Page 490 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

PRESERVATION

Scripture. He explains away every passage that has authors of modern textual criticism. When the New
traditionally been cited in support of preservation, Evangelicals began associating with the modernists in
including Ps. 12:7; 105:8; 119:89, 152, 160; Is. 40:8; the late 1940s, it took only ONE DECADE for New
Mt. 5:18; and Mt. 24:35. At the same time, he Evangelicals to be infiltrated by that same modernism
audaciously claims “a belief that God has providentially and to adopt historical critical theories. Harold Lindsell,
preserved His Word in and through all the extant one of the founding fathers of New Evangelicalism,
manuscripts.” This is an impossible position. There can admitted this --
be no “belief” without a word from God. “Faith cometh “I must regretfully conclude that the term evangelical
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Ro. 10:17; has been so debased that it has lost its usefulness. ...
see also Hebrews 11). If God has not explicitly promised Forty years ago the term evangelical represented those
to keep His word, we cannot have any faith in the who were theologically orthodox and who held to
matter whatsoever. In that case, the fathers of modern biblical inerrancy as one of the distinctives. ... WITHIN
textual criticism were correct in treating the Bible like A DECADE OR SO NEOEVANGELICALISM . . . WAS
any other book and applying their theories of criticism BEING ASSAULTED FROM WITHIN BY INCREASING
to it as they would to the works of Homer or any other SKEPTICISM WITH REGARD TO BIBLICAL
INFALLIBILITY OR INERRANCY” (Harold Lindsell, The
non-inspired writing. Bible in the Balance, 1979, p. 319).
Another example of this is James Price, a professor at It is not surprising to see the more scholarly elements
Tennessee Temple University. Dr. Price worked on the of the fundamental Baptist movement questioning
Old Testament portion of the New King James Bible, but preservation, because many of them are sitting at the
he does not believe the Received Text is the preserved feet of the textual critics mentioned above. Books by
Word of God. The publishers of the New King James Bruce Metzger and Kurt Aland are readily available in
Bible implied in their advertisements that they revered the bookstores and classrooms of schools such as Bob
the King James Bible and its Received Text and thus Jones University, Tennessee Temple University, Central
aimed to continue its legacy, but the men who did the Baptist Seminary, and Detroit Baptist Seminary. Every
translation actually believe the KJV is a weak, corrupt one of the editors of the United Bible Societies Greek
translation and they are committed to the critical Greek New Testament are proponents of the modernistic
text. In an e-mail to me dated April 30, 1996, Price said: historical critical approach to the Bible, yet many
“I am not a TR advocate. … I am not at war with the fundamentalist seminaries have adopted this New
conservative modern versions.” In a more recent e-mail, Testament and the tainted, unbelieving theories
Dr. Price stated that the Bible nowhere explicitly teaches underlying it. In fact, Bruce Metzger, who believes that
that God will preserve the Scriptures. the Old Testament is a mixture of myth and truth, has
“One may infer the doctrine of preservation from spoken at Temple Seminary.
statements in the Bible, but the explicit term It does not surprise me that Glenny, Price, and others
‘preserve’ (or its derivatives) is never used in the KJV who have adopted modern textual criticism are
of the written word of God” (Price, e-mail, Dec. 20,
2000). beginning to approach the Bible with the same
When he was understandably challenged for stating naturalistic attitude as the fathers of this “science falsely
that God did not promise to preserve the Scriptures, Dr. so called.” Strangely, they are spending more time
Price replied, “I know the passages that infer pointing out alleged errors in the Bible, claiming there
preservation, and I believe the doctrine. I just don’t are errors in all Bibles, and rebuking men who do not
think that the Bible explicitly states how God preserved believe the KJV contains error than in defending the
His word.” He is therefore not as bold as Glenny, but he Bible from its enemies. I say strangely, because this is
does most definitely cast doubt upon preservation by his indeed a strange endeavor for men who allegedly
claim that the Bible NOWHERE explicitly states or believe in an infallible Bible. It is infallible to them only
promises preservation. If that is the case, how can he in theory. The Bible warns that evil communications
believe in such a thing! He says there are inferences. Are corrupt good manners (1 Co. 15:33), and this is exactly
those inferences authoritative so that a doctrine can be what has happened to Fundamentalists who are sitting
built on them? If so, what is he getting at? Either God at the feet of the textual critics. (Of course, they will not
has promised to preserve the Scripture, or He has not. admit that they follow the textual critics, as they profess
What is this strange, muddled, middle-of-the-road to be independent thinkers; but their views on Bible
position? Dr. Price wants to have his cake and eat it, too, preservation sound suspiciously the same.)
but it won’t work. I predict that many of his seminary Contrast the Faith of KJV/Received Text Defenders
students will be more consistent and will reject the In great contrast to these works on modern textual
doctrine of preservation altogether, as have most of the criticism are the writings of defenders of the Received or
Traditional Text. These men treat the Bible as God’s

490 Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity