Unpublished Word Winter 2011

Youth EditionSummer 2007Youth EditionYouth EditionSummer 2007WINTER 2011

THE MISSION’S QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF FIRSTBIBLE INTERNATIONALTHE MISSION’S QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF FIRSTBIBLE INTERNATIONAL

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C O N T E N T S

Unpublished WORD EDITOR: Dr. Mike Norris ASSISTANT EDITOR: Joel Powers CIRCULATION/ADVERTISING: Jerry Rockwell GRAPHIC DESIGN: Steeple Press Publications, Jody Powers, Murfreesboro, TN PRODUCTION/PRINTING: Clark’s Printing Co., Ventura, CA

Some of the authors and their material featured in UW Journal are not necessarily in agreement with the theological position of the UW Journal. Their writings are included because of their insight into the particular subject matter published in the UW Journal.

The Unpublished WORD Journal is a quarterly publication of FirstBible INTERNATIONAL. All correspondence should be sent to the editorial offi cers at:FirstBible INTERNATIONAL, 3148 Franklin Road, Murfreesboro, TN 37128(615) 796-0043 ∙ [email protected] ∙ www.fi rstbible.net

FirstBible INTERNATIONAL is a ministry of Franklin Road Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee ∙ Dr. Mike Norris, Pastor

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MISSIONS“cloaks...books...parchments” are some things Paul requested. How do these things apply to missionaries today?

THE KING JAMES BIBLE - 400 YRS.The 400 years of the King James Bible should not go without notice. Its infl uence is immeasurable.

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TRANSLATORS TO THE READERSA forgotten but important document is brought back to life. Read some of what the translators of the KJV had to say.

EDITORIALWe should be thankful that we didn’t have to endure the silent years.

CANONIZATION IS VITAL TO PRESERVATIONGod gave the local church the responsibility of being a pillar of the truth, His Word.

FIELD OF DREAMSCan dreams infl uence our service to God? Read what Dr. Keen says about his dreams.

Cover art designed by Will Stewart of Pleasant View Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina.

“…CLOAK… BOOKS… PARCHMENTS.” II TImoThy 4:13

E D I TO R I A L

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With this edition of the UWJ, we would like to say with others around the world, “Happy anniversary to the King James Bible!” On May 2, 2011, the world will recognize four hundred years of its amazing history and impact on the soul of man.

Th is occasion has caused me to think about the four hundred “Silent Years” between the Old and New Testaments. After the historical record of Nehemiah and the prophecy of Malachi, no voice was heard or vision seen from Heaven until God sent His angel messenger to Zacharias to say, “Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John” (Luke 1:13). We know that Zacharias would later become the father of John the Baptist, who would announce to the world, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” (Luke 3:4). We do not know if Zacharias was praying for a child for him and his wife or praying that God would send the world a Saviour, but we do know that he was praying in the darkness of the Inter-Testament Period!

I rejoice that the English-speaking people did not have to endure four hundred silent years without a Bible! Because of the eff ort put forth by those under “His Majesty’s Special Command,” we can hold in our hands a copy of the Holy Bible.

I vividly remember my fi rst Bible. It was a big, black Bible originally given to my mother by my grandfather. Later, the Gideons gave me and every other sixth grader in my school a small, blue New Testament. Th ey came right into our classroom, read the Bible out loud to us, and shared the Gospel. Can you believe that? Th en, when I graduated from high school, my pastor presented me another Bible in front of the church. Today I have dozens of copies of the Scriptures written in plain English so that I might know what God requires of me.

It is the goal of FirstBible International to make it possible for every people group in the world to have a copy of the Scriptures in their mother tongue. It is only fair for the unreached to know what English-speaking people know about God and His Word. Th e journal that you hold in your hands is simply the vehicle that we use to provoke this thought into the minds of pastors, missionaries, and other church leaders.

As we celebrate this landmark anniversary of the King James Bible (1611-2011), may I remind you of some more recent anniversary dates for Bible translation? Over the past ten years, FirstBible has been involved in completing the translation of the Gospel of John and other Scripture portions for the Paite, Mongolian, KreyÓl, Burmese, Zobya, Simte, Mizo, Manipuri, Hakha Chin, Falam Chin, Chiru, Chakma, and Baulkhaw languages. As God led the men behind the King James Bible four hundred years ago, may He lead men today to see the importance of translating and distributing the Bible to the uttermost!

Dr. Mike Norris, PastorFranklin Road Baptist ChurchDirector of FirstBible INTERNATIONAL

Formerly unknown Language � Found in India �

According to the website Ethnologue, there are 6,909 known languages in the world.1 According to the Times of India, October 2010 issue, a new language group called the Koro language was discovered in India. Th e article also suggests that a language dies every fourteen days.2 It is reported that the Koro language has from eight hundred to twelve hundred speakers, which is only a small group of people using the language. What is interesting is that many of the younger people are opting for other languages like English or Hindi. Th is is alarming to two groups: the anthropologists and the older traditionalists within the language group who hang on desperately to the tongue of their ancestors. Th e traditionalist desperately wants the younger people to become committed to their birth language. Th e anthropologist has a diff erent purpose in preserving the language. One writer suggests that “every time a language is lost, a complex and ancient constellation of stories, poems, myths, and legends also dies.”3 Th e Koro language is expected to die in this century.

While there are languages that are obscure and even unknown, our mandate is still the same. We are to reach everyone with the Gospel. Th ese “disappearing” languages represent people of the world who do not know of the one true God or of the saving work of Jesus Christ. Yet, the Bible is still not translated into their language. Bible translation is the most important ingredient in our Lord’s goal of church planting. When a language dies if we are concerned solely for the loss of cultural items like stories and poems, we have lost our way. Shouldn’t we be concerned about the countless thousands who have died without knowing the one true God? Are we as concerned about those individuals who die without knowledge of the saving work of Jesus Christ as those linguists who lament the loss of cultural signifi cance?

1 See: http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution. asp?by=size.2 http://timesofi ndia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6697954. cms?prtpage=13 Elizabeth Weise, “Rare new language with only 800-1,200 speakers discovered in India,” USA Today, October 6, 2010.

Quoteworthy“Thinking outside the box will place you in the 10/40 Window from where you can get the best and clearest view of the remaining billions of unreached peoples in our world.”

-Dr. Charles Keen 2010

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BY JERRY ROCKWELL

In 1611, the world was introduced to a new translation that would have an impact on mankind that few could anticipate. King James I, recently ascended to the throne of England, met with a group of theologians and churchmen, some of them having grievances against the current condition of

the church in England. Little did they expect that the meeting would result in the production of a new translation that would continue to be used for four hundred years.

Th ose who study the history of the King James Bible know of the events in Hampton Court in January of 1604. Dr. John Reynolds, president of Corpus Christi College in Oxford, set forth the resolution to produce the new translation of the Bible. He was a leader of the Puritan element in the Church of England and considered one of the greatest biblical scholars of his day. Although some opposed the resolution, it passed and put into motion the production of what some have called one of the greatest accomplishments in modern ecclesiastical history. Alister McGrath made this observation about the eff ect this literary document had on the nation of England. He said, “Th e publication of the King James Bible in 1611 can be seen as the crowning literary and religious glory of a nation that had fi nally come of age and took pride in its own language.”

