A B RIEF S UMMARY OF THE H ISTORY OF B IBLE T RANSLATION

3 April 2009
The following document is comprised of notes that I took over the course of several days while reading various sources about the Bible versions and Bible translation history. None of the following is my work, and I want to place credit where credit is due. A large portion of this material can be found in An Understandable History of the Bible by Samuel C. Gipp, Th.D. 1987 Samuel C. Gipp. It can read online in its entirety at http://www.chick.com/reading/books/157/157cont.asp. All other material found in this document was compiled from various sources. The Revision Revised: A Refutation of Wescott and Horts False Greek Text and Theory by Dean John William Burgon is a great source for more information on the Bible versionshis work has yet to be refuted. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Part 1: King James Bible (AV, Authorized Version) Part 2: Bible Manuscripts Part 3: Seven Influential (Yet Corrupt) Figures in Early Bible History Part 4: Bible Versions Timeline Part 5: Wescott and Hort

Part 1: K ING J AM E S

B IBL E (AV, A U TH ORIZ E D V E RS ION )

translated during the reign of King James I, from A.D. 1603 to A.D. 1611 known as Authorized Version because it was universally accepted by true Christians, not because King James authorized it the text on which the KJV is based was used in the early church supported by highest quality manuscripts, by the oldest manuscripts, and by the largest number of manuscripts

Part 2: B I BL E

M ANU S CRIP TS

Original Bible manuscripts from the first century have deteriorated and have been lost; we only have copies today o There are three types of copies of Bible manuscripts: 1. Miniscules: most numerous of extant copies; miniscules in Greek are similar to our lowercase letters in English. The oldest miniscule copies are papyrus manuscripts sewn into a scroll or a roll. Papyrus was inexpensive so it was not durable (identical to newsprint). Some miniscules written on vellum, or animal skins although it was more expensive than papyrus, it was longer-lasting. A certain number of miniscules are composed into a book form rather than a scroll (books were called codices, or singular form codex). In some cases, only fragments remain of scroll or codex. In early copies, the words were written end to end with no space in between; later copies included spaces between words.

2. Majuscules or Uncials: similar to our uppercase letters. Majuscule manuscripts are not as numerous as miniscules, and do not appear until the fourteenth century 3. Lectionaries: similar to responsive readings in todays hymnals. Due to shortage of copies of Scripture, lectionaries were used to put key verses into peoples hands. Readings were very early, close to the originals. The early Greek manuscripts were translated into other languages, such as the Peshitta (A.D. 145-150, a Syrian translation) and the Old Latin Vulgate (A.D. 157). Both of these are older than the oldest uncial manuscripts (see #2 above). Other versions of non-Greek manuscripts are Gothic, Sahidic, Bohairic, and Coptic. We have church fathers early sermons, books, and commentaries. Some of these early fathers may have seen the original manuscripts! Considering these non-Greek manuscripts like the Peshitta and the Old Latin Vulgate, the copies (miniscules, majuscules, and lectionaries), and the church fathers, there are 5,250 witnesses total, with over 3,000 being Greek manuscripts. Majority Text: o TEXTUS RECEPTUS (received text)also known as the Majority Text, the Imperial Text, the Traditional Text, the Byzantine Text, the Reformation Text, and the Universal Text o supports the King James Bible, the Authorized Version Minority Text: o also known as the Egyptian Text, the Hesychian Text, and the Alexandrian Text o supports all modern Bible versions released after the Revised Version of 1881, including the New American Standard Version and the New International Version o basis for Wescott and Horts corrupt Greek text of 1881 Eberhard Nestle used Wescott and Horts corrupt text with Weymouths 3rd edition and Tischendorfs 8th edition to produce Nestles Greek New Testament in 1898 (Nestles NT is the text used in all modern Bible versions) o within the group known as Minority Text, two uncial manuscripts from the fourth or fifth century are known as SINATICUS and VATICANUS SINATICUS represented by first Hebrew letter Aleph codex (book form), on vellum that contains 147 leaves, its pages measure 15" 13 ", and it has four columns with 48 lines per page contains spurious (false, non-God-breathed) books like Shepherd of Hermes, Epistle of Barnabas, and the Didache Constantin von Tischendorf found Sinaticus in a wastebasket at St. Cathrines Monastery near Mount Sinai in February 1859. Tischendorf had already completed his 7th edition of the Greek New Testament in 1856-1859 and claimed it did not need further revising. Upon finding the contents of Sinaticus, Tischendorf produced an 8th edition from 1865 to 1872, after making 3,500 corrections to his 7th edition! Dr. Alfred Martin claims that there is evidence of Aleph (Codex Sinaticus) being corrected by ten separate people on different occasions VATICANUS represented by B

 Vaticanus was found in Vatican library in 1841, when it remains to this day (Vaticanus is the property of the Catholic Church!) like Sinaiticus, also written on vellum in book form (codex), containing 759 pages, each page measuring 10" 10" with three columns of 41 lines per page Codex Vaticanus omits Genesis 1:146:28, Psalms 106138, Matthew 16:23, Romans 16:24, the Pauline pastoral epistles (1&2 Timothy and Titus), the entire book of Revelation, and everything in Hebrews after 9:14 why would Rome be interested in omitting Hebrews 10:10-12?

Part 3: S E VE N I NF LU E NTIAL B IBL E H IS TORY

1.

(Y E T C O RRU P T ) F IGU RE S

IN

E ARL Y

2.

3.

4.

5.

