James White & Thomas Ross Debate Review #5: Creationism & the KJV vs. Evolution: Henry Morris (ICR)

This video is part five of a series of debate review videos by Thomas Ross of the arguments made by both sides in the James White / Thomas Ross King James Version Only debate. James White claimed that (if they were alive today) the King James Version translators would prefer the Legacy Standard Bible to the King James Bible. In both the live debate and his book The King James Only Controversy, James White claimed that the "Translators to the Reader" prefatory material in the KJV proved that the KJV translators would prefer modern Bible versions based on the Nestle-Aland Textus Rejectus to their own translation based on the Textus Receptus. Part five continues to examine the "Translators to the Reader," here in relation to creationism. The King James Version is a superior Bible for those committed to the Biblical truth of creationism and a young earth.

The KJV translators’ confident certainty in a young earth and in creation rather than evolution are good and necessary consequences that flow from their literal interpretation of Genesis. Hence, the KJV translators (correctly) believed that Hebrew was the first language and the language spoken by Adam and before Babel. (How many translators of the Old Testament today agree with the KJV translators on this? Will it not impact your view of the translation of the Old Testament if you think Hebrew is a late product of a long process of evolution from other languages or if you think it was the first language spoken, the language of Adam and Eve, with other languages developing from Hebrew?) Thus, the "Translators to the Reader" refers to "Hebrew the ancientest ... tongue." They believed Hebrew was the original language spoken by Adam and Eve and all men before the Tower of Babel.

As not only Baptist separatist scholars, but also evangelical, non-KJV-Only, non-separatist scholars with the Institute for Creation Research and Answers in Genesis have pointed out, the KJV is stronger on creationism; every one of the KJV translators was a young earth creationist, as was every editor of every edition of the Textus Receptus. In contrast, modern versions are influenced by the evolutionary lies that pervade modern culture. Consider, for example, the testimony of Dr. Henry Morris, who is widely recognized as a key founder of the modern creation science movement, and was the president of ICR (the Institute for Creation Research). Dr. Morris wrote:

"In this day of rapid change, when many Christians have suddenly started using one of the many modern English translations of the Bible (NASB, NIV, NEB, NRSV, NKJV, etc.), abandoning the long-used King James Version read and loved by English-speaking people of all ages and walks of life for over ten generations, it may be appropriate to review a few of the reasons why many creationists, including this writer, still prefer to use the latter. … One reason is that all the fifty or more translators who developed the King James Bible were godly men who believed strongly in the inerrancy and full authority of Scripture and who, therefore, believed in the literal historicity of Genesis, with its record of six-day Creation and the worldwide flood. This has not been true of many who have been involved in producing the modern versions. … The two men most responsible for modern alterations in the New Testament text were B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort, whose Greek New Testament text has largely replaced the traditional Textus Receptus in modern seminaries, especially as revised and updated by the Germans Eberhard Nestle and Kurt Aland. All of these men were evolutionists. … Westcott and Hort were also the most influential members of the English revision committee that produced the English Revised Version of the Bible, published in 1881. … In any case, one of the serious problems with almost all 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. Are we to believe that God would entrust the preservation of His eternal Word to men such as these? Would He not more likely have used devout scholars who believed in the absolute inerrancy and authority of the Bible? I believe, therefore, after studying, teaching, and loving the Bible for over 55 years, that Christians – especially creationists! – need to hang on to their old King James Bibles as long as they live. God has uniquely blessed it [the KJV] ... more than He has through all the rest of the versions put together. The King James Bible is the most beautiful, the most powerful, and (I strongly believe) the most reliable of any that we have or ever will have, until Christ returns. … Many other Bible-believing creationist Christians also prefer to use the King James … I, as well as many others, will continue to use the time- tested King James Bible in our writing and speaking."

Creationists should use only the King James Version.