Update from a friend: Since then, Hudson has apostasized and become an atheist, running a guitar shop in Florida. Kutilek continues serving the Lord in many capacities.
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A Timeline of the KJV-Only Movement
- Thread starter John of Japan
- Start date
We can add this to the 2000s
2008--Life Bible-Presbyterian Church (LBPC) launched a lawsuit against the Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC), which is one of an extremely few non-US bastions of KJV-Only doctrine, and is connected to the Dean Burgon Society. This college is Bible Presbyterian, a group led by Carl McIntyre out of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to be completely fundamental. The FEBC had their facilities in LBPC at the time. The beef LBPC had with the college was that the college had come out for Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP), a doctrine invented by H. D. Williams, who at the time was a DBS member. This doctrine teaches that the KJV is perfectly preserved. The college lost the lawsuit, but then won on appeal. See more information at: https://www.febc.edu.sg/introducing_the_college
Confusing? You bet!
2008--Life Bible-Presbyterian Church (LBPC) launched a lawsuit against the Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC), which is one of an extremely few non-US bastions of KJV-Only doctrine, and is connected to the Dean Burgon Society. This college is Bible Presbyterian, a group led by Carl McIntyre out of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to be completely fundamental. The FEBC had their facilities in LBPC at the time. The beef LBPC had with the college was that the college had come out for Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP), a doctrine invented by H. D. Williams, who at the time was a DBS member. This doctrine teaches that the KJV is perfectly preserved. The college lost the lawsuit, but then won on appeal. See more information at: https://www.febc.edu.sg/introducing_the_college
Confusing? You bet!
2000s
Throughout first decade of the new century, D. A. Waite and The Bible for Today produce many short works, including defenses against Bob Jones U. (Bob Jones University’s Inconsistent Position, 2000) and Central Baptist Theological Seminary (Central Seminary Refuted On Bible Versions, 1999). On the anti-KJV-Only side, two major works by Rick Norris and James Price appear.
Controversy arises among KJV-ONLY advocates with some saying that the term “inspiration” can be applied to a translation (Shelton Smith of the Sword of the Lord, Gail Riplinger, etc.) and others saying it must not (the Dean Burgon Society, Jack Schaap of First Baptist Church of Hammond, IN, etc.).
Early 2000s (From a friend in the know)—D. A. Waite expels some Ruckman and Riplinger followers from the Dean Burgon Society.
2001—Jack Hyles (1926-2001) passes. His son-in-law takes over the pastorate of First Baptist of Hammond, and the leadership of Hyles-Anderson College.
2001—In his book Touch Not The Unclean Thing (subtitle, “The Text Issue and Separation”), author David Sorenson takes the stand that to separate on the basis of a Bible translation is squarely in the mold of the original fundamentalists. While taking a stand against Peter Ruckman’s position, he also opposes the Hodges/Farstad Greek New Testament as being edited from a “rationalistic philosophy” (p. 39, fn 5).
2003—Rick Norris publishes The Unbound Scriptures, with the subtitle of “A Review of KJV-only Claims and Publications.” This is a major contribution against the movement of 479 pages, including the Appendixes, with a massive 49 page bibliography.
2003—On the KJV-Only side, a publisher named Hyles Publications brings out posthumously The Need for an Every-Word Bible, by Jack Hyles (1926-2001). This is from a set of messages preached by Hyles in the Wednesday night services of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. Much of the book is controversial, such as when he names non-KJV Bible translations as being from the Devil. For example: “A children’s Bible that is not exactly the King James text is one of the Devil’s bibles” (sic; p. 94).
2005—A new Greek New Testament based on the Byzantine text type with the title The New Testament in the Original Greek, and the subtitle, Byzantine Textform. The editors are Maurice A. Robinson of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and William G. Pierpont. Robinson, who has a PhD in textual criticism, is a well-known scholar of that discipline, and the most effective advocate to date of the Byzantine/Majority text type. The editors are not at all KJV-Only, though some ignorantly call them that.
2006—Fundamentalist professor James D. Price publishes King James Onlyism: A New Sect. An Old Testament editor of the New King James Version and widely known as a Hebrew scholar, Price is well respected even in broader evangelicalism. At 621 pages, including Appendixes, this is perhaps the most erudite critique of the KJV-Only movement.
