Also in the most recent issue of the TBS’s Quarterly Record, Assistant General Secretary D. Larlham has an article reflecting on the 400th Anniversary of the AV (KJV) in which he raises the question of a connection between the modern decline of the AV and “downgrade” in the church:
This year we celebrate four hundred years since the first printing of the Authorised Version, and we are not ashamed of its antiquity. In God’s great mercy and providence it has stood the test of time, and been used mightily in His hand during the most sustained period of growth and true prosperity of the church of Jesus Christ in the English speaking world. The marked decline in the use of the Authorised Version in our lifetime has to be set alongside an unprecedented downgrade in His church, marked by a lack of reverence, an embrace of false doctrine and worldliness, and a huge swing toward unbiblical modes of worship and Christian living. We do not see this juxtaposition as merely coincidental; rather, the one has led inexorably to the other.
JTR
2 comments:
Hi there. That is a rather bold claim. I'm curious: is there any proof offered, or is the point made by mere assertion?
Matt,
Thanks for your question.
As I understand it, The Trinitarian Bible Society is committed to promoting the traditional text in original languages (Hebrew and Greek) and translations made from them (like the AV, their preferred translation in English). I think for proof on this point, they would probably point to information in numerous articles in the Quarterly Record and other literature they publish. You can read much of their material at their website (like past issues of the QR).
One thing to consider might be this question: Do any liberal mainline denominations use the AV? There are certainly many solid, conservative and Reformed churches that do (Free Presbyterians, Netherlands Reformed, etc.). Is there a connection between abandoning the traditional text and later slides into abandoning traditional doctrine?
JTR
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