Purified 7 Times
Exodus 19:16-19 "And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice."
It all began on Mt. Sinai with the awesome visitation of God when Moses received the very first written communication from the Lord God Almighty! First, God gave Moses the 10 Commandments. Deuteronomy 9:10 “And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.” (Ex. 31:18). Under the direction of the LORD, Moses records the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible).
God’s communication to Moses on Mt. Sinai began the written, progressive, revelatory journey that stretched over 1500 years until we have the 66 Books of the Bible.
Paul said to his Roman audience “What advantage then hath the Jew... Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” (Rom. 3:1-2) The Hebrew/Aramaic Old Testament and the Greek New Testament were given by inspiration of God to Jewish authors who meticulously recorded what God revealed to them. This is affirmed in 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
The Old & New Testaments were given by the inspiration of God and were entrusted to the Jews. It was their job to read, believe, follow, and preserve those words for future generations.
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.”
God has promised to preserve His Words! His Son Jesus Christ concurs - Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
We read in 1 Peter 1:24-25 “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
How God Preserved His Words
The Providential Preservation of the Old Testament
Special care for the preservation of the text was taken. The Talmudists (100-500 A.D.) and The Masoretes (500-900 A.D.) ensured that the Old Testament was preserved. All the books of the Hebrew Old Testament were collected by Jacob Ben Chaim ibn Adonihah and then published by Daniel Bomberg in Venice in 1525. It is without question one of the milestones of printing history. This is the Bible that preserved for all time the ancient legacy of the Masorah, the great mass of rabbinic tradition that safeguarded the sacred Hebrew text through the millennia. IT IS GOD’S PRESERVED WORD IN HEBREW!
We KNOW that God preserved the words of the Old Testament because, even in the days of Christ, Jesus would say, “it is written” and then quote an Old Testament passage. He does this 26 times in the Gospels. It should be noted that there were no original Old Testament portions in Jesus’ day. They would all have been preserved copies.
The Providential Preservation of the New Testament
Few people realize that for the first 10 to 20 years of the Church's existence there were no New Testament writings. The Apostles taught what they had personally learned from the Lord Jesus. When the disciples of Christ witnessed, they did so based on what they had learned from the Apostles. God moved on the hearts of the Apostles to leave a witness, or future generations of what Jesus did and taught. The Apostle John notes John 20:30-31 "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."
I think it is important to note that neither the Gospels nor the rest of the New Testament give a comprehensive view of the work of Christ, his disciples, and the early church. We know this from what John wrote in John 21:25, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." What is included in the New Testament Canon is exactly what the Lord wanted included. It was written under His inspiration.
"At a very early period, probably before the end of the first, or the beginning of the second century, the books of the New Testament were collected into one (manuscript) volume, having before this been used separately as they were severally written, or could be procured in the different Churches." (The Evidences of the Divine Origin, Preservation, Credibility, and Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures by S. Austin Alliborne; American Sunday School Union - 1871; p.21).
The 27 books of the New Testament were recognized by the believing church as the New Testament by the time of Athanasius (367 A.D.)
We do need to understand that even at the time of the Apostle Paul there were corrupt manuscripts that were being produced. Paul notes in 2 Corinthians 2:17 “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.”
He even talks about a false letter being circulated, claiming to be by him - 2 Thessalonians 2:2 “…be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.”
My point is this. There is a preserved line of New Testament manuscripts called the Antiochian Text, the Traditional Text, the Majority Text, Byzantine or the Received Text. However, there is a perverted line of New Testament manuscripts called the Alexandrian Text, Eclectic Text, Westcott and Hort text, Nestle-Alland & the United Bible Society text.
THE DARK AGES
The Roman Catholic Church refused to allow the Scriptures to be available in the language of the people for 1000 years. This era was called the Dark Ages. The darkness of Roman Catholic superstition and idolatry reigned in the hearts and lives of men and women during that time.
