The King James Bible vs. the New Age Bibles.
This could be called a war against the Traditional Text. There are basically two streams or families of text that have come down to us through the centuries. The Traditional or Byzantine, from which we get the Textus Receptus (Received Text), and the Alexandrian, from which we get the critical text of Westcott-Hort, and the Nestle-Aland. It is from the Traditional stream that we get the King James Version (KJV), and from the Alexandrian stream that we get the English Standard Version (ESV), American Standard Version (ASV), New International Version (NIV). The New King James Version (NKJV) is a mix of both streams. From the Traditional stream, there are thousands of manuscripts that have come down to us through the centuries, some are over a thousand years old. From the Alexandrian stream, there are but a few dozen manuscripts, some are over sixteen hundred years old. Two of the most important manuscripts from the Alexandrian stream were "found" after hundreds of years in the library at Saint Catherines Monastery in the Sinai (Textus Sinaiticus), and the library at the Vatican in Rome (Textus Vaticanus). Modern textual critics use these manuscripts to make "corrections" to the Traditional or Received text. Their logic is that these manuscripts are older and therefore closer to the originals written by the authors, and where there are differences in the text, they should be given precedence over the Traditional text. They ignore the fact that what might be called "textual critics" of sixteen hundred years ago rejected the Alexandrian text, and stopped making copies of them, but continued to make thousands of copies of the Traditional or Received text.
When the Protestant Reformation began, and Martin Luther nailed his Ninty Five theses on the door of the church in Wittenburg and challenged some of the teachings and doctrine of the Catholic church, he was subsequently ordered by the church to recant his writings. His answer was if it could be shown from scriptures that he was wrong he would recant, but if not "here I stand". What followed are called the Three Solas of the Protestant Reformation. Sola Scriptura (scripture alone) Sola Fide (faith alone) Sola Gratia (grace alone). These were foundational doctrines of the movement. Sola Scriptura, on which the other Solas were based, was to be the final authority of the Protestant movement. If it couldn't be supported by scripture it was to be rejected.
For Catholics, scripture is not the final authority, the Vatican and the Pope are. What are Protestants to do when the Bible, their final authority is challenged? When the reliability of scripture is questioned where do you turn for your final authority? Well, the Assembly of God church in America has an answer. The foundational document of the church states in article one, "The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man - the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct (2 Timothy 3:15-17; I Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)". To further explain the church's position on the scriptures a position paper was written by the General Presbytery in August 2015. This is one of the most subtle papers I have ever read. For decades the Assembly of God has been promoting the NIV in its literature, one of the new age versions from the Alexandrian stream of text. In this paper, they elevate it and all other "major translations" above the Traditional text of the KJV. They do this by telling us that these major translations "are continuously reviewed by, reputable scholars who are committed to the task of conveying accurately the Word of God from the original languages to the modern readers". Those of us who use the KJV, we're not "modern readers". What is the final authority as stated by the General Presbytery in their position paper, "experts in textual criticism"! It doesn't matter if these experts are Protestant, Catholic, or agnostic, as long as they are experts in textual criticism. When another manuscript is discovered these textual critics will issue another edition of these new age bibles, and that will be the final authority until another manuscript is found.
Where does this position paper of the Assembly of God leave the Traditional Text or the KJV? On the dusty floor of the old country church, or in the straw on the ground under the tent of an old-time revival meeting. You'd be hard-pressed to find an Assembly of God church in America where the pastor regularly preached from the Traditional Text. Sola Scriptura has been replaced by what the scholars or experts in textual criticism say. If you object you are labeled as a member of the King James Only cult. As if you and the Traditional Text are the problems, and you are holding back the new age church. " For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." 2 Thessalonians 2:7