Th e King James Bible came from the line of English Bibles that began with the Wycliff e Bible. John Wycliff e, known as the “Morning Star” of the Reformation, was the fi rst to translate the complete Bible into the English language. While there had been other translations of portions of the Bible into Saxon, the parent language of the English language, the Wycliff e Bible put these together into one complete English Bible. John Wycliff e brought to the English-speaking world a Bible they could understand. At that time, the Bible in any language other than Latin was forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church. Some have considered the King James Bible to be the “Reformation” Bible since it derived from the Wycliff e Bible

and came on the heels of Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible, which is considered to be the impetus behind the Reformation.

When the King James Bible was fi rst translated, there was not a wholesale acceptance of it. Attacks against the new translation began in the 1600s (and continue today). Th e translators addressed the opposition in the fi rst sentence of the document “Translators to the Reader”: “Zeal to promote the common good, whether it be by devising anything ourselves or revising that which has been accomplished by others, deserves great respect and esteem yet fi nds only cold reception in the world.” Th e reception has progressed

from cold (in 1611), to wholesale use and acceptance (1611-1880), to a form of respect by some and a display of contempt by others in the present day. FirstBible International is part of the group that respects the King James Bible as God’s Word.

For those who may have contempt for the KJV, let us examine the following question: “How does the KJV’s past four hundred years of spiritual accomplishments compare with the accomplishments of current English revisions and translations?” A brief overview of history will quickly prove the superiority of our beloved English copy.

The King James BibleThe King James BibleThe King James BibleThe King James BibleThe King James Bible ~~~~~400 Years400 Years400 Years400 Years400 Years

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D R . M I K E N O R R I S

1 In Th e Beginning, New York: Anchor Books, 2001, page 23.2 Revised edition by Jerry Rockwell, Murfreesboro: FirstBible Publications, 2010, page 1.3 Th ese three languages have all become what some call “dead” languages as far as their public use is concerned. Th ere are those who still use these languages but they are far

from the biblical usage.

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• THE KING JAMES BIBLE WAS THE BIBLE OF AMERICA’S FOUNDING FATHERS.

While the fi rst Pilgrims and Puritans who arrived in America used the Geneva Bible, the King James Bible quickly took over and became the standard of our new nation. Th e early Congress of the United States had a defi nite commitment to the Bible. In September, 1782, Congress passed a resolution commending the fi rst printing of the Bible in the United States by a man named Robert Aiken. Th ey recorded in the Journals of the Continental Congress 1774-1789 on Th ursday, September 12, 1782, “Gentlemen, our knowledge of your piety and public spirit leads us without apology to recommend to your particular attention the edition of the Holy Scriptures publishing by Mr. Aiken. He undertook this expensive work at a time when, from the circumstances of the war, an English edition of the Bible could not be imported nor any opinion formed how long the obstruction might continue. On this account particularly he deserves applause and encouragement. We therefore

wish you, reverend gentlemen, to examine the execution of the work; and if approved, to give it the sanction of your judgment and the weight of your recommendation. We are with very great respect, your most obedient, humble servants.”

• THE KING JAMES BIBLE WAS THE BIBLE OF THE FIRST AND SECOND GREAT AWAKENING REVIVALS.

Th ere is little doubt concerning the infl uence of the King James Bible on the character and culture in the early life of the United States. Th e KJV Bible was used by the Holy Spirit of God to bring about two great revivals. Americans were con-victed by the Holy Spirit when they heard the preaching of men like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefi eld. Th ey were confronted from the King James Bible with their sinful-ness. As a result, many were saved; and their lives, as well as our nation, were changed for the better. (Obviously, the King James Bible does not su-persede the work of the Holy Spirit, but its infl uence is very clear.)

• THE KING JAMES BIBLE WAS THE BIBLE THAT WAS TAUGHT IN OUR ORIGINAL BIBLE COLLEGES AND SEMINARIES.

Most understand that the ma-jor Ivy League institutions like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale all began as institutions of higher learning to train men for the ministry. Th e Bible used in these institutions was the ven-erable King James Bible. Th ese institutions and others did not depart from the use of the KJV until the1930s and ‘40s. Up until that time, almost without exception, the Scripture used was the King James Bible.

• THE KING JAMES BIBLE WAS THE BIBLE USED IN THE MODERN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT.

Few dispute the modern missionary movement, which began with William Carey and lasted until the middle of the twentieth century. Meetings such as the Haystack Prayer Meeting spurred young people to commit to the call of the Lord to reach the heathen in foreign lands. Th e movement did not begin to diminish until the advent of the “new”

continued on page 16

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By DR. ChARLES KEENBy DR. ChARLES KEEN

CHINA REPORT

According to Michael A Vuj of the Christian Post Recorder, Amity Printing Company in the city of Nanjing, China, reports that it now prints one million Scriptures a month. Vuj says that Amity is the only offi cial Bible publisher in China and has grown to become the largest publisher of the Bible in the world, printing in English, French, Spanish, and Braille. Th ey claim to have exported over twenty-six million copies of the Bible to sixty countries.

Zhoghughul Qiu , chairman of the board of Amity Printing Company, attributes this achievement of printing eighty million total copies of the Bible since1988 to the Chinese Christians and even more so to the open policy of China to the Christian faith. Similarly, David Th ome, Asian secretary of the United Bible Society (UBS), credits the support of the Chinese government for this achievement. Xiaohong Xu, general secretary of the Th ree-Self Patriotic Movement (TPM), reports that one quarter of all Bibles printed in the world today are now printed in China.

Xinhua reports eighty million Bibles printed, while estimating only sixteen million Christians in China. Th is estimation makes his facts suspect because other freedom groups report over one hundred million believers in China, most in house or underground churches.

Truth or Propaganda?

Is this truth or propaganda? Th ere are some questions we need to ask ourselves about this report:

1. How are the Bibles that the Chinese print distributed? Todd Nettleton, director of media for Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), points out that of the fi ve accepted religions in China, the only Holy Book not allowed to be sold in public bookstores is the Christian Bible.

2. If the Chinese are shipping millions of Bibles abroad, how many are left for the Christian public of China? And of those left, “what are they among so many?” ( John 6:9). What is one million a month in a population of over two billion people?

3. We cannot overlook the version issue. What text do the Chinese print, formal or critical? If they are partnering with the United Bible Society, as David Th omes says they are, they are printing a form of the Westcott and Hort critical text.

Th us, according to Nettleton of VOM, the need is still great for us to smuggle Bibles into China. For even more information on this topic, the Christianity Today magazine (though not necessarily of our theological position) has an interesting article called “Smuggle Bibles into China? It’s Still Necessary.”

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Some folks feel as if they need a little more history of where we are, how we got

here, and where we’re going; so let me tell you about some things that God did in our lives to get us to where we are today. Th is is a briefi ng paper, designed to help the reader be more familiar with the history of FirstBible International (FBI), its present operation, and our vision for the future.

