The Alexandrian Cult Mentality (Part Two)

October 8, 1993

Brother Mark,

I am not interested in wasting time, yours or mine, but I must answer your letter. There are some things added to this letter, not stated in my first letter, and there are some things that you misunderstood. I trust that you will pray for the Holy Spirit to give you understanding as you read this letter. And I pray that the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth. (John 16:13) [By the way, my ‘central issue’ is THE TRUTH of any doctrine. I trust that this letter will not be a waste of your time, and I’ll not write to you, again, on this subject except by your request.] “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” (2 Timothy 2:7)

I believe in the words of the Authorized King James Version. Believing THE WORDS OF THAT BOOK saved me. I did not know, when I received Jesus as my saviour, in May 1981, that there were such differences in versions of the Bible. I believed BY FAITH AND BY A SPIRITUAL WITNESS that the A V is the word of God, without error, and therefore the words of truth, i.e. the infallible authority in all matters of faith and practice. As I have read and studied the A V, in the past five years, and read completely through it four or five times, there has been and still is A SPIRITUAL WITNESS TO BELIEVE WHAT THE WORDS OF THAT BOOK SAY. In studying the difference between the versions, THAT WITNESS TELLS ME EVERY TIME TO BE-LIEVE WHAT THE A V SAYS where others differ from it. So, I believe BY FAITH IN AN AVAILABLE AUTHORITY that God wrote infallibly in the original Hebrew and Greek writings and that He, through copies and translations, preserved the purity and inerrancy of the words of the Lord (Psalm 12:6-7), and what GOD HAD IN MIND WHEN HE WROTE PROVERBS 22:20-21 is the preservation of an infallible authority (the certainty of the words of truth). I know that fallible men copied and translated the scriptures, but fallible men also wrote the original scriptures. Your education and /or my education on textual criticism & manuscript evidence could be false evidence made to order to prove what someone wanted to prove, just as possible as someone producing a Greek manuscript containing 1 John 5:7 made to order to get Erasmus to put it in his text. And IT IS MORE REASONABLE TO, BY FAITH IN AN AVAILABLE AUTHORITY, BELIEVE IN THE PRESERVATION OF SCRIPTURAL INERRANCY THAN TO, BY FAITH IN AN UNAVAILABLE AUTHORITY, BELIEVE THAT GOD WROTE SOMETHING INFALLIBLE WITHOUT PRESERVING INERRANCY. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, AFTER THE TRADITION OF MEN, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8). “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men ... Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition ... MAKING THE WORD OF GOD OF NONE EFFECT THROUGH YOUR TRADITION” (Mark 7:8,9,13)

I did not say (in person nor by letter) that 2 Timothy 3 was not in the originals. What I said is that when the Bible says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God”, He is not saying, “The original writings were given by inspiration of God”. The scriptures that the Holy Spirit, THE AUTHOR OF THE SCRIPTURE, is speaking of are the scriptures that were available to Paul and Timothy, which were not the originals. (What I meant that I thought you agreed with is that Timothy did not have the originals.) “Scripture” (vs. 16) does not mean ‘only the originals’ or Timothy could not have known the holy scriptures (vs. 15). Knowing that scripture is something that is available, I believe that the scripture that God has provided for me (in English) “is given by inspiration of God”. Since scripture does not mean ‘only the originals’ 2 Timothy 3:16 is less evidence for the originals being inerrant than the present scripture being inerrant. Defining ‘scripture’ as ‘the originals’ takes the word out of context every time it appears in the Bible.

I never said that the King James Bible is the only manifestation of the Word of God. I say, since the originals, there has always been a pure, inerrant, infallible, available manifestation of the word of God. Included in the history of the pure word of God are: Old Testament Hebrew, Old Testament Syriac, Greek New Testament, Old Syriac (Pheshitto), Old Latin (not Jerome’s), Martin Luther’s German Bible, and the Authorized King James Version. You see I know that Isaiah and Paul did not use the A V. They believed the scripture that God gave to them (Acts 24:14). The A V has been translated into many other languages. And what you call the best Greek manuscripts are not the best Greek manuscripts. You just believed what some man told you because he was ‘educated’ and you assumed that he was telling the truth. Any edition of the A V will do just fine. Your mention of the various editions makes me wonder if you know what the differences in the A V editions are. There were some changes in the spelling of some words, corrections of typographical errors, and some minor changes in the wording in some places, which did not corrupt the text!

I have a hang-up concerning the 20th century definition and usage of ‘imitation’? Really? Nay, but that is the hang-up of the ‘revision’ committees from 1881-2000 A.D. Did you not say, “The greatest argument against the use of the KJV is that it is archaic English, incomprehensible at many points”? Yet to defend the NASV reading, you are using archaic Greek! You said, “The choice of the word was based upon a human understanding of what the word meant to Paul as he wrote in Greek and an accurate translation of that meaning in English”. I BELIEVE THAT. BUT I’LL NOT ACCEPT A HUMAN UNDERSTANDING WHEN GOD HAS GIVEN ME A SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING. AND I WON’T SETTLE FOR WHAT PAUL MEANT AS HE WROTE IN GREEK WHEN I HAVE WHAT GOD MEANT WHEN HE WROTE IN ENGLISH.

