 reads, "He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light" in the New King James Version.
Again both sets of translators have added words to their translation so that it would make sense. In this case it is the phrase "was sent." Yet again, it is the King James translators who put their addition in italics for clarity.
Thus we see that the translators of our Bible should be commended on their integrity and ethics for their addition of the italicized words instead of castigated for a practice which all of our modern "would be" scholars follow routinely.
2. Critics of the Bible, fundamental or otherwise, claim that the italics can be removed, but NEVER remove them all. Usually they are stumped by a passage such as the word "unknown" in I Corinthians 14. Since they cannot explain the passage with the italicized word in the passage they make the thoughtless statement reproduced above and remove the problem word.
But this opens a tremendously large "can of worms"! For if we say that italicized words do not belong in the text, we cannot say that one italicized word should be removed from the Bible, but we must say that ALL italicized words must be removed from the Bible. Even the casual student of Scripture knows that the Bible will make no sense at all if ALL italicized words are removed.
To remove one italicized word and leave another in is to claim Divine Inspiration in knowing which words should go and which words should stay.
Regardless of how great a preacher, soul-winner, or scholar might be none of us are going to bow our knees to them with the claim that they are Divinely inspired to reject or accept words in the Bible. If we are so foolish as to exalt a man's opinion in such a way, who should we exalt? There are hundreds of Bible critics who would vie for the office of "Official Divinely Inspired Bible Corrector". Who would be the lucky person? How would we choose him? And WHO would be so naive as to think that all Christians would follow his decrees? Yet without his decrees we have NO WAY OF KNOWING which italicized words belong in the Bible and which ones do not.
So we see that overcoming problem passages will require prayer and Bible reading instead of carelessly removing a troublesome word.
3. One of the classic defenses for leaving the italicized words alone is found in II Samuel 21:19.
"And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaaroregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam."
By omitting the italicized words we have the Bible saying that Elhanan killed Goliath. Of course everyone knows that I Samuel 17 says that David killed Goliath. So we finally have the Bible that all lost men love to refer to when they say, "The Bible has contradictions in it".
Of course, our "Divinely Inspired Bible Corrector" would probably say the italics in II Samuel 21:19 do not need to be removed. But then who's to know which words to remove or which ones to keep in unless God "appeared" to them and told them.
4. Our fourth and best reason for not meddling with God's choice of words for His Bible comes from none other than the Apostles Peter and Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
First, take a Bible (King James, of course) and read Psalm 16:8. I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
You will notice that the two words "he is" are in italics. Yet when we find the Apostle Peter quoting this verse in the New Testament in Acts 2:25 we find it says:
"For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:"
So here we find the Apostle Peter quoting Psalm 16:8 italicized words and all! You would almost believe that God wanted them in there wouldn't you?
Now it might be pointed out that Peter was an unlearned and ignorant man (Acts 4:13) and so, lacking the "benefits" of a Bible college education, he blindly accepted the Bible (King James?) as every word of God.But let us look at the same phenomena concerning the Apostle Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul, as did other New Testament writers, often quoted from the Old Testament in his writings. In doing so, he quoted as did the others directly from the Hebrew Text. We have several of Paul's quotes which contain words not found in the Hebrew original.
In Romans 10:20 Paul quotes Isaiah 65:1.
Romans 10:20: "But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me."
Isaiah 65:1 "I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name."
Yet we see that the words "them that" which Paul quoted as though they were in Isaiah 65:1 exist only in the italics of the King James Bible.
The same is true of I Corinthians 3:20, "And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." which is a quote of Psalm 94:11, "The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity." where we find the word "are" supplied by the translators.
But the most unexplainable is Paul's quote of Deuteronomy 25:4 in I Corinthians 9:9. For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?
Deut 25:4: "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn."
Here we find Paul quoting the words "the corn" just as if they had been in the Hebrew original even though they are only found in the italics of our Authorized Version!
If one were to argue that Paul was quoting a supposed Greek Septuagint translation of the original Hebrew, our dilemma only worsens. For now, two perplexing questions present themselves to us. First, if such a Greek translation ever existed, (which is not documented in history) by what authority did the translators insert these words? Secondly, if they were added by the translators, does Paul's quoting of them confirm them as inspired?
While you ponder these important questions, we will note that Jesus also quoted from what appears to have been a King James Bible.