"Every layman daring to possess a Bible, now first forbidden to the laity by this council, was in peril of the rack, the dungeon, and the stake." (History of the Christian Church from its Origin to The Present Time by William Maxwell Blackburn; published by Walden and Stowe in 1880; p.309)
Erasmus Unlocks The Door And Lets The Light Of Scripture Shine In
Erasmus (1466-1536) traveled all over Europe collecting New Testament Greek Manuscripts of the Traditional Text. He published them, Matthew – Revelation, in 1516, Greek in one column and Latin in the other. His careful Latin publication exposed the corruption of the Roman Catholic Vulgate. One example is Luke 13:3 & 5. The Latin Vulgate (translated into English) would say “Except ye do penance, ye shall all likewise perish.” Erasmus properly translated it – “Except ye repent….”
He had a burning desire to provide the preserved Word of God to everyone.
“Would that these were translated into each and every language…. Would that the farmer might sing snatches of Scripture at his plow, that the weaver might hum phrases of Scripture to the tune of his shuttle.” (Christian History Magazine; Issue 43 Vol. XIII, No3; p.20)
“I should like all women to read the Gospel and the Epistles of Paul. Would that they were translated into all languages so that (everyone) might be able to read and know them.”
“I vehemently disagree from those who would not have private persons read the Holy Scriptures nor have them translated into the vulgar tongues, as though either Christ taught such difficult doctrines that they can only be understood by a few theologians, or the safety of the Christian religion lay in ignorance of it.”
GOD’S 7-FOLD PURIFYING WORK OF OUR ENGLISH BIBLE
#1 God Raises Up William Tyndale To Help Break Rome’s Iron Grip On The English People & Give Them The First Printed New Testament In English
William Tyndale is the Father of The English Bible! Possessing any portion of the Bible in English was illegal and a crime punishable by being burned at the stake.
In his famous Book of Martyrs, John Foxe published the Account of 7 people being burned in Coventry, England for the crime of teaching their children the Lord’s Prayer and the 10 Commandments in English.
Though Tyndale was a Roman Catholic Priest, he came to know Christ as Savior. He got in a heated argument with another priest about the importance of the Bible. The priest said, “We were better to be without God’s laws than the pope's. Tyndale responded “I defy the pope and all his laws. If God spare my life, ere many years pass, I will cause that a boy that driveth the plow shall know more of the Scriptures than thou dost.”
From that point on, Tyndale gave himself wholly to translating the 1522 Erasmus Greek/Latin New Testament into English. In 1526 Tyndale published his New Testament. Only 2 and a partial copy remain of the 3,000 that were published. Most of them were purchased by the Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of London and burned at St. Paul’s Cross in London. Tyndale used that money to publish another version in 1534. They were smuggled into England in bolts of cloth and sacks of flour. BUT, before he could complete his work on the Old Testament he was betrayed by a false friend, Henry Phillips and captured about May 21, 1535, and imprisoned in the dungeon of Vilvoorde Castle, which was 6 miles North of Brussels, Belgium. He was kept there 500 days without a trial. During that time, he led his jailor and his family to Christ.
When Tyndale would NOT recant, he was burned at the stake on October 6, 1536. His last words were “Lord open the King of England’s Eyes.”
The translation work of Tyndale was so good, that 85% of it agrees with our King James Bible.
God’s purification work continues.
#2 God Raises Up Myles Coverdale To Give To Give English People The First Whole Bible.
Myles Coverdale (1487-1568) began his study of the Bible when he was at Cambridge University. The historian says, He was one of the first to make a pure profession of Christ…[and] he gave himself wholly to the propagating of the truth of Jesus Christ’s gospel…”
The English people were crying out for a whole Bible. The illegal Tyndale New Testament had whetted their appetite for more. Myles admitted, “how weak I am to perform the office of a translator.” Yet he was burdened that the people might have a whole Bible, Old and New Testament in English. Since he was not proficient in Hebrew or Greek, he used five other translations to do his work (Latin, German, English and two others). He used Tyndale's New Testament and the others for his Old Testament. In 1535 his English Bible was printed. A translation of a translation is never ideal. It needed to be purified.
