All posts by bibleprotector
Bowers and updated KJV projects
INTRODUCTION
There’s a real problem in the King James Bible supporting camp of people who want to “correct” its editions to the point of making changes to some editorial choices that have occurred, to some italics, to some archaic words and maybe even some translations in places.
This approach is fraught with danger, because one change is dangerous enough. Any change should be dealt with the utmost of caution, in fact, it is something that should not happen at all. After all, who is qualified to make any changes, and will it receive widespread consent.
When Benjamin Blayney made his editorial changes throughout the Bible, he did not change the translation and he did not change the underlying text. His changes were vast but also conservative.
Having myself operated in the space of analysing the editing which created the Pure Cambridge Edition back in the early 20th century, and having copy edited it into a stable electronic form, now used by printers and publishers internationally, I know how needful changes have been very conservative, and I have myself done one thing which no one has yet objected to, which is make the “s” at the end of “LORD’s” a lower case “s”. That’s the last “change” that has happened, and if that is to be accepted, then that’s it.
I do not want the door to be open to arbitrary changes. Some Cambridge Bibles these days have “Hammath” at 1 Chronicles 2:55. That’s something which would have to go away (even though that exists in many of their PCE printings as well).
But people have this itch. Maybe it’s because they believe there are “false friends” in the KJB, or hard words that need to be changed, or inconsistencies in the italics or some other changes. To admit one change like this opens the door for a thousand, and where do we go from there. It is much better for us to accept and stick with a standard edition as an ensign than to delude ourselves that there are all these minor faults that “we” can correct. That is pride, a spirit of personal exaltation and deception.
Now I know that there can be good Christian believers, ones who uphold the KJB, who may think of this, who may think to themselves that they could be the one to do this.
If I were of that old Jesuitical spirit, and I wished to question to the subtlest point, the grounds of something in the editions of the KJB would be the last “hail Mary” attempt to do this.
KENYON BOWERS AND HABAKKUK 3:19
Kenyon Bowers has written an article where he begins from the Hebrew as his authority, and his own mind as the judge, stating, “In my own study, I found a particular KJV reading that made no sense in light of the underlying Hebrew.”
What he is going to do is claim that the reading of “LORD God” in the 1611 Edition, 1769 Edition and PCE are wrong. He wants it to be “Lord GOD”.
First, he shows pictures of the Hebrew. The Hebrew shows of course that the KJB is right, if we are to do that method of looking at Hebrew, we can easily see “LORD God”, that is to say in Hebrew, JeHoVaH ADoNI, which of course obviously would be “LORD God” in that construction.
Kenyon Bowers then shows the motivation he has is essentially to impose his understanding of the alleged Hebrew and this leads him to reject the Pure Cambridge Edition specifically (in other words, he is going out of his way to attack the PCE not merely the 1769 which has fed into all present editions which have the same thing as the PCE.)
It is also clear that Kenyon Bowers considers “LORD God” to be “the KJV”, so he’s really attacking the KJB itself by his own admission. (In fact, he says he is not KJV-only even though at one time he was.)
We can see why “LORD God” is correct because it matches exactly to the Hebrew. We can see that in the LXX they had “Lord the God” which is inverted as “God the Lord”, we can see in Latin it has “Lord God”. Luther simply has “LORD”. In Coverdale’s Bible it read “The LORDE God”, but the Geneva and Bishops’ had “The Lord God”. Thus, in 1611 the KJV rightly had “The LORD God”.
In 1629 however, the editors decided to change it to “Lord GOD”. We don’t know who they were, but we know in 1638 some of the surviving translators were involved. Even Scrivener suggested that the 1629 editors were wrong.
Now there are places where the Bible has “Lord GOD”, but there’s obviously a reason why “LORD God” is right here. It certainly matches the historical evidence, besides the fact that the editorial aberration appeared from 1629 through to 1762 (Cambridge), 1769 (Oxford), and earlier editions. (The Paris of 1762 is not the same as the Parris of 1743.) Some editions, not following Blayney, persisted with the aberration, but obviously the PCE and various other editions from the 19th century, 20th century and this century are following Blayney.
It’s very sad that Kenyon Bowers has rejected the correctness of the KJV, and that instead of being able to accept that “LORD God” is correct, he has accepted the wrong notion of the alleged Hebrew and his own thinking rather than a correct understanding of the text, the acceptance of the correctness of the KJB and that there are good but occasionally incorrect things in the editing of 1629. If the 1629 was right, why was there a 1638 and a 1769?
CONCLUSION
We must humble ourselves to understand that God speaks and shows truth, not to try to impose our own will.
Human reasoning and being tossed about on the sea of no final authority is hardly a way to be, but as God has outworked to manifest things, then we ought to conform to that.
It would be rather silly if someone decided to bring out a new edition of the KJB, and make one change like at Habakkuk 3:19, and if one change, why not let the man who would love to be a consulting editor, Mark Ward, make some “gentle” changes. Where does it go from there? It is clear that if a little leaven is allowed, it will go the whole way through.
