A Response to Mark Ward's Article Critical of the KJV and Confessional Text

A Response to Mark Ward's Article Critical of the KJV and Confessional Text

Mark Ward, PhD (Bob Jones University) has written an article critical of those who prefer the King James Version (KJV) and the Textus Receptus (TR)…

3 Ways to Graciously Engage KJV-Only Believers https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/3-ways-graciously-engage-kjv-believers/

In his article which, according to its title, supposedly deals with “KJV-Only Believers,” Ward says,

“The mainstream KJV-only movement insists that its ultimate concern is not actually the KJV. It’s the full ‘preservation’ of the Greek and Hebrew texts from which the KJV was translated, namely the Masoretic Hebrew Text and the Greek Textus Receptus, or ‘TR.’ KJV-onlyism is actually, officially, TR-onlyism.”

Ward, here, shifts from KJV-only believers to those who believe in the “preservation of the Greek and Hebrew texts from which the KJV was translated.”

Contrary to what Ward asserts, here, about “the mainstream KJV-only movement,” many confessional Protestant Christians believe God, by his providence, watched over and preserved sacred Scripture over the centuries, in order for the people of God to always have access to the written Word of God. In fact, the historic Protestant confessions of faith, in their Scripture references, refer readers to passages found in the Masoretic Hebrew text and the Greek Textus Receptus (TR).

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1:8) states that the Hebrew and Greek texts of Scripture, “being immediately inspired by God, and, by His singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical,” meaning: God has providentially preserved the original language biblical texts throughout the ages.

It’s not extremist to believe God inspired and preserved his written Word.

It’s not something we should pity our poor misguided brothers and sisters for believing.

The inspiration and providential preservation of Scripture used to be something all Protestants believed, which tells us how far Ward and many other modern day “Protestants” and “Evangelicals” have drifted from historic Protestantism.

Further on in his sad article, Ward betrays his failure to grasp the subject with which he is dealing….

“But here’s something every KJV reader ought to know: Elizabethan English is no longer fully intelligible, and 1 Corinthians 14 tells us explicitly and repeatedly that intelligibility is necessary for edification. 'If with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air (1 Cor. 14:9).' Even KJV extremists know it contains ‘dead words’ and obsolete phrases no longer present in the real-life lexical stock of English speakers.” 

Is Mark Ward correct? Let’s read, in the KJV, the same verse he quoted,

“In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air” (1 Cor. 14:9, KJV).

Does anyone believe this verse in the KJV is not intelligible?

No doubt the KJV does contain some obsolete words, but it’s not hard — let alone impossible — to read the KJV if one desires to do so. I read it every day. When I do come across a word I don’t understand, which is rare, I look it up.

I look up the meanings of words all the time. In all sorts of books and articles I read. I’ve done this all my life, and I always will. It’s how I learn and increase my vocabulary.

There are dictionaries available that define the meanings of outdated words found in the KJV, such as the one available (free of charge) from the Trinitarian Bible Society; there are glossaries of outdated words bound in some editions of the KJV (e.g., Cambridge Concord); and some editions of the KJV include modern word alternatives in their margins (e.g., Westminster Reference Bible). Not to mention, there’s always Google.

What about Ward’s assertion that the KJV is written in Elizabethan English?

Is this true? No, it’s not.

The translators of the KJV gave us a unique form of English.

Unlike modern translators, whose translations Ward insists we use, the translators of the KJV reshaped early modern English by adapting it to the original language texts they were translating, thus providing us with a unique form of English; a unique biblical English shaped by the Hebrew and Greek texts of Scripture.

The spelling and grammar of the KJV was updated in 1769, making the English of the KJV very accessible to readers today.

In short, Mark Ward’s article is pathetic. I suggest you ignore it, and him.

“While the Renaissance Bible translator saw half of his task as reshaping English so that it could adapt itself to Hebraic idiom the modern translator wants to make no demands on the language he translates into.”

“The basic distinction between the Renaissance and the modern translators is one of fidelity to the original. Partly the loss of faith in the Hebrew and Greek as the definitive word of God has led to the translators’ loss of contact with it, but more responsibility lies in the belief that a modern Bible should aim not to tax its readers linguistic or interpretive abilities one bit. If this aim is to be achieved then it seems clear that a new Bible will have to be produced for every generation—each one probably moving us further away from the original text, now that the initial break has been made.”