#3 God Raises Up John Rogers: The Matthews Bible
Another step in the process of God purifying His Word happens when the Matthews Bible is printed by John Rogers (c. 1500-1555). Rogers received Christ as the result of the witness of William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale. When Tyndale was burned at the stake, he left Rogers his Old Testament Translation work – Genesis through 2 Chronicles and Jonah. What Rogers did was take Old Testament work for the Old Testament and then fill in the rest with Coverdale’s Old Testament work. He used Tyndale’s New Testament. Thomas Matthews was a pseudo name for Tyndale. It still had Tyndale’s name attached to the notes in the Bible. His Bible was printed in 1537. The Bible was legally circulated in England until Mary I (Mary Tudor, bloody Mary) came to the throne July 1553. She was determined to bring England back under the yoke of Catholicism. She put a stop to the circulation of the Matthews Bible and had John Rogers arrested. She promised to pardon him if he would recant. She urged him to revoke his stand on the English Bible. His response was “That which I have preached I will seal with my blood.” She burned John Rogers at the stake on February 4, 1555. He was the first of several hundred Protestants to be burned in her reign. His wife and ten of their eleven children accompanied him to Smithfield where he was to be burned alive. John walked to the stake singing a Psalm. As he was burned alive the historian says, “He washed his hands in the flames, as though it had been cold water.”
More purification was needed!
#4 Myles Coverdale & The Great Bible
In 1533 the English monarch Henry VIII decided to divorce his wife of twenty years Catherine of Aragon in pursuit of a male heir to ensure the Tudor line. He was also head over heels in love with his wife's lady in waiting Anne Boleyn, the future mother of Elizabeth I. The Roman Catholic Church would not grant him a divorce so in 1534 Henry separates from the Roman Catholic Church declaring himself the “Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England. To make it clear that he was the head of the church in England, he appoints Myles Coverdale to do a revision of the Matthews Bible. Some helpful revisions were made, but the main advantage was the King ordered each perish church to install one of these Bible and provide a reader to read it to the people! The first edition of the Great Bible was published in 1539.
More purification was in order!
#5 The Geneva Bible: The Bible of Firsts
The Geneva Bible was completed in two stages. The New Testament was published on June 10, 1557 while Mary I was still on the throne. However, it was published in Switzerland! The Old Testament was added and the whole Bible was published in 1560!
It was the 1st and only Bible published during the reign of Mary I (Bloody Mary). It was the 1st English Bible to be completely translated from the Biblical languages (Hebrew, Aramaic & Greek). It was the 1st Study Bible. It was the 1st Bible to use the easier to read Roman type style instead of the Black Letter style. It was the 1st English Bible to have verse divisions. It was the 1st English Bible to use italicized words where English required more than a literal Greek or Hebrew rendering.
The English people loved this Bible! It was much more easily read, it had verse divisions and was, for all practical purposes a study Bible with the copious Calvinistic notes.
Why didn’t God stop the purification process? After all, it was a translation of the Biblical languages of the Old and New Testament! While I will have to wait to heaven to be sure, I think it was because of the Calvinistic notes that appeared on nearly every page, which in numerous cases confused the readers' minds concerning the Biblical doctrines. The translation itself was a very good translation!
#6 The Bishops Bible
The widespread popularity of the Geneva Bible had undermined the authority of the Great Bible which was the official Bible of the Church of England. Some of the notes also weakened power of the Anglican Bishops.
Puritanism was springing up and separatism (nonconformity) was blossoming as well. Hence, Bishop Parker appointed 8 or 9 Bishops to a revision committee with instructions to follow the Great Bible except when it clearly varied from the Hebrew and Greek. They were to attend to the Latin versions of Munster and Pagninus as well. The Bishops Bible was published in 1568, but it has been characterized as “the stiffest and most useless of all the old translations.”
#7 The Final Purification: The King James Bible
James VI of Scotland was born on June 19, 1566 to Mary Queen of Scots and her second husband and cousin Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley at Edinburgh Castle. It was a turbulent time in Scotland; the Presbyterians were prevailing over Catholics for religious domination. Queen Mary was a Roman Catholic. She raised an army and tried to overthrow the Scottish Protestant Lords. On June 15, 1568, their armies clashed at Carberry Hill and Mary and her forces surrendered. She was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle. There she was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her 13-month-old son. On July 24, 1567, ascended to the throne. However, as you might imagine, Scottish Presbyterian regents raised James and ruled the country in his name.
