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Queen Elizabeth II attended a ceremony at London's Westminster Abbey Wednesday to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, often considered the most influential book ever printed in the English language. It came about when King James I summoned a conference at Hampton Court Palace near London in 1604, hoping to thrash out differences between Church of England bishops and Puritans. Failing to make progress on other issues, Puritan leader John Reynolds proposed a new translation which emerged in 1611

King James and His Translators by Rick Norris The Great Hypocrite or Great Dissembler: Was "godly" King James a Liar, a Compromiser, or Both? While king in Scotland, Benjamin Brook noted that James had declared in the general assembly at Edinburg, with his hands lifted to heaven, "that he praised God that he was born to be the king of the purest kirk [church] in the world." "As for our neighbor kirk [church] of England," said he, their service is an evil-said mass in English." James also said "that the Book of Common Prayer was the English mass book, and...

The following transcript is one of Ronald Reagan's famous radio addresses. In this address (which aired September 6, 1977), Ronald Reagan, the great orator, eloquently gives his thoughts on the "Good News Bible" (also called the Good News for Modern Man and Today's English Version) in comparison to the Authorized Version or the King James Bible. emphasis added -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What would you say if someone decided Shakespeare's plays, Charles Dicken's novels, or the music of Beethoven could be rewritten & improved? I'll be right back. . . Writing in the journal "The Alternative", Richard Hanser, author of The Law &...

QUESTION: What about the 21st Century King James Bible? Isn't it supposed to be an exact reprint of the original 1611 version but archaic words replaced for the closest modern word? Can it be trusted? Why does the original 1611 version have "strain out a gnat" and modern King James versions misprint that by saying "strain at a gnat" When will this error be corrected? ANSWER: The 21st Century King James Bible is not really a King James Bible at all. I trust only what God has blessed. Do you have any evidence of the massive revival sweeping the land...

QUESTION: Wasn't Erasmus, whose work led to the Textus Receptus and ultimately the King James Bible, really a Roman Catholic? Doesn't this mean that the King James Bible is just another Roman Catholic Bible? ANSWER: Erasmus was raised a Catholic and did not openly "leave" the Roman Catholic Religion, but he did not believe in Roman Catholic doctrine either. In fact, his best friends and defenders were the Christians, like the Anabaptists and Martin Luther. Here is proof from researcher Gail Riplinger.

QUESTION: Isn't it true that the King James Bible was translated by only half a dozen manuscripts, and that none of them was earlier than the 10th Century (900s) AD?

QUESTION: Why is the word in Hebrew for the Holy Spirit a female noun? I am not saying God is a woman or a man. I am saying the word for Holy spirit in Hebrew is of feminine gender.

QUESTION: There are several claims that the Bible Code points to the Son of God as Yeshua. But what does the Word of God say? In Nehemiah 8:17 according to the original Hebrew Text and the Old King James of 1611, it is made certain that Yeshua (Jeshua), is the son of Nun. Obviusly, the son of Nun can never be the son of God. Therefore, isn't the Bible Code fake, and couldn't it be used for total blasphemy?

QUESTION: Why shouldn't I just read the Greek and Hebrew? Why should I use the King James translation?

QUESTION: Who were the translators of the King James Bible.

QUESTION: What was the method that the King James translators used to translate the Bible?

QUESTION: Why is the King James Bible called the "Authorized Version"? How did King James Authorize it?

QUESTION: In Matt. 27:46 it quotes Jesus as saying "eli, eli, lama sabachthani?" Then it says "that is to say" with the translation behind it. Was it supposed to be written in 2 languages? If it wasn't, would the KJV translators also be guilty of "adding" to the scriptures?

QUESTION: Why is the doxology of the Lord's prayer ("For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and glory forever. Amen.") found in Matthew, missing in Luke's account of the same in his Gospel?

QUESTION: Did dead people 'wake up' in the morning according to Isaiah 37:36 in the KJV?

QUESTION: Why does Gen. 42:25 refer to corn, when corn is a new world crop? Europeans did not know of its existence until the 16th Century. Surely that must be a mistranslation by the KJV translators, because the Jews would have not known about corn.

QUESTION: I have been reading lately about how the Bible contains quotes from extracanonical texts as in Acts 17:28. Even the Old Testament quotes from rabbinical texts, right? Do you feel that these texts should have been omitted from the canon? Why would Jude quote from "The Assumption of Moses" in Jude 9 and then "The Book of Enoch" in Jude 14 if they are now considered 'apocryphal'?

QUESTION: How do I handle professors that don't like to hear "King James only" arguments? They are evaluating using a certain Bible version. They say that they'll listen to evidence about other Bible versions, but do not want the King James mentioned specifically. What do I do?

QUESTION: How did God preserve His words to this day?

QUESTION: In I Peter 1:24-25, the apostle Peter is quoting Isaiah 40:6-8. But why does it look like he is quoting the Greek Septuagint, and not the Masoretic (Hebrew) verse?

QUESTION: Has the King James Bible been changed, between 1611 and the present day?

QUESTION: Do all publishing companies publish "the same" King James Bible?

QUESTION: Is anything missing from the New American Bible or the Rheims-Douay?

QUESTION: Which is correct in 1 Timothy 3:16 "God was manifest in the flesh" (KJV) or "He appeared in a body" (NIV)?

QUESTION: Does "replenish" in Genesis 1:28 mean "repopulate," like there was a world before ours?

