The King James Version
Defended
By Dr.
Edward F. Hills
A Note from
the Publisher
As has been noted
elsewhere on this site, one of the foremost criticisms
of those who in any way defend the Textus Receptus
or the Authorized Version (KJV)
of the Bible is that they are fanatics, naïve
simpletons, or other such deficient creature who simply
foams at the mouth as they scream, “If the KJV was good
enough for Paul it’s good enough for me.” But this is,
to be frank, not only incorrect but also dishonest. Not
all defenders are of that embarrassing variety.
What is
conveniently ignored (and therefore not revealed to most
Christians today) is that historically some great
scholars have defended both the TR and AV, scholars such
as Burgon, Miller, Scrivener, and several others.
Further ignored is the fact that there are
contemporary scholars who defend both the TR and
AV. One of these was Edward F. Hills (1912-1981), a Yale
and Harvard educated scholar (A.B. Yale; Th.M. Columbia;
Th.D. Harvard). In his classic work, The King James
Version Defended, Hills defends
the principle that the true Bible text has been
preserved down through the ages by God's special
providence and is found today in the Authorized Version.
Hills examines the issue from every angle and presents a
staggering case against the common teaching of today. We
submit that if one has not read Hills, he has not really
dealt with issue and will continue to swallow the story
given by modern textual criticism. This book is without
doubt is one of the most important books ever penned on
this issue.
The appearance of this
online book (ISBN: 0-915923-00-9) is by the copyright
holder, Mrs. Edward Hills, as implied by her wish that
this online edition be made available in its entirety,
unaltered and at no cost to the recipient who downloads
it. Not only can you read the book online by following
the links below, but you can also download the book from
our Downloads page. (Note: the
text is Copyrighted and may not be reproduced for sale
or profit.)
As a quick
introduction to this book, consider these six
abbreviated reasons from page 218 why the King James
Version should be retained. To introduce them, Hills
first writes:
“Someone may
reply, even if the King James Version needs only a few
corrections, why take the trouble to make them? Why keep
on with the old King James and its 17th-century
language, its thee and thou
and all the rest? Granted that
the Textus Receptus is the best text, but why not make a
new translation of it in the language of today? In
answer to these objections there are several facts which
must be pointed out.”
1. “. . . the English of the King James Version is
not the English of the early 17th century. To be exact,
it is not a type of English that was ever spoken
anywhere. It is biblical English, which...owes its
merit, not to 17th-century English -- which was very
different -- but to its faithful translation of the
original.”
2.
“ . . . the King James Version is
enduring diction which will remain as long as the
English language remains...”
3. “ . . . the current
attack on the King James Version and the promotion of
modern-speech versions is discouraging the memorization
of the Scriptures, especially by
children...”
4. “ . . . modern-speech Bibles are unhistorical
and irreverent. The Bible is not a modern, human book .
. . On the contrary, the Bible is an ancient, divine
Book . . . Hence the language of the Bible should be
venerable as well as intelligible, and the King James
Versions fulfills these two requirements better than any
other Bible in English.”
5.
“. . . modern speech Bibles are
unscholarly. The language of the Bible has always
savored of the things of heaven rather than the things
of earth. It has always been biblical rather than
contemporary and colloquial.”
6.
“ . . . the King James Version is
the historic Bible of English-speaking Protestants. Upon
it God, working providentially, has placed the stamp of
His approval through the usage of many generations of
Bible-believing Christians. Hence, if we believe in
God's providential preservation of the Scriptures, we
will retain the King James Version, for in so doing we
will be following the clear leading of the
Almighty.”
