FEBC and important missing facts on Textual Criticism
Ps 12:7 refers to the preservation of the Righteous/Godly and not Word
a. Westminster Confession of Faith Chap1:8
Only Matt 5:18 is cited out of 8 original citations that FEBC adduced in support of their case. Conspicuously not cited is Ps 12:7. In the Annotations on the Scriptures, published in 1645, the divines said that it referred to the righteous/the godly man. Our original BP WCF also does not have this verse. It has one other verse, "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." (Ps 119:89). Please note that it is settled in heaven and NOT earth.
b. John Calvin
“Thou, O Jehovah. Some think that the language of the Psalmist here is that of renewed prayer; and they, therefore, understand the words as expressive of his desire, and translate them in the optative mood, thus, Do thou, O Jehovah, keep them. But I am rather of opinion that David, animated with holy confidence, boasts of the certain safety of all the godly, of whom God, who neither can deceive nor lie, avows himself to be the guardian. At the same time, I do not altogether disapprove of the interpretation which views David as renewing his supplications at the throne of grace. Some give this exposition of the passage, Thou wilt keep them, namely, thy words; but this does not seem to me to be suitable.”
c. Matthew Henry
“That God will secure his chosen remnant to himself, how bad soever the times are (v. 7): Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. This intimates that, as long as the world stands, there will be a generation of proud and wicked men in it, more or less, who will threaten by their wretched arts to ruin religion, by wearing out the saints of the Most High, Dan. vii. 25. But let God alone to maintain his own interest and to preserve his own people. He will keep them from this generation, (1.) From being debauched by them and drawn away from God, from mingling with them and learning their works. In times of general apostasy the Lord knows those that are his, and they shall be enabled to keep their integrity. (2.) From being destroyed and rooted out by them. The church is built upon a rock, and so well fortified that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. In the worst of times God has his remnant, and in every age will reserve to himself a holy seed and preserve that to his heavenly kingdom.”
d. KJV translators- English Edition (1611)
In the margin: “him: that is, every one of them.” The American Edition had the margins replaced.
e. Geneva Bible (1560) – translators include John Knox, Coverdale, William Whittingham
“Thou wilt keep them, O LORD: thou wilt preserve him from this generation forever.” And in the margin: “That is, thine, though he were but one man.”
f. C H Spurgeon
“…in verse 5, Jehovah himself thunders out his wrath against oppressors; hearing this, the Chief Musician sings sweetly of the faithfulness of God and his care of his people in verses 6 and 7.” The Treasury of David, Vol.1, pg141
Classic example of tempering the truth
“The words of the Lord are pure words,” says the Psalmist, “as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve every one of them (margin) from this generation for ever.” Which Bible? David Otis. Pg313. Compare with the actual margin reading – “him” is missing - “him: that is, every one of them.” By doing this Otis has reduced God to a weakling needing him to help Him by deception. This is heresy.
GI Williamson
GI Williamson believed in perfect preservation of the big body of texts (photocopies) and not any particular printed Masoretic Text or variant TR. The WCF, Pg16,17. And also 2 Tim 3:16 refers to the original texts. FEBC’s Preservation Statement conveniently removed the verse and the material explanation. He uses the NIV and NKJV. Also Dr John Whitcomb holds to this view and uses NASB.
Masoretic Text - Is this the exact copy of the original OT?
“They introduced vowel-points (Hebrew has no vowels), fixed accents (to ensure correct pronunciation), explained the meaning of words (where ambiguity existed), and marked intended pauses (which often affect the meaning).” The Lord gave the Word, Malcolm Watts, TBS, pg10
“…The Greek Text Underlying The English Authorised Version of 1611 as published by The Trinitarian Bible Society in 1976.” Position Statement of FEBC. – Is this correct?
Hills said in The KJV Defended, pg223: “This text was published in 1881 by the Cambridge University Press under the editorship of Dr Scrivener, and there have been eight reprints, the latest being in 1949. In 1976 also another edition of this text was published in London by the Trinitarian Bible Society.” Note that it’s another edition and not 9th reprint. There are changes. KJV was published in 1611 and Scrivener’s text was published in 1881. Scrivener did a reverse-engineering job. Now, which underlies which???
No two TRs are alike
- Erasmus – 5 editions
- Robert Stephanus – 4 editions
- Theodore Beza – 10 editions
- Elzevir Bros – 2 editions
- Scrivener – 2 editions
This means the NT is substantially restored and is still work-in-progress otherwise FEBC/VPPers would be able to pinpoint which TR is perfected with absolute certainty.
Dean Burgon’s Oath* – what is this bible?
He wrote in pg21, Revision Revised : “Once for all, we request it may be clearly understood that we do not, by any means, claim perfection for the Received Text. We entertain no extravagant notions on this subject. Again and again we shall have occasion to point out that the textus receptus needs correction.” Hills wrote on the stand of Dean Burgon and Scrivener : “…looked askance at the TR and declined to defend it except in so far as it agreed with the Traditional Text found in the majority of the Greek NT manuscripts.” The KJV Defended, pg 192. The bible is the big body of texts known as the Byzantine family of texts.
