Combs’
explanation of the controversy is helpful. He shows that the “debate about
preservation can be classified a number of ways. At the most fundamental level,
one can make a twofold division: (1) those who deny the Scriptures teach any
doctrine of preservation[i]
and (2) those who affirm there is a doctrine of preservation taught by the
Scriptures, either directly or indirectly.” Within group 2 – those who hold a
doctrine of preservation – proponents can be subdivided (roughly) into “those
who believe that the Scriptures have been preserved in the totality of the
biblical manuscripts (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), and, on the other side, are
those who believe that the Scriptures have only been accurately preserved in
the KJV/TR/MT tradition...”[ii]
I do not intend to focus on how the promise of preservation is fulfilled – for example, the totality
of texts, the Byzantine Textform (Greek), Textus Receptus (Greek) or King James
(English).[iii]
Rather, the main point of consideration is whether the Bible itself teaches a
doctrine of preservation. But we will deal with several peripheral issues
first.
Whether the Bible teaches the doctrine of the
preservation of scripture is not a King
James-Only debate – though many try to make it so. Jon Rehurek says, “Many
evangelicals and KJV-only advocates assert that the Bible provides explicit
evidence for a doctrine of miraculous preservation.” Nevertheless, throughout
his article he “blames” the doctrine mostly on KJV-only advocates rather than
“any evangelicals.” Daniel Wallace takes a similar tack. He starts out
with a hard line trying to pin the doctrine of preservation on the Textus
Receptus-Only and KJVO folks.[iv]
That’s a “poisoning the well” debate technique that gains sympathy toward their
argument from folks who are not TRO or KJVO.
We understand that much of the impetus for Glenny,
Rehurek and Wallace is to denounce the Textus Receptus-Only and King James-Only
movements. Nevertheless these authors do a disservice to their readers in discussing
a broad view held by many evangelicals over a long period of time while playing
to “anti-KJVO-bias” in order to gain sympathy for their proposition. Gotquestions.org
is a good example. The Got Questions site answers in the affirmative the
question “Is the doctrine of preservation biblical?” They use the same texts TR
and KJV proponents use. They clearly are not KJVO, since on their site “Scripture
references: Unless otherwise noted” are taken from the NIV. This raises a perplexing
question. Are Glenny, Rehurek, Wallace and others deliberately masking the fact that they are taking on a doctrine
held in one degree or another by (possibly) most evangelical and conservative
Christians while pretending to attack some they portray as a fringe group?
Another thing that is misleading – particularly in
Rehurek’s piece – is distinguishing preservation as either miraculous or
providential. Rehurek’s use of providence – though not incorrect – has a
different connotation than the average reader might place on it.[v]
In non-technical terms the average Christian most often views providence as a
special act of God in favor or for the good of his people. On the other hand,
Rehurek and some others like him believe God’s providence with regard to the
preservation of Scripture is no more special than God’s providence in
preserving the works of Shakespeare or Plato. Further complicating the matter
are two other things: (1) the fact that many non-charismatic Christians may be
predisposed to read “miraculous” somewhat negatively, and (2) many proponents
of what Rehurek calls “miraculous preservation” refer to their own viewpoint as
“providential preservation.”
Tomorrow, Preservation:
Historical considerations, Confessions (d.v.)
[i] He also explains, “Right
at the onset, we must distinguish between belief in a doctrine of preservation
and, simply, belief in preservation...those in group 1 [do not deny] the
preservation of Scripture...But they do deny that Scripture anywhere promises,
either directly or indirectly, its own preservation—a doctrine of preservation.
That is, they can speak of the preservation of Scripture because it is a
historical reality...”
[ii]
This is primarily a debate over the Greek texts.
[iii]
W. W. Combs classifies some of the positions this way (without distinguishing
any fine points among the KJVO views), “The MT position differs from the TR
position in that it argues that the text of the autographs is more perfectly
preserved in the thousands of manuscripts that are part of the Byzantine
text-type. Since, therefore, these manuscripts represent a majority of all
extant Greek manuscripts, a Greek text derived from a consensus of these
manuscripts can be called the Majority Text. The TR viewpoint, on the other
hand, suggests that the various printed editions of the Greek New Testament,
beginning with Erasmus in 1516, more perfectly preserve the autographs...The
King James-only view argues that the KJV is the only English Bible that may be
called the Word of God.”
[iv]
I copied Wallace’s essay into Microsoft Word and numbered the pages. Of the 13 pages
of the complete article – in Times New Roman 11 type and not counting the footnotes
– one has to get to page 9 (over 2/3 of the way into the piece) before Wallace
finally admits that preservation isn’t just a view of those who promote the
MT/TR and KJV. This consists of one line – “In spite of the fact that even
opponents of the MT/TR view embrace such a doctrine, it simply does not square
with the evidence” – with a footnote that references R. A. Taylor’s Ph.D.
dissertation at Bob Jones University in 1973.
[v] Of course, one could argue
this isn’t directed to the “average reader.”
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