I am confident, however, despite the deceptions of the NKJV foreword and other attempts, that nothing will unsettle the KJB. In the words of John William Burgon, “It may be confidently assumed that no ‘Revision’ of our Authorized Version, however judiciously executed, will ever occupy the place in public esteem which is actually enjoyed by the work of the Translators of 1611, — the noblest literary work in the Anglo-Saxon language. We shall in fact never have another ‘Authorized Version.’”
That’s quite different to having a defined-style or critical Bible, where things are put as footnotes or whatever, to give the notes on important variations in editions and definitions for difficult words, and so forth, but whether such a project eventuate as a help and handmaid, I think we are safely served by what we have right now.
Even Burgon suggested it, but I am not very convinced, “we hold that a revised edition of the Authorized Version of our English Bible, (if executed with consummate ability and learning,) would at any time be a work of inestimable value. The method of such a performance, whether by marginal Notes or in some other way, we forbear to determine. But only as a handmaid is it to be desired. As something intended to supersede our present English Bible, we are thoroughly convinced that the project of a rival Translation is not to be entertained for a moment. For ourselves, we deprecate it entirely.”
Providence, population and perfection
One of the objections that is made about the idea that the King James Bible (and specifically the Pure Cambridge Edition) are perfect today, is the idea that these only exist in recent history, and not for most of world history since 4004 BC (or whenever creation was).
They can ask why would the KJB be right, when the Early Church did not have it?
The answer is obvious and simple, which is that just as Scripture has been revealed successively through history, so also have truths been understood. The Council of Nicaea articulated truths in 325 AD, and it makes sense that the best textual work and translation occurred in 1611.
Remember, in 1571 BC, when Moses was born, no one had any Scripture (except maybe the Book of Job). The world’s population is estimated to have been less than 50 million at the time. (Different modelling puts out different numbers from 10 million to 50 million for the death of Moses in approx. 1451 BC.)
If at the time of Joshua there was a maximum of 2 million Israelites, and the world population was 50 million, that’s 1/25th of the world’s population that could know Scripture.
Let’s move forward to when the entire Old Testament was complete, to when it was even translated into Greek, and available in the Roman world, when Jesus was doing His earthly ministry.
The world’s population is estimated to be 170–300 million at the time. How many people knew either Hebrew or Greek, and could access the Old Testament? Not China, not most of Africa, not the Americas, not Greater Germania and not even people who only knew Latin and Celtic/Gallic languages.
If we jump forward to the time of the Reformation and Ottoman expansion, in 1517, estimates are of 460–500 million people in the world. This was before the Bible was translated into German by Luther or into English by Tyndale.
We see the providence of the printing press, the rise of the English-speaking peoples, the spread of Protestant Christianity and the increase of literacy.
Maybe 1% of the entire world spoke English when the King James Bible was translated.
But what do we see? Growth and advancement that helps the spread of Christianity and the rise of the KJB.
Population growth estimates are:
- French Revolution (1789): ~700–900 million
- End of World War I (1918): ~1.8–1.9 billion
- End of World War II (1945): ~2.3–2.5 billion
- Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989): ~5.3 billion
- September 11, 2001: ~6.1 billion
- 2026: ~8.3 billion
In the same period we see the growth of the English language:
- 1611: Approximately 1% of the world spoke English natively; virtually none as a second language
- 1789: Around 2% native, with 1–2% second-language speakers
- 1918: Approximately 6–7% native, 3–5% second-language
- 1945: Roughly 8% native, 5–7% second-language
- 1989: About 7% native, 10–15% second-language
- 2001: Around 6% native, 15–20% second-language
- 2026: Approximately 5% native, but 25% or more of the global population knows English as a second language
Think also about exploration (colonisation), advancement in travel and communication/information technologies. We have advanced in computing in the 20th century, and the internet has boomed in the 21st.
So a perfect Bible in English in 1611 makes sense, because the majority of the world’s population growth is happening since the 20th century.
Between 2000 and COVID-19 (2020), English became the most dominant language in the world, outrunning Chinese. However, it is the fact that many people are learning English as a second language that makes it beneficial.
The Pure Cambridge Edition was first published before the First World War. It existed by being printed in the millions over the decades. It is rising to acknowledged prominence by the internet and international mailing.
All of this ties together the important points that the King James Bible is the Bible for the future. It points to why a perfect English Bible version is rising in these days, and not in the time of the Crusades or something.
It is important to link together the dominance of the English-speaking nations, and the power of the truth of the Gospel. The Gospel is having impact into the world, and the best theology comes from the English-speaking nations (whether people argue for Baptists, Westminster Confession/Presbyterianism, Wesleyanism/Holiness and/or Pentecostalism, etc.).
In South America, the Gospel is increasing to some degree (though there are questions about specific Pentecostal brands of Christianity with the South American lower classes), which itself is having an effect of bringing them to the English language (since Christian music exists primarily in English, for example).
One can see the potential for using the KJB and true Gospel preaching impacting into places like South Korea, India, Africa, South America and through the Pacific (which has already been impacted by Evangelicalism).
There are more than ever people alive today who need the Gospel. English is more than ever spoken. The KJB is more than ever available.
It is now possible for more people than ever to receive and use a perfect Bible. Therefore, we can see the potential for true and impactful world evangelism.
“But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26).
Time, Gravity and Matter
A Universal-Time Interpretation of Physical Processes
INTRODUCTION
According to the Bible, time is flowing at a universal rate, whether on Earth or in space.
Using a creationist model, it would appear that light was instantaneous in Genesis 1, but that light decay occurred in the universe since the fall of man, and has now stabilised at a fairly constant rate.
It is my intention to present a view of the universe which necessarily rejects Einstein’s unbelieving general relativity, and which builds upon a correct Newtonian view.
We will therefore hypothesise a framework in which time is absolute and universal, flowing at a constant rate from past to future, independent of location, motion or gravitational potential.
We will reject the usual modernistic explanation that time is moving a different rates as one moves up from sea level. Instead, we will suggest that observed discrepancies in clocks, atomic transitions and biological processes are explained not by a relative passage of time but by the physical effect of gravity on matter. Gravity acts as a universal regulator, influencing the rate of atomic, chemical and biological processes.
Light maintains a universal speed, with minor local distortions possible, and historically decayed from near-instantaneous velocity to its present stable value. This model perpetuates a Newtonian understanding of time, aligns with experimental observations such as satellite clock behaviour and freefall phenomena, and avoids conceptual complications associated with relativistic spacetime curvature and time dilation.
We are overthrowing Einsteinian error.
CORE CONCEPTS
Historically, the consensus of Christian societies were built upon the Newtonian view of the universe that recognised time as absolute and uniform, flowing independently of physical events, and three dimensional space as a fixed, consistent framework. Consider Newton’s clockwork universe as operating in this way.
In contrast, Einsteinian relativity introduced a variable-driven, location-dependent concept of time, predicting that clocks in different gravitational potentials or moving at different velocities tick at different rates—a phenomenon commonly referred to as time dilation.
While this relativity seemed to be predictive, particularly in technologies such as GPS, its interpretation relies on the presupposition that time itself is relative. This paper disposes that view to set back truth, that a universal-time framework in which observed clock discrepancies and other relativistic phenomena can be fully explained as physical effects of gravity on matter, rather than variations in the passage of time.
Therefore, gravity itself is sort of like aether, where large planetary and stellar objects cause what could be imagined to be denseness, strength of gravity, and moving away from them, weakness of gravity, and that the strength of gravity holds things in orbit or draws things (e.g. a ball falls to the ground, a comet whizzes toward the sun).
PRINCIPLES
- Absolute universal time
Time is considered a constant, universal flow, identical across all locations and independent of motion or gravitational potential. The passage of time cannot be accelerated, slowed, or controlled by human devices; it is a fundamental property of the universe.
- Gravity as a regulator of matter
Gravity is a universal influence acting on all matter with mass. It affects all physical processes proportionally, including:
- Atomic transitions
- Nuclear decay
- Chemical reactions
- Biological processes, such as neural firing
Clocks do not experience “slower” time in stronger gravitational fields; they tick differently because their internal physical processes are directly influenced by gravity.
- Light’s decay and current stable universal speed
Light propagates at a universal speed in the current universe. While minor local distortions may occur due to interaction with gravitational fields, its global speed remains consistent. Historical observations suggest that light may have decayed from near-instantaneous speeds in the early universe to the present stable value. This provides a coherent explanation for cosmological observations without requiring time itself to vary.
OBSERVATIONAL EVIDENCE
- Atomic clocks
Atomic clocks placed at different altitudes or velocities show consistent variations in tick rates. In this model:
- A clock at sea level ticks at 1 second per standard unit
- A clock in orbit might tick at say 0.97 seconds per the same standard unit
These differences reflect the physical influence of gravity on the atoms and electrons of the clock, not a change in the passage of time.
- Freefall and satellites
Clocks in freefall, such as on orbiting satellites, behave as if unaffected by gravity, consistent with the experience of weightlessness. This occurs because the momentum state of freefall alters the manifestation of gravity on physical processes, even though universal gravity continues to act on all matter.
- Grounded clocks, under constant gravitational acceleration, are affected directly.
- Freefall clocks exhibit normal behaviour, as observed in orbital satellites.
- Biological processes
Neurons, metabolic cycles and other biological processes respond proportionally to local gravitational potential. Therefore, a brain at high altitude or in orbit may operate at slightly different rates compared with a brain at sea level, reflecting gravity’s regulation of matter, not a relative flow of time.
- Light and electromagnetism
While the speed of light remains globally constant:
- Minor local gravitational interactions can produce observable effects, such as redshift or bending of light, without requiring time itself to be variable. (The universe itself may be expanding since creation, which may also account for redshift.)
- This ensures causality is preserved and measurement consistency remains intact.
CONCEPTUAL IMPLICATIONS
- No time dilation
All phenomena traditionally interpreted as time dilation are fully explained as physical effects of gravity on matter. No clock, neuron, or atomic process measures a different universal time; instead, their rates of operation are influenced by gravity.
- Gravity as a universal regulator
Gravity is not a localised force acting inconsistently; it is a universal regulator that proportionally influences all matter. Because matter cannot be shielded from gravity, all processes are affected in predictable, proportional ways, producing the exact observations attributed to relativistic effects.
- Simplicity of universal time
By positing universal time, the model eliminates the need for spacetime curvature, relative time metrics, or multiple frames of reference. Observations across locations, altitudes, and velocities are consistent with a single, universal clock regulated only by the physical influence of gravity.
ADVANTAGES OVER RELATIVISTIC MODELS
- Conceptual simplicity preserves Newtonian absolute time and consistency with the Scripture.
- Consistency with experimental data: atomic clocks, satellite measurements, freefall phenomena.
- Predictive differences in clock rates, biological processes, and atomic transitions are fully explained by gravity’s proportional influence on matter.
- Compatible with a universal light speed. Minor distortions are local and do not contradict measurement standards.
REJECTION OF THE MODERNIST MODEL
It is crucial to emphasise a fundamental distinction often overlooked in conventional physics: predictive agreement does not imply causal truth. Relativity correctly predicts observed variations in clock rates, atomic transitions, and other phenomena. However, interpreting these observations as evidence that time itself flows differently is a metaphysical assumption, not an empirically demonstrated fact.
In the universal-time framework, these same phenomena are fully explained without invoking a mutable time. Gravity acts as a universal regulator of matter, altering the rates of atomic, chemical, and biological processes. The differences observed in clocks or biological functions are not evidence of “time dilation” but rather of gravity’s physical influence on matter. Time itself remains constant, universal and unchanging.
This distinction is more than semantic. It advances understanding by providing a causal account of observed behaviours: whereas relativity treats time variations as a mysterious property of the universe, the universal-time model attributes changes to tangible interactions of matter with gravity — an approach consistent with Newtonian intuition and the observed regularities of the physical world.
In short, phenomena traditionally described as time dilation are not inexplicable “temporal magic”; they are observable manifestations of matter’s response to gravity, all occurring within a single, absolute temporal framework.
CONCLUSION
This approach offers a credible and conceptually coherent alternative to the prevailing Einsteinian framework. By positing a universal-time, gravity-as-regulator model, the universe can be understood in terms of tangible, causal interactions, rather than abstract manipulations of an elusive “flow” of time.
Key principles of this model include:
- Time itself is constant and universal, independent of motion, location, or gravitational potential.
- Gravity regulates all matter, proportionally affecting clocks, atomic transitions, chemical reactions, and biological processes. Differences in clock rates or neuronal activity are not evidence of time itself changing, rather, they are the result of matter responding to gravity.
- Clocks do not control or measure time; they reveal the effects of gravity on the matter within them.
- Light propagates at a stable universal speed, with only minor local distortions that do not contradict measurement standards.
- Phenomena traditionally attributed to time dilation are fully explained without invoking relative time or curved spacetime.
By reframing physical phenomena in this way, the model preserves classical Newtonian intuition, aligns with empirical evidence, and avoids the conceptual complexities and metaphysical assumptions inherent in relativity. Whereas Einsteinian relativity interprets observed variations as intrinsic alterations in the flow of time, the universal-time framework attributes them to tangible, causal interactions of matter with gravity, providing a clear and mechanistic understanding.
In this view, the universe operates under absolute time, with gravity as a universal regulator and light as a consistent reference for all physical processes. Observed variations in clocks, biological processes, and atomic transitions are simply manifestations of matter’s response to gravity, all occurring within a single, unchanging temporal framework. This model offers a coherent, causal, and conceptually simpler foundation for understanding the cosmos, preserving both empirical consistency and the intuitive clarity of Newtonian physics.
Promoting orderly Christianity
INTRODUCTION
Liturgy and devotion are two important facets of how a Christian interfaces with God.
Liturgy means the manner of how church (e.g. Sunday public worship) and religious services (weddings, funerals, etc.) are ordered and relates to their content, their use of the Scripture and other elements, particularly scripted elements. Liturgy can also involve the religious content, including Scripture readings, that is used by other organisations, or at other times, for example again weddings and funerals, but also baptisms, child dedications or other services.
Devotion means the manner of family altar, private gatherings and especially personal interaction with the Lord.
While evangelicalism and especially Pentecostalism have largely loosed themselves from the constraints of templates and formulaic prayer, there are still patterns to be found in Word of Faith teachings as regards to model sermons/studies (e.g. the Kenneth Copeland Reference Bible) and model prayers (e.g. prayer of petition, tithing prayer, etc.)
