Thursday, September 14, 2006
Faith and KJO defence
I have emailed some of the King James only people and they do not know what to do with me. I do not think they have anything to prove what they think with out some hard study. I think the sermons of some of the baptist church are not really all that good when they preach things not in the bible. They teach a verse out of context and do not give context. I also know they tend to focus on the Music thing and I am going to hit that sometime hard to. If you read the king james I am fine with you but if you think it is the only bible is your not right and Iam going to do some reports on why but tonight I want to talk on a passage of the bible
Heb 11 Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.1
We are talking about faith and we have been sharing the things faith is and how to show we have faith. Here are some of the things faith has made man do. Faith has people being tortured. People from the old times to today have been hurt for the reason of they have faith. People in parts of the world today die for loving Jesus and they do it because they know they have something that no one can take away from you and that is heaven. People have been beaten up and killed because they followed Jesus. Look at Danial which is ny middle name and one man of God who had faith and did not bow but because of the faith he had. Note that in the end many came to know God. It shows that you keep your faith in hard times you might lead someone to Jesus.
It is true that the world sometimes is given a follower of Jesus that shines brightly and has the position of sharing Jesus with many. I think no one is worthy of seeing Jesus and if your one that is saved you need to know your one of few in this land and world. Do you know that in the plan of God few are saved and going to heaven. It is a truth that not a lot of people are thinking they are ok and do not know the Lord. Ask 5 people and I know they are not going to know how to go to heaven. Another thing to think about is the wrath the people who harm the Lords own are going to endure. If your out trashing the people of Jesus you best stop. It is not ok to make fun the people of faith because it is going to be at your judgment and you do not want to have it there.
God has provided something better and that is the freedom to obey God in the Lord Jesus. In the old times they did not have Jesus and God did not come and live in the heart he lived in the temple. We are in the new times and Jesus lives in us and that is a big thing to think about.
Here is tonights Anti KJO Only thing
Taking the Bible out of the Common Person's Hands
If we refuse to allow translating the Bible into currently used languages, we effectively hinder people's ability to know the Word of God. Languages change over the centuries. Anyone who doubts this ought to try to read an actual 1611 version of the King James. It would be very difficult. If church authorities allow use of only certain translations, as pre-Reformation Roman Catholicism did with the Latin Vulgate, they can effectively limit access to the Bible. The older and more obscure a language is, the more it is the realm of only trained scholars to read and understand it.
I used the King James until 1978. The reason I switched to the New American Standard was that I found myself constantly having to translate the King James into current English after reading the text during a sermon. I had taken Greek in Bible college and often consulted the Greek when there was a question about a passage in the King James. Most of the problems were due to the fact that certain words in King James English mean something entirely different now. A famous example is "peculiar" in 1Peter 2:9 which is supposed to mean a people that are especially God's unique possession, but now peculiar means "odd" in a negative sense. Consider Psalm 88:13 in the KJV, "But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee." How does prayer "prevent" God? This verse seems rather odd until one realizes that "prevent" in older English means "go before." Here is the passage in the New American Standard Version: "But I, O Lord, have cried out to Thee for help, And in the morning my prayer comes before Thee." The New American Standard update of 1995 changes "thee" in language addressed to God, "But I, O Lord, have cried out to You for help, And in the morning my prayer comes before You."
There are countless examples of similar confusion, as well as words no longer used at all. Only those who are well versed in languages are able to quickly adapt to the changes. I learned the meanings of many obscure King James words when I used to look them up in the Greek Bible before preaching on a text. But what about the people who cannot do that? What about people who are intimidated by King James only preachers or books like Riplinger's that forbid even the use any of the twentieth century study aids? If this logic is followed, when a person does not understand a word or passage in the KJV, he or she has no recourse but to rely on the preacher to give an accurate interpretation. Other translations are not to be consulted and concordances or lexicons are considered tools of Satan, to be avoided at all costs. How then are the people of God going to be "Bereans" and search the scriptures to see if what they are being told is true?
I am not criticizing people who love the King James, or preach from the King James. They can do like I did and explain the meaning of difficult words to the people. I am challenging those who falsely accuse all other translations of being sinister New Age plots and who refuse any use of lexicons or Greek dictionaries to find out the meaning of words. Their arguments are invalid and their practice dangerous. They threaten the spiritual well-being of the Lord's flock. Those who have labored hard to provide accurate, understandable Biblical translations do not.
1The New King James Version, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1982.
Heb 11 Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.1
We are talking about faith and we have been sharing the things faith is and how to show we have faith. Here are some of the things faith has made man do. Faith has people being tortured. People from the old times to today have been hurt for the reason of they have faith. People in parts of the world today die for loving Jesus and they do it because they know they have something that no one can take away from you and that is heaven. People have been beaten up and killed because they followed Jesus. Look at Danial which is ny middle name and one man of God who had faith and did not bow but because of the faith he had. Note that in the end many came to know God. It shows that you keep your faith in hard times you might lead someone to Jesus.
It is true that the world sometimes is given a follower of Jesus that shines brightly and has the position of sharing Jesus with many. I think no one is worthy of seeing Jesus and if your one that is saved you need to know your one of few in this land and world. Do you know that in the plan of God few are saved and going to heaven. It is a truth that not a lot of people are thinking they are ok and do not know the Lord. Ask 5 people and I know they are not going to know how to go to heaven. Another thing to think about is the wrath the people who harm the Lords own are going to endure. If your out trashing the people of Jesus you best stop. It is not ok to make fun the people of faith because it is going to be at your judgment and you do not want to have it there.
God has provided something better and that is the freedom to obey God in the Lord Jesus. In the old times they did not have Jesus and God did not come and live in the heart he lived in the temple. We are in the new times and Jesus lives in us and that is a big thing to think about.
Here is tonights Anti KJO Only thing
Taking the Bible out of the Common Person's Hands
If we refuse to allow translating the Bible into currently used languages, we effectively hinder people's ability to know the Word of God. Languages change over the centuries. Anyone who doubts this ought to try to read an actual 1611 version of the King James. It would be very difficult. If church authorities allow use of only certain translations, as pre-Reformation Roman Catholicism did with the Latin Vulgate, they can effectively limit access to the Bible. The older and more obscure a language is, the more it is the realm of only trained scholars to read and understand it.
I used the King James until 1978. The reason I switched to the New American Standard was that I found myself constantly having to translate the King James into current English after reading the text during a sermon. I had taken Greek in Bible college and often consulted the Greek when there was a question about a passage in the King James. Most of the problems were due to the fact that certain words in King James English mean something entirely different now. A famous example is "peculiar" in 1Peter 2:9 which is supposed to mean a people that are especially God's unique possession, but now peculiar means "odd" in a negative sense. Consider Psalm 88:13 in the KJV, "But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee." How does prayer "prevent" God? This verse seems rather odd until one realizes that "prevent" in older English means "go before." Here is the passage in the New American Standard Version: "But I, O Lord, have cried out to Thee for help, And in the morning my prayer comes before Thee." The New American Standard update of 1995 changes "thee" in language addressed to God, "But I, O Lord, have cried out to You for help, And in the morning my prayer comes before You."
There are countless examples of similar confusion, as well as words no longer used at all. Only those who are well versed in languages are able to quickly adapt to the changes. I learned the meanings of many obscure King James words when I used to look them up in the Greek Bible before preaching on a text. But what about the people who cannot do that? What about people who are intimidated by King James only preachers or books like Riplinger's that forbid even the use any of the twentieth century study aids? If this logic is followed, when a person does not understand a word or passage in the KJV, he or she has no recourse but to rely on the preacher to give an accurate interpretation. Other translations are not to be consulted and concordances or lexicons are considered tools of Satan, to be avoided at all costs. How then are the people of God going to be "Bereans" and search the scriptures to see if what they are being told is true?
I am not criticizing people who love the King James, or preach from the King James. They can do like I did and explain the meaning of difficult words to the people. I am challenging those who falsely accuse all other translations of being sinister New Age plots and who refuse any use of lexicons or Greek dictionaries to find out the meaning of words. Their arguments are invalid and their practice dangerous. They threaten the spiritual well-being of the Lord's flock. Those who have labored hard to provide accurate, understandable Biblical translations do not.
1The New King James Version, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1982.