Ps 22:16 - “they pierced my hands and my feet” (KJV) or “like a lion my hands and my feet” (Hebrew) ?
a. EF Hills in The KJV Defended, pg223 :
“And in Ps 22:16 the KJV reads with the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Latin Vulgate, they pierced my hands and my feet. The Hebrew text, on the other hand, reads, like a lion my hands and my feet, a reading which makes no sense and which, as Calvin observes, was obviously invented by the Jews to deny the prophetic reference to the crucifixion of Christ.”
b. Calvin: “They have pierced my hands and my feet. The original word, which we have translated they have pierced, is yrak, caari, which literally rendered is, like a lion. As all the Hebrew Bibles at this day, without exception, have this reading, I would have had great hesitation in departing from a reading which they all support, were it not that the scope of the discourse compels me to do so, and were there not strong grounds for conjecturing that this passage has been fraudulently corrupted by the Jews.”
c. Matthew Henry: “He is here crucified. The very manner of his death is described, though never in use among the Jews: They pierced my hands and my feet (v. 16), which were nailed to the accursed tree, and the whole body left so to hang, the effect of which must needs be the most exquisite pain and torture. There is no one passage in all the Old Testament which the Jews have so industriously corrupted as this, because it is such an eminent prediction of the death of Christ and was so exactly fulfilled.”
d. The Complete Word Study Old Testament, KJV by Strong's Hebrew dictionary, reads Lion (Masoretic text, main), pierce in the margin (variant). pg17.
Please search the web for what the Rabbis say.
To say that the Masoretic text is perfect is a serious attack on the prophetic reference to the crucifixion of Christ. The bible says: “…without shedding of blood is no remission.” Heb 9:22. This is very serious and at the very heart of God’s salvation plan.
(Ben Chayyim first printed his collated Massoretic text in 1524/25 during Calvin’s time.)
Easter or Passover ? – Acts 12:4 – Pg 247, Defending The KJV
Waite wrote : The rendering there is from the Greek text to pascha which is “Passover” but that particular Passover was at the same time as the Easter festival. The KJB followed Tyndale and many other translations in rendering the “Easter” in Acts 12:4.
This is Dynamic Equivalence. In Ex 12:14, “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.”
1. That Passover is a fact.
2. That the Jews obeyed God in keeping the ordinance.
By changing it to Easter, a pagan festival then, is seriously wrong. We celebrate our National Day on 9 Aug every year because we gained independence on 9 Aug 65. It is evidence of the fact. Furthermore, we are not to change God’s Word.
Wescott and Hort were not saved but what about Dean Burgon and Erasmus ?
a. Dean Burgon
In Theology he was a High-church Anglican, strenuously upholding the doctrine of baptismal regeneration but opposing the ritualism into which even in his day the High-church movement had begun to decline. E.F. Hills in Which Bible? Edited by David Otis Fuller, Pg87
b. Erasmus
Erasmus wrote of Mary as "my salvation" and "my refuge." Furthermore, he wished for "salvation through Jesus, but not without his Mother." Dan and Cheryl Corner at http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/
Gail Riplinger – Authoress of New Age Bible Versions & highly esteemed by FEBC and Rev DA Waite is living in sin: twice divorced and thrice married. She is a friend of Rev DA Waite. See http://www.truth.sg/ or www.truth.tc/information/gail-riplinger.html
One example of missing words in KJV – Jude 25 – New Age Bible?
"To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen" (NIV).
"To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen" (KJV).
Comment: Please note that the KJV left out the words, "through Jesus Christ our Lord." If I were to turn the tables on your camp, I could say from Jude 25 (and also John 14:14 which we'll soon examine) that the KJV must be part of a New Age conspiracy or that the KJV's Textus Receptus (TR) is corrupted and contaminated since it conceals the mediatorship (and deity) of the Lord Jesus Christ! But to argue in this fashion would be extreme and unfair, even though many who hold to your position apparently don't think. Dan and Cheryl Corner at http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/
Mine: It also left out “before all ages”. Our God is from everlasting to everlasting. This truth is weakened by limiting God to “now and for ever”.
REMEMBER THIS: Whenever the benediction, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling…” from KJV, Jude 24 – 25 is pronounced/read, 8 CARDINAL WORDS ARE MISSING as against 1. One cannot pretend that they do not exist!
Despite the difficulties in the so-called perfect/imperfect underlying texts, Calvinists such as Calvin; Matthew Henry; the Westminster Divines; Trinitarian Bible Society; Hill; John Knox; Spurgeon and Williamson taught the sufficiency of the scriptures and the 5 points of Calvinism and in particular the 5th point of Calvinism: “Perseverance of the Saints”. They had no doubt that the elects of God can have full assurance of salvation and will ultimately reach heaven. Amen.
Hills said: “God’s preservation of the NT was not miraculous but providential… Hence if we believe in the special providential preservation of the Scriptures and make this the leading principle of our biblical textual criticism, we obtain maximum certainty, all the certainty that any mere man can obtain, all the certainty that we need.” …Pg 224
Bottom-line -
A host of divines vs Small (but growing) group of VPPers
Handed-down view vs New view
Big body of texts/substantially restored texts/work-in-progress collated texts vs Printed collated perfected texts
My bible has mistakes. Do you believe me? I mean my Defined KJV by the Waites has books missing…and this is with modern technology… Amazing? Yes. How can I be sure of my salvation then? You’ll get the point now? FEBC has yet to define what is their Bible in no uncertain terms? It has shifted it’s position for the NT many times from …to Beza 5th Edition to Scrivener’s text to Reformation Text to…and use the word, Bible so interchangeably…
For the record: I use only KJV. May God help us to reconcile.
A true-blue BP., Paul Cheong
*Dean Burgons oath
“the Bible is none other than the voice of Him that sitteth upon the throne. Every book of it, every chapter of it, every verse of it, every word of it, every syllable of it, every letter of it, is direct utterance of the Most High. The Bible is none other than the Word of God, not some part of it more, some part of it less, but all alike the utterance of Him that sitteth upon the throne, faultless, unerring, supreme.”
NB: We are concerned with FEBC’s brand of VPP only.
Related web : http://www.truth.sg/
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