THE NEED FOR COMMONALITY
Different denominations and movements have their own prayer books, hymn books, etc.
The Word of Faith Movement has several books containing prayers, such as, Prayers that Avail Much (original) by Germaine Copeland (not related to Kenneth Copeland), and secondarily material by Lynne Hammond.
It also has been telling that all kinds of Christians have used the Anglican Book of Common Prayer’s wedding ceremony as a tradition. It is this tradition which keeps the use of a wedding ring as a custom for marriage.
Reading the Scripture through the year, in church or personally can be well guided by using the charts of the Book of Common Prayer for daily, Sunday and special day readings. I think this would be good for encouraging the personal reading of Scripture and also having everyone reading/hearing the same thing every day.
Not everything would be useful from the Book of Common Prayer, of course, including Apocrypha readings, but it certainly is a good and common resource to draw upon.
It is also important to understand how the Book of Common Prayer works, in that it has a fixed position of the year and a moveable portion of the year, and that requires switching from one calendar to another so many weeks before Easter, and this continues on until so many weeks after Easter. This is because Easter moves every year.
THE 1662 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER
The Book of Common Prayer has developed out of the deep Reformation era, and the common form as it stands now is called the 1662. There are also modernised, localised and translated forms of the Book of Common Prayer, but we are not advocating in any direction that way.
The Book of Common Prayer has altered in ways since 1662 but still is called the 1662. It alters in regards to naming the current monarch of England, and also in 1859 some content was removed.
One of the removed elements that is really good, and to be retained on its own, now independent of the Anglican/Episcopal church is the content in regards to the Gunpowder Plot and Landing of William III, http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1662/nov5.pdf
I have copies of the BCP: a Queen Victoria, Oxford, 1900 and a Queen Elizabeth II, Cambridge, 1954. Older copies can easily be sourced from archive.org, see also here: http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1662/1662.html
FURTHERANCE
Whereas it is expedient to retain, restore or alter elements of common liturgy and devotion arising from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, its practice can continue privately or in church services under the concept of a Protestant titular bishoprick of Bethlehem. I discuss related matters here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1777l7qmCWorAcFq5zOEwIajhbjuOlQlK/view
1 Corinthians 14:33 and 40 states:
33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
Order and conformity would mean that we should use the same Bible, a time-honoured and correct one. Only the King James Bible should be the standard and guide. In regards to the question about editions, it is good to have the Pure Cambridge Edition.
The Book of Common Prayer uses the Lord’s Prayer from pre-1611, and likewise the readings of the Scripture can be printed in forms not consistent with the Pure Cambridge Edition, so these can be altered. In the creeds, they can be followed, but “catholick” and “virgin” should be lowercase. Also, as mentioned, the Apocrypha readings are not required.
The Book of Common Prayer should be used as a resource that can be drawn upon, for weddings, words for certain days of the year, especially the 5 November material, and would be an excellent guide for daily readings and Sunday readings, and can be used in church or personally.
In this way we can follow the irenic encouragement for orderly Christianity in line with the Word and Spirit movement.
The Word and Spirit perspective does not conform to any single Protestant stream in total, but to recover and synthesise those doctrinal, devotional and practical strengths which have been preserved in different parts of the Protestant inheritance.
Word and Spirit draws together two streams of King James Only (Pure Cambridge Edition) Fundamentalism and Word of Faith Pentecostalism, but also encompasses vast elements of Multiple fulfilments of Bible Prophecy which includes Historicism (traditional Protestantism), millenarianism (Puritan), higher life entire sanctification Christian perfection (Holiness), creation (Fundamentalism), law and grace (Wesley/Finney and Reformed Evangelicalism), etc.
One also must mention the preference for Redemption Hymnal and a common pool of classic choruses, including those by David Ingles.
CONCLUSION
Having commonality in liturgy and devotion is very helpful in orderly Christianity. The 1662 Book of Common Prayer is a good resource for selective usage. The aim of the Word and Spirit movement is not merely insular but universal, therefore Christians are encouraged to conform to the pattern shown them.
Just as the Pure Cambridge Edition is the common inheritance for all Christians, so right Protestantism should be held to as a matter of common faith.
Translation and editing are two different things
The King James Bible was made in 1611 as a product of translators translating. Then, over the years, as it would be expected copy-editors and editors have done editorial work.
The editorial work has not been to change, edit, fix or corrupt the translation, it has rather been to correct typographical errors, standardise grammar and spelling, regularise elements of the English presentation and the like.
Having said that, some work by American publishers has been dangerous in its direction, such as trying to change a word like “bewray” which has one meaning to the similar looking word “betray” which has quite another.
But in normal editions, from 1611 to the present time, the translation has not been altered. The translation means the words used in English to present what was first written in the original languages.
Early in my “remote” debate with Bryan Ross of early 2026, I found that Ross essentially believes that editing the King James Bible changes the translation of the King James Bible. He tried to backtrack by explaining, through someone, that he meant that you would have to look at the originals in relation to changing the italics.