I entitled this article “Th e Field of Dreams” because my involvement with the Word of God came out of three diff erent dreams. When the Bible talks about a vision, a vision really is defi ning how to get to the dream. Th e Bible uses those words interchangeably. Th e Bible says in Genesis 37:1-9, “And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren… And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed… And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more…”

DREAM ONE: My fi rst dream was to put Bible publishing back under the authority of the local church. God also used Deuteronomy 10:1-5, where we see Moses coming off the mountain with the tables of stone. It says, “At that time the LORD said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the fi rst, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words that were in the fi rst tables which thou brakest,

and thou shalt put them in the ark. And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the fi rst, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the fi rst writing, the ten commandments… And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me.”

From these verses, God gave First Baptist Church/Milford (FBC/M) a dream of getting the Bible back under the authority of the local church, which is the holiest place on earth. When Moses came off the mountain, he put the tables of stone in the Ark, being the most holy place in all Israel. It was a place of safety and protection, and it was under the authority of God’s people. Now, as fl awed as the church may be in some cases, it is still the most holy place there is on earth. We started the ministry in 1973 under the authority of the First Baptist Church/Milford and called it Bearing Precious Seed (BPS), named by Don Frazier. FBC/M just produced the 100 millionth copy of the Word of God under the leadership of Pastor Dr. Bill Duttry.

When Moses came off the mountain with the Word of God, he put it in the Ark. Th e original stayed there, but there were copies made by the scribes. Th e scribes of

the tribe of Levi, the priests, were of God’s people. So we, as God’s priests, are to keep it; and we’re to preserve it, publish it, and print it. It is our responsibility and our privilege.

DREAM TWO: Genesis 37:9 says, , “And he dreamed yet another dream.” Our second dream was to extend the dream into a missionary support eff ort. What most folks don’t realize is that BPS was not started for missions. It became a great missionary support eff ort for men and women who were involved in world evangelism. Now BPS has given away 100 million Bibles to missionaries (free, in most cases). Where did all that money come from? I often wonder how much it cost to print 100 million Scriptures and how much it cost to ship them. How much did it cost to build the buildings, buy the presses and support equipment, pay the shop people, buy the boxes to ship the Bibles and the glue to bind them? We do not know how many millions of dollars have gone into BPS eff orts for missionaries since 1973, but we have learned that God always funds obedience. So, we went into a mission eff ort. Th at was my second dream, and it came from I Samuel 13:19-22. “Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe,

Some folks feel as if they and thou shalt put them in the ark. the tribe of Levi, the priests, were

FIELD OF DREAMSBy Dr. Charles Keen

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The “necessary ingredient” in the work of the church will bring about varied discussions. Th ere are many A study of the canon of the New Testament should begin with the fact that God intended for believers and local churches throughout this dispensation to be the vehicles of preserving His

Word.* He calls the local church the “pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15). Th e “pillar,” according to the Greek language, is a “support or carrier.” Regarding the Greek word for “ground,” the Th eological Dictionary of the New Testament says, “No longer God alone, but also the Church of God, now guarantees the permanence of the (alethia).” Th us, God gave to the local church the responsibility to support, carry, protect, and maintain the accuracy and authority of the truth. Th is concept is seen in II Cor 11:2; Phil 2:16; I Tim 3:9, 15; 4:16; 5:17; 6:14, 20; II Tim 1:13-14; 3:14; Titus 1:9; II Pet 3:1-3, 16; and Jude 3.* God is still doing the preserving, but He uses the local church and individual believers to do so. One way this was done in history is through the process that we call “canonization.”

Canonization Is Vital to Preservation By Dr. Charles L. Surrett 1


this was done in history is through the process that we call “canonization.”


Canon is a Greek word meaning “straight rod,” used by ancient craftsmen to determine the straightness of things and to reject that which was crooked. It would be akin to a modern carpenter’s framing square, which is used to determine if the studs being installed are plumb. In relation to the Scripture, it was a way for the local churches to describe which ancient books they considered to be “straight” in their origin (inspired by God) and to distinguish them from other good books or letters written by contemporary Christian authors. This was not necessarily a formal process by which a group of men decided what should be placed in the Bible. They simply listed what had already been accepted as Scripture. These were books that had to be (1) traceable to the Apostles or their immediate circle, (2) consistent with each other and with the old Testament, and (3) generally accepted by Christians and local churches as Scripture.

HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CANONIZATIONhistory reveals statements which indicate the early usage of New Testament books. As early as A.D. 95 (about the time of the writing of the book of Revelation), Clement of Rome referred in his writings to the books of matthew, Luke, Romans, I Corinthians, and hebrews, using them as authoritative. Justin martyr wrote (circa A.D. 140) that the Gospels were regularly read in church services, along with the old Testament. The “muratorian Fragment,” which comes from approximately A.D. 170, was a torn portion of a document that lists the Gospels, Acts, thirteen epistles of Paul, and two epistles of John, Jude, and Revelation as being universally accepted by believers. Irenaeus, in about A.D. 180, quoted as

Scripture many of the books listed in the “Fragment” as well as I John, I Peter, and hebrews. In about A.D. 200, Tertullian indicated that the New Testament books were not only accepted in the churches but had been translated into Latin, including all but three of the present New Testament books. origen*(A.D. 185-254) listed all twenty-seven books of the New Testament in his writings. Thus, within about 150 years of the completion of the writing of the book of Revelation, local churches viewed these twenty-seven New Testament books as having the same authority and inspiration that they ascribed to the old Testament. The Roman Emperor Diocletian persecuted Christians, ordering in A.D. 303 that church buildings should be destroyed and the Scriptures burned. This caused believers to distinguish between which writings were worth risking their lives for (the canon of Scripture) and which were not. That was one factor God used to impress upon them the need for diligence in this area. Although the Sinaiticus2 manuscript is not the most reliable text of the Greek New Testament,3 this fourth-century manuscript contains the same twenty-seven books that we today call the New Testament.

1 Th e footnotes are not a part of the original article by the author but have been added to give some clarity to some of the words used herein. (Editor)2 Th e Sinaiticus manuscript is one of the major Greek manuscripts used by

the new translations and is considered part of the “critical text” family of Greek documents of the Wescott/Hort tradition.

3 FirstBible Int’l does not consider the Siniaticus manuscript to be a reliable document. It contained some of the Old Testament in Greek (the Septuagint) as well as the twenty-seven books of the New Testament.

Also included in the Sinaiticus manuscript were the Apocryphal books of the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas, which were not considered canonical even by Jerome (see the article above).

Common Saying KJV PassageA little birdie told me so Ecclesiastes 10:20 Curse not the king, no not

in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

At my wits end Psalms 107:27 Th ey reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.

Brought down the house Judges 16:30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

Can’t get blood out of a turnip Cain – Genesis 4:1-5 His non-blood off ering

Drop in the bucket Isaiah 40:15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

Fishermen called “anglers” Isaiah 19:8 Th e fi shers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.

Go ahead; it won’t kill you Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.

Gone to the dogs Jezebel – 2 Kings 9:36 Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, Th is is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the fl esh of Jezebel.

I wasn’t born yesterday Job 15:7 Art thou the fi rst man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

Know-it-all 1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

Land of Goshen Genesis 47:4 Th ey said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their fl ocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

A leopard can’t change it’s spots

Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Handwriting on the wall Daniel 5:5 In the same hour came forth fi ngers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

The King James Bibleand the English Language


Th e impact of the King James Bible on the English language is undeniable. Have you ever accomplished something “by the skin of your teeth” ( Job 19:20)? Has anyone ever told you that the “handwriting was on the wall” when referring to an unchangeable event (Daniel 5:5)? Have you ever said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). All of these sayings come from the King James Bible. Even baseball uses a word that has an undeniable link with the King James Bible. When players refer to a “sacrifi ce bunt” or a “sacrifi ce fl y,” they are using a concept that is intrinsically biblical. A player who executes a sacrifi ce bunt or sacrifi ce fl y makes a play that gives up his position so that someone else can succeed. Th is idea of sacrifi ce, giving oneself for another, comes from the Old Testament when the innocent lamb was sacrifi ced so that believers could have their sins forgiven. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ gave Himself as a sacrifi ce for our sin so that we might have eternal life ( John 3:16; Hebrews 9:26). Below you will fi nd a series of common sayings used by English-speaking people and derived from the King James Bible. It is not exhaustive but representative. (For those who would like a complete list of sayings derived from the King James Bible, you can contact First Bible International. It is available at no cost.)

By Jerry Rockwell

Librarian’s ChoiceKing James Holy Bible

by God

In this issue, we have chosen the King James Version of the Bible as the Librarian’s Choice. It has been four hundred years since it was fi rst placed in the hands of the people of England. Since its publication, it has become the over-all bestseller in the Bible market.

God is its author. Th e editorial staff was the greatest of any book ever produced; fi fty-four leading theologians and scholars spent years investing their lives in this translation eff ort. It is unsurpassed in linguistic beauty, breadth of information, purity of truth, and longevity of shelf life. We have chosen it because we know it is God’s choice for the English-speaking world.

It has one major character, Jesus; one major theme, salvation of man; and chronicles the founding of the two greatest enterprises on earth, Israel and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the time of its writing by holy men, the Bible was seventy-fi ve percent prophesy. It addresses past issues known only to God, such as origin of matter; future issues, like the Rapture and the Marriage of the Lamb; and describes places unknown and/or unvisited by man, Heaven and Hell.

And, fi nally, we chose the KJV Bible because a man cannot claim to be educated and not know its contents and cannot claim to be saved and deny its truths.

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continued from page 10




In A.D. 365, Athanasius issued a pastoral letter to the churches of Alexandria, listing all sixty-six books of our current Bible with the Apocrypha listed separately as a sort of appendix. The Synod at Rome in 382 affirmed the twenty-seven books of our current New Testament, as did the African Synods at hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LATIN VULGATE AND SYRIAC PESHITTA Jerome, in A.D. 383, began a Latin translation called the Vulgate, which was the common Bible for all of Europe for the next one thousand years, and it included the same twenty-seven books of the New Testament which we now accept. Jerome’s translation also included the seven Apocryphal books that the Roman Catholic Church calls “Deutero-canonical.”4 however, this is explained by a Roman Catholic website (www.drbo.org), which says, “St. Jerome considered the seven Deutero-canonical books to be NoT inspired by God, but he was commissioned by Pope Damasus to translate all seventy-three books into Latin.” It is also noteworthy that Jerome included mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53-8:11 (www.speedbible.com), which are omitted in modern versions by those who say those passages came from a “recent”

text. Jerome explained that he was using Greek manuscripts that he considered to be the oldest. The website www.vulgate.net discloses that in his letter to Damasus, Jerome said, “I therefore promise in this short preface the four Gospels only, which are to be taken in the following order: matthew, mark, Luke, John, as they have been revised by a comparison of the Greek manuscripts. only early ones have been used.” It appears that Jerome used Greek texts that predated the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus5 texts, which were produced in his day. This is important, in light of the concept held by modern scholars that the

“Byzantine-type” Greek text of the New Testament did not exist in the earliest centuries of church history. If their assumption be true, then one would wonder how the ancient Syriac Peshitta (www.peshitta.info/gospel/mark_16.htm) and the Latin translation by Jerome both contained the passages in mark 16 and John 8 that modern versions omit. It must be that these translations were made from ancient Greek manuscripts which have not yet been discovered...

4 Deutero-canonical means the “second canon,” which is promoted by the Roman Catholic Church. Th e believing church held to only one canon of Scripture as discussed in this article.

5 Th e Vaticanus manuscript is also of the same manuscript family as the Sinaiticus (see footnote 1).

Librarian’s It has been four hundred years since it was fi rst placed in the hands of the people

Th e following article contains excerpts from a document called “Th e Translators to the Reader.” It is an explanation by the translators of the King James Version of the Bible to the readers as to the translators’ intent and intentions. Th is article was included as the foreword in the KJV until recently. FirstBible International (FBI) believes that this is one of the most important extra-Biblical writings on the Bible issue and believes that it needs to be re-included as the foreword in future Bible printings as it was in the past. “Th e Translators to the Reader” is several pages in length. Th ese are only excerpts meant to introduce it to you and hopefully to encourage you to become familiar with it in its entirety. FBI recommends the revision done by Jerry Rockwell.

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EXCERPT ONE: Zeal to promote the common good, whether it be by devising anything ourselves or revising that which has been accomplished by others, deserves great respect and esteem yet fi nds only cold reception in the world. Even in the church it is welcomed with suspicion instead of love and with jealousy instead of thanks...

EXCERPT TWO: Th e Scriptures we are commanded to search ( John 5:39, Isaiah 8:20). Th ey are commended that searched and studied the Scripture (Acts 17:11 and 8:28-29). Th ey are reproved that were unskillful in the Scriptures or slow to believe them (Matthew 22:29, Luke 24:25). Th e Scriptures can make us wise unto salvation (2 Timothy 3:15). If we are ignorant, they will instruct us; if out of the way, they will bring us home; if out of order, they will reform us; if in heaviness, comfort us; if dull, quicken us; if cold, infl ame us.

EXCERPT THREE: Th at which they falsely or vainly attributed to these things for bodily good, we may justly and with full measure ascribe unto the Scripture for spiritual good. It is not only armor but also a whole armory of weapons, both off ensive and defensive, with which we may save ourselves and put the enemy to fl ight. It is not an herb but a tree, or rather a whole paradise of trees of life, which bring forth fruit every month;

and the fruit thereof is for spiritual food and the leaves for healing (see Rev. 22:2). It is not a pot of manna or a cruse of oil, which were for memory only, or for a meal or two, but as it were a shower of heavenly bread suffi cient for a whole host, be it ever so great; and as it were a whole cellar full of oil-fi lled vessels with which all our necessities may be provided for, and our sin debts paid for. In a word, it is a storehouse of wholesome food against a fi lthy way of life. It is a physician’s shop, as Saint Basil called it, a protection against poisoned heresies. It is a complete body of profi table laws against rebellious spirits. Th e Scripture is a treasury of most costly jewels against beggarly rudiments, and fi nally it is a fountain of most pure water springing up unto everlasting life. And what an amazing thing is it? Th e original originated from heaven, not from earth. Th e Author is God, not man. Th e writer is the Holy Spirit, not the clever astuteness of the apostles or prophets.

EXCERPT FOUR: But how shall men meditate in that which they cannot understand? How shall they understand that which is kept shut up in an unknown tongue?

...lest the church be driven to the same urgency, it is necessary to have translations available. It is the translation that opens the window... Translation pulls aside the curtain, that we may look into the most holy

place. It removes the cover of the well, that we may obtain the water, even as Jacob rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well by which means the fl ocks of Laban were watered (Gen. 29:10). Indeed, without translation into the common languages, the unlearned are like children at Jacob’s well (which was deep, John 4:11) without a bucket or something to draw water. As that person mentioned by Isaiah to whom was delivered a sealed book with this suggestion, “Read this, I pray thee,” he willingly made this answer: “I cannot, for it is sealed” (Isa. 29:11).

EXCERPT FIVE: While God would be known only in Jacob and have His name great in Israel... At that point, all the people spoke the language of Canaan, which was Hebrew. At that point, the original in Hebrew was suffi cient. But when the fullness of time drew near that the Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2), the Son of God, should come into the world, whom God ordained to be a reconciliation through faith in His blood which was not for the Jew only but also for the Greek, yea, of all them that were scattered abroad. Th en, behold, it pleased the Lord to stir up the spirit of a Greek prince (Greek for descent and language), even of Ptolemy Philadelph, king of Egypt, to procure the translating of the book of God out of Hebrew into Greek. Th is is the translation of the seventy interpreters, commonly so called the Septuagint, which prepared the way for our Saviour among the Gentiles by written preaching as St. John the Baptist did verbally among the Jews.

Th erefore, the Greek language was most appropriate to contain the Scriptures...

Aside from this, though it was commended generally,

it did not fully satisfy the learned, especially the Jews. Th ere were also, within a few hundred years after Christ, many translations produced into the Latin language. Now, though the church was thus provided with Greek and Latin translations even before the faith of Christ was generally embraced in the Roman Empire,...

Yet for all that the godly scholars were not content to have the Scriptures in the language which only they themselves understood, Greek and Latin... Th ese scholars provided translations into the common language for their countrymen insomuch that most nations under Heaven did, shortly after their conversion, hear Christ speaking unto them in their mother tongue, not by the voice of their minister only but also by the written Word translated.

Every country that is under the sun had access to all of the words of the apostles and prophets, as well as the Hebrew tongue. Actually,...they had the Scriptures in the Hebrew tongue which was turned into the language of the Grecians… Egyptians, Persians, Indians, Armenians, Scythians, and Sauromatian. Actually, the Scripture was turned into the languages of all nations. In Gothic… Arabic... Saxon… Slavonian… Dutch, about the year 1160. Charles the Fifth, known as “Th e Wise,” had the Scripture translated into French…English… Syrian… Arabian… Indian, etc.

So that to have the Scriptures in the mother tongue is not an outdated position taken up lately either by the Lord Cromwell in England, by the Lord Radevile in Poland, or by the Lord Ungnadius in the Emperor’s dominion but has been thought through and put in practice for some time, even from the fi rst times of the conversion of any nation.

Excerpts for Unpublished Word Journal




translations, beginning with the American Standard Version (1901) and the New American Standard Version (1957).

No other modern translation of the Scripture has stood the test of time like the King James Bible (the Greek, Hebrew, and Latin

notwithstanding), and its infl uence for the past four hundred years is without a doubt a documentation of the movement of the Spirit of God in the aff airs of man. Another notable four hundred years were the four hundred silent years in between Malachi and

Matthew. After those four hundred years, the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth. One cannot help but wonder if after four hundred years of having the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ will return again to gather His saints home!

by John Honeycutt


continued from page 13continued from page 13manuscripts that are part of the tradition called

“Byzantine,” which ultimately resulted in the Textus Receptus, from which the King James Version of the Bible was translated.

SCRIPTURES PRESERVED BY CHURCHESIt seems unnecessary to state it, but these books that were included in the canon of Scripture were made up of words. Canonization of the books, then, constituted canonization of the words in those books. In other words, canonization is preservation of the words of Scripture. In the process of canonization, early believers were simply obeying the command in II Peter 3:2 to be “mindful of the words” of the prophets (old Testament) and apostles (New Testament). God knew that these words would be under attack (II Pet. 3:16), so Jude 3 challenged believers to “earnestly contend for the faith” (the body of doctrines given in the Scriptures), which was once delivered to “saints” (not necessarily scholars). These “words” in II Peter 3:2 are stated in the plural so that readers understand this to be the precise verbiage used in expressing the message. Sometimes, in modern usage, “word” in the singular is used to denote a general message, as in, “I would like to have a word with you.” This singular “word” is usually composed of many words! But when the plural is used, Peter is telling us not to just preserve a general message, but the precise words in which that message is conveyed. Thus, early Christians thought

it necessary to “hold fast the form of sound words” (II Tim. 1:13). The most accurate way to preserve the doctrines of the Scripture and the books of the Scripture is to preserve the words of the Scripture. This has been done in church history!

Since God promised in Isaiah 59:21 that his words (plural) would be in the “mouth” (denoting accessibility) of every generation since the time of its writing and since God wanted man to know the “certainty of the words” (Prov. 22:20-21), it is important to see which words have been accepted and acknowledged throughout the history of Christ’s churches. The ancient evidence of the existence of “Byzantine-type” Greek texts and the clear predominance of that same text-type during the middle Ages suggests that the churches endorsed the Greek texts, which ultimately resulted in the King James Version of the Bible. Canonization helps us to see what ancient believers, in their desire to be

“mindful of the words,” have always accepted as Scripture. This is why the Greek texts used became known as the Received Text, or Textus Receptus. Canonization is a viable part of preservation.[FirstBible International does not necessarily agree with some of the content of this article but believes it explains the Canon of Scripture and the significance of the local church’s role in the establishment of the body of Scripture we now use in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament.]

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and his mattock. Yet they had a fi le for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan.”

Th ese verses tell us that the Philistines took over the sword-making places, and, in doing that, they controlled the strength of their enemy, the Israelite. So in the day of battle, guess what Israel didn’t have? Weapons! Now the situation is simply this. It’s not that they didn’t have the equipment to make weapons; they just didn’t have the vision to do it, and they didn’t have the liberty to do it. So if they wanted a weapon, where did they have to go to get their weapon? Th ey had to go to their enemy, the Philistine. I have an idea that that’s a stacked deck. And I thought, Churches have printing equipment and a lot of big ministries, but we’re not using it to make Swords and spears. We’re going to the Philistines.

I used to go into churches and say, “Where’d you get your Bible?” Everybody got it at the same place, down at the Philistine store. By the way, that’s where a lot of you got yours, even today; some Philistine made it. So God burdened us to get Swords (Bibles, Heb. 4:12) for the missionaries.

Missionaries, especially the kind that we’re talking about, go to battle without the Sword. Th ey go to an unreached people group, and all they have is what they got

from the Philistines. I have been in places where you couldn’t say, “Please turn in your Bible to…” and give an address because they had no Bible with an address in which to turn. Only the missionary had a Sword or a spear. Th ere is not much victory there.

I had a dream to help the missionaries, but I had a problem. In fundamentalism, there were no Sword makers trained or being trained. I made a mental trip across America, and I went to the big churches. I said to Dr. Falwell in my mind, “Do you have anybody here making Swords?” He said, “No, we train youth workers, and we have bus drivers; but nobody here is making the Sword.” I traveled to Chattanooga and asked Dr. Roberson. I traveled to Dallas and asked Dr. Criswell, and I asked Dr. Hyles and Dr. Malone in my mental trip, but I could not fi nd anybody in America in fundamentalism making Swords. Th en I found a bigger problem than that. I traveled to all the colleges in fundamentalism. I asked Dr. Hyles, “Are you training any Sword makers?” “No,” he said, “we’re not training any Sword makers. We’re training Sunday school teachers and pastors, but we’re not training anybody to make the Sword and to print the Bible.” I traveled all over, and I found out that there were no Sword makers in churches and nobody training people to be Sword makers. How are we going to conquer a world for Christ if we don’t have the Word of God, which is the Sword of the Spirit?

I had a dream about Sword making, and God worked in my heart. He said, “Why don’t you do it?” Well, the problem is that so often we want to point out the problem but we don’t necessarily want to participate in the solution. I said, “Lord, you need to understand this. In case You’ve forgotten, my town’s fi ve thousand; my church is small; I don’t know how to turn a press on; and nobody else does either.” So we brought a man home from the mission fi eld to help us. We started raising money to print Bibles for the missionary. Honestly, I don’t know of any place I’ve been in this world where somebody didn’t thank me because BPS made Bibles available to them on the mission fi eld. Now we can’t prove this, and I don’t need to; but we have been told more than once that for every John and Romans that is given out on the fi eld, seven people will read it. And one of the seven, if shown how, will get saved. Now I can’t prove that, but I do know folks are getting saved. I thank God.

DREAM THREE: In Genesis 37:9 Joseph says, “I have dreamed a dream more.” Th is is Joseph’s last dream, and this is mine, too. My third and fi nal dream is really an extension of the second dream, and it is for my wife and me to give the rest of our lives to the remaining six thousand unreached people groups that do not have a Bible. God gave me that dream in 1999 because of two verses in Revelation (Rev. 5:9, 7:9). God wants to be worshipped by some from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue; and because of



that, we started a ministry called FirstBible International (FBI). It is not a replacement of BPS; it is an extension of the principle of BPS. BPS now has its own unreached-people-group ministry called Front Line. But FBI picks up where others leave off . FBI basically has to do with those who do not have the Bible or who only have a really bad Bible.

At this point in our lives, there are six thousand language groups –3.4 billion individuals – who cannot and do not worship God because they do not know God. Th ere are two reasons we have to get the Bible to them. One is that the Bible is a book of revelation. Th ink of how much you know that you wouldn’t know if you didn’t have a Bible. We have a record of divine origins. You wouldn’t know that without the Bible. Th ink of all the things in the past you wouldn’t know if you didn’t have a Bible, and then think of the things in the future you wouldn’t know if you didn’t have a Bible. How would you know about the Judgment Seat of Christ, the White Th rone of Judgment, Heaven, Hell, the Millennium…? How would you know which plan of salvation God is accepting? Th ere are a lot of diff erent plans out there, you know. How would you know you’re going to see your loved ones again if it weren’t for the Bible? Someone has said that there are eight thousand promises in the Bible. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but there are a lot of them in there. We are so much more educated because we have the precious Word of God. Th e unreached need to know these things, too.

Th e second reason we ought to get them the Bible is more important than the fi rst. Th e Bible is autobiographical. Th e Bible is a book by God about God. Who knows more about God than God knows about God? And here is the good news. God can’t lie, so He didn’t put anything in there about Himself that’s not true. Some more good news is that He can’t forget anything. He’s omniscient, so He won’t forget to tell us something about Himself that He wants us to know.

Do you know why there are idolaters and why they are polytheistic in their faith? Th ey have no description of the true God. Do you know what the basis of polytheism is? It is insuffi ciency. Do you know why they need so many gods? Because the one they have is not suffi cient for everything. Th at’s why they have the god of harvest and the god of fertility and the god of the moon and the god of the stars and the god of the weather and all these gods. Th ey don’t have any one suffi cient god. Th e basis of monotheism is suffi ciency. Do you know why I don’t have more than one God? He’s all I need. You name it, and He can do it. Th e unreached need to know that there is one true God. People tell me this: “I think we ought to leave them alone. I think they’re all right.” Well, you might think they’re all right, but they don’t think they’re all right. Do you know that every tribe they’ve ever discovered had two things: an altar and a cemetery? Th e altar says, “We know there’s something wrong; we’re in trouble

with somebody somewhere, so we have devised a way to try to get out of trouble.” But they never do. We have a Book that tells how to get out of trouble.

Did you know that every pagan religion has only a taking god? No religion outside of Christianity and Judaism has a giving God. I go to India. India is not a poor country, but they’re theologically wrong. Th erefore, they give all they have to buy off the gods, but they don’t know that there’s One that wants to give to them. So we have the truth about God, and they ought to have it. Th at was my dream.

Let me give you three quick thoughts about dreams. First, there is the telling of the dream. Look at Genesis 37:6 and 9, “And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed… And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren.” Th e telling of the dream always precedes the realization of the dream. He told the dream to his brothers as well as to his parents. Do you know why he told them? Joseph believed in it. He believed that what God had shown him would someday be a reality. You’ve been there. Th at’s what preaching is, is it not? Preaching is telling about the promises of God, and the invitation is giving people a chance to respond to the reality of your dream. Faith cometh by hearing. We must tell our dream.

Th en there is the trouble caused by the dream. When you start telling a dream, you’ll be misunderstood,


and your motives and sanity will be challenged. I wonder if when Joseph got the dream, he knew that he would be thrown into a pit. Th e Bible says in Jeremiah 20:7, “O LORD, thou hast deceived me.” God doesn’t tell you everything. If He did, you wouldn’t tell the dream. You wouldn’t tell the dream if you knew of the pit that was out there because of the dream. You would not tell the dream if you knew there was a prison out there. Joseph, here’s your dream. Here’s a wonderful thing that’s going to happen to you someday, but there’ll be a pit and there’ll be a prison. People will lie about you, and a woman will say you tried to rape her. Joseph went to the pit and went to the prison, and the only guy in the prison that could help him get out of prison forgot about him. His brothers hated him. Th e system went against him. But can I give you this?