We find Him quoting a word that wasn't in the "originals". In fact, a word that only exists in the italics found in the pages of the King James Bible.
Read below, please, Deuteronomy 8:3.
"And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live."
You will note that the word "word" is in italics, meaning of course, that it was not in the Hebrew text. Upon examination of Deuteronomy 8:3 in Hebrew one will find that the word "dabar" which is Hebrew for "word" is not found anywhere in the verse.
Yet in His contest with Satan we find Jesus quoting Deuteronomy 9:3 as follows in Matthew 4:4.
"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
While quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 Jesus quotes the entire verse including the King James italicized word! Even an amateur "scholar" can locate "ramati", a form of "rama", which is Greek for "word", in any Greek New Testament.
So, just as critics of the Bible like to joke and say, "Well, the King James was good enough for the Apostle Paul so it's good enough for me." A true Bible-believer can truly say, "Well, the King James was good enough for the Apostles Peter and Paul and for the Lord Jesus Christ, so it's good enough for me".
So we see we have three options on what to do with the italicized words in the Bible.
(1) Remove All of them.
(2) Exalt one of our fundamental Bible critics to the office of "Official Divinely Inspired Bible Corrector" and then give his decrees all the weight and allegiance that we would give to Jesus Christ.
(3) Leave all the words in our divinely inspired Bible alone, and trust that just maybe Jesus Christ is correct.
It's as though we had a choice.
ANSWER: 12 Yes, but they are all in subjection to the perfect Bible.
EXPLANATION: There are preachers who are considered "great" by many who either openly or covertly disdain the concept of the Bible being perfect. They correct it with regularity and openly attack those who claim to accept it as infallible.
There are also many Christian colleges and universities where a student is shown "mistakes" in the King James Bible. The obvious question is: "How can these great men and institutions be wrong and still have God bless them"? The answer is found in the Bible, our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
As we turn to II Kings 17 we find Israel in a sad state. They have been conquered by Assyria and the Israelites were carried away captive, II Kings 17:23. The king of Assyria then planted heathen foreigners in the land of Israel, II Kings 17:24. These people did not fear God so He sent lions among them to kill them, verse 25, causing them to cry out for Jewish priests to be sent to teach them how to worship "the God of the land", II Kings 17:26-28. The result is found in verses 32 and 41. The Bible says that, "They feared the LORD, and served their own gods".
This same thing is true among our fundamental preachers and colleges. Many fundamental preachers really do not believe that the Bible is infallible, but they dare not admit it. So they "fear the LORD," ie, they stand in the pulpit, hold the Bible in the air and declare, "This Book is the absolute word of God without a mixture of error". Then, out of the pulpit they "serve their own gods" in that they privately point to what they consider mistakes in the Bible and ridicule anyone who really believes what they had just said in the pulpit. This may seem hypocritical. It is. It may seem two-faced. It is. But rest assured, they would never say that they believe the Bible is perfect while standing in the pulpit if they didn't "Fear the LORD " enough to know that they would be ruined if anyone knew what they really believed. In other words, you'll never hear one of them stand in the pulpit, hold up the Bible and say, "I believe that this Book is poorly translated and full of errors and that there isn't a perfect version on the face of this earth that you can hold in your hand". If they ever made such an honest confession they know that they would be "through". Thus God's "lions" MAKE them bow their knees to the perfect Bible even if they do it only as lip service.
Likewise, our Christian colleges and universities dare not say, "Come to our school and we will destroy your faith in the perfect Bible and show you that it is filled with errors". No, to only "serve their own gods" in such a way would bring the "lions" to the campus doors. They "Fear the LORD" enough to advertise themselves as schools who "Stand without apology for the absolute authority of Scripture" or some even go so far as to boast "We use only the King James Bible". Then, after the student has been accepted, after the student has committed himself to the school, then and only then, do they begin ever so subtly to destroy their faith in the perfect Bible and show that the "good old King James" is full of errors. But they know, and God knows that they were too scared not to bend their knees to "the God of the land" and His Book, the King James Bible.
ANSWER: 13 In the available Antiochian manuscripts.
EXPLANATION: Critics of the perfect Bible like to throw out this question as though it will "stun" Bible believers. It doesn't.