Ross now says in a document, “I show that one cannot simultaneously affirm a perfectly preserved translation and a uniquely perfect edition without contradiction”. Hence, Ross must believe that the editing in editions changes the translation.
It is interesting that he hides this statement in his final summary of the debate. Earlier, I called him out on this erroneous belief, and he and his friends acted like it was a very bad thing to question this. In fact, the emotion in one of the volatile responses indicated to me at the time the real nature of where this was all at.
I expect that there has been some emotional reaction in relation to the conflict that Ross and his friends have had with other King James Bible people.
It is apparent now that Ross has departed from a proper understanding of the King James Bible, in that he has allowed wrong ideas from the modernist David Norton to cloud his assessment on editions, to the point where he thinks that editorial work within the history of the KJB is really changing the translation.
So let’s properly understand the reality here.
ONE. SCRIPTURE. The Scripture is true, whether in the autographs, original language copies, Textus Receptus editions, foreign translations or in English Reformation translations.
TWO. VERSION. The gathered text of the Scripture, while is present in Textus Receptus editions, is actually finalised, exact and perfect in the King James Bible. These are the readings of the Authorized Version.
THREE. TRANSLATION. The turning of the originals into English has been done since the Reformation, from Tyndale to the King James Bible, but the best and perfectly correct translation is the King James Bible’s translation.
If there are words today that people do not understand or label as “archaic”, this accusation or assessment cannot withstand that the King James Bible’s translation is right, and that its particular word choices are correct.
FOUR. EDITION. The editing of the King James Bible has occurred generally progressively, and is primarily concerned with the correction of typographical errors, standardised grammar and spelling and other regularisation. The best and correct Edition is the Pure Cambridge Edition.
FIVE. SETTING FORTH. Each time a setting or an edition is made of an Edition, it may accidentally have some typographical error of the presswork, or it may contain some copy-editorial level variation in a letter or a hyphen mark. These exceedingly minor issues have been dealt with, in that the Bible Protector website has put out scrupulously correct typographically exact text files of the Pure Cambridge Edition, so that this setting is the derivative exemplary master of them all.
We cannot confuse things in the number four or five category with number three category. They are entirely separate to each other. This is not to deny that there are attacks on the King James Bible’s translation, but these are in some sorts of updated or modernised “new” KJVs, not in normal editions from normal publishers.
Ross states, again, “I show that one cannot simultaneously affirm a perfectly preserved translation and a uniquely perfect edition without contradiction”. The problem is that Ross does not show this at all: he utterly fails to show this, because the King James Bible translation of 1611 is entirely present in current editions, and there is no contradiction at all.
The Pure Cambridge Edition presents exactly and properly the KJB translators’ work. Editing ensures that the intended meaning and translation of the KJB men is presented today.
Countering Bryan Ross’ Closing Remarks
INTRODUCTION
While Bryan Ross claims to have assessed my remarks and teachings, he has had an agenda to specifically attack:
- The concept of jot and tittle exactness of the King James Bible view
- Pentecostalism
- Historicism
He essentially has not in practice followed, “This is what he believes and I will assess it on its own merit”, but said, “This is what I think he believes and why I think it is wrong.” He has not been neutral, but obviously is trying to present my beliefs in as bad a light as he can while claiming to quote me. Hence, his review is not just biased with his own bias but quite misleading in how he wrongly portrays what I believe.
It is also telling that Ross has spent weeks and hours of time talking about and against my position without actually properly assessing the Pure Cambridge Edition of the King James Bible itself.
In fact, he hasn’t addressed the most basic thing of readings of the edition, what changes happened from the 19th to the 20th century or any of that sort of thing, which is what he should have done.
UNFAIR OR DOUBLE STANDARDS
Ross seems to think that the PCE itself is indeed a King James Bible Edition, and that the files on my website are doubtless “good” in the scheme of things. But he can’t afford to admit that for PR purposes, he has to say that he has a “problem” with “authority” and content (e.g. my theology).
Ross has shifted his view as little as possible about the 12 tests, so that he can highlight how I have talked about the meaning of editorial differences, and also now revise his position to explicitly say that he acknowledges (at last) that Pentecostalism did not create the list of 12 tests (because the test verse references obviously came from Baptists/Fundamentalists).
Again, he revises his position that now I do highlight the “high-quality Cambridge tradition”. He still claims that Historicism is being used to make the PCE more than a preference position, when in fact adherence to the PCE doesn’t require Historicism at all.
Ross uses language like a lawyer, he says, “Some Cambridge lines come close to the later PCE profile.” In other words, he cannot admit that the PCE is an editing that took place in the early 20th century, that it was represented by many print copies, and that I made a correct copy of it in electronic file form. He is perpetuating a deception that only my website files are the PCE and he refuses to recognise the approx. 100 years before 2007 of PCEs.