Mary escaped from the castle in 1568 but was again defeated at the Battle of Langside, near Glasgow. She fled to England, believing Queen Elizabeth I would support her case. Instead, she, she put Mary under house arrest for 19 years because, Mary became the focus of various Catholic plots to murder Queen Elizabeth. Mary Queen of Scots was tried for treason and beheaded on February 8, 1587. Her son, King James VI of Scotland, calmly accepted his mother’s execution, and upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603 the 37-year-old James became King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. His title became King James I of England.
The Division Within The Church of England
There were major divisions with the Church of England. There was the Puritan Party that wanted to purify the Church of England of all of the Roman Catholic practices such as making the sign of the cross, having to wear robes and the rite of confirmation. They asserted that these and other practices of the Anglican Church have no Biblical basis. The High Church Party placed a greater emphasis on liturgies, vestments and sacraments from Catholicism.
There was another group more radical group called the Separatists/Pilgrims. They separated from the Church of England and demanded the formation of new, separate congregations, which was illegal.
There was also confusion over Bible Versions. There were three English Bible versions in circulation. The 1539 Great Bible was still used in the Church of England for its Psalm readings. The favorite of the people was the 1560 Geneva Bible because of the verse divisions and the commentary. Then there was the official Anglican Church Bible, the 1568 Bishops Bible. However, the translation was stiff, formal, and difficult. It has been described as “the most unsatisfactory and useless of all the old translations.”
Because of the division in the Anglican Church, King James I called together about 50 church leaders in the church to try to iron out some of the problems between the two factions on January 6, 1604.
On the second day of the proceedings, the Puritan President of Corpus Christi College in Oxford, Dr. John Raynolds “moved His Majesty that there might be a new translation of the Bible, because those which were allowed in the reign of Henry VIII, and Edward VI were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the original.”
The King agreed with the idea and in July of 1604 he wrote to Bishop Bancroft instructing him to appoint 54 learned men for the translating of the Bible though only 47 scholars participated. The Chairman of the committee with Bishop Lancelot Andrews. He was fluent in Chaldee, Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, and 15 other languages.
They began their actual translation work in 1607. There were 6 Translation Teams-
Two at Westminster Abbey
The 10 members of Team 1 were assigned Genesis through 2 Kings The 7 members Team 2 were assigned Romans through Jude Two at Oxford University
The 7 members of Team 1 were assigned Isaiah to Malachi The 8 members of Team 2 were assigned the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation Two at Cambridge University
The 8 members of Team 1 were assigned 1 Chronicles through Ecclesiastes The 7 members of Team 2 were assigned the Apocrypha The Rules of Translation
Each man of the company take the same section and translate it by himself. Then they would all meet together and review what had been translated and then decide what should stand. Then the work was passed on to be reviewed by each of the other committees. Every part was examined word by word at least 14 times. Many parts were reviewed 15 and some 17 times.
A final review was done by a 12 man. The two best men from each committee met in the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster Abbey for final review and preparation for the press. As the companies reviewed each book, they noted any questions or differences, and these matters were settled by the final committee.
The King James Bible was published in 1611, though no one knows for sure the exact date.
There had been a flurry of translation work for 85 years!
Tyndale
Coverdale
Matthews
Great
Geneva
Bishops and the 7th purification of the English Bible was… The King James Bible
With the publication of the King James Bible in 1611 all English Bible translation work ceased for 270 years!
The King James Bible preserves, by accurate translation the Hebrew/Aramaic Masoretic text and the Greek Received Text for English speaking people, and by accurate translation of these texts our King James Bible maintains all the authority and power that God placed on and in His Words. The King James Bible is God’s Word kept intact in English. The King James Bible is therefore God’s Preserved Word for English Speaking People!