Th ere’s the triumph of the dream. Consider Genesis 50:18 just for a moment. “And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.” Do you know what that’s describing? Th at’s describing that fi rst telling of the dream, back there in Genesis 37, when Joseph said, ‘I saw these shocks of wheat falling down before me.’ And they said, ‘Are you going to tell us we’re going to fall down before you and serve you some day?’ I don’t know what Joseph thought; but in Genesis 50:18, guess what his brothers are doing? Here Joseph is triumphing. Not, I don’t think, in pride; it’s just the fact that God’s Word is true. God’s Word is true for Joseph. I wonder if it’s true

for me and for you. I read, “For I am the LORD, I change not” (Mal. 3:6). I read in another place, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8). I read in another place that Joseph had the dream, and the dream caused him some troubles. But he stayed with it long enough, and he had some triumph.

BPS has had a lot of triumph. Someday FBI will. I believe two things. If Jesus tarries, I won’t live long enough to see the triumph. I just believe that. I believe I’m like David. He wanted to build a temple, and Nathan said, ‘Go for it, son.’ And God said to Nathan, ‘Go back and tell him, don’t go for it but gather the material for the one that will do it.’ And David gathered the material for Solomon. Eventually there was a great big structure out there in a fi eld. Solomon got the credit, but David gathered the material.

I don’t know the man personally, but I know of a man named Bill Glass. He was a great football player when I was a young man. Th is is a story told about him. He was playing in a really important game, and his team was down at the goal line. Th e score was tied, time was running out, and the quarterback called for a quarterback sneak. Bill Glass was to give a block in a certain way to open up a hole in the line. He did, and he got all muddy and ended up on the bottom of the pile. Th e quarterback ran over the top of him and made the touchdown, and the crowd went wild because the home team won. Th ey were chanting the quarterback’s name.

Bill Glass was under the pile. He had made the hole, but nobody knew his name. However, Bill Glass said this, “As I got up out of the pile, I saw the coach looking at me with his thumbs up. Th e coach approved of my part in the victory.” So it is with Jesus. As long as He approves my part, the rest is unimportant.

Th e other night I was sitting in my home reading in Psalm 118:22-23. “Th e stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. Th is is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” You know the story behind this verse. Th ey were building the temple, and a diff erent-looking stone showed up. Nobody knew where it fi t. So they rolled it out of the way, and they worked and worked and worked. Finally, there came the day when they had a strange-shaped hole, and they couldn’t fi gure out what to do with it. Th en somebody remembered, “We know where there’s a strange-shaped stone. It must go in that strange-shaped hole.” Th ey went and uncovered the thing from the weeds and brought it up. It fi t; it brought everything together and made everything fi t. It added the fi nal touch to all of their work.

As I was reading those verses, God said this to me: “One of these days, it’s going to fi t.” One of these days others will see that it takes reaching the unreached to fi nish the command to complete the Great Commission. One day the stone the builders rejected will become the head of the corner.


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It would not take much imagination to sketch a word portrait of this verse in our minds. Paul, the aged, is incarcerated; the cell is dark and damp. He sits alone in the glow of a single candle, frail from shipwrecks and beatings, and is alone because no man stood with him (but the Lord stood by him).

In his mind he remembers some of his fiercest opponents, men like Alexander the coppersmith, who greatly withstood his words. The sad thoughts of failure also visit him as he remembers Demas who forsook him, but he is comforted by the memory of dear friends in the household of faith, like Onesiphorus.

It is late fall, and the wind coming in the barred but glassless window is adding a chill to the cell. Hence in his writing to his son in the faith, Timothy, he encourages him twice within a few verses to come quickly before winter.

Our heart breaks for the old warrior who is ready to be offered and whose time is at hand. Not knowing exactly the schedule of his departure from this world, he asks for three things, each full of meaning and instruction: a cloak he had left at Troas, some books, but especially the parchments.

I would like to make some applications from this veteran’s request. The cloak reminds us of the physical needs of the missionary, the books remind us of the missionary’s mental development, and the parchments (Scriptures) speak of his spiritual growth.

The local church provides the missionary with his basic needs, and, according to this passage, the missionary has three. Permit me to give a brief overview of these areas of need in the life of missionary.

“…the cloak…” Paul was caught up into the third heaven, saw the Lord on the Damascus Road, wrote fourteen books in the New Testament, was Christianity’s greatest theologian, visited one hundred cities and thirty-seven sea ports, and left churches planted along the way; yet we find him asking for a cloak and thanking the church at Philippi for their monetary gift. His words suggest that your missionary, who is also an anointed man of God, needs cloaks and money; and the church is his provider, yea, his major care giver (see III John 5-10).

“…the books…” This is astonishing to me. The books he is asking for do not refer to the books of the Bible. Those are covered in the next request when he asks for the parchments. Here is what is so astounding to me: what author could be so advanced as to feed the soul of the great Apostle to the Gentiles? He was one of only forty-two men allowed to write under inspiration, and yet he is asking for some uninspired books written by godly men.

The fact that Paul asked for some books tells me three things. First, we can learn a lot of things from people who may not have attained our level of ministry. Those authors were ignorant men but had been with Jesus. Remember that out of the mouth of babes, gems can come forth. In fact, God also spoke

through a donkey and still another time through a rooster and yet still another time He said that if the people would hold their peace, the rocks would cry out. Stay teachable by staying humble.

Second, we can learn that leaders must be readers. Two of the requests Paul made in this portion of Scripture had to do with reading: the book and the parchments.

Third, it is noteworthy that this is an old man making this request. That tells me that we never get too old to learn; you can teach an old dog new tricks. (This verse is not too far from where Paul encourages Timothy to study to show himself approved, so I guess you can also teach a young pup as well.)

“…but especially the parchments.” Of course, this request refers to the Old Testament Scriptures. The local church should supply Scriptures for the missionary and his ministry. However, it is interesting to note that Bible authors read other Bible authors. We know that Daniel read Jeremiah, the kings read the Scriptures, Jesus read the prophets, and the apostle Peter read the apostle Paul. If Bible authors needed to read other Bible authors, should not we see our need to make Bible reading a priority? Search the Scriptures daily, write them on your doorposts, and carry them in your heart.

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MISSIONSJust Musing About the Missionary

“…CLOAK…BOOKS…PARCHMENTS.” II TImoThy 4:13

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A Short History of the English BibleDr. Charles Keen has published a brochure describing the development of the English language and how the English Bible, which resulted in the King James Version, came to pass.

