Subject: James 2:18 and KJV Onlyism

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 19:52:31 -0500

03-20-96, the day the Lord has made.
May He be glorified in it.

In a message dated 96-03-20 16:03:00 EST, you write:

>> person who forwarded it added at the beginning, " As Dr. Wheeler points
out,
>> such phony scholarship needs to be debunked in the same way that Hort's
>> "Lucian Recension" was debunked by Burgon." 

>Those who do not have to interact with the KJV-Only movement will not 
>understand White's post, but those within conservative circles deal with 
>this type of material every day.

The KJV Only folks have quite a presence in the net, and while their rhetoric
may not reach outside conservative circles, I (obviously) feel that those who
labor in the tc field need to keep in mind the layperson and be ready to
provide an understandable accounting of the work being done, especially since
the entire tc community is being villified with regularity by the KJV Only
crowd.

>The whole situation is is quite humorous since it is the ECLECTICS here
>who defend the KJV reading (XWRIS) in James 2:18.  The pro-Byzantine
>people whom they praise as critics of modern eclecticism are the ones here
>defending the reading EK, which does NOT appear in the KJV at that point. 

Recently a regular on that list wrote to me and upbraided me for having cited
a passage from the NASB95 in my initial response to him.  In fact, the
passage is a part of a regular "letter form" I use in responding to folks.
 Here are his comments:

> "Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to
> His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will"  (Ephesians
> 1:11, NASB95)

Allow me a few corrections (to your Vatican manuscripts?):

"IN WHOM also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated 
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel 
of his own will:

WE ONLY OBTAIN THE INHERITANCE BY BEING IN CHRIST! BORN AGAIN! The 
earnest of the Spirit! This is something you feel is unimportant?

*****************

When I wrote back I asked him to take a moment to go look at the NASB and
note the last few words of verse 10, but he never responded to that.  He now
makes regular references to me in the list by the name "Jimbo."

>For the record, the TR editions of Erasmus, Stephens, and even Elzevir
>read EK, but the fictional TR which purportedly underlies the KJV
>(artificially created by F.H.A. Scrivener in 1894) reads XWRIS,
>deliberately to agree with the KJV. 

Most of them are surely not aware of this fact; then again, most Christians,
period, are not aware of this fact, either.

>I suppose the current post indicates that the KJV-Only network now
>considers the KJV in error at the point of James 2:18....unless they
>simply failed to read what was being said. 

They failed to read it, of course, and sadly, in my experience, they would
reject EK out of hand (those who would even care what the Greek said---many
don't, believing the AV 1611 to be "advanced revelation"), preferring to
maintain the priority of the AV 1611 text.  Even those who claim they seek
only the "best" Greek text, as you well know, end up playing fast and loose
with that text simply to maintain the KJV as the "standard."

>One of these days the KJV-Only proponents might do well to take a few
>extra moments and actually READ what is stated in this conference in full
>CONTEXT before spouting off in the usual manner.  *:-)

You mean exercise fairness?  Please, Dr. Robinson, you seem to forget that
these folks don't think we should use a LEXICON because the last four letters
spell ICON!  :)

God bless!

**********************************************************
*   James White, B.A., M.A., Th.M., [email-masked]   *
*  College of Christian Studies-Grand Canyon University  *
*   Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary-AZ Campus   *
* Professor of Apologetics-Faraston Theological Seminary *
*          Director, Alpha and Omega Ministries          *
*           http://net387.texas.net/ao.html              *
**********************************************************