2008—Life Bible-Presbyterian Church (LBPC) launched a lawsuit against the Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC), which is one of an extremely few non-US bastions of KJV-Only doctrine, and is connected to the Dean Burgon Society. This college is Bible Presbyterian, a group led by Carl McIntyre out of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to be completely fundamental. The FEBC had their facilities in LBPC at the time. The beef LBPC had with the college was that the college had come out for Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP), a doctrine invented by H. D. Williams, who at the time was a DBS member. This doctrine teaches that the KJV is perfectly preserved. The college lost the lawsuit, but then won on appeal. See more information at: Far Eastern Bible College | Introducing the College
2009—Until now, the Waites and Gail Riplinger got along famously, with The Bible for Today even selling Riplinger’s book, New Age Bible Versions. The problem is that Riplinger had been deceiving the Waites, since she was on her third husband, having been divorced twice. Letters and article flew back and forth, with other DBS members being involved: H. D. Williams and Phil Stringer. The upshot was that there was a complete break between the two parties. The issue had been building since 2008, but finally came to a head in 2010, when the final break occurred.
2009, February—Jack Schaap is leading Hyles-Anderson College, but co-founder of the school Russell Anderson chastises him in a letter for believing that we should not use the word “inspiration” in relation to the KJV.
2013—Northland Baptist Bible College begins allowing other versions than the KJV. This does not sit well with the alumni, and the school closes its doors in 2015 for this, music choices, etc.
2013, March—Jack Schaap sentenced to federal prison. John Wilkerson replaces him as pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond.
Around 2015—A group exits the Dean Burgon Society to form the King James Research Council. According to a friend in the know, the main issue is said to be the heavy handedness and over control of D. A. Waite. The departing members include: Phil Stringer, David Sorenson, H. D. Williams, etc.
2015—Russell Anderson writes Pastor Wilkerson demanding that the name “Anderson” be removed from the name of Hyles-Anderson College. The reason? Wilkerson failed to remove all college staff who did not believe in the inspiration of the KJV. The college name does not change.
2016—Peter Ruckman passes. No one among his followers appear to be able to replace him and lead his movement.
2018—A fundamentalist scholar named Mark Ward is taking on confessional bibliology and what is left of the KJV-Only movement. His book, Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible, is endorsed by some major evangelical scholars.
Throughout first decade of the new century, D. A. Waite and The Bible for Today produce many short works, including defenses against Bob Jones U. (Bob Jones University’s Inconsistent Position, 2000) and Central Baptist Theological Seminary (Central Seminary Refuted On Bible Versions, 1999). On the anti-KJV-Only side, two major works by Rick Norris and James Price appear.
Controversy arises among KJV-ONLY advocates with some saying that the term “inspiration” can be applied to a translation (Shelton Smith of the Sword of the Lord, Gail Riplinger, etc.) and others saying it must not (the Dean Burgon Society, Jack Schaap of First Baptist Church of Hammond, IN, etc.).
Early 2000s (From a friend in the know)—D. A. Waite expels some Ruckman and Riplinger followers from the Dean Burgon Society.
2001—Jack Hyles (1926-2001) passes. His son-in-law takes over the pastorate of First Baptist of Hammond, and the leadership of Hyles-Anderson College.
2001—In his book Touch Not The Unclean Thing (subtitle, “The Text Issue and Separation”), author David Sorenson takes the stand that to separate on the basis of a Bible translation is squarely in the mold of the original fundamentalists. While taking a stand against Peter Ruckman’s position, he also opposes the Hodges/Farstad Greek New Testament as being edited from a “rationalistic philosophy” (p. 39, fn 5).
2003—Rick Norris publishes The Unbound Scriptures, with the subtitle of “A Review of KJV-only Claims and Publications.” This is a major contribution against the movement of 479 pages, including the Appendixes, with a massive 49 page bibliography.
2003—On the KJV-Only side, a publisher named Hyles Publications brings out posthumously The Need for an Every-Word Bible, by Jack Hyles (1926-2001). This is from a set of messages preached by Hyles in the Wednesday night services of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. Much of the book is controversial, such as when he names non-KJV Bible translations as being from the Devil. For example: “A children’s Bible that is not exactly the King James text is one of the Devil’s bibles” (sic; p. 94).
2005—A new Greek New Testament based on the Byzantine text type with the title The New Testament in the Original Greek, and the subtitle, Byzantine Textform. The editors are Maurice A. Robinson of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and William G. Pierpont. Robinson, who has a PhD in textual criticism, is a well-known scholar of that discipline, and the most effective advocate to date of the Byzantine/Majority text type. The editors are not at all KJV-Only, though some ignorantly call them that.
2006—Fundamentalist professor James D. Price publishes King James Onlyism: A New Sect. An Old Testament editor of the New King James Version and widely known as a Hebrew scholar, Price is well respected even in broader evangelicalism. At 621 pages, including Appendixes, this is perhaps the most erudite critique of the KJV-Only movement.