A Ministry of frAnklin roAd BAptist ChurChdr. Mike norris, Pastor

ChArles f. keen, General Director3148 franklin roadMurfreesboro, tn 37128

phone: (615) 796-0043 e-mail: [email protected]

www.firstbible.net

The English BibleA Short History of

In the early 1600s John Rainolds appealed to King James I of England for authorization to produce a new translation; Rainolds, who was president of Corpus Christi College of Oxford, became known as the Father of the King James Bible. Fifty-four scholars were selected for the translation committee with another twenty-one people assisting them. One of the committee of fifty-four, Dr. Miles Smith, was responsible for the grammar and adding the chapter and verse divisions. Robert Parker, the “Royal Printer,” had exclusive publication rights. The first two editions were “pulpit Bibles”; the third edition was made smaller for home use.

After the King James Bible, which was translated from Erasmus’ Textus Receptus (Received Text), there have been some 200 English Translations, mostly from the Westcott and Hort text. The theories of Westcott and Hort were challenged by Dean John Burgon who proved the superiority of the Textus Receptus over Westcott and Hort’s text. We at FirstBible International support the work and conclusions of Burgon and in English print only the KJV.

The following chart is intended to help identify the major landmarks leading to the production of the King James Bible. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but simply to help locate some of the major events that led to the production of this work, and which affected its early reception.

1456: Johannes Gutenberg produces the first printed Bible, in Latin.

1516: Erasmus publishes first printed Greek New Testament.1517: Indulgence controversy; Martin Luther posts the Ninety-

five Theses.1520: Luther publishes The Appeal to the German Nobility,

demanding that lay people be allowed to read the Bible for themselves.

1521: Diet of Worms; Luther works on translating the New Testament.

1522: Luther publishes German translation of the New Testament.

1525: William Tyndale’s first attempt to publish the New Testament in English is thwarted by Cochlaeus.

1526: The first complete English edition of the New Testament is published by William Tyndale in Worms.

1530: Tyndale publishes his translation of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament).

1531: Tyndale publishes his translation of Jonah.1535: Coverdale Bible published — first complete English Bible.1537: Matthew’s Bible published.1539: Great Bible published.1540: Execution of Thomas Cromwell, advocate of Protestant

ideas and champion of English translations of the Bible.1557: Publication of William Whittingham’s Geneva New

Testament.1560: Geneva Bible published.1568: Bishops’ Bible published.1569: Geneva Bible published in Scotland.1571: Every cathedral ordered to set up a Bishops’ Bible for

regular use.1582: Douay-Rheims New Testament published.1604: Hampton Court Conference, which took decision to

publish new English translation of the Bible.1610: Final editing of new Bible translation; death of Richard

Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury.1611: Publication of the King James Bible.1675: King James Bible published by Cambridge.

Used with permission

Adapted from Dr. R. Phil Stringer’s History of the English Bible

by Dr. Charles Keen

1456: Johannes Gutenberg produces the first printed Bible, in Latin.

1516: Erasmus publishes first printed Greek New Testament.1517: Indulgence controversy; martin Luther posts the Ninety-

five Theses.1520: Luther publishes The Appeal to the German Nobility,

demanding that lay people be allowed to read the Bible for themselves.

1521: Diet of Worms; Luther works on translating the New Testament.

1522: Luther publishes German translation of the New Testament.



1530: Tyndale publishes his translation of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the old Testament).

1531: Tyndale publishes his translation of Jonah.1535: Coverdale Bible published — first complete English

Bible.1537: matthew’s Bible published.1539: Great Bible published.1540: Execution of Thomas Cromwell, advocate of Protestant

ideas and champion of English translations of the Bible.1557: Publication of William Whittingham’s Geneva New

Testament.1560: Geneva Bible published.1568: Bishops’ Bible published.1569: Geneva Bible published in Scotland.1571: Every cathedral ordered to set up a Bishops’ Bible for

regular use.1582: Douay-Rheims New Testament published.1604: hampton Court Conference, which took decision to

publish new English translation of the Bible.1610: Final editing of new Bible translation; death of Richard

Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury.1611: Publication of the King James Bible.1675: King James Bible published by Cambridge.



1530: Tyndale publishes his translation of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the old Testament).

1531: Tyndale publishes his translation of Jonah.1535: Coverdale Bible published — first complete English

1537: matthew’s Bible published.1539: Great Bible published.1540: Execution of Thomas Cromwell, advocate of Protestant

ideas and champion of English translations of the Bible.ideas and champion of English translations of the Bible.1557: Publication of William Whittingham’s Geneva New 1557: Publication of William Whittingham’s Geneva New 1557: Publication of William Whittingham’s Geneva New 1557: Publication of William Whittingham’s Geneva New

1560: Geneva Bible published.1568: Bishops’ Bible published.

Old English (400-1150 AD)There are at least ten partial translations of the

Scriptures into Old English. The first of these

translations was done by Caedon (AD 680).

The most famous of the ten translations were

by the historian and theologian, the Venerable

Bede, Father of English history and Alfred the

Great, King of England (871-901 AD).Middle English (1150-1500 AD)In this period of the English language a

professor from Oxford University, John

Wycliffe, did a translation of the Bible into

English because he wanted his people to

have it in their language. He spent fifteen

years in his translation work and had hand-

written copies made for distribution. It took

a scribe months to make a copy, and it cost

the equivalent of a year’s salary to purchase.

For 145 years the Wycliffe Translation was

the only complete translation in the English

language.

Modern English (1500 AD to present)In 1436 Johan Gutenberg of Germany invented

the printing press, and in 1440 he invented

the movable type press. These inventions

allowed the Bible to be copied more quickly

and in greater quantities.William Tyndale was born around 1484. He

attended both Oxford and Cambridge and

was a skilled linguist in several languages:

Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Dutch, and

Italian. While at Cambridge he studied

under the great Greek scholar Erasmus who

was later responsible for the Textus Receptus.

After Tyndale translated his Bible into modern

English, nobody would print it; so he moved

to Germany where he met Martin Luther. His first printing was 3,000 copies. A second

printing of 10,000 was soon off the press; most

of these were smuggled back into England.

Strict laws against Tyndale’s Bible were

enacted. Before he finished translating the

Old Testament, he was burned at the stake on

October 6, 1536. By 1566, over 50,000 copies

of his New Testament were printed. Tyndale

is remembered as the Father of the English

Bible.

After Tyndale’s version, nine new versions

of the Bible appeared in the next eighty-five

years. These included: The Coverdale Bible –

1535; The Great Bible – 1539; The Taverner’s

Bible – 1539; The Geneva Bible – 1560 (the

first English Bible to omit the Apocrypha and

also the first hand-sized Bible); The Bishops’

Bible – 1568 (clergy Bible); and The Douay-

Rheims Bible – 1609.

T o understand the English Bible one must know something of the

history of the English language. The English

language is the richest language in vocabulary

of all the more than 5,000 languages and

dialects on earth today. It has over 500,000

words compared to the German language

with 185,000 words and the French language

with 100,000.English is a “mongrel” language made

up of several other languages: Celtic, Latin,

and Greek. Our language, English, falls into

three categories, Old English (about 400-

1150 AD), Middle English (1150-1500 AD),

and Modern English (1500 AD to present).

Modern English had its most rapid rate of

development in the 17th century because of

the writings of Shakespeare and the Authorized Version of the King James Bible of 1611.

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