THE NINETEEN QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTIAN CLERGY
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QUESTION 11
Revised, re-revised, re-re-revised King James Versions;
what's next?
"The Revised Standard Version of the Bible is an authorized
revision of the American Standard Version, published in
1901, which was a revision of the King James Version,
published in 1611. The first English version of the
Scriptures made by direct translation from the original
Hebrew and Greek, and the first to be printed, was the work
of William Tyndale. He met bitter opposition. He was accused
of willfully perverting the meaning of the Scriptures, and
his New Testaments were ordered to be burned as "untrue
translations." He was finally betrayed into the hands of his
enemies, and in October 1536, was publicly executed and
burned at the stake. Yet Tyndale's work became the
foundation of subsequent English versions." (Revised
Standard Version, preface).
Since W. Tyndale translated King James version it has been
revised four times. The preface of the Re-revised Standard
Version (RSV) 1952, and Re-re-revised Standard Version
(still RSV) 1971, contains very important acknowledgements.
Here we will quote some paragraphs to give you an idea about
the reality of the Bible from the horses' mouth.
The authors of RSV, that is, "thirty-two scholars, assisted
by an Advisory Board of fifty representatives of the
cooperating denominations," after praising the King James
Version as "the noblest monument of English prose"
acknowledge the following facts:
"Yet the King James Version has grave defects. By the middle
of the nineteenth century , the development of Biblical
studies and the discovery of many manuscripts more ancient
than those upon which the King James Version was based, made
it manifest that these defects are so many and so serious as
to call for revision of the English translation ...
"Sometimes it is evident that the text has suffered in
transmission, but none of the versions provides a
satisfactory restoration. Here we can only follow the best
judgment of competent scholars as to the most probable
reconstruction of the original text.
"The King James Version of the New Testament was based upon
a Greek text that was marred by mistakes, containing the
accumulated errors of fourteen centuries of manuscript
copying ..."
These words have been published in both Revised Standard
Versions of 1951 and 1971. However there are important
differences between them. For instance:
In the 1951 version, the word "begotten" of John 3:16,18 was
considered as an addition and was taken out. But, in the
following revision, in 1971, this correction is considered
as a distortion, the surgery was reversed and the word
"begotten" replanted again.
Similarly, 1 John 5:7 was corrected in RSV 1951 as "And the
Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth."
However, in the following version, RSV 1971, the correction
was deleted and the addition was inserted again as: "For
there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these are one."
Furthermore, it varies in different translations. According
to The New International Version, for instance, the verse:
"For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and
the blood; and the three are in agreement." The three may be
in agreement, but it is obvious that our Bible versions are
not in agreement.
You can find in footnotes (sometimes)!
The differences and contradictions, additions and omissions
in the Gospels, leave no doubt that they are historical
notes narrated by humans who can forget, can misunderstand
and can add. Below are some of the acknowledged distortions
in the Bible; you can find them in the footnotes of many
revised editions of the Bible.
Matthew 17:21; 18:11; 23:14
Mark 7:16; 9:44-46; 11:26; 15:28; 16:9-20
Luke 17:36; 23:17
John 5:4; 8:11; 9:35
Acts 8:37; 15:34; 24:7; 28:29
Romans 8:1; 16:24
Who denies this fact?
Before directing our questions let's read a brave
acknowledgement made by Dr. W. Graham Scroggie of the Moody
Bible Institute, Chicago, one of the most renowned Christian
Evangelical Mission in the world. The heading of the
following quotation is IT IS HUMAN, YET DIVINE:
"Yes, the Bible is human, though some, out of a zeal which
is not according to knowledge, have denied this. Those books
have passed through the minds of men, and bear in their
style the characteristics of men." (Is The Bible the Word of
God?, Dr. W. Graham Scroggie, Moody Bible Institute,
Chicago, p. 17).
Related questions:
1. How many times did you revise the "inspired"
King James version?
2. Why was the word "begotten" of John 3:16 and 18 taken
from 1951 RSV?
3. Why was the same word replanted in 1971 RSV?
4. Why was 1 John 5:7 tampered with?
5. Is it coincidence that the two major references of your
teachings, John 3:16 and 1 John 5:7 are questionable
by your own scholars?
Moslem Questions on Christianity Edip Yuksel P.O. Box 43476, Tucson, AZ 85733-3476 U.S.A. Tel/Fax: (520) 323-7636
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