QUESTION: What is wrong with the New King James Version (NKJV)? All it does is modernize the words of the King James Bible, right? Why should I read the King James and not the helpful New King James?

QUESTION: Gehenna is not hell, is it? It was a valley where outcasts, thieves and infected people were thrown when they died. The Bible refers to "Gehenna" as the place of death and pain. The word "hell", as you so often use, where eternal pain and fire awaits is actually "Gehenna." If you have read a bible written before 1400, you will notice a very important thing: "HELL" is missing. Instead it says "Gehenna." There is no fire breathing eternal pain demon hell!! In fact YOU are commiting a sin here. Telling people, or lying to people about hell, when...

QUESTION: Why is it that most Bible versions (non KJV) either omit Mark 16:9-20 or they have footnotes about alternate endings?

QUESTION: My Bible has different words from the King James, but don't they all mean the same thing? So I want a Bible that reads as simply as possible, not hard words as the King James Bible has.

QUESTION: I have heard that the passage in Exodus which reads "Suffer a not a WITCH to live" was a mistranslation and that instead of "witch" it should have read "poisoner." Is this true?

QUESTION: Is it true that 1 John 5:7 is not in any Greek manuscript before the 1600s? If it is true, why is it in the King James Bible?

QUESTION: I know some people who basically refuse to read the KJV because they claim they don't understand it. However, they are willing to read the NIV. I feel bad about recommending the NIV to them if they aren't willing to read the KJV because I feel that the KJV is the Word of God. But in a case like this, is it better to have them read the NIV over nothing at all?

QUESTION: Is there an edition of the Greek Textus Receptus you can recommend- and equally an edition of the Hebrew - for those studying the languages as they are used in the Bible? I appreciate that eventually Bible scholars need to study the various manuscripts that comprise the Textus Receptus and the various Hebrew manuscripts as well, but a single edition seems a starting point for learning.

QUESTION: Isn't Isiah 53:4 a mistranslation for the words "pain" and "suffering" as grief and sorrows?

QUESTION: Does the KJV contain contradictions about who are the 12 apostles?

QUESTION: Was the Sinaiticus Codex actually rescued from a wastepaper basket? What is your evidence for this?

QUESTION: Should the Bible say "Lucifer" or "morning star" in Isaiah 14:12? And does it refer to Satan?

QUESTION: It is true I don't find lots of verses and words in my NIV. But a lot of times I find the words in the footnotes. Isn't that good enough?

QUESTION: Why does the KJV translate "theopneustos" in 2. Ti. 3:16 as "inspired" rather than "God-breathed"? "God-breathed" is a more literal and accurate translation, it seems to me, as per the NIV. Any thoughts?

In this book we have observed the battle which rages in FUNDAMENTAL circles concerning the question of the perfect English translation.

WILLARD SPERRY Willard Sperry Shows his dislike for the gospel of John in the following statement. "Some of these sayings, it is true, come from the Fourth Gospel (John), AND WE DO NOT PRESS THAT GOSPEL FOR TOO GREAT VERBAL ACCURACY IN ITS RECORD OF THE SAYINGS OF JESUS."244

LANCELOT ANDREWS Dr. Lancelot Andrews, a member of the Westmenster Company is known for his linguistic ability.

CHRISTIAN CRITICS In this chapter we will be looking at some of the most common misrepresentations of the Authorized Version. Many of these misrepresentations are unintentional. Most of the comments against the Authorized Version are, in fact, simply repetitions of what the commontator heard from the pulpit, read in a book, or learned in a classroom.

Westcott's Peace-Movement No true Christian loves war. A Bible believer takes the premillenial view and realizes that war is caused by the sinful nature of mankind-James 4:1. He understands that this will all be changed at Christ's return-Philippians 3:21.

A SURPRISING DEFENCE It is true that a man who believed things completely contrary to the convictions of today's fundamental preachers and educators could be exalted and defended by them. Of course, I believe this is done primarily because our fundamental brethren know little of what either Dr. Westcott or Dr. Hort really believed and taught.

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1903) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828-1892) have been highly controversial figures in biblical history.

A New Plan Let it be remebered, JESUITS DO NOT GIVE UP. They would have to bide their time. They would once again resort to undercover activities as they had so many times before. Their task would be a difficult one, yet for the unfaltering Jesuits, not impossible. They would have to discredit the Reformation. They would have to dislodge the Universal Greek Text from the firm position it once held in the minds and hearts of English scholarship. The would have to "wean" Protestantism back into the fold of Rome. To do this they would use the same plan...

"It is necessary to salvation that every man submit to the Pope." (Boniface VII Unum Sanctum, 1303)

It would be extremely beneficial at this point if we could simply produce the original autographs for examination. This would greatly simplify the operation of establishing correctly the New Testament Text. But this simply cannot happen. It has long been acknowledged by scholars that we no longer have the "originals." They have long since passed from the scene. This is due to the fact that scribes were known to destroy worn out MSS after they had copied them. Apparently the church valued the WORDS of the original more than the original itself. Therefore, the readings of the originals must be...

FAMILY FEUD The manuscripts and their classifications and reading will be studied in later pages. What we shall do now is closely scrutinize the centers from which our extant manuscripts have originated. It will be revealed in later study that Biblical manuscripts(MSS) are divided into two major groups. These two groups have been found to disagree with each other in many areas. Every English Bible in existence today will be found to proceed more or less from one of these two groups. The fact that there is ONE God plainly tells us that there cane only be ONE correct reading...