Quick Links: PREFACE INTRODUCTION
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
NOTES
CONTENTS
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION: TEXTUAL CRITICISM AND CHRISTIAN
FAITH
1. The Importance Of
Doctrine
2. Two Methods Of
New Testament Textual Criticism
CHAPTER ONE: GOD'S THREEFOLD REVELATION OF
HIMSELF
1. In Nature God
Reveals Himself As The Almighty Creator
God
(a) What
the Bible Teaches Concerning
Astronomy
(b) What
the Bible Teaches concerning the
Fossils
(c) What
the Bible Teaches Concerning Space and
Time
(d) What
the Bible Teaches Concerning Causation and
Chance
2. In The Scriptures
God Reveals Himself As The Faithful Covenant
God
(a) The
Covenant of
Works
(b) The
Covenant of Grace
(c) The
Old Testament--Emphasis on the Covenant of Works
(d)The New
Testament--Emphasis on the Covenant of Grace
(e) Future
Provisions of the Covenant of Grace
3. In The Gospel God
Reveals Himself As The Triune Saviour God
(a) In the
Gospel Christ Reveals Himself as Prophet
(b) In the
Gospel Christ Reveals Himself as Priest
(c) In the
Gospel Christ Reveals Himself as King
CHAPTER TWO: A SHORT HISTORY OF
UNBELIEF
1. Ancient Forms of
Unbelief
(a) False
Sacrifices and the Growth of
Heathenism
(b)
Eastern Philosophy--The Transmigration of Souls,
Ancestor
Worship
(c) The
Greek Philosophy--Materialism and
Idealism
(d)
Philosophy of
Aristotle
2. Philosophy in the
Early and Medieval Church
(a)
Philosophy in the Early
Church
(b)
Doctrinal Decline--Priestcraft, Image Worship, the
Papacy
(c) The
Rise and Progress of
Mohammedanism
(d) The
Scholastic Philosophy--Faith and
Reason
3. Revelation and
The Protestant Reformation
(a) The
Protestant Reformers and the Living Word of
God
(b) The
Thirty Nine Articles and the Westminster
Confession
(c) The
Decline of Protestantism--Dead Orthodoxy, Pietism,
Modernism
4. Modern
Philosophy--The Neutral World-View
(a)
Rationalistic Philosophy--Descartes, Spinoza,
Leibniz
(b)
Empirical Philosophy--Lock, Berkeley,
Hume
(c)
Critical Philosophy--Immanuel
Kant
(d) The
Philosophy of History--Georg W.F.
Hegel
(e)
Philosophy Since Hegel--Neo-Kantianism,
Existentialism
5. The Growth of
Atheism--Materialism, Positivism, The Denial of Truth
(a)
Materialism--La Mettrie, Holbach, Moleschott,
Vogt
(b) The
Origin of Life--Pasteur, Darwin, Huxley,
Haeckel
(c)
Positivism--Comte, Russell, The Vienna
Circle
(d)
Cybernetics--The Philosophy of
Automation
(e) Truth
and Certainty, Probability and Error, Common and Saving
Grace
(f)
Christian Truth Versus Godless Economic
Theory
(g)
Victorious Faith!--The Difference Between Faith and
Doubting
CHAPTER THREE: A SHORT HISTORY OF
MODERNISM
1. The Skeptical
Tendency of Naturalistic New Testament Criticism
(a) The
Reformation Period--The Theological Approach to the New
Testament
Text
(b) The
Age of Rationalism--The Naturalistic Approach to the New
Testament
Text
(c) The
Age of Enlightenment--The Skeptical Approach to the New
Testament
Text
(d)
Wescott and Hort--The Light That
Failed
(e) New
Testament Textual Criticism Since World War
II
2. Naturalistic
Textual Criticism And Modernism
(a) The
Beginning of Modernism--The Denial of the Biblical
Miracles
(b) The
Rejection of John's Gospel--The Tuebingen
School
(c) The
Synoptic Problem--The Two-Document
Theory
(d) Old
Testament Higher Criticism--Moses Versus J, E, D and P
(e)
Wellhausen's Reconstruction of the History of
Israel
(f) Modern
Archaeological
Discoveries--Barthianism
(g) The
Account of Moses' Death--Who Wrote
It?