He says that they merely “come close”. He gives himself away because he speaks of things existing before 2007 that “come close” to the standard of 2007 when in fact it’s the opposite way round. He knows they are all the same Edition but accidentally admits he knows it by using the terminology “comes close” when they pre-exist the 2007 copy. In fact, they are all the same Edition, and those editions are followed by the Bible Protector file copy directly. It’s not even “comes close” now when looking retrospectively, it’s the same Edition.
Ross cannot accept that the same Edition being printed in different editions, styles, settings and print runs, which has the same editorial “readings” is really the same Edition. He cannot maintain his fiction because he speaks of “PCE-vs-PCE differences”, meaning he knows they are all the same Edition. But he wants to make a typo or some typographical (copy-editorial level) variation like a hyphen somewhere a major impediment.
How can a few tiny variations, which has been resolved, be an impediment when he knows that the 1611 Edition has a huge amount of orthographical variations to today? Ross invented his own doctrine to allow all kinds of variations to some sort of hazy standard (it is apparent that the original language Scriptures are his standard) and yet he is trying to attack me for copy-editorial standardisation or regularisation of a few absolute minutiae!
He even accuses me of bad sounding things like “presentism” because I resolved a few single type character variations like some hyphens in some printed copies. Isn’t that a good thing, isn’t that what copy-editing and publishers should do, and what any book readers want?
I AM BEING CHARITABLE
Ross says that he can accept the PCE as a preference, which I think is good of him to say. I think that is consistent with reality. I also understand that he would question lots of my beliefs, which as far as that goes, is usual debate. If that’s what is going on, which is a position that Ross does say he is of, then that’s what we will call acceptable debate. We can leave it there. Ross uses the KJB and has good things to say about things, so I know he is not totally wrong or bad. I just think he has misunderstood things and in some ways presented things wrongly or shifted his position without explicitly revealing it. There is some conciliatory tone in what he says, so I welcome that. His own views on topics are not entirely wrong, for example, there are some valid things he says concerning the KJB and its history, there are valid things in his Bible prophecy views, there are valid things he understands in how to assess things. If it wasn’t for all this, I honestly think we would be quite friendly if we were in on the same boat in real life.
ROSS’ FRUSTRATIONS
While it is true we are all growing, and that we can articulate things better in time, I think Ross is wrong in how he perceives and charges me with “retreating” from my “own published claims”.
Ross quotes my materials, but he does so to highlight things that de-contextualise them, or present things without explanation, that frames or mistakenly interprets things in a wrong light.
Ross has a number of times tried to make out that I believe different, opposing or varying things, but I have consistently answered those “attacks” on my logic/teaching.
A classic example is how the word “revelation” is used by him with a different meaning to it is used generally. The word “revelation” could mean Pentecostal dreams and visions, which is what a number of people have tried to claim about me. Of course, that’s a kind of framing because that’s not happened nor what I claim. I have used the word “revelation” meaning essentially “to understand a spiritual concept” which is the normal theological or everyday use of that word.
Now, while I understand we should be aware of how we use terminology, I’m not going to have word police or word mafia tactics used that basically try to stop the proper use of language.
Here are some examples:
Reformed teacher Sproul was very explicit that revelation = God making truth known, not mystical experiences. He wrote, “General revelation provides us with the knowledge that God exists.”
Anti-Pentecostal leader John MacArthur taught that the Spirit gives illumination, not new revelation. He taught that God showed people their sin and revealed their need for Christ. His view was the Spirit applying already-given revelation to the mind.
ROSS’ REFLECTIONS
He writes, “What I am reacting to is not mere disagreement, but a pattern where clear statements are later softened, requalified, or repositioned once their implications are exposed. Instead of saying, ‘Yes, that is my framework and here is why it still stands,’ he now speaks as though the PCE exists independently of the very theological reasoning he used to authorize it in the first place.”
This is in Ross’ mind, and not reflecting reality. He acts like he is exposing me and making me adjust my positions. This is simply not true. It actually is almost hubris for him to think that. I see him misinterpreting what I wrote, or misinterpreting that there is a conflict between various different things I have written.
In this case he gives an example, he speaks as if I am saying that the PCE exists independently of my theological reasoning, as though it didn’t before. The facts are this: the PCE existed for a century. Then I saw that the PCE was the best based on KJBO guidance and using proper studying methodology. Then I produced a typographically accurate form of the PCE as far as typography.
I don’t know if he is deliberately trying to imply it, but he seems to think that the glistering truths view of accepting the correctness of words (which are made of letters) is somehow some sort of self-promotion of an electronic text I made, or something similar. In other words, he keeps reading in motives or some sort of distorted presentation or figure of who I am and what I have done.
It’s like he wants to propagandise that Pentecostal church leaders have done something, when in fact that is his motivation for deliberate negative advertising. Objectively, the PCE exists as it has from the early 20th century, and in many copies of KJBs around the place.
