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The Life Foundations
Nexus
IS THE KING JAMES
BIBLE INSPIRED?
By Dr. Michael J. Bisconti
Advisory: Do not jump to any conclusions while you are
reading this article. We may, at
first, SEEM to be undermining a vital principle upon which you rest
your most cherished beliefs. Also, this
article has some unexpected twists and turns; so, don’t get excited if you
think we are contradicting or defending your belief. You won’t know the truth until you have read our entire article.
Is the King James Bible inspired? First, of course, we must understand what it
means for something to be “inspired.”
Here are the informal (short and approximate) and formal (long and
accurate) definitions/explanations of “inspiration” (the main discussion
resumes below).
INFORMAL DEFINITION/EXPLANATION
Inspiration, as it applies to the
question we are addressing, means “the miraculous provision by God of the
expression of the message of God.”
FORMAL DEFINITION/EXPLANATION
Inspiration, as it applies to the
question we are addressing, means “the miraculous (‘miraculous,’ of course,
meaning ‘a gift from God provided in a manner that involves the setting aside
of one or more laws of nature.’ In this
case, the law of nature of entropy of the human mind [entropy is the tendency,
varying in degree from one person to another, of the human mind to draw
incorrect conclusions] and the law of nature of circumscription of the human
mind [circumscription is the inability of the human mind to acquire
knowledge beyond the limits of sensory perception, native intuition, and
rational thought] of each of the writers of the Word of God [the Bible] were
set aside) provision by God of the ‘expression’ (we add the quotes to indicate
that the expression of the message of God is actually a multifaceted and varied
set of expressions of messages of God) of the ‘message’
(we add the quotes to indicate that the message of God is actually a
multifaceted and varied set of messages of God) of God.”
RESUMPTION OF MAIN DISCUSSION
The key thing we need to address is
whether the process of the creation of the King James Bible involved
“miraculous provision” (see informal i./e. above). More specifically, we must answer whether the King James Bible
translators experienced a setting aside of “the law of entropy” (see formal
i./e. above) and “the law of circumscription” (see formal i./e. above).
THE KING JAMES BIBLE TRANSLATORS AND THE LAW OF
ENTROPY
Historical documents make it abundantly
clear that the King James Bible translators used processes of rational thought
while they were translating. DURING THE
PROCESS OF TRANSLATION THEY CREATED ROUGH DRAFTS THAT THEY THEN CORRECTED. This is DIFFERENT
from the process of being “moved by the Holy Ghost” described in the Bible,
WHERE THE WRITERS MADE NO CORRECTIONS. This alone proves that the King James Bible
translators were not inspired.
THE KING JAMES BIBLE TRANSLATORS AND THE LAW OF
CIRCUMSCRIPTION
Historical documents make it abundantly
clear that the King James Bible translators used processes of sensory
perception, native intuition, and rational thought while they were
translating. DURING THE PROCESS OF TRANSLATION
THEY USED THEIR PHYSICAL SENSES TO EXAMINE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE MANUSCRIPTS AND
NATIVE INTUITION TO DETERMINE NUANCES OF MEANING AND RATIONAL THOUGHT TO DEDUCE
SIGNIFICATIONS OF THE HEBREW, ARAMAIC, GREEK, AND OTHER LANGUAGE TEXTS. This is DIFFERENT from the process of being
“moved by the Holy Ghost” described in the Bible, WHERE THE WRITERS DID NOT USE
THEIR PHYSICAL SENSES TO GATHER INFORMATION AND DID NOT DETERMINE NUANCES OF
MEANING AND DID NOT DEDUCE SIGNIFICATIONS
FROM ANY TEXTUAL SOURCE. This alone proves that the King James Bible translators
were not inspired.
WHY THE KING JAMES BIBLE TRANSLATORS HAD TO BE
INSPIRED
There is a reason that Christians NEED to
believe that the King James Bible is inspired.
Very simply, how else could the King James Bible be considered the
infallible Word of God if it were NOT inspired?
Actually, the Bible teaches that there is
MORE THAN ONE WAY to guarantee infallibility.
Job 32:7-9 says:
(7) I said, Days should
speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.
(8) But there is a spirit
in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
(9) Great men are not always
wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.
Note in verse 8 the words “the
inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” This verse is NOT talking about inspiration
in the way we usually talk about inspiration.
Normally, when we speak of inspiration we are talking about “scriptural
inspiration.” In Job 32:8 the Lord is
talking about something else. The Lord
is talking about “spiritual inspiration.” This is the “inspiration of the wise.” This is the “inspiration of one walking in the Spirit.” This is the “inspiration of one ‘filled with
the Spirit.’” In other words, this is
the “inspiration of one doing the will of God.” This type of inspiration ASSURES ONE MOMENTARILY (FOR THE
PRESENT MOMENT AND THE PRESENT MOMENT ONLY) THAT THEY POSSESS THE
TRUTH. The King James Bible translators
had SPIRITUAL INSPIRATION. THEREFORE,
THEY POSSESSED THE TRUTH WITH REGARD TO KNOWING HOW TO CORRECTLY TRANSLATE THE
WORD OF GOD (THE BIBLE) FROM THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES.
Now, have we, therefore,
established that we can tell others that the King James Bible is inspired? No.
Why not? Because, though we might
be technically correct in making such a statement, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE TO USE
LANGUAGE THAT WILL NOT BE MISUNDERSTOOD BY OTHERS. The statement that “The King James Bible is inspired” WILL BE
MISUNDERSTOOD BY OTHERS. THEY WILL
THINK WE ARE TALKING ABOUT “SCRIPTURAL INSPIRATION” WHEN WE ARE ACTUALLY
TALKING ABOUT “SPIRITUAL INSPIRATION.”
Still, we need to
be able to convey to others that the King James Bible, though not scripturally
inspired, is spiritually inspired. How
do we do this? Well, we could just say,
“The King James Bible is spiritually inspired.” However, this will lead to a long discussion
in which you would have to explain the things that you have just read. Instead, just say, “The King James Bible is
completely authoritative.” Now, someone
might challenge this statement by responding, “Yes, it is completely
authoritative but that doesn’t mean you can rely on it to ALWAYS communicate
the truth of God.” At that point, tell
them, “Let me tell you about ‘spiritual inspiration,’” as we have explained it
above. Of course, as you know if you
have discussed and debated the Bible version issue in the past, they may have
other challenges. IF YOU DON’T KNOW HOW
TO ANSWER A CHALLENGE, TELL THEM, “I WILL GET BACK TO YOU ON THIS.” Then, find the answer. You know the first place to look – the Word
of God (the Bible). If you can’t find
the answer there, then, remember that there are many books, Bible teachers,
pastors, other informed Christians, and others who can help you. Then, of course, there is the Internet. We have documented that 90% of the answers
you need are available on the Internet.
There are abundant resources for finding answers both on our website and
on a host of other websites. If you
can’t find the answer, email us at help@lfnexus.com
but, PLEASE, try first to find the answer on your own. Due to the thousands of emails we receive
every day, we may be very slow in responding to your email. Also, try to limit your emails to the really
tough, seemingly-impossible-to-answer questions. By the grace of God, we have the answer. By the grace of God, WE HAVE ALL OF
THE ANSWERS.
Finally, you will need one other
bit of information to bolster your declarations regarding spiritual inspiration
and that is that the King James Bible translators were, to the man, GODLY
MEN! For an ungodly man CANNOT PRODUCE
A TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE THAT IS TRUE TO THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES TEXT OF THE
BIBLE.