You’re right that the question is not whether the A V is different from the NASV (or any other version). But the statement that “The question is which translation reflects the oldest and best readings” is a human understanding that you were taught by some man. The best readings to you is a matter of your opinion based on your education. (Remember what I said about our education on page 1.) The question is: IS THERE AN INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY AVAILABLE TODAY? That is the question. AND THE ANSWER IS THE FOURTH PARAGRAPH OF MY FIRST LETTER. IF YOU BELIEVED WHAT PROVERBS 22:20-21; PSALM 119:41-43; 12:6-7; AND 1 CORINTHIANS 5:6,8 SAY, THEN, THE DIFFERENCES THAT I LISTED WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO YOU. BUT YOU BELIEVE YOUR EDUCATION INSTEAD OF BELIEVING THE WORD(S) THAT GOD CALLED YOU TO PREACH. THEREFORE, YOU MERELY DEFEND YOUR POSITION WITH YOUR HUMAN UNDERSTANDING INSTEAD OF FACING THE TRUTH. THE TRUTH IS THAT THERE ARE OBVIOUS ERRORS IN THE NASV (AND OTHER VERSIONS) THAT YOU WON’T DEAL WITH SENSIBLY BECAUSE YOU HOLD THE TRADITION OF MEN. THE TRUTH IS THAT YOU CAN’T PROVE THAT THERE IS EVEN A SINGLE ERROR IN THE TEXT OF THE AUTHORIZED VERSION. What some man taught you about 1 John 5:7 not being genuine means nothing. I gave evidence for 1 John 5:7 in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th paragraphs on page 2 of my first letter that you did not answer. The word ‘baptize’ is not an error, for it is defined as immersion in Romans 6 and Colossians 2:10-12. A Christian is condemned for walking after the flesh; therefore, Romans 8:1 is not an error. Condemned does not mean ‘condemned to hell’ if the passage does not say ‘condemned to hell’. Acts 27:16 is really a silly example of an ‘incomprehensible’ passage. In verse 4, “we sailed under Cyprus” and in verse 7, “we sailed under Crete”. Then, verse 16 says, “running under a certain island”. They sailed south of Cyprus, south of Crete, and sailed south of the island called Clauda. Oh, how archaic to use the word ‘running’ when we really mean sailing! (Is your car running? Is your refrigerator running?) Just because you don’t understand the use of the word ‘ghost’ in the Bible does not make it an error. And a demon or evil spirit impersonating a departed person is not a ghost. He is impersonating a ghost.

CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY:

You believe that the original writings of God were inerrant without any scriptural proof and therefore by faith. You believe that the inerrancy of the scripture was not preserved without any scriptural proof. You believe that there is no final and absolute authority for Christians. You believe that to understand the Bible, you must search the original manuscripts, which cannot be done since they are not available. You believe that education and scholarship are a higher authority than the Bible.

I believe that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God”, with “scripture” defined in 2 Timothy 3:15 as available scripture. I’ve found that the Bible example for us to follow is to believe the scripture (John 2:22; 1 Thessalonians 2:13, etc.). I believe the scripture is the word of truth as it calls itself. I believe the original scripture and the available scripture are inerrant. If not, then, the scripture would not serve God’s purpose in writing (Proverbs 22:20-21; Psalm 119:41-43). I believe God preserved the purity of the words of the Lord (Psalm 12:6-7). I believe the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. I believe that to understand the Bible, you must believe what it says, search the scriptures, comparing scripture with scripture (comparing Bible verses with Bible verses by word association). See 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 and John 6:63. I believe the Authorized King James Version is the inerrant Bible because: 1) There are obvious errors in the others (2 Samuel 21:19; Mark 1:2; Romans 8:1; Galatians 5:4; Matthew 5:22) and 2) All the while that A V critics strain at gnats and swallow camels, there is still not one proven error in its text.

Following the Lord’s example, a man called by God should preach and teach “as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:29). The Lord gave us our authority for edification (2 Corinthians 10:8). Paul told Titus to “speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority” (Titus 2:15). Make full proof of thy ministry (2 Timothy 4:5).

You say that I am loyal to texts and translations, which have been shown to be faulty. I am loyal to the Authorized Version of the Bible. Where has the text of the A V been shown to be faulty? Certainly not anything that you have shown. Where is it faulty? I don’t believe the A V has any errors. If I’m wrong, please, help me. Teach me. Prove one error in the A V text.

I have not dealt with the simple issue that we do not have one manuscript, which is in complete agreement with another because it means nothing. So, what? We do not have the originals either; yet, you believe that they are inerrant. Who needs an exact duplication of the autographic text? The English text is far superior to it.

It is not a matter of holding my translation above any other. It is a matter of exalting the word of God to its proper place. “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow” (Philippians 2:10). “And his name is called The Word of God” (Revelation 19:13). “Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2). “In God will I praise his word” (Psalm 56:10). The word of God is “him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:12-13).

You may still say, if you so choose, that I have written nothing that supports my assertion that the KJV is the inspired translation of the Word of God, although I have (combining my two letters) given ample proof, for any man who believes what the Bible says, that the Authorized King James Version is the preserved, inerrant word of God, and therefore it is the infallible and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. Also, nothing you have written sup-ports your belief that the original scriptures were inerrant. And nothing you have written supports your belief that the A V has errors or is incomprehensible. If a man studies the Bible by the Bible method, all the words are plain and right (Proverbs 8:8-9).

“He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully” (Jeremiah 23:28). “Every man’s word shall be his burden; FOR YE HAVE PERVERTED THE WORDS OF THE LIVING GOD” (Jeremiah 23:36). “Is not my word like as a fire?” (Jeremiah 23:29) “And my speech was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).



WITH LOVE,
YOUR BROTHER IN CHRIST,

Gary N Alford
Galatians 6:6


[Of course, I never heard from him again.]