Is the general consensus Biblical?
The general consensus is based upon the promotion of critical texts and modern Bible versions by ALMOST ALL textual critics and scholars, as well as ALMOST ALL well-known Christian theologians, preachers, teachers, personalities, and Bible publishers (the Trinitarian Bible Society being the exception).
"The Great Bible Version Hoax" was created by Westcott & Hort back in 1881, but hardly anyone challenged their fantasies and thus the Revised Version (1881) became the competitor for the King James Bible. Since then dozens of new Bible versions have surfaced, each one claiming to be the "standard" but failing to become so. But that gave the publishers a golden opportunity to sell "new & improved" "Bibles", so they continued to revise the revisions
ad infinitum and
ad nauseum. Today, Christians are faced with a bewildering array of versions, all claiming to be the truest and the best (but falsely so).
The historical fact is that the King James Bible (called the Authorized Version because it was appointed to be read in churches) was designed to be the best English translation following all the English Bibles which had appeared in print. Thus it became the leading English language Bible throughout the world, and when we take into account the vast domain of the British Empire until the 20th century, all those countries where English was spoken and read considered the KJB "THE Bible". In other words, until about 1911 there was only one English Bible being used (and the Geneva Bible took second place). It is still the most faithful, and reliable English Bible translation, and the few archaisms which exist can easily be resolved through Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. Also, the only difference between those printed today and the one issued in 1611 is in the spellings and punctuation. Otherwise they are identical (contrary to many scoffers and mockers).
Regardless of the general consensus, the majority of evangelical Christians have been duped into thinking that the modern versions are "superior" to the KJB,
because the lie which was strongly promoted and accepted was that a handful of Gnostic corruptions of the New Testament were "the best" and "the purest" because of their age. But actually their survival, and their age, was evidence that they had been discarded by discerning Christians and were fit for the rubbish heap thus they sat and gathered dust. As a matter of fact
Codex Sinaiticus (Aleph) was found in a monastery in the Sinai desert in a basket reserved for kindling materials used for firewood! And in spite of all the "scholarly" opinions, there are just two manuscripts -- Aleph and B (
Codex Vaticanus) which were used to supersede the remaining 5,000+ manuscripts of the NT which are extant.
So when you look at the critical texts (e.g. Westcott-Hort, Nestle, Nestle-Aland, or the United Bible Societies text) that is what is being presented. Which means thousands of omissions, additions, interpolations, and transpositions to the true text of the Bible, and at least 1,500 of which have doctrinal significance.
In order to get to the bottom of the truth regarding this issue, Christians should study how Westcott and Hort were exposed by other equally (or better) equipped textual scholars such as Burgon, Scrivener, Hoskier, etc. For reprints of their books you can go th the website of
The Bible for Today, where
The Dean Burgon Society was formed for the very purpose of presenting Christians with the truth about Bible versions.
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