Wilkinson, Ray, and Kutilek on Psalm 12:6-7

Did Doug Kutilek get this wrong?

The book Only One Bible appears to take only a moderately negative approach in its opposition to the “King James Only Movement.” On page 17 Kevin Bauder writes,

“A second risk is that the mere publication of this book might raise the temperature of the debate. Unfortunately, the debate has too often descended to the level of name calling, guilt by association, bandwagoning, and truth-twisting.”

You would think, then, that the authors and editor would strive to keep the temperature turned down, keeping “name calling, guilt by association, bandwagoning, and truth-twisting” at arms length. Enter Douglas K. Kutilek. In Chapter 1, “The Background and Origin of the Version Debate,” where he writes,

“Wilkinson was also the first person to misapply Psalm 12:6-7 as though it were a promise of preservation of the KJV.” (p. 44)

“Among other errors, Ray adopts Wilkinson’s misinterpretation and misapplication of Psalm 12:6-7 as though it were a promise of preservation of the KJV.” (p. 45)

Oddly, rather than showing where this claim is found in Wilkinson’s book, the chapter endnote (fn 50, p. 54) only refers to another place Kutilek supposedly refuted it in the 1983 Biblical Evangelist! I could not readily find this writing to check out his claims there. Seems if you refute a claim someone has made, you should at least play the man and show where what you are refuting is found.

Concerning J. J. Ray adopting “Wilkinson’s misinterpretation and misapplication of Psalm 12:6-7,” the chapter endnote (fn 52, p. 54) refers to page 122 in the 1970 printing of Ray’s book. However in the copy I have (a 1983 printing) and another I checked (a 1976 printing), page 122 does not even mention Psalm 12:6-7! Perhaps it can be found in the 1970 printing, but at this time I can neither validate nor invalidate Kutilek’s accuracy regarding this being on page 122 (though I suspect he is not accurate). The words in Ray’s book on page 106, however, state something different. Ray claims preservation of the Textus Receptus, not the King James Bible.

“The words of God are pure words: as silver I tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt PRESERVE THEM EVERY ONE from this generation forever,” (Psalm 12:6-7).

“God has preserved these very words for us in the TEXTUS RECEPTUS; and until we get an honest, trustworthy revision of the King James Bible; the King James will remain our very best English translation of the TEXTUS RECEPTUS.”

“The Bible God wrote has been providentially preserved for us in the Greek Textus Receptus, from which the King James Bible was translated in 1611. Any version of the Bible that does not agree with this text, is certainly founded upon corrupted manuscripts.”

These quotes are from page 106 of God Wrote Only One Bible. They do not show that J. J. Ray thought “of Psalm 12:6-7 as though it were a promise of preservation of the KJV.” [Note: as far as “them” referring to the words of God in Psalm 12:7 being some recent notion, refer to any number of old commentaries to find that there has long been disagreement on how “them” should be interpreted.] 

[Notes: One Bible Only?: Examining Exclusive Claims for the King James Bible, Roy E. Beacham, editor. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2001. Oddly enough, on page 122 Ray seems to place salvation only through the Textus Receptus and translations that agree with it: It is impossible to be saved without ‘FAITH,’ and perfect-saving-faith can only be produced by the ‘ONE’ Bible God wrote, and that we find only in translations which agree with the Greek Textus Receptus refused by Westcott and Hort. God Wrote Only One Bible]