Gerald Hammond, The Making of the English Bible (2; 12)

++++

Suggested Resources

Gerald Hammond, The Making of the English Bible https://www.amazon.com/Making-English-Bible-Gerald-Hammond/dp/0856354333

Alan Macgregor, Three Modern Versions: A critical assessment of the NIV, ESV & NKJV, and reasons for keeping to the AV http://www.bibleleaguetrust.org/publications/three-modern-versions/

Robert Preus, The Inspiration of Scripture: A Study of the Theology of the Seventeenth Century
Lutheran Dogmaticians https://www.cph.org/p-655-The-Inspiration-of-Scripture.aspx

Garnet Milne, Has the Bible been kept pure? https://www.amazon.com/Westminster-Confession-providential-preservation-Scripture/dp/1522039155

Edward Hills, The King James Version Defended https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/the-king-james-version-defended-hills.html

Theodore Letis, The Ecclesiastical Text https://www.amazon.com/Ecclesiastical-Text-Criticism-Biblical-Authority/dp/0965860701

Theodore Letis Resources: http://www.holywordcafe.com/bible/Letis.html

Jakob van Bruggen, The Ancient Text of the New Testament https://tinyurl.com/yctj2o2r

Why Use the Authorised (King James) Version? http://www.tbsbibles.org/articles/why-use-the-authorised-king-james-version

TBS Bible Word List  https://www.tbsbibles.org/store/ListProducts.aspx?catid=607222&view_type=0

Confessional Bibliology http://confessionalbibliology.com/

Word Magazine https://tinyurl.com/ycereb4y

Review: Institutes of the Christian Religion (1541 edition)

Review: Institutes of the Christian Religion (1541 edition)

Institutes of the Christian Religion ($23.14) 920 pages
 Banner of Truth (1541 edition)
https://www.amazon.com/Institutes-Christian-Religion-John-Calvin/dp/1848714637

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found it to be very edifying.

I read sections of it each morning as part of my morning devotional reading, after I’d read the Bible.
As the publisher says:

Among the intermediate editions of the Institutes, none deserves to be better known than the first French edition of 1541. Avoiding the technical details and much of the polemics of the final work, the Institutes of 1541 offer a clear and comprehensive account of the work of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in creation, revelation and redemption, in the life of the individual Christian and in the worship and witness of the church.

As I said, I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be very edifying, the Spirit of God speaking to me at various times throughout this book. It was amazing to me how many times I’d read something in my daily reading of the Bible that was also in my daily reading of the Institutes.

Anyone interested in a good, basic introduction to Protestant theology will find it in this book. It’s very biblically based. Not philosophical, scholastic, or verbose.

The book is Smyth sewn, so it won’t fall apart on you. At 800+ pages, that’s very important. The book has clear and readable font. And it’s also available for a very good price.

Below are a few passages taken from the book…

“To summarize, then, the precept means this. As the truth was revealed to the Jews in symbolic form, so now, devoid of symbols, it is made known unto us. Throughout our lives we must think of perpetual rest from our works, so that God may work in us by his Spirit. Second, we should observe legitimate church order in the hearing of the word, the celebration of the sacraments and the offering of solemn prayers. Third, we should not place excessive burdens on those who are under our authority. In this way, there will be an end to the lies of those false teachers who in times past have fed poor common folk on Jewish beliefs, making no distinction between Sunday and the Sabbath except by saying the seventh day, which was formerly in force, has been revoked, but that one day should nevertheless be kept. That is simply to maintain that the day has been changed to spite the Jews, and to remain wedded to the superstition which Paul condemns. It is to preserve some secret meaning, as was the case under the Old Testament.” (144)

“He [the Holy Spirit] is the one who, refreshing us by his dew, distills for us the energy of life, which is why he is called ‘oil’ and ‘anointing’ (1 John 2:20, 27). He is the one who, by burning away and consuming our base appetites, kindles the flame of love in our hearts, a work for which he is called ‘fire’ (Luke 3:16). He is the one who breathes into us divine life, so that we should no longer live for ourselves but should follow his prompting and leading. So if there is any good in us, we owe it all to his grace and power. On the other hand, whatever we have of our own is only blindness of mind and crookedness of heart.” (258)

“For the Christian life should be so soberly controlled as to appear, from first to last, as a kind of perpetual fast.” (302)

“A Christian’s life is a perpetual study and exercise in the mortification of the flesh, until it is finally crushed and the Spirit of God rules within us.” (304)

