Bible Science Forum

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Which is the Best English Bible?

The majority text Bible translations, based on Byzantine manuscripts, are advocated by the writer, who cautions against disputes and emphasizes the inspiration of Scripture. Criticisms of modern translations and translators are also highlighted.

John Gideon Hartnett
4–6 minutes
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Since I wrote the following a decade ago, I have formed the view that the majority text Bible translations are the best choice. Majority texts are translations of the mostly Byzantine manuscripts, which enormously outnumber the minority text manuscripts supporting Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus (Alexandrian) upon which most modern translations depend. However because all biblical doctrines may be found in both good majority text and minority text translations I would avoid disputes over this issue. Besides easy to read modern KJV Bibles I also use the Jay Green Snr’s Literal Translation Bible designated KJ3. But beware as there are many bad translations and you must be discerning.

The King James Bible (KJB) was translated from the traditional Hebrew and Greek texts (Masoretic Hebrew Text, The Second Great Rabbinic Bible and the Greek Textus Receptus  (TR) or Received Text) and God’s Words in these original sources most Christians would agree are verbally inspired or God breathed. 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God,…”.

But here’s what interesting. Modern translations (after 1880) are largely based on the Nestle-Aland Greek text, which is an edited version of the Westcott-Hort Greek text, which is largely from Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, not Textus Receptus (TR) the Greek Text on which the KJB is based. The Nestle-Aland Greek text differs from the TR by about 9,970 Greek word differences, additions or subtractions equaling 7% of the total 140,521 words in TR. 

The Editors of the Nestle-Aland text were

“Kurt Aland (who is an unbeliever), Matthew Black (an unbeliever), Carlo M. Martini (a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church), Bruce Metzger (who is from Princeton, a man who demonstrated his apostasy as editor of the Reader’s Digest Bible), and Alan Wigren (from Chicago, an apostate also).” 

— D.A. Waite. Defending the King James Bible, (3rd edition, The Bible For Today Press, 2006, page 38.

This Greek text underlies most modern English translations. And there has been 26 new editions of their Greek text in 81 years? This shows that the Editors themselves don’t place much confidence in their own work. 

The Masoretic text was compiled from the ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament by the Masoretes Hebrew scholars dedicated to guarding and standardizing the traditional Hebrew text as “handed down” (the basic meaning of Masoretic) from the earlier Hebrew scribes, who had in turn meticulously copied the ancient Hebrew manuscripts, scrupulously guarding against error. As far as the Hebrew text developed by Rudolf Kittel is concerned, it is worth noting that Kittel was a German rationalistic higher critic, rejecting Biblical inerrancy and firmly devoted to evolutionism.

The men most responsible for alterations in the New Testament text were B.F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort, whose Greek New Testament was largely updated by Eberhard Nestle and Kurt Aland. All of these men were evolutionists and probably Freemasons. Furthermore, Westcott and Hort both denied Biblical inerrancy and promoted spiritism and racism. Nestle and Aland, like Kittel, were German theological skeptics.

Westcott and Hort were also the most influential members of the English revision committee which produced the English Revised Version of the Bible. The corresponding American revision committee which developed the American Standard Version of 1901 was headed by another liberal evolutionist, Philip Schaff. Most new versions since that time have adopted the same presuppositions as those of the 19th century revisers.

Furthermore, the Westcott-Hort text was mainly based on two early Greek manuscripts, the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus texts, which were rediscovered and rescued from long (and well-deserved) obscurity in the 19th century. Since these are both said to be older than the 5000 manuscripts that support the Textus Receptus, they were called “better.” This was in spite of the fact that they frequently disagreed with each other as well as with the Textus Receptus and also contained many obvious and flagrant mistakes.

The fact that these two manuscripts may have been older does not prove they are better. More likely it indicates that they were set aside because of their numerous errors. Thus they would naturally last longer than the good manuscripts which were being used regularly.

So one of the serious problems with most modern English translations is that they rely heavily on Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the Bible developed by liberals, rationalists, and evolutionists, none of whom believed in the verbal inspiration of the Bible. Is this how God would preserve His word? Would He not more likely have used devout scholars who believed in the absolute inerrancy and authority of the Bible?

—excerpted from “Should Creationists Abandon The King James Version?” by Henry Morris, Ph.D.

Chuck Missler, an early adopter and promoter of the Christian Zionism, also promoted the ISV as the best translation. But he mis-translates the Bible himself, by promoting the false Gap theory of Genesis 1:2 (which is so obviously inconsistent with Exodus 20:11) and seems to spread confusion, not clarity.

I am not a King James Bible Only believer or promoter. It is an English translation from early Greeks texts (Textus Receptus) compiled by the scholar Erasmus in 16th century. I believe it is an accurate translation in English of the original inspired Words of God. There are words in the KJV NT incorrectly translated including the Greek ekklesia as church instead of assembly; pastor instead of shepherd; and most importantly I AM every time Jesus declared this. See The Great I AM Born in a Manger.

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