2008—Life Bible-Presbyterian Church (LBPC) launched a lawsuit against the Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC), which is one of an extremely few non-US bastions of KJV-Only doctrine, and is connected to the Dean Burgon Society. This college is Bible Presbyterian, a group led by Carl McIntyre out of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to be completely fundamental. The FEBC had their facilities in LBPC at the time. The beef LBPC had with the college was that the college had come out for Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP), a doctrine invented by H. D. Williams, who at the time was a DBS member. This doctrine teaches that the KJV is perfectly preserved. The college lost the lawsuit, but then won on appeal. See more information at: Far Eastern Bible College | Introducing the College
2009—Until now, the Waites and Gail Riplinger got along famously, with The Bible for Today even selling Riplinger’s book, New Age Bible Versions. The problem is that Riplinger had been deceiving the Waites, since she was on her third husband, having been divorced twice. Letters and article flew back and forth, with other DBS members being involved: H. D. Williams and Phil Stringer. The upshot was that there was a complete break between the two parties. The issue had been building since 2008, but finally came to a head in 2010, when the final break occurred.
2009, February—Jack Schaap is leading Hyles-Anderson College, but co-founder of the school Russell Anderson chastises him in a letter for believing that we should not use the word “inspiration” in relation to the KJV.
2013—Northland Baptist Bible College begins allowing other versions than the KJV. This does not sit well with the alumni, and the school closes its doors in 2015 for this, music choices, etc.
2013, March—Jack Schaap sentenced to federal prison. John Wilkerson replaces him as pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond.
Around 2015—A group exits the Dean Burgon Society to form the King James Research Council. According to a friend in the know, the main issue is said to be the heavy handedness and over control of D. A. Waite. The departing members include: Phil Stringer, David Sorenson, H. D. Williams, etc.
2015—Russell Anderson writes Pastor Wilkerson demanding that the name “Anderson” be removed from the name of Hyles-Anderson College. The reason? Wilkerson failed to remove all college staff who did not believe in the inspiration of the KJV. The college name does not change.
2016—Peter Ruckman passes. No one among his followers appear to be able to replace him and lead his movement.
2018—A fundamentalist scholar named Mark Ward is taking on confessional bibliology and what is left of the KJV-Only movement. His book, Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible, is endorsed by some major evangelical scholars.
Here is an important event I should have included in the 1990s. It caused a big stir at the time.
1998—Pensacola Christian College (PCC) hosts an “Enrichment Conference” with Dell Johnson, the head of their new seminary, and Lutheran Theodore Letis. In the conference, Bob Jones University (BJU) is accused of spreading a leaven of a defiling leaven throughout fundamentalism, a leaven that does not tout the KJV as the only version to use. PCC then sends video tapes of the conference to their mailing list, understandably angering the leaders of BJU. Bob Jones III then writes the BJU mailing list, sending a rebuttal. An open letter is sent to Arlin Horton, head of PCC, with a complete rebuttal of the video tape by BJU prof Thurmond Wisdom, dean of the BJU School of Religion.
1998—Pensacola Christian College (PCC) hosts an “Enrichment Conference” with Dell Johnson, the head of their new seminary, and Lutheran Theodore Letis. In the conference, Bob Jones University (BJU) is accused of spreading a leaven of a defiling leaven throughout fundamentalism, a leaven that does not tout the KJV as the only version to use. PCC then sends video tapes of the conference to their mailing list, understandably angering the leaders of BJU. Bob Jones III then writes the BJU mailing list, sending a rebuttal. An open letter is sent to Arlin Horton, head of PCC, with a complete rebuttal of the video tape by BJU prof Thurmond Wisdom, dean of the BJU School of Religion.
Last entry unless someone adds something:
Present Day
2024—Donald Allen Waite (1927-2024) passes. No one among his followers appears to be able to replace him and lead his branch of the KJV-Only movement, though Kirk DeVietrio is said to be the heir apparent. In my opinion, there is virtually no one among KJV-Only advocates who show the leadership or writing ability of Ruckman or Waite or Hyles. Those who might be able to lead the movement are now senior saints. KJV-Only churches and preachers have essentially decided who and what ministries they will fellowship with. In my view the movement is dying. If there is a leader, it is one of the elderly men of the King James Research Council (King James Bible Research Council). There are some younger men on the council, though, but do they have leadership ability? I don’t know, I only ask.
Present Day
2024—Donald Allen Waite (1927-2024) passes. No one among his followers appears to be able to replace him and lead his branch of the KJV-Only movement, though Kirk DeVietrio is said to be the heir apparent. In my opinion, there is virtually no one among KJV-Only advocates who show the leadership or writing ability of Ruckman or Waite or Hyles. Those who might be able to lead the movement are now senior saints. KJV-Only churches and preachers have essentially decided who and what ministries they will fellowship with. In my view the movement is dying. If there is a leader, it is one of the elderly men of the King James Research Council (King James Bible Research Council). There are some younger men on the council, though, but do they have leadership ability? I don’t know, I only ask.