The overwhelming majority of Bible manuscripts existent throughout history have been the text found in Antioch. They have always been available in some form, either in copies of the original Greek, or the old Latin of 150 AD, (NOT to be confused with Jerome's corrupt "Vulgate") or the Syrian Peshetto of 157 AD.
That it would be difficult indeed to gather all of these sources together and place them in the hands of the common man gives credence to God's reasoning for the collation and translation of the King James Bible.
ANSWER: 14 No. But Biblically that does not mean that they could not have been inspired.
EXPLANATION: The men on the translation committee of the King James Bible were, without dispute, the most learned men of their day and vastly qualified for the job which they undertook. They were overall both academically qualified by their cumulative knowledge and spiritually qualified by their exemplary lives.
Among their company were men who, academically, took a month's vacation and used the time to learn and master an entirely foreign language; wrote a Persian dictionary; invented a specialized mathematical ruler, one was an architect; mastered oriental languages; publicly debated in Greek; tutored Queen Elizabeth in Greek and mathematics; and of one it was said, "Hebrew he had at his fingers end". Yet head knowledge can be a curse if not tempered by a fervent, pious heart.
In this, the spiritual realm, they were light years ahead of many today who flaunt their education yet fail in any attempt at a practical, personal witness.
This company was blessed with men known for their zeal and tact in debating and converting Romanists to Christ. They spent hours in private and family devotions. Many did the work of evangelism and even that of missionary representatives of later Queen Elizabeth. One, lived to the age of one hundred and three years. In the closing years of his life, after preaching for two full hours he said to his congregation, "I will no longer trespass on your patience" to which the entire congregation cried out with one consent, "For God's sake go on". He then continued his exposition of the Word of God at length.
Yet humanity was a universal trait shared among them as is so amply revealed in the Epistle Dedicatory. "So that if, on the one side, we shall be traduced by Popish Persons at home or abroad, who therefore will malign us, because we are poor instruments to make God's holy Truth to be yet more and more known unto the people, whom they desire still to keep in ignorance and darkness; or if, on the other side, we shall be maligned by self conceited Brethren, who run their own ways, and give liking unto nothing, but what is framed by themselves, and hammered on their anvil;" Yet, in spite of their outstanding character, they never claimed divine inspiration. (A claim which, if they had made, would over joy their detractors as evidence of a prideful spirit.) They never even claimed perfection for their finished work.
Does this mean that, because they did not claim God's hand in translating the Scripture that He could not be or was not in control of their commission? For the answer we must look to the Bible, our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
When John the Baptist was accosted by the Levites in John chapter one and asked if he was Elijah (John 1:21) he answered that he was not Elijah. Yet in Matthew chapters 11:7-14 and 17:10-13 Jesus Christ plainly stated that John was Elijah.
Did John the Baptist lie? No. Did Jesus Christ lie? Of course not. The answer is very simply that John was Elijah but he didn't know it! Thus we see from our Bible example that a man can have God working through him and not know it. Likewise, God could easily have divinely directed the King James translators without their active knowledge.
ANSWER: 15 No.
EXPLANATION: The answer to the question is "No" for two reasons.
First is that, the scholarship of the men who translated the King James Bible is literally unsurpassable by today's scholars. Two books available best illustrate this and should be read by anyone who wants to seriously study the subject. They are Translators Revived , by Alexander McClure, Maranatha Publications, and The Men Behind the King James Version, by Gustavus Paine, Baker Book House.
The men of the King James translation committee were scholars of unparalleled ability. A brief description of their several abilities is found under a previous section.
Secondly, it would be foolish and contradictory to believe that today's scholars ever could equal or surpass those of the Authorized Version.
Most Christians agree that the world, with time, degenerates. Morals have degenerated since 1611. Character has degenerated since 1611. Even our atmosphere has degenerated. Are we then to believe that education has gotten better? Only a worshiper of education could pretend to believe such a fairy tale. Education has degenerated along with the entire world system and could never produce a scholar equal to those of nearly four hundred years ago.
ANSWER: 16 No. He authorized it's translation, but not its usage.
EXPLANATION: It is difficult for someone in the twentieth century, especially someone in America to fathom the conditions of nearly four hundred years ago. We Christians not only have a Bible in our language, but more often than not, we have several. Added to that is our concordance and a raft of Bible commentaries and sundry other "Christian" books.
