Lacy,
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post.
You said:
I don't. But neither does anyone else. There are no verses that say that the autographs were inspired either.
==I am glad to see that you have chosen to answer the question. Thanks. As for the idea that there are no verses that state the auographs were inspired...I would disagree (2Tim 3:16-17).
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You said:
All of us should base our beliefs on Scriptural principals and Biblical precedents, when no direct verse is there.
==I agree.
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You said:
1) The Bible promises us that the Word will be preserved. (Psalm 12v6-7)
==I agree. History also agrees and, for about 1600 years, there were many faithful translations prior to 1611 and King James I's authorized translation.
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You said:
3) The Bible gives us a definition of inspired "Scripture" which pertains exclusively (at least in context) to copies and trranslations. (2 Tim 3:16,17)
==How does 2Tim 3:16-17 apply only to copies and translations. I have no doubt that it does apply to copies/translations but I would also say that it does not exclude the autographs.
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You said:
4) The Bible gives us a clear way to look critically at any "prophet" who claims to speak the Word of God. (The same test can apply to inspired Scripture, the cannon, and the Christian revelation in general.)Matt 7:15-20
This "fruit test", IMHO, overwhelmingly proves the KJV to be inspire scripture.
==I agree with what you have labeled as the "fruit test". However I don't see how this "overwhelmingly proves" anything on this academic subject. One can recite fruit accounts that have resulted from most every faithful translation in history. How does this make the 1611 KJV better than the others? You will need to explain this point to me before I can really reply.
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I said:
I am
not looking for a comparison between the KJV and other "modern" english translations. Such a comparison is faulty because it starts with the presupposition that the KJV is the only correct english translation. Thus such an argument is circular.
You replied:
It might be circular, but I will say this. It is the same method anyone uses when picking a version "preference". Nobody REALLY compares the NIV, NAS, etc. and the NWT, LB etc to the "originals" because there are no "originals". While I would never start an argument there, it certainly counts for circumstantial evidence.
==I would reject the superior claim of any translation based on such "circumstantial evidence". As for the original autographs...while it is true we do not have them (and probably for good reason...just look at the stain under the bridge a few weeks ago...people would worship these objects). However, thanks to textual criticism we can be morally certain that around 98% of our modern texts is just as the original autographs.
"Nevertheless, our ability to reconstruct what the originals looked like is exceedingly high. The contents of 97-99 percent of the text are certain beyond any reasonable doubt - far better than for any other documents of the same age." -Dr Craig Blomberg, "Jesus and the Gospels" pg 75.
I use Blomberg because he represents the general agreement among New Testament scholars. This view, as expressed by Blomberg, is generally accepted by scholars of all backgrounds.
So God has preserved His Word. However there is no evidence (Biblical or otherwise) that the KJV is "the preserved" English translation. Mainly when we consider the fact that some modern translations do a better job translating certain greek terms (etc).
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I said:
I am not looking for someone to tell me that it is the "authorized version" since, historically, that has nothing to do with the claimed superior nature of the translation.
You said:
Indeed, this is the same argument that ALL fundamental Christians use when defending our 66 book cannon. There is no Scripture that says, "Thou shalt not regard The Gospel of Peter, etc. as scripture but shalt regard Song of Soloman so."
We base it on History and fruit. We base it on the fact that historically the church has "authorized" those and only those 66 books.
==It was King James I of England (head of the Anglican Church) that authorized the 1611 version. Which, btw, included the "Catholic" Apocrypha. So the "authorized version" of 1611 had more than 66 books in it. That is what I meant by, "historically, that has nothing to do with the claimed superior nature of the translation". I see no reason to accept the idea that King James I, who as far as I can tell was not a Christian, should have been the voice of the church. This is only doubled when I consider that the 1611 version of King James I contained the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha has been rejected as uninspired by the majority of Christians throughout history (and rightly so).
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I said:
I am not looking for spurious arguments about how everyone who translated the NIV was "evil" or how the NKJV translators are out to "fool people with their false perversion of the KJV text". Such arguments are wrong because many of the textual scholars who worked on these translations are Godly Christians who, like Martin Luther, wanted a English Bible in the modern language.
You said:
While I respectly disagree with most of that, I would not make it an issue.
==Ok, but I must say I think it is a major issue. Have you read the works of Gail Riplinger? How about "New Age Bible Versions"? The accusations she makes in that book are not only false (for the most part) they represent a gross misunderstanding of textual studies and of those who have been involved.
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You said:
My main argument is the absolutly overwhelming preponderance of the fruit of the KJV when compared to all other translations in history.
==Thats fine. However I must say again that other translations can claim the same. The difference maybe that some are not as old as the 1611 KJV, but given time they will be and they will gather more. God preserves His Word. All of the major English translations are good (NASB, KJV, NKJV, etc). I am a bit weary of the NIV and the NLT and I am openly hostile to "The Message" (a popular paraphrase). Those feelings are based on the level of faithfulness to the greek texts (NT). However if we examine the major faithful translations (faithful to the greek) we see large, large agreement. No signficant disagreements whatsoever. So on a textual level I see no reason to believe in the superior nature of the KJV translation. Also, added to that, is the fact that at points the KJV is weak on translation. I know that is not popular but I even hear KJV preachers say something like.."now let me explain what that word is in the greek" and thus admitting that the KJV is not a perfect translation of the greek. All of the translations have weaknesses and all of them have strengths, but of the major I would say that none are better than the other. I would take the NKJV, the KJV, the NASB anyday and not prefer one over the other. They all faithfully preserve God's message.
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You said:
Is there a Biblical precedent for preservation by atrophy?, for "going to the originals"?, for multiple choice exegesis?
==What do you mean by "multiple choice exegesis"?
The original language is what it was written in. To say that we can ignore or set that aside is not facing the facts. The fact is that the KJV translators, along with the NASB and NKJV translators, had to work with the greek/hebrew texts (and the Latin translations at times). All of what we have comes from that. If it were not for these manuscripts there would be no english Bible today.
In Christ,
Martin.