Our Authorized Bible Vindicated

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Our Authorized Bible Vindicated is a book written by Seventh-day Adventist scholar Benjamin G. Wilkinson advocating the King James Only (KJO) position, published in 1930. It asserted that some of the new versions of the Bible coming out, came from manuscripts with corruptions introduced into the Septuagint with additional texts, which came to be called "Apocrypha", and manuscripts with deletions and changes from corrupted Alexandrian text brought in by manuscript readings in the Greek New Testament adopted by Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort. While King-James-Only advocacy existed prior to the writing of this book, many of the arguments in the book have since become set talking-points of many who support the belief, thanks in large part to Baptist Fundamentalist preacher David Otis Fuller, who adopted them into much of his own material, such as the book, Which Bible? .

Contents

Arguments made in the book

Among the assertions the book helped propagate in support of the Authorized King James Version were arguments against Brooke Westcott and Fenton Hort, arguments that corruptions were introduced into the Septuagint by Origen, a belief in two textual streams (the "pure" Antiochian (Byzantine) text, and the "bad" Alexandrian text), a belief in the superiority of the Textus Receptus for the New Testament and the Masoretic Text for the Old Testament, and so on.

Those who preferred not to use the Textus Receptus, such as Westcott and Hort, used what Wilkinson claimed were corrupted manuscripts and which other authorities on the textual issue such as John Burgon, called it a "fabricated text", and "among the most corrupt documents extant" [1] and likens the manuscripts used as to the "two false witnesses" of Matthew 26:60 [2] [3] the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus. The Codex Vaticanus that has come down to us had portions which have been collated and changed or edited by several scribes over the centuries, with many exclusions [4] [5] [6] and errors that were intended to be corrections made in the process, [7] [8] while the Codex Sinaiticus has known textual variants in its text and exclusions. [9] [10] [11]

As can be seen in the book, Wilkinson claims that the Old Latin version, instead of the Vulgate, was the Bible of the medieval Waldensians and that the Old Latin corresponds textually with the Greek Textus Receptus. [12] [13] The Textus Receptus constituted the translation base for the original German Luther Bible, for the translation of the New Testament into English by William Tyndale, the King James Version, and for most other Reformation-era New Testament translations throughout Western and Central Europe.

See also

Related Research Articles

Codex Vaticanus 4th-century handwritten Bible manuscript in Greek

The Codex Vaticanus is one of the oldest copies of the Bible, one of the four great uncial codices. The Codex is named after its place of conservation in the Vatican Library, where it has been kept since at least the 15th century. It is written on 759 leaves of vellum in uncial letters and has been dated palaeographically to the 4th century.

Alexandrian text-type

The Alexandrian text-type is one of several text types found among New Testament manuscripts. It is the text type favored by textual critics and it is the basis for most modern Bible translations. The name of the text type comes from Codex Alexandrinus, a manuscript of this type.

<i>Textus Receptus</i> Greek critical text of the New Testament

In Christianity, the term Textus Receptus designates all editions of the Greek texts of the New Testament from the Novum Instrumentum omne established by Erasmus in 1516 to the 1633 Elzevier edition; the 1633 Elzevier edition is sometimes included into the Textus Receptus. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant denominations.

King James Only movement Movement asserting the superiority of the King James Version of the Bible

The King James Only movement asserts that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is superior to all other English translations of the Bible. Adherents of the King James Only movement, largely members of evangelical, conservative holiness movement, traditional High Church Anglican, and Baptist churches, believe that the KJV is the greatest English translation ever produced, needing no further improvements, and they also believe that all other English translations which were produced after the KJV are corrupt.

Codex Alexandrinus Handwritten copy of the Bible in Greek

The Codex Alexandrinus is a fifth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. It is one of the four Great uncial codices. Along with the Codex Sinaiticus and the Vaticanus, it is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the Bible. Brian Walton assigned Alexandrinus the capital Latin letter A in the Polyglot Bible of 1657. This designation was maintained when the system was standardized by Wettstein in 1751. Thus, Alexandrinus held the first position in the manuscript list.

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus Handwritten copy of the Bible in Greek

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus is a fifth-century Greek manuscript of the Bible, sometimes referred to as one of the four great uncials. The manuscript is not intact: in its current condition, Codex C contains material from every New Testament book except 2 Thessalonians and 2 John; however, only six books of the Greek Old Testament are represented. It is not known whether 2 Thessalonians and 2 John were excluded on purpose, or whether no fragment of either epistle happened to survive.

<i>Novum Testamentum Graece</i> Critical edition of the Greek New Testament

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Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener

Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener was a New Testament textual critic and a member of the English New Testament Revision Committee which produced the Revised Version of the Bible. He was prebendary of Exeter, and vicar of Hendon.

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Westcott-Hort

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Benjamin G. Wilkinson

Benjamin George Wilkinson (1872–1968) was a Seventh-day Adventist missionary, educator, and theologian. He served also as Dean of Theology at the Seventh-day Adventist Washington Missionary College which is located in Takoma Park, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. Wilkinson is considered one of the originators of the King James Only beliefs.

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Textual variants in the Epistle to the Colossians Textual variants in the Epistle to the Colossians

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Textual variants in the Second Epistle of Peter are the subject of the study called textual criticism of the New Testament. Textual variants in manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. An abbreviated list of textual variants in this particular book is given in this article below.

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Textual variants in the Epistle of James are the subject of the study called textual criticism of the New Testament. Textual variants in manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to a text that is being reproduced. An abbreviated list of textual variants in this particular book is given in this article below.

References

  1. ↑ Burgon, Revision Revised, p. 9.
  2. ↑ Burgon, Revised Revision, p. 48.
  3. ↑ Burgon, Revision Revised, p. 9.
  4. ↑ Metzger, Bruce M. (2001). A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. pp. 26, 33, 35, 36, 50, 81, 86, 87, 93, 99, 102–106, 187–189, 315, 388, 434, 444. ISBN   3-438-06010-8.
  5. ↑ Philip B. Payne Fuldensis, Sigla for Variants in Vaticanus and 1 Cor 14.34-5, NTS 41 (1995) 252.
  6. ↑ Eberhard Nestle, Erwin Nestle, Barbara Aland and Kurt Aland (eds), Novum Testamentum Graece , 26th edition, (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft , 1991), p. 440. [NA26]
  7. ↑ Bruce M. Metzger, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Greek Palaeography, New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991, p. 74.
  8. ↑ Carlo Maria Martini, La Parola di Dio Alle Origini della Chiesa, (Rome: Bibl. Inst. Pr. 1980), p. 287.
  9. ↑ Bart D. Ehrman, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1993, p. 60.
  10. ↑ Fee, G. D. (1968-9). Codex Sinaiticus in the Gospel of John, NTS 15, pp. 22-44.
  11. ↑ Bruce M. Metzger (2001). "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament", Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart: United Bible Societies.
  12. ↑ "The Truth About the Waldensian Bible and the Old Latin Version" Baptist Bible Heritage 2, no. 2 (summer 1991): pgs. 1, 7-8, by Doug Kutilek.
  13. ↑ One Bible Only? Examining Exclusive Claims for the King James Bible by Roy E Beacham and Kevin T Bauder, editors, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 2001, pgs 44, 54.

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