“Since it is the Lord who forgives, forgets, and wipes away sins, let us confess them to him, in order to obtain grace and pardon. He is the physician; let us then show him our wounds. He is one who has been offended and injured; so let us ask him for mercy and peace. He is the one who knows hearts and who sees every thought; let us then open our hearts to him. He is the one who calls sinners; let us turn back to him.” (313)

“We accept and possess Jesus Christ by faith as he is presented to us by God’s goodness, and by partaking of him we receive grace twice over. First, being by his sinlessness reconciled to God, instead of a Judge in heaven to condemn us we have a most merciful Father. Second, we are sanctified by his Spirit, so that we may turn our minds to holiness and innocence of life.” (351)

“Now if men need some inducement to do good, there is nothing better to spur them on than to make them see the purpose of their redemption and calling. That is what God’s word does when it reveals that our consciences are cleansed from dead works by the blood of Christ so that we may serve the living God (Heb. 9:14); that we are delivered from the hand of our enemies so that we may walk before God in righteousness and holiness all the days of our life (Luke 1:74-75); that the grace of God has appeared so that, renouncing ungodliness and worldly desires, we may live sober, holy, and righteous lives in this world, as we await the blessed hope and revelation of the glory of our great God and Saviour (Titus 2:11-13); that we have not been called to provoke God’s wrath, but to obtain salvation in Christ (1 Thess. 5:9); that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, which it is not lawful to defile (1 Cor. 3:16-17); that we are not darkness but light in God, and that therefore we must walk as children of the light (Eph. 5:8); that we are not called to uncleanness but to holiness, and that God wills our sanctification, so that we abstain from all willful desires (1 Thess. 4:3, 7); that since our calling is holy, we can only answer it with purity of life (2 Tim. 1:9); that we have been delivered from sin in order to obey righteousness (Rom. 6:18).” (396)

“We must everywhere serve the cause of love and think of our neighbor’s edification.” (717)

“If, then, we are not our own, but belong to the Lord, it is clear what we must do to avoid going astray, and what our goal must be in every department of life. We are not our own: let not reason and will therefore determine our plans or the things we need to do. We are not our own: let us not therefore choose as our goal whatever might suit the flesh. We are not our own: let us therefore forget ourselves as much as we can — ourselves and everything around us. Again, we are the Lord’s: let us then live and die for him. We are the Lord’s: let his will and wisdom govern all we do. We are the Lord’s: let every part of our lives be directed to him as to their sole end. What progress that man has made who, knowing that he is not his own, denies his reason lordship and dominion over him and surrenders it instead to God! For just as there is nothing which leads to ruin more surely than self-satisfaction, so also the only haven of salvation is to cease to be wise in oneself, and to want nothing on one’s own account, but simply to follow the Lord.” (790)

“All believers, as long as they live in this world, will inevitably be as sheep to the slaughter, that they may be made like Jesus Christ their Head (Rom. 8:36).” (819)

Choose which of the two you wish

The Martyrdom of Marinus at Cæsarea

At this time, when the peace of the churches had been everywhere restored, Marinus in Cæsarea in Palestine, who was honored for his military deeds, and illustrious by virtue of family and wealth, was beheaded for his testimony to Christ, on the following account.

The vine-branch is a certain mark of honor among the Romans, and those who obtain it become, they say, centurions. A place being vacated, the order of succession called Marinus to this position. But when he was about to receive the honor, another person came before the tribunal and claimed that it was not legal, according to the ancient laws, for him to receive the Roman dignity, as he was a Christian and did not sacrifice to the emperors; but that the office belonged rather to him.

Thereupon the judge, whose name was Achæus, being disturbed, first asked what opinion Marinus held. And when he perceived that he continually confessed himself a Christian, he gave him three hours for reflection.

When he came out from the tribunal, Theotecnus, the bishop there, took him aside and conversed with him, and taking his hand led him into the church. And standing with him within, in the sanctuary, he raised his cloak a little, and pointed to the sword that hung by his side; and at the same time he placed before him the Scripture of the divine Gospels, and told him to choose which of the two he wished. And without hesitation he reached forth his right hand, and took the divine Scripture.

“Hold fast then,” says Theotecnus to him, “hold fast to God, and strengthened by him mayest thou obtain what thou hast chosen, and go in peace.”

Immediately on his return the herald cried out calling him to the tribunal, for the appointed time was already completed. And standing before the tribunal, and manifesting greater zeal for the faith, immediately, as he was, he was led away and finished his course by death.

Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History (Book VII Chapter XV)