In his book, The King James Version Debate: A Plea for Realism, D.A. Carson uses the same sorry arguments against the KJV and it’s Greek, the Byzantine Text / Textus Receptus. I will cover some of his arguments later in a future article. This article will cover his deliberate misrepresentation of Bible believers. In his book, he says this about KJV believers:
In support of their argument they cite both the well-known passages that affirm the inspiration of Scripture and a few less-common ones that affirm the sanctity and immutability of God’swords. I quote a few examples (all from the KJV):
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. (Deut. 4:2)
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. (Prov. 30:5,6)
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (Rev. 22:19)
For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. (Ps. 119:89)
These passages and a few others are constantly called forth to justify the adoption of the TR [Textus Receptus]. Indeed they are frequently cited as if their existence entails the adoption of the TR. The argument, briefly, is this: Since God inspired the Scriptures verbally, therefore He must have preserved them even to the details of their words; and these passages suppose that God has done just that… …even if their interpretation of the biblical passages just cited were correct…
(KJV Debate, pp 68,69 Italics his, bold mine)
He claims that Bible believers site verses like Deut 4:2, Prov 30:5,6, Rev 22:19, and Ps 119:89 to prove that God has preserved His Word, the Scriptures. He then states that we misinterpret those verses by saying that they teach preservation. But a quick glance through scriptures given show that they have NOTHING to do with the Preservation of Scripture. They have nothing to do with it!! HE QUOTES VERSES THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH PRESERVATION, THEN SAYS THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN PRESERVATION ARE MISINTERPRETING THE WORD!!! This is gross misrepresentation on his part. Since these verses have nothing to do with preservation, Carson’s readers will think that he is right, and that God has not preserved His word. They will then think that anyone who believes in divine preservation is naïve at least, willfully ignorant at best. Carson pulls a fast one on his readers here. He doesn’t want YOU to know that there are verses in the Bible that confirm Divine Preservation! He hopes that you will believe him, and not research the matter for yourself.
Here are a few of the Preservation verses Carson hopes you will NEVER read:
Psalm 12
6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt KEEP them, O LORD, thou shalt PRESERVE them from this generation for ever.Ps 119:160
Thy word is true from the beginning: and EVERY ONE of thy righteous judgments ENDURETH FOR EVER.1 Peter 1
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURETH FOR EVER. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.Psalm 100
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.(For more preservation verses, please see God’s Inspired, Preserved Word.)
A glance through the “Index of Scripture” at the back of Carson’s book shows that these verses are nowhere to be found. He hopes you will never read these verses because he doesn’t agree with them. He doesn’t believe that God would preserve His Word. He is forced to admit that 95% of all New Testament manuscripts belong to the Bysantine Text (KJV) (pg. 50), yet doesn’t seem to put two and two together. God did preserve His Words, and He preserved them to the word. Why did Jesus say “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but MY WORDS SHALL NOT PASS AWAY?” Mark 13:31 My plea to Dr. Carson is that he actually read the Bible and not let his own bias get in the way.
“Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.” Psalm 56:6
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