I actually went to two Bible colleges. One in West Virginia and one in Kansas City, and neither of them was adamant about any particular Bible version.
Rather, they focused on the Bible as inspired (or God-breathed) in the original languages. They would never say the KJV (or NASB or NIV, etc.) is God-breathed or supernaturally inspired. Only the original manuscripts. OK, I get that. You probably do too.
I took a Bibliology class at my West Virginia Bible college. Bibliology is the study of the Bible and how it came about from the originals to the versions. We had to memorize the lineage of Bibles beginning with the originals and then the translations into other languages and where early manuscript copies were found and who was responsible for the various translations, etc. It was a class you didn’t want to take right after lunch. (Snooze)
When the semester was almost over, one student raised his hand and asked, “After all this, which Bible version would you say is the most accurate to the original?” Honestly, this Bible theologian acted like the student had just asked, “What color are Martians?” I thought he looked like he had dreaded this question all semester, and here it was finally asked. He absolutely didn’t want to take a stand. But after some apology, in his opinion, it was probably the New American Standard Bible.
But given all that we had studied, his guess was as good as anyone else’s. What mattered was that the originals were supernaturally inspired, and thus the more important question was, “What do the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts say? They are what was inspired.” By implication, that means Bible degradation started immediately after the original manuscripts disentegrated or were lost. Serious Bible college students took the Greek and Hebrew classes. Especially those who wanted to be pastors so that they could be the translators of God’s message to the rest of us peons.
I accepted that for over a decade.
Then I learned a term that was never uttered in Bible college and is not found on any non-KJV church doctrinal statement regarding its stand on the word of God. That term is supernaturally preserved.
As I write this at the end of 2022, God offers His word to us today in our language, and we do not have to resort to the original Greek and Hebrew in order to know what God really said. Whew! Because guess what. There isn’t a single original Greek/Hebrew manuscript available to look at. However… scribes went through great lengths to hand-copy the originals, and those were passed around and further meticulously copied and then translated into other languages. It's called the preservation process, and it began way back when and continued on up to the publishing of the first mass-produced Authorized Version (KJV).
When God moves, so does Satan. He led certain unscrupulous men much later to find ancient manuscripts that didn’t match the numerous copies of the widely circulated ones. The obscure copies likely weren’t widely available because they contained errors. Nevertheless, some dudes grasped on to those, and through their vetting process, changed numerous verses to say or not say what they wanted or didn’t want them to say, based on their beliefs. Learn more about all this in further detail by reading my more detailed white paper.
But let me give an example of this all-important preservation tug of war between God and Satan. Let’s compare Psalm 12:6-7 in the KJV with the NIV. Read each of them twice to grasp the full impact of what they say about the preservation of the word of God, and how they aren’t saying the same thing at all.
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(Psa 12:6-7 KJV) The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. |
(Psa 12:6-7 NIV) And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked. |
Those are significant differences, wouldn’t you say? Here's what you have to understand: If God stopped his supernatural process of getting us His word (not just His ideas, but His word) after He inspired the originals, we are toast. As I mentioned, we don’t have the originals. And in that case, we are confused about which of the verses above is right. If I was Satan, I’d want everyone to ask “what did God really say? You can’t know for sure.” Isn’t that what he did with Eve in the very beginning?
You have to know that God continued His supernatural process of getting us His word beyond inspiration. He also guided in preserving His word in English. We have what He intended for us to have.
But you won’t find a Bible college that talks about supernatural preservation except in a few KJV-only church affiliated Bible colleges. And no Bible scholar other than a KJV proponent will claim supernatural preservation of his/her choice version.
Coming from someone who went to Bible college, I will tell you that with the right heart attitude that believes every word in your Bible (the KJV), you do not need to go to Bible college to learn the Bible. In fact, DON’T go to Bible college. Find a good KJV church that is committed to teaching you how to study the Bible and God will give you just what you need.
Jody
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