(h) Jesus
and the
Critics
3. Naturalistic
Textual Criticism And Apologetics
(a)
Naturalistic Apologetics--The Fallacy of the Neutral
Starting
Point
(b) The
Butler-Paley Apologetic
System
(c) The
Need for a Consistently Christian Apologetic
System
(d) How to
Take Our Stand--Through the Logic of Faith
CHAPTER FOUR: A CHRISTIAN VIEW OF THE BIBLICAL
TEXT
1. The Principles of
Believing Bible Study
(a) The
Infallible Inspiration of the
Scriptures
(b) The
Eternal Origin of the
Scriptures
(c) The
Providential Preservation of the
Scriptures
2. How the Old
Testament Text Was Preserved
(a) How
the Priests Preserved the Old Testament
Text
(b) The
Traditional (Masoretic) Hebrew Text of the Old
Testament
(c) The
Greek Old Testament
(Septuagint)
(d) The
Latin Old Testament (Vulgate)--The
Apocrypha
(e) The
Pseudepigrapha--Enoch, Michael the Archangel, Jannes and
Jambres
(f)
Manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament--The Dead Sea
Scrolls
3. How The New
Testament Text Was Preserved
(a) The
Universal Priesthood of
Believers
(b) The
Writing of the New Testament
Books
(c) The
Formation of the New Testament
Canon
(d) The
Preservation of the New Testament
Text
(e)
Alternative Views of the Providential Preservation of
the New
Testament
(f) The
Principles of Consistently Christian New Testament
Textual
Criticism
(g) New
Testament Textual Criticism and
Evangelism
(h)
Believing Bible Study on the Graduate Level--Christ and
Grammar
CHAPTER FIVE: THE FACTS OF NEW TESTAMENT TEXTUAL
CRITICISM
1. An Enumeration of
the New Testament Documents
(a) The
Greek New Testament
Manuscripts
(b)
Cataloguing the New Testament
Manuscripts
(c)
Collating the New Testament
Manuscripts
(d) The
Ancient New Testament
Versions
(e) The
Quotations of the Church
Fathers
(f)
Families of New Testament
Documents
2. The Early History
of the Western Text
(a)
Western Additions to the New Testament
Text
(b) The
Western
Omissions
(c) The
Western and Casesarean Texts in
Egypt
(d) How to
Take Our Stand--Through the Logic of
Faith
3. The Early History
of the Alexandrian Text
(a) Early
Alterations in the Alexandrian
Text
(b) The
Alexandrian Text Influenced by the Sahidic (Coptic)
Version
(c) Have
True Readings Been Hiding for Centuries in the Papyri?
(d)
Christ's Agony and Bloody Sweat
(e)
Christ's Prayer for His
Murderers
(f) The
Only Begotten Son Versus Only Begotten
God
(g) Son of
God Versus Holy One of
God
(h) Other
Heretical Readings in the Alexandrian Text
CHAPTER SIX: DEAN BURGON AND THE TRADITIONAL NEW
TESTAMENT TEXT
1. Christ's Reply To
The Rich Young Man (Matt.
19:16-17)
2. The Angel At the
Pool (John
5:3b-4)
3. The Conclusion of
the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:13b)
(a)
External Evidence in Favor of Matt.
6:13b
(b) Is the
Conclusion of the Lord's Prayer a Jewish
Formula?
(c) The
Testimony of the Ancient Versions and of the
Didache
(d) The
Liturgical Use of the Lord's
Prayer
4. The Woman Taken
in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)
(a)
Ancient Testimony Concerning the Pericope de Adultera
(John
7:53-8:11
(b) What
the Facts of History
Indicate
(c)
Misleading Notes in the Modern
Versions
(d) The
Silence of the Greek Fathers Explained
(e) The
Internal
Evidence
(f) The
Negative Evidence of the Manuscripts and Versions
Explained
5. The Last Twelve
Verses of Mark
(a) The
Critics Unable to Develop Satisfactory
Theory
(b)
Ancient Evidence Favorable to Mark
16:9-20
(c)
Documents that Omit Mark
16:9-20
(d) The
Negative Evidence of the Documents Inconclusive
(e) The
Alleged Difference in Literary
Style
(f) The
Alleged Discrepancy Between Mark 16:9-20 and Mark
16:1-8
(g)
Eusebius' Epistle to
Marinus
(h) Were
Heretics Responsible for the Omission of Mark 16:9-20?
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE TRADITIONAL NEW TESTAMENT
TEXT
1. The Traditional
Text Not The Invention of Editors
(a) The
Evidence of Codex
W
(b) The
Evidence of Codex A
(c) The
Evidence of the
Papyri
(d)
Traditional (Byzantine) Readings in Origen
(e) The
Evidence of The Peshitta Syriac
Version
(f) The
Evidence of the Sinaitic Syriac Manuscript
(g) The
Evidence of the Gothic
Version
(h) The
"Conflate Readings"
(i)
Alleged Harmonizations in the Traditional
Text
(j) Why
the Traditional Text Could Not Have Been Created by
Editors
2. The Traditional
Text Not An Official Text
(a)
Wescott and Hort's Theory of the Traditional (Byzantine)
Text
(b)
Wescott and Hort's Theory
Disproved
(c) The
True Text Never and Official
Text
3. Have Modern
Studies Disintegrated The Traditional
Text?
(a) The
Researches of von
Soden
(b) The
Researches of Kirsopp
Lake
(c) The
God-guided Usage of the
Church
4. Why Did The
Traditional Text Triumph?