Yet the world of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries was quite different. The common man in England had no Bible. The only copy available to him was chained to the altar of the church. As recently as 1536, William Tyndale had been burned at the stake for the high crime of printing Bibles in the language of the common man, English. When King James commissioned the fifty-four translators in 1603 he did not mandate the upcoming translation to be used in churches. In fact, that it was translated and not intended for the churches left it only one explainable destiny. That is, that it should be supplied to the common man.
It might be noted that the world has no greater power than the common man with the common Bible in his hand.
ANSWER: 17 The common man.
EXPLANATION: There is so much made of the perfection, or supposed imperfection, of the Bible that one element in the equation is often overlooked. That is, the reason for having a perfect Bible in the first place, the common man. If there was no common man, there would be no need for a Bible in the common language.
Let us remember that the church (any religious organization in this case) has always had access to scripture. The result of their having the Bible has generally tended toward pride and a sense of "lording" over the flock. But put the Bible in the hands of the common man and it is a different story. It has been said, "Put a beggar on horseback and he'll ride off at a gallop." This best describes a common man's reaction to being given a perfect Bible.
The common man is the moving (but not directing) force of the world. He is needed to fill everything from armies to churches. He is the consumer and not a gas station or grocery store can survive without him. He obediently serves the state with little interest or information concerning who is governing his life. His energy is used for profit by those in control of him, but he must never be given the power of government. He may be allowed to vote for those governing him, but he must be kept out of the governmental system himself.
The same is true in the ecclesiastical realm. Indeed, he should be in subjection to his pastor, but no one has the right to keep him ignorant of his Creator's will for his life. That will is found in the Bible.
Over the centuries, the prime violator in this area has been the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church has gone to great lengths to keep its people and others ignorant of the Scriptures. Roman Catholics are generally told that they can't understand the Bible. You can understand the chagrin of a Roman Catholic priest when one of his church members gets a Bible in his own language and claims to be able to understand it.
The war that the Roman Catholic Church has waged against the Bible has been carried out primarily in two ways.
1. Keep the people ignorant by controlling access to the Bible.
2. Counter God's Bible with one of their own.
Access to the Bible is controlled in two ways. First, the common man is persuaded that he cannot understand the Scripture and must subject himself to the authority of his priest and his private interpretation. Where this method can't be used, such as with non-Catholics, the Roman Catholic Church seeks to establish itself as a controlling factor in the government (preferably the starter religion) and then physically confiscates all copies of the Bible and destroys them. Objectors are killed. This pattern has been followed by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries with great success.
The second method to eliminate the Bible is to replace it with one of Roman Catholic making. These then are used to fill any gap left by the confiscation of the true Bible.
In history this has been done several times. When the Roman Catholic Church saw the popularity and the threat of the Old Latin Bible (called the Vulgate from the Latin "vulgar" meaning "common") of 150 AD they had their own Latin Bible translated from manuscripts which had been corrupted in Alexandria, Egypt. This work was foisted upon a reluctant Roman Catholic scholar by the name of Jerome and upon publication in 380 AD was promptly and shamelessly entitled "The Vulgate". This worthless book sat unused for 800 years until the Roman Catholic Church "eliminated the competition" by burning all of the original (good) Vulgates along with their owners. This, of course, ushered in the Dark Ages, a time of unsurpassed power for the Roman Catholic Church.
To this day, most people upon hearing acclaim for the Latin Vulgate (the good one, 150 AD) erroneously attribute it to the usurping Roman Catholic Vulgate of 380 AD.
Most new English translations available today are from these same corrupt Roman Catholic manuscripts.
In the hands of the common man, these bibles do nothing. They are perfectly safe to "the powers that be".
King James, whether he knew it or not, gave the common man back his most valued possession, the true Bible in English. (The Roman Catholic Church had translated its own English Bible in 1582 in Rheims, France. It was worthless.) King James and his translating committee may have never expected their new translation to go any farther than the shores of England. But God and the common man saw fit to carry it around the globe.
Today the common man is in grave danger of having his perfect Bible stolen from him again. This is being accomplished by two methods.
First, an attempt is being made (and has been underway for almost 100 years) to physically replace the King James Bible with bibles translated from corrupt Roman Catholic manuscripts. These books are powerless and worthless, perfect for the job. Sadly, the King James Bible is being attacked by many saved, fundamental teachers and preachers who really may be well intentioned, but who do enjoy the feeling of authority (Roman Catholic, pope-like authority) and power that being able to "correct" the Bible brings them. This all important transition is taking place in both churches and Bible colleges. ("Bible-believing" Bible colleges at that.)
