Hey Bartholomew,
Good questions, I'll be happy to address them.
Originally posted by Bartholomew:
1. You believe that the original readers of, say, 1 Corinthians, had perfect scripture there; but soon afterwards it became corrupted, and no Christian since has had a perfect book of 1 Corinthians. So if it's fair for 1st Century Christians to have perfect scripture, and 2nd century Christians not, why is it unfair for 17th Century Christians to have perfect scripture, and 16th Christians not???
It's not about "fair" and "unfair", it's about the logical paradox created. KJV-onlyism teaches that the KJV is perfect because
God promised to preserve his word and that
his word is pure. Supporters of the KJV-only view understand this to mean that unless God is lying, there must be a perfect, pure word, word-for-word without blemish. If KJV-onlyism is correct, and this is how we are to understand the promise of preservation,
then that promise must likewise be fulfilled at every point in history, otherwise God was lying at the points in history where it was not fulfilled. That means if there was a perfect, pure Bible in 1612, there also had to be one in 1610. It's about the KJV-only understanding of
preservation, not just the perfection of the KJV. In otherwords, they say the KJV is perfect
because of their understanding of God's promise of preservation, yet if the KJV is *different* from all Bibles of 1610, that type of "preservation" breaks down due to logical paradox. What exactly is the KJV "preserving" if it differs?
You see, KJV-onlyism is completely stuck:
1. it can't say a "perfect" Bible DID exist in 1610 because A. that would mean the KJV differs from that perfect Bible and perservation breaks down and B. you have *multiple* Bibles in an "only" viewpoint (the exclusiveness cannot exist without relying on inclusiveness).
2. it can't say a "perfect" Bible DID NOT exist in 1610 because that would destroy the very foundation (the KJV-only understanding of "preservation") upon which the view is built on in the first place.
Either way, KJV-onlyism defeats itself.
2. I don't know which version you think is the best, but whatever it is, there was a time before it was translated. So, this means that there was a time when people didn't have "the best" version. All people living before that time have had something less good. This means the people living after that translation got something better. So why is it fair for one generation to have something "good" and the next generation to have something "better", and yet unfair for one generation to have from something "almost perfect" and the next generation something "perfect"???
Because obtaining that perfection requires two things:
1. it requires a type of "presevation" that did not exist previously (see above), creating a paradox
2. it requires direct, divine inspiration of the translators, on the same level of inspiration as the original authors.
I suppose it is possible the KJV translators were in fact divinely inspired to translate absolutely perfectly, but then we are left with many unanswerable questions (such as: why? how can we even know? by what authority can we make such a claim? why did they then correct their work? why did God let the printers mess it up? etc.)
3. You believe there was a time when certain languages (including English) had NO Bible at all. So if it's OK for people of one country to go from having NO Bible to having a "good" Bible, why is it wrong for people to go from having an "almost perfect" Bible to having a "perfect" Bible???
Basically the same reasons as above.
In all the above points, must allow that God has given more light to some than to others. You must think this is OK.
Agreed.
However, why do you refuse to allow God to give so much light that what results is perfect???
I don't refuse God to do this. There is just no reason, logically or practically, to believe he has. And if he did,
you would have absolutely no way of knowing he did it.
Can God not do this??? Is he imperfect???
God is perfect, and of course he could do it. He could also turn my car into a pink elephant. Just because God *can* do something doesn't mean he *did*.
As long as we say "God's work has errors", almost everyone on this board seems happy. Why do you suddenly think it "unfair" when God acts perfectly???
Let me ask you something: why did God let imperfect man be the means of copying/translating scripture across the centuries, instead of just doing it himself? (hint: Do you have kids? Have you ever let them help you build a treehouse?)