The Super Superiority of the King James Bible
January 2008 Bible Believers’ Bulletin
From time to time in the apologetic (defensive) and polemic (offensive) literature were written regarding the Bible, we have printed a list of seven documented facts that the King James Authorized Version of the Bible is superior to any set of Greek or Hebrew manuscripts, including the so-called “originals.” This is what so terribly upset all the faculties of 110 apostate Christian schools in America between 1960 and 2007.
For years, I’ve been collecting correspondence from 114 Christian Colleges, Universities, and Seminaries without them knowing it. I’ve done this through my students who worked on their Master’s degrees. As a part of their work, I assigned them a series of correspondence with Christian Colleges, Universities, Seminaries, and Bible Institutes concerning the Final Authority for the child of God in this century. The mail I have collected comes to a stack of papers from 114 institutions. Four of them believe the Holy Bible is the absolute authority for the Christian: only four of them.
Bob Jones University is not one of them, although that University continually puts out tapes made by the late Bob Jones Sr., which advertise their school as believing “in the absolute authority of the Bible.” I have all the correspondence from the Bible Department at BJU (that would be Stewart Custer, Marshall Neal, Edward Panosian, and Thurmond Wisdom) which clearly states that they don’t believe any Bible on which you can lay your hands is “the absolute authority.” and I have statements from Bob Jones III in the midst of shipping students for believing “the absolute authority of the Bible.”
I have “on hand” now a monumental pile of evidence to show the world that you cannot trust America’s Christian Universities and Colleges (the best of them) any further than you could kick the Empire State Building with your left foot when it comes to Final Authority. The final authority of every one of them (except four) is the opinions and preferences of the faculties and staffs, based on their feelings toward the opinions and preferences of other scholars. Not one of the 110 had any Book, which was its final authority in deciding any question. If you don’t believe that, you can write them.
To double check my investigations, I offered a cash reward to any of my students who could get a clear statement, in writing, from any mainline Christian school (Bob Jones, Tennessee Temple, Dallas Theological Seminary, etc.) to the effect that it has a copy of “the holy scriptures” (Rom. 1:2) and can tell you where to get a copy of “the holy scriptures” (2 Tim. 3:15). I haven’t had to pay a dime out in 58 years. Not one of them ever professed to have ever seen a copy of “the holy scriptures.” Paul did.
- ¶ Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
- (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
- Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Timothy did.
- And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch did.
- The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
- In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
- And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
- Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
The Bereans did.
- ¶ And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
- These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Jesus Christ did.
- And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
- And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
- And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
- And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
- And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
Now, how is it that all of those people had copies of “the holy scriptures” when none of them had a single original autograph? Did you ever think of that? Christ was reading a copy of Isaiah in Luke 4; the Ethiopian eunuch was studying a copy of Isaiah in Acts 8. God called both copies “scripture.”
- All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
As we checked out 114 Christian universities, colleges, seminaries, and Bible institutes in America, and only four of them actually believed they had a Book that was the final authority for the Christian in “all matters of faith and practice.” That would include anything, including Greek and Hebrew scholarship. That is the “pig in the poke.” That is the “monkey wrench in the machinery.” That is it.
Now, when it comes to the issue of Final Authority, the latest gimmick used by apostate Laodiceans is this: “We believe the King James Bible is the best translation, but we believe the Textus Receptus (the correct Greek text) is the final authority.” That means they have taken away your Bible from you so that you have no final authority. All Textus Receptus manuscripts are written in Greek, and Greek makes up less than 1% of the common languages of today—LESS than 1%. These egotistical reprobates are telling you that your final authority is a pile of manuscripts you can’t understand unless you study Greek.
But that’s not all. When they told you the final authority was the Textus Receptus, they lied about the Textus Receptus. As we’ve said many times on our radio broadcasts, TV programs, and written works, you are dealing with the biggest pack of pathological, professional liars that ever hit the skids. The Mafia couldn’t hold a candle to them. They will lie just about every time they open their mouths. When you hear them say “THE Textus Receptus is the final authority,” they are just lying like a dog.