The second area of conquest is the very brain of the common man, and it also is carried out in two phases.
The first is the "suppressive phase" in which the victim is bombarded with so much anti-King James propaganda that he is spiritually suppressed from mentally accepting the true, perfect Bible. This method robs his brain of the Bible even though his hand may possess it. In other words, his Bible has been stolen from his brain but not taken from him physically. (Yet!)
The second phase is the "brain washing phase." This is carried out by preachers, teachers and especially the "Christian " media. Christian radio stations have almost universally desisted from using the King James Bible. They have "Bible readings", daily memory verses, and even read the Christmas story in Luke 2 from any bible but the King James. This robs the subconscious mind of the true Bible. For you see, many Bible rejecting preachers, upon trying to preach from a new version are confronted by some "unlearned and ignorant" (Acts 4:13) church member who, though unable to argue down the pastor's sales pitch concerning the new translation, retorts with, "But that just doesn't 'sound' like the Bible."
By constantly hearing other versions read over radio, TV or in Christian schools the younger generation of Christians will never have the benefit of subconsciously knowing what "The Bible" sounds like.
So we see that the real enemy of the Roman Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic totalitarian spirit found among some fundamentalists is NOT just the Bible. It is the Bible in the hand and heart of the common man. The same person that the devil hates and hopes to fill Hell with.
Has your Bible been stolen from your hand? What about your brain?
ANSWER: 18 No.
EXPLANATION: The Bible is infallible and perfect without any influence by any sinner. By accepting Christ as our personal Saviour we impart nothing to Scripture, though God imparts eternal life to us.
Many have been led to Christ by someone using other versions. I once spoke with a man who vehemently claimed that the Good News For Modern Man was the infallible Word of God because someone had led him to Christ using it. Wrong! His getting saved through a Good News For Modern Man did not correct so much as one of the many gross inaccuracies in that version.
I have a friend who believes the Bible (KJV) to be the infallible, perfect Word of God. Yet he himself was led to Christ by someone using a Living Bible. Did the Living Bible become the infallible Word of God the moment he believed? Of course not. It never was perfect and never will be. But if it did become perfect because he got saved through it, would it not have lost its perfection when he chose to use the King James?
So we see that the Bible, King James of course, is the infallible, perfect Word and words of God regardless of what someone used to lead you or me to Christ. In fact, it would still be the perfect infallible Word and words of God, even if we hadn't gotten saved at all.
ANSWER: 19 No. The only church that a believer in the perfect Bible could possibly split would have to be one that didn't believe that the Bible was perfect.
EXPLANATION: Sometimes false accusations are based on misunderstandings. Sometimes they are based upon utter and complete falsehood. The fallacy that people believing in the perfect Bible are church splitters is unfortunately based entirely and maliciously on falsehood.
Sadly, there are many Christians who have been through the traumatizing experience of a church split. It would be erroneous to pretend that every church split was caused by someone believing that the King James Bible was perfect.
Churches split over everything from money issues to the question of what color to paint the new auditorium. The FACT of the matter is that Christians sadly lack the grace found in Romans 14 and Luke 17:1-5. It has nothing to do with the King James Bible. To try to claim that it does is to be a great deal less than honest.
ANSWER: 20 No.
EXPLANATION: In recent years, the issue of a perfect Bible has been expertly handled by Dr. Peter S. Ruckrnan. Dr. Ruckman is a highly educated teacher/preacher who accepts the Antiochian manuscript as authentic and views them with the Antiochian ideology that accepts the Bible as perfect.
Dr. Ruckman's style is forceful in regard to the authority of Scripture and his treatment of Bible critics is devastating. His approach to most Bible issues is one of grace, where many Christians lack such grace. But on the singular issue of the authority of Scripture his approach is similar to the Apostle Paul (II Corinthians 10:10) and the great English scholar, John William Burgon.
A very few advocates of the perfect Bible, lacking Dr. Ruckman's scholastic qualifications have assimilated his caustic style with tragic results.
The broad majority of King James Bible believers do not utilize this style simply because it is not their natural style.