(a) The
Early History of the True
Text
(b) The
Triumph of the True New Testament Text (300-1000
A.D.)
(c) Lost
Manuscripts of the Traditional
Text
(d) The
Church as an
Organism
5. The Ancient
Versions And the Providence of God
(a) The
Providence of God in the Syrian
Church
(b) The
Providence of God in the Latin
Church
(c) The
Providence of God in the Coptic (Egyptian)
Church
(d) The
Trend Toward the Orthodox Traditional Text--How to
Explain It?
(e) The
Protestant Reformation--A Meeting of East and
West
(f) A New
Reformation--Why the Ingredients Are Still Lacking
CHAPTER EIGHT: THE TEXTUS RECEPTUS AND THE KING
JAMES VERSION
1. Three Alternative
Views Of The Textus Receptus (Received Text)
(a) The
Naturalistic, Critical View of the Textus
Receptus
(b) The
High Anglican View of the Textus
Receptus
(c) The
Orthodox Protestant View of the Textus
Receptus
2. How Erasmus And
His Successors Were Guided By The Common Faith
(a) The
Life of Erasmus--A Brief
Review
(b)
Erasmus Guided by the Common Faith--Factors Which
Influenced
Him
(c)
Erasmus' Five Editions of the Textus
Receptus
(d) The
Greek Manuscripts Used by Erasmus
(e)
Erasmus' Notes--His Knowledge of Variant Readings and
Critical Problems
(f) Latin
Vulgate Readings in the Textus
Receptus
(g) The
Human Aspect of the Textus
Receptus
(h) Robert
Stephanus--His Four Editions of the Textus Receptus
(i)
Calvin's Comments on the New Testament
Text
(j)
Theodor Beza's Ten Editions of the New Testament
(k) The
Elzevir Editions--The Triumph of the Common
Faith
3. The Johannine
Comma (1 John 5:7)
(a) How
the Johannine Comma Entered the Textus
Receptus
(b) The
Early Evidence of the Johannine
Comma
(c) Is the
Johannine Comma an
Interpolation?
(d)
Reasons for the Possible Omission of the Johannine Comma
4. The King James
Version
(a)
Forerunners of the King James
Version
(b) How
the King James Version Was made--The Six
Companies
(c) The
King James Version Translators Providentially Guided--
Preface to the
Reader
(d) How
the Translators Were Providentially Guided--The Marginal
Notes
(e)
Revisions of the King James Version--Obsolete Words
Eliminated
(f)
Obsolete Words in the King James Version--How to Deal
with Them
(g) Why
the King James Version Should be
Retained
5. The Text of the
King James Version--Questions and Problems
(a) The
King James Version a Variety of the Textus
Receptus
(b) The
Editions of the Textus Receptus Compared--Their
Differences Listed
(c) The
King James Old Testament--Variant
Readings
(d) The
Headings of the Psalms--Are They Inspired?
(e)
Maximum Certainty Versus Maximum
Uncertainty
6. Modern English
Bible Versions--Are They Of God?
(a) The
R.V., the A.S.V., and the
N.E.B.
(b)
Contemporary Modern-speech English
Bibles
(c) The
King James Version--The Providentially Appointed English
Bible
(d) Which
King James Version?--A Feeble Rebuttal
CHAPTER NINE: CHRIST'S HOLY WAR WITH
SATAN
1. The Gospel And
The Logic Of Faith
(a) The
Gospel Is a Message that Must Be
Believed
(b) The
Gospel Is a Command that Must Be
Obeyed
(c) The
Gospel Is an Assurance that Comforts and
Sustains
2. Hyper-Calvinism
And Arminianism Versus The Logic of Faith
(a)
Hyper-Calvinism--An Error of Human
Logic
(b)
Arminianism--Another Error of Human
Logic
(c) The
Logic of Faith--Christ's Death Sufficient for All Men
but
Efficient for the
Elect
3. The Logic Of
Faith And The Christian Thought-System
(a) The
Biblical View of Faith--The Difference Between Faith and
Mere Belief
(b) The
Biblical View of the Holy Scriptures--Their Content and
History
(c) The
Biblical View of Philosophy and Science--Truth and Fact
(d) The
Biblical View of Politics and Economics--Occupy Till I
Come
(e) Why
Believing Bible Students Must Use the King James
Version--
A
Recapitulation
4. Why Satan Cannot
Win--God's Eternal Purpose
NOTES
