On Wednesday, July 20, I posted some excerpts of blog comments by Peter Van Kleeck, Jr. that I titled “Words in the KJV that people don’t know.” In it, Peter stated that one reason the King James translation has become “archaic” is because “the language of the standard sacred text has fallen out of use both in the church.” When some people read this, their first thought is others can verify their theory that the KJV is “archaic.” Mark Ward mentioned that Noah Webster (Webster Bible, page iii) complained about this in 1833, and followed it up with corroborating testimony by Benjamin Franklin.[i] There is no reason to suppose that people did not perceive problems with KJV around the turn of the 19th century. However, this does not address the problem.
When I read Peter’s statements, my mind did not go to the
possibility that some previous person might have disagreed with him. Instead, I
saw a truth in it. My mind went rather to our failure in our churches to
continue to faithfully pass down what we have been taught – both the churches
that have abandoned the continuity of the word for continual changes of it, and
the churches that have not faithfully, carefully, and taught the word that they
hold in continuity. We possess ancient truth that has been and is to be passed
down. Even when the English language changes in society, if the meaning of
English words we use in church were taught in our churches, we would continue
to know what they mean. If I were to admit ERI® is a valid principle (which I
do not admit to the extent Mark proposes it), it clearly is not the only
principle taught in the Bible! How about this one? “And the things that thou
hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men,
who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2; cf. Psalm 145:4; Exodus 1:8; Joshua 24:31; Judges 2:10). EERC, Edification and Endurance Requires Continuity. We have a faith written by God 2 Timothy 3:16), given to
the apostles/church (John 17:14), and passed down to us by our forefathers in
the faith. To what extent have we failed to do this – especially with the truths,
but even with the words? Perhaps more than any Christian culture in time or
space, Christians in the U.S. have perpetuated the idea of “lone ranger”
Christians who sit at home in their chairs and interpret their Bibles on their
own apart from faithful biblical leaders and Bible believing congregations. Here’s another
principle, ERO1, Edification Requires One-Anothering (Ephesians 4:12; Romans 14:19; 15:1-3). When the Bereans searched the scriptures daily, it
is unlikely that every household had its own copy of the OT, but rather that they
came together and searched the scriptures together.
What about the world of the lost? They are not taught in church, therefore not heirs to this principle. Well, some of them are brought up in church, but, yes, what about those who know nothing of the church or the Bible? Enter two other principles – ERG, Edification Requires Guidance (Acts 8:30-31) and ERO2 Edification Requires Obedience (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 8:26-27). The lost do not understand the word, and have bigger issues to overcome than whether a besom is a broom, what a mandrake is, or what halt means. It is the duty of the church to carry the message and explain/teach what it means. Is it too much to expect us to teach a few words along the way?
Additionally, when I contemplate the biblical and spiritual failures of my life, very few of them are related to not knowing a besom is a broom. Mark Twain supposedly said something like this, “It is not the parts of the Bible that I cannot understand that bother me – it’s the parts that I do understand.” Whether or not Twain said that (I haven’t checked), I find my life struggles are related more to what I know than what I do not.
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
[i] It
is not clear to me whether this was actually written by Benjamin Franklin, and
if so, to what end. This appears as part of a letter from “A. B.” “To the
Printer (Franklin ?) proposing a new version of the Bible with modern
expressions and turns of phrase. See Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 3, pages 307-309.
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