A Quick Thought about KJV-Onlyism
A quick thought: my friends who are very concerned to have one standard English Bible often warn of the terrible confusion that is, they say, inevitable when Christians use multiple translations. And I say they are deeply concerned about a problem that both 1) doesn’t exist and 2) has always existed. What I mean is that 1) outside of KJV-Onlyism, where the possibility that someone-might-be-massively-confused-by-multiple-translations-and-fall-into-doctrinal-error-or-unbelief is a huge Bogeyman,...
A Must-Read Must-Read
I'm really liking Jonathan Leeman. He humbly lets his gifts be sublimated to those of Mark Dever when the two chat on 9Marks Pastors Talk episodes, but when I read The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love and then went and heard his paper at the 2016 ETS—I saw that Leeman himself is really theologically and intellectually sharp. And doctrinally solid. This recent article by Leeman on gender roles at the 9Marks site is an absolute must-read. His analysis of "broad" vs. "narrow"...
One of The Most Profound Things Any Reader Has Said to Me After Reading My Book
A reader of Authorized wrote me: I have found it interesting on the topic of italicized words in the KJV to notice the difference in the number of italicized words in the "original" 1611 KJV and the KJV of today. Using Mark 5 for instance, I believe the count is something like 20 in today's KJV and 6 in the 1611 KJV (two of which are not even italicized in today's KJV...“Talitha cumi”). I responded: As far as italics go, I felt like I never heard anyone give the other side, the "cons" of...
Halt! A Defense of My Central Example
A Facebook commenter with a PhD in English challenged my interpretation of halt at KJVQuiz.com. It was perhaps an incautious challenge to make to a person only too ready to write articles upon the feeblest provocation. Here goes. Many of our common words trace back etymologically to physical actions or directions. One of the most common ways we get “new” words is by the development of old ones from literal to metaphorical. Let’s probe this feature of language, on our way to understanding one...
The Preserved Word of God for English-Speaking Peoples
“Preserved” is the key word in KJV-Onlyism these days. Just about every KJV-Only doctrinal statement I see uses that word “preserved.” But I’ve been thinking for a long time along with famous systematic theologian Inigo Montoya, I do not think it means what they think it means. A new friend from KJV-Only circles contacted me on Facebook, asking me how I would assess the bibliology statement from a KJV-Only mission board. It turns out that the language is used elsewhere, and my best guess is...