Monday, October 14, 2024

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 14th of October 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

Happy Monday to you. It is Here We Still Stand week. For 8 years, we have been running the finest of all conferences in San Diego, California—one of the nicest parts of the country.

Now, you can’t go. You can’t even go if you know me and want to sneak in —seriously. But you can live stream the conference—all the talks. I am speaking next Saturday, but because I am a glutton for punishment, I will be waking up early with Grant Klembara to do the morning broadcast. Check out 1517.org for more information.

It’s Monday, and I have a fascinating question from Ben- no hometown or place of residence given… we shall assign him Peculiar Missouri, Town Motto: Where the Odds are with You (ah, now I get it…Peculiar, odds….)

Ben writes: I have family members who are KJVO, and when the topic comes up, they often reference the fact that most modern translations come from the work of Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort. Their view is that Westcott and Hort were occultists who set out to corrupt the text intentionally. Most of the info that I've found seems to be written with a heavy bias either for or against the two men.  

Okay—for the uninitiated—the “King James Only” crowd believes that the King James translation of 1611 is inspired. OR, at least the text used—the so-called “Byzantine” texts, of which there are more than other traditions—is seen as the only reliable text.

Most conservative or progressive scholars use the Nestle-Aland New Testament, also published by the United Bible Society- the “UBS” or the Nestle-Aland are the preferred texts. And some, sometimes called “King James Only,” folk don’t want to use the “older texts.” Let me see if I can explain:

The 19th and 20th centuries saw an explosion in the discovery of biblical texts—think of the Dead Sea Scrolls. One of the things we learned was that the texts have been remarkably preserved. We found earlier manuscripts and different manuscript traditions that continue to affirm the authenticity of our text.

The question with the Old Testament concerns the so-called Apocrypha or deuterocanonical books that we have recently discussed. The books are largely agreed upon with the New Testament, but the MS or Manuscript traditions vary. From the time of Jerome and the Vulgate in the 4th century, the majority of the Greek texts that were used came from the Byzantine Empire. The earliest of these texts dates from the 9th century.

In the early 16th century, Erasmus did the lion's share of the work, compiling the best possible readings from these numerous (but late) Byzantine texts. This textual tradition gave us the first modern English Bibles and, most importantly, the King James of 1611.

The 19th and 20th centuries have seen even older texts of the New Testament- these go back to the 4th century- were primarily discovered in Egypt (so they have names like Sinaiticus and Alexandrian). We don’t have as many- but what we do have to agree in large part with the Byzantine text of the King James and make a few alterations (although nothing that changes doctrines- they are interesting discussions, but even omitting the so-called “trinity” reference in 1st John does nothing to alter our doctrine of the Trinity).

As far as the “Westcott and Hort were occultists” claim- Westcott, Brooke Foss was an evangelical. Westcott, William Wynn was an occultist and theosophist and had NOTHING to do with BF Westcott or anything to do with the New Testament. In previous days, mistakes like this were less easily challenged. But it needs to go away now. As for the King James Only tradition- I understand the “why change it if it has worked” school of thought. The idea that these are the texts historically used is excellent. However, nothing in the New Testament binds my conscience to one textual tradition- so I need to let others make their own decisions. But anything that says “you have to…” can make me nervous. Secondly, the text of the King James has changed multiple times, and there are no new critical editions outside of the New King James, which some are okay with, and some in the King James Only are not.

Ultimately, let the Word well richly in you- know that whatever standard text you have- whatever the textual tradition- maybe it’s older, perhaps you have more copies… nothing is perfect on this side of eternity- but the reliability of our New Testaments has been established by the scholars leaning on different traditions and making the best judgment calls. We have a few more “History of the Bible” Weekend Editions coming- one specifically on Early Modern Bibles- so more to come, and thanks for listening and writing in, Ben. You can send me your questions at danv@1517.org.

 

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary and Revelation 7:

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
    will shelter them with his presence.

‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
    nor any scorching heat.

For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 14th of October 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man wishing you a happy Canadian Thanksgiving- he is close to them- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man thankful for the Canadians—for hockey, poutine, politeness, and polar bears… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.