I think I'm done with the timeline. I'll wait a couple of days and see if anyone adds to it or if I think of an event or person or book that should be on it. Then I'll produce a PDF and put it on here for those interested in a complete copy.
Baptist Orthodox Creed (1678), Article XXXVII
"The authority of the holy scripture dependeth not upon the authority of any man, but only upon the authority of God....And by the holy scriptures we understand, the canonical books of the old and new testament, as they are now translated into our English mother-tongue"
"The authority of the holy scripture dependeth not upon the authority of any man, but only upon the authority of God....And by the holy scriptures we understand, the canonical books of the old and new testament, as they are now translated into our English mother-tongue"
Very interesting, but I'm not sure how it applies to the KJV-Only movement.
LOL
In your prior "Timeline of the KJVO Movement" thread (December 2020), when I cited this article of faith from the 1600s, look what you declared!
"This is a suitable addition to the timeline." — John of Japan
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You got me, dead to rights!
In terms of relevance, in many ways the KJVO movement has already died. The language into which the KJV is written is already dead and exists only in literature not appreciated by younger generations (Harry Potter has replaced Joseph Conrad kind of thing). And it should be that way, at least to an extent.
I think there always may be a sect or sects that, for tradition, clings to the translation (as some Catholics cling to Latin). But we already see misinterpretation in KJVO sermons because of the language barrier between contemporary and antiquated English. This probably speaks to the issue of ability that you mention as well.
As more people are studying God's Word in their vernacular and more people are being reached with the gospel of Christ through Scripture written in their language the KJVO movement and probably the KJV itself will continue to decrease.
Or, as Harris would say, "I was born into a middle class family".You got me, dead to rights!
You make some good points, but I have to say that once you get past the "thee" and "thou," the KJV is not that hard to understand. I've been discipling an elderly ex-Charismatic for a couple of years (still a ways to go--ex con, etc.), and someone gave him a KJV so he has been using it and liking it. Granted, though he is still learning the lingo.
Nevertheless, I understand why and how things are changing linguistically.
I'm thinking primarily of the younger generation (younger than me). I believe anybody can learn the "thees" and "thous" (and even other antiquated uses of words we employ today). But the question that comes to my mind is "why?".
Our youth are no less deserving of a Bible in their vernacular than were those who lived centuries ago.
And, I've seen too many kids (actually, young men) struggle with the KJV. I suspect a lot has to do with patience. But whether external or self inflicted it's there. Regardless, I believe God's Word is best communicated in the language of the people reading His Word.
The last physical Bible I purchased was a KJV (my copy was worn out). So my opinion has nothing to do with the translation itself so much as wanting a better translation that "meets people where they are".
What happened to Yeshua1? You began as JesusFan years ago, then you switched to Dechaser1, then to Yeshua1, and now back to JesusFan. How many of those monikers are still active?
The Trinitarian Bible Society has some large and giant print KJV Bibles at more than fair prices.
https://us.tbsbibles.org/page/store/
https://us.tbsbibles.org/page/store/
David Lamb
Well-Known Member
Yes, I think the greatest difficulty is posed, not by words that have gone out of use since 1611 (their meanings can easily be looked up), but words which have changed their meaning since 1611. For example, we still use the word "prevent", but for us, it means to stop something happening, whereas in the KJV it meant "to go before." Because the word is still used, albeit with a different meaning, why would anybody think they needed to look it up?
How about we get back on topic?
Opening Post:
"I am compiling a timeline of the KJV-Only movement....note that this is designed to be an historical study, not a discussion on the merits of the movement. I will ignore posts that go the wrong direction on this."
Opening Post:
"I am compiling a timeline of the KJV-Only movement....note that this is designed to be an historical study, not a discussion on the merits of the movement. I will ignore posts that go the wrong direction on this."
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(1817) Resolutions of the Tennessee Association of Baptists
[context: Methodist promotion of John Wesley's translation of the New Testament]
"Answer...the Old and New Testament translated by order of King James the 1st, has been always the standard for the Baptists".
"Answer: We believe that any person, either in a public or private capacity who would adhere to, or propagate any alteration of the New Testament contary to that already translated by order of King James the 1st, that is now in common use, ought not to be encouraged but agreeable to the Apostles words to mark such and have no fellowship with them"
[context: Methodist promotion of John Wesley's translation of the New Testament]
"Answer...the Old and New Testament translated by order of King James the 1st, has been always the standard for the Baptists".
"Answer: We believe that any person, either in a public or private capacity who would adhere to, or propagate any alteration of the New Testament contary to that already translated by order of King James the 1st, that is now in common use, ought not to be encouraged but agreeable to the Apostles words to mark such and have no fellowship with them"