The Textus Receptus comes in five different major editions that contradict each other from time to time. There is a Textus Receptus published by Erasmus, there is a Textus Receptus published by Colinaeus, there is a Textus Receptus published by Stephanus, there is a Textus Receptus published by Beza, and there is a Textus Receptus published by the Elzevir brothers. The “TRs” put out by Erasmus, Stephanus, Colinaeus, Beza, and the Elzevirs don’t always agree.
Question for the stupid idiots who head up the “Bible” schools: “When the editions of the TR conflict, what is your final authority?”
Answer? Why, don’t you know? It’s Little Boy Blue on the backside of the moon!
Want to try it again? When the Textus Receptus manuscripts and published editions disagree—and I have a list of the disagreements; e.g., in John 1:28, 16:33; Romans 8:11, 12:11; 1 Timothy 1:4; Hebrews 9:1; James 2:18—what do you do when they disagree?
Listen, the “Majority Text” doesn’t always match Erasmus. Erasmus doesn’t always agree with Stephanus. There are times when Beza differs with Stephanus. And Elzevir isn’t the same as Colinaeus.
What is your final authority when they disagree?
For 110 Christian institutions of higher education, the answer “Little Bo Peep on Jupiter” is just as good an answer as any.
In such a case, the final authority is still their own preferences and opinions about the preferences and opinions of some scholar. They are their own final authority. Can’t you figure that out? They don’t have any “Bible” that is their final authority. (I’ve got the documented evidence right here, signed by the presidents of the institutions or the heads of their Bible departments or their teachers. That would be the administrators or teachers of 110 Conservative “orthodox” schools.)
Now, I say the King James Bible is superior to anything on which anybody can lay their hands, and I have a couple of notations here where it would be better than the originals if you could get your hands on the originals. But you will see in dealing with “manuscriptolaters” (worshippers of original manuscripts) that this creates a real problem, for they think there was something magical about the original manuscripts that was lost after they had been written. To them, all the copies, translations, and versions are just “stuff.”
You say, “They don’t think that, Dr. Ruckman.” Then why do they take the position they take?
They say that the final authority is the original manuscripts. Why? They would say, “Because the originals were ‘verbally, plenarily inspired.’”
Question: Do you have them? No. Do they have them? No. Did Jesus Christ have them? No. Did the Ethiopian eunuch have them? No. Did the Apostle Paul have them? No.
Did the Jews have “the originals” when Jesus Christ told them to “search the scriptures”? Of course not! Why would Christ tell them to “search the scriptures” if He knew they didn’t have “the scriptures” (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16)?
- Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Oh, that is easy! Every new “Bible” on the market, since 1880, removed the imperative from John 5:39 so Christ wouldn’t be guilty of telling the people to do something they couldn’t do!
All of the new, apostate, Laodicean abominations change Christ’s command from “search the scriptures” to “you study the scriptures and you think . . . .”
John 5:39-40
New International Version (NIV)
New International Version®, NIV®
Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
That reading isn’t in any Greek manuscript extant.
“Search the scriptures,” in John 5:39 in all Greek manuscripts, from any family, in any century, recommended by anybody, is in the imperative: it is a command to do something.
This example of apostate scholarship shows you a remarkable thing. It shows you that if this bunch of apostate, fraudulent, Laodicean “flunkies” ever got their hands on any original manuscripts, they would change every word in them that didn’t match their opinion. You can see that from the way they treated John 5:39. They have several hundred Greek manuscripts of the verse, and they mistranslated all of them to cover up their sins.
You shouldn’t be surprised to pick up a NIV and find that there is no commandment in it for you to “search the scriptures” (John 5:39) or to “study” the Scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15). Both commandments have been removed. Why? To cover up a bunch of dirty, rotten sinners whose hearts are blacker than sin. That is “why.”
- Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
New International Version (NIV)
New International Version®, NIV®
Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Now here is the list of reasons we believe the AV to be far superior to the “originals” or the Textus Receptus. I will give it to you again (for the fifth time, at least). It is never printed or discussed by 110 Christian colleges, universities, seminaries, and Bible institutes in the United States. When the scholars want to label “Ruckmanism” as a cult and “Ruckmanites” as heretics, they are very careful never to print this information. When they attack Ruckman they say, “Ruckman believes the King James Bible is better than the original manuscripts.” They stop there with their tires screeching on the pavement.
Hey, sonny! Can’t you go a step further? A little “Chicken Little” there, aren’t you? A little yellow-bellied? Why don’t you tell them why Ruckman believes that? Got you “in a sweat,” don’t I, kid? That is why you have to stop to put on the brakes.
Any commentator on “Ruckman,” who criticizes him, does just that. “Why,” he says, “Ruckman thinks that the original manuscripts are inferior to the King James text.” And suddenly, he runs out of ink. My, what an accusation to make against a man without discussing it!
Have you ever noticed how all Catholic historians write history that way? Did you ever notice that? When they want to drive home a point they say, “Why, there were actually people in America back then who were so fanatical that they actually taught that the Catholic Church was trying to take over the public schools to get the tax money!” And that’s where it ends. No discussion.
Did you ever watch those birds write history? I’ve got a bunch of their history books. They’ll come along and say, “Well, the Catholic mission to Japan went wrong because a Portuguese sailor made a ‘tactless’ remark.” (He made the mistake of telling a Shogun, a Japanese warlord, that before the Catholic Church took over a country, they always brought in their religion first and then got ahold of the State through the Church.) That was the end of Christianity in Japan from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth Centuries, coming from the Vatican. The Japanese crucified a bunch of priests because they knew what they were up to, and the priests went down as “martyrs” for the sake of “the gospel.”
Well, was the Catholic Church trying to gain control of the nation of Japan through its missionaries and priests, or was it not? No discussion.
Do you want to see “birds of a feather flock together”?
Get you a book called The Truth About the King James Version Controversy by Stewart Custer, the head of the Bible department at Bob Jones University. (The book is out of print, so you will have to get the quotes from our work Custer’s Last Stand.) Custer says, “Ruckman thinks that demons have wings and hang out in warm, wet places!” And he stops there hoping you’ll be shocked enough to say, “That’s so wild that it can’t possibly be true.”
Well, do they or don’t they? What is the matter with Custer? Is he so stupid that he doesn’t know enough Bible to answer or discuss the problem? Wasn’t he instructed by God Almighty to “speak as the oracles of God” if he was going to open his mouth about something?
- If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Didn’t God Almighty instruct Bible teachers to be able “to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you”?
- But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
Why the tight lip? What is he doing pleading the Fifth Amendment after making such an accusation?
For example, Stewart Custer will write about “Ruckman” and say, “Ruckman actually said there will be no women in Heaven!” Well, will there be? You say, “Sure.” All right, give us the verse. Oops! No verse!
Now you see what you’re up against. You’re up against a pack of wicked, carnal, godless, Fundamental, Conservative, “Bible-believing” Christians who are not worth fifteen cents a dozen. They can’t even quote the Bible for what they believe, let alone for what they don’t believe.
When the accusation is made, it comes out like this: “Well, Ruckman says the AV is superior to the originals.” The apostate scholars and teachers are always careful to stop right there and let the sheet of paper come out of the typewriter (or printer) because they are unable, Scripturally or intellectually, to discuss Ruckman’s reasons for saying that.
So next month, in part two of this article, we will give you the list of seven reasons the Authorized Version of 1611 is superior to any set of Greek manuscripts (Alexandrian or Byzantine), including the so-called “originals.”