Justin Martyr (A.D. 100A.D. 165) was born a pagan, and died in the robes of a pagan priest. He was the first to mix Gnosticism with Christianity. Gnosticism was a heretical doctrine which taught that Christ was created by God the Father. Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary defines Gnosticism as A philosophical and religious system (first to sixth century) teaching that knowledge rather than faith was the key to salvation. Many scholars today place their knowledge above faith in Gods Word. Tatian (A.D. 120A.D. 180) was a disciple of Justin Martyr, who also embraced Gnosticism. Tatian wrote a harmony of the gospels using the Christian Scriptures and the Gnostic gospels, thus omitting Scripture (such as John 8:1-11; and Mark 16.9-20). His Harmony of the Gospels was so corrupt that the Bishop of Syria threw out 200 copies. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150A.D. 215) was a disciple of Tatian (Remember Luke 6:40: The disciple is not above his master: but everyone that is perfect shall be as his master.) Clement taught that there was no real heaven or hell, no blood atonement of Christ, and no infallible Bible. He used the Gnostic Scriptures to teach his students. He founded the school of Theology in Alexandria Egypt. Origen (A.D. 184A.D. 254) was a disciple of Clement of Alexandria. He held to the same doctrine as Clement, plus he taught baptism was necessary for babies to gain salvation. Origen stated, The Scriptures are of little use to those who understand them as they are written. Origen was one of the first textual critics. His textual work in both the N.T. and the O.T. (the Hexapla) was the basis for two of the most corrupt manuscripts used by the Roman Catholic Church (Vaticanus and Sinaiticus). Origen developed a method of Biblical interpretation which is called allegorization. Origen believed the Bible was only a set of stories that illustrate truth, but not literal facts. He believed Christ to be created and subordinate to the Father (the same as Jehovahs Witnesses), the pre-existence of the soul before birth (the same as the Mormons), and the final restoration of all spirits (Universal Salvation). (See Dr. Earle Cairns Christianity Through The Centuries, Zondervan Publishing House, p. 122). Eusebius (A.D. 260A.D. 340) was trained at Origens school in Alexandria. He was the editor of two Greek manuscripts (manuscripts) named Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. These two manuscripts were discredited and abandoned by early Christians as being corrupt. (Which Bible? p. 139,143). These are Roman Catholic manuscripts and were not used by Protestant Christians until 1881. These two manuscripts are the basis for Roman Catholic Bibles and every major English translation of the Bible since 1901. These manuscripts were not the ones

6.

7.

used for the King James Bible. Eusebius was Roman Catholic in his doctrine (see his book, Ecclesiastical History, Vols. 1-5). He was commissioned by Emperor Constantine to make 50 copies of Scripture for the Roman church. Eusebius copied the Gnostic Scriptures and Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. Jerome (A.D. 347A.D. 420) was Roman Catholic in doctrine. He translated the Greek manuscripts of Vaticanus and Sinaiticus into Latin (called Jeromes Latin Vulgate), to produce a corrupt Roman Catholic Bible, the (New) Latin Vulgate, which the Christians rejected from A.D. 380 to A.D. 1280. In order to deceive the masses, the Catholic Church chose to entitle it vulgate, (from vulgar, meaning common) making it appear that everyone was accepting it as the Word of God! Tischendorf (18151874) was a liberal theologian, who was also the first Protestant to find and use the manuscripts of Vaticanus and Sinaiticus.

Part 4: B I BL E

V E RS IONS T IM E L INE *

*Taken from The Answer Book, by Dr. Samuel C. Gipp 1603-1611. Authorized Version (AV) King James Bible translated. 1881-1885. Revised Version (RV) is the product of a commission by the Convocation of Canterbury of 1870 to revise the Authorized Version (AV). RV New Testament was produced in 1881; the Old Testament in 1885. Drs. Wescott and Hort lead the way, to the AV being altered over 30,000 times! 1901. American Revised Version, later called American Standard Version (ASV), released. Only 23 years later, its copyright was sold. 1954. ASV was further revised and republished as the Revised Standard Version (RSV). 1960. New American Standard Version (NASV) is released. 1967. The New Scofield Version is released. 1978. The New International Version (NIV) is produced. 1979. The New King James Version (NKJV) is introduced. Dr. Gipp writes in The Answer Book regarding these versions from 1881 to present-day, Furthermore, they have been copied, on the most part, from the corrupt Alexandrian manuscript. (Although a few have been translated from pure Antiochian manuscripts after they were tainted by the Alexandrian philosophy.) But, arent new versions supported by the best manuscripts? The new versions are only supported by about five of the over 5,000 manuscripts of Bible text.

Part 5: W E S COTT AN D

H ORT

Brook Foss Westcott (1825-1903) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828-1892) were two non-Christian Anglican ministers who were fully steeped in the Alexandrian philosophy that there is no perfect Bible, they had a vicious distaste for the King James Bible and its Antiochian Greek text, the Textus Receptus. Believed it possible to communicate with the dead and made many attempts to do just that through a society which they organized and entitled The Ghostly Guild. Both believed that Heaven existed only in the mind of man. Westcott accepted and promoted prayers for the dead.

Both were admirers of Mary (Westcott going so far as to call his wife Sarah, Mary) Hort was an admirer and proponent of Darwin and his theory of evolution. Wescott and Hort had compiled their own Greek text from Alexandrian manuscripts, which, though unpublished and inferior to the Textus Receptus, they secreted little by little to the Revision Committee. The result being a totally new Alexandrian English Bible instead of a revision of the Authorized Version as it was claimed to be. This Greek New Testament is not the same as the one used for the KJB or during the Reformation. Their Greek New Testament was the basis for the Revised Version (RV) of 1881 and the basic Greek text for all modern translations such as the RSV, TEV, NASV, NIV, etc. The Greek text of Westcott and Hort differs from the Greek text of the King James Bible (the Received Text) 5,788 times, or 10% of the text. Since all modern translations are based on the work of Wescott and Hort, it would do us well to know the theology of these two men.