BJU's Active Campaign Against The 1611 KJV
Bob Jones University claims to be The Fortress
of Faith, a citadel of Biblical fundamentalism. We think it
strange then that BJU is maintaining an active campaign against
the KJV 1611. Consider the following transcribed advertisement
that BJU included at the end of their Chapel Echoes program for
August 19, 1995 (this advertisement was aired several times
during July and August, 1995): “In a day when Christian
leaders and followers are doing what is right in their own eyes,
the authority of the Word of God should be the emphasis in
churches. However, many good men have focused their concern over
translations of the Word of God, and have forced divisions over
relatively unimportant differences between several good
translations of the Bible. In the booklet ‘What Is The
Inspired Word Of God?: Dr. Edward Panosian, chairman of the
Division of Church History at Bob Jones University, discusses the
textual debate, and warns against the assumption that any version
is specially inspired. If you have questions about this issue,
you’ll want to send for your free copy of ‘What Is The
Inspired Word Of God?’ Write to Chapel Echoes, Bob Jones
University, Greenville, SC 29614.” After reading the booklet
by Panosian and the argument that he presents, it is the firm
conviction of this writer that BJU is clearly outside of the AV
1611 position. The other so-called “good translations”
to which Panosian refers are built upon the corrupt Westcott-Hort
text.
In the mind of BJU and company, those of us who hold to the AV
1611 and the manuscripts upon which it is built are the ones who
are causing divisions among God’s people, and BJU clearly
disapproves of this. BJU has compromised their position, and they
are attacking ours. It is the firm conviction of this writer that
BJU is “building bridges” with regards to Bible
translations in much the same manner as Tim Lee is “building
bridges” with the Southern Baptist Convention.