Ross’ distortion falls apart on the fact that at my church people have been and use:
- Vintage/fairly recent Collins Bibles
- Vintage Cambridge Bibles
- CBP Bibles
- Holman Bibles
All these KJVs are PCE, and many are not identical to the text on my website if you were to look closely at every last place, since there might be a typo in a Large Print Text from Cambridge or whatever.
ROSS TRIES TO DEFEND HIMSELF
Ross writes, “My position … distinguished [1] identification markers from [2] theological rationales, [1] preference from [2] exclusivity, and [1] historical description from [2] prophetic necessity.”
The above has not been executed by Ross consistently at all. In fact, his whole design of looking at the 12 tests (identification markers) has been to allow him to consistently attempt to tarnish them as biased with motives of Pentecostal theology. If that wasn’t the case, why does he consistently bring up the same Pentecostal “accusations” at almost every chance? He has been utilising obvious rhetoric for propaganda purposes.
I agree that his central thesis is preference versus exclusivity, which is really hiding Ross’ own departure from King James Bible Only thinking because his very use of the KJB is now built only as a preference. He is hiding his change of view by going on an attack of my views about believing that the King James Bible words are accurate (glistering truths).
Thirdly, Ross has avoided proper examination in a scholarly sense of the PCE, but rather sought to try to attack it from specious grounds like “Cambridge don’t know about how it was made” and “Verschuur edited to create something brand new in 2006”. Ross delights in repeating information from CUP because it helps him cast doubt on the historicity of the PCE, which is an anti-reality position. And he reframes concepts against his own belief system to make out that the PCE is something invented and manufactured by someone in 2006. This is again anti-reality, propaganda and totally designed.
Further, Ross falsely pits his own interpretation of reality in opposition to his rephrasing and editorialised adjustment of my Historicist views. In other words he is saying it is his science versus my Historicist story telling. This is as false a dichotomy as could be constructed.
Ross keeps on saying that he is “holding” me to what I “actually wrote”, but the fact is he is mis-using quotes, de-contextualising them, creating false dilemmas or false summaries and descriptions leading to false logic and motives in his analysis.
I accept that Ross quotes me, but he marshals the quotes in a rhetorical, propagandistic and frankly deceptive way that mischaracterises matters. I’m not saying that everything he says is wrong, but I am pointing out that he presents quite a different view in ways.
ROSS SUPPRESSES INFORMATION
I don’t deny that Ross has read an amount of my materials. I think he has misunderstood some things, but also missed vital components, for example, in not reading or explaining a range of views and teachings in other books on my website.
It seems to me that he has not looked at the following materials, some of which are highly relevant:
Multiple Fulfilments of Bible Prophecies
The Great Restitution
Straining at Gnats
Throughly/Thoroughly essay
The Good Hand of the Lord Upon Us
The Prefatory Materials of the King James Bible
(And these being less relevant,)
Christendom Revanchism
The Repairer of the Breach
National Gospel
Mystery of the Gospel
A series of monographs
Rightwise
Christian Exceptionalism
Ross lays out his propaganda, stating, “I document internal tensions, redefinitions, and recalibrations precisely because I have read the material closely enough to compare it against itself. Someone who had not read his works would not be able to identify those continuities and shifts.”
Except, every one of these so-called “tensions”, “redefinitions” and “recalibrations” are made up by Ross or don’t exist as he understands them. They are only problems in his mind.
(I am not saying I have tightened or developed views on certain matters, but they are matters which Ross largely doesn’t cover. Some of parts of these topics he doesn’t go into I understand can go outside of the specific scope, such as, elements of Bible prophecy interpretation, italics in the PCE, Word of Faith doctrines, views derived from 17th century Millenarianism, Oliver Cromwell, Church and State matters, Infidelity, the PCE in the Millennium, Church Restitution, False Pentecostalism and Feelings Religion, English language providentialism, etc.)
Ross also ridiculously claims that I am rejecting what he says because apparently I want to “dismiss conclusions” he makes that I “not like”. This has been another of his wrong and perhaps hubris-based views. Further, even though I have pointed directly and multiple times showed him he is getting things wrong, he apparently wants to wave it all away by claiming that I basically haven’t shown him where.
To be clear, I am not accusing Ross of misquoting verbatim, a concept he should understand, I am accusing Ross of how he interprets and how he marshals quotes in a way to suit his own case and interest.
ROSS WANTS TO PLAY A GAME
Both sides of the debate are saying that the other is using a laundry list of “logical fallacies”. It’s an easy thing to do, he claims them for me, I think he does them. The game ends.
I am reminded of how Ross concentrated on what I said of the description of the linen angel in Daniel 10. I said this was a tertiary interpretation only. But Ross used it in a way to make out like I was just making up things, and emphasised his point.
In normal discussions and debates people bring up various information and data. It is an easy retort to question such things. It’s a political, rhetorical manoeuvre. It’s easy to imply that something has no legitimacy if it is not peer reviewed, not an established norm, not cited, not based on papers, studies and documentary evidence.
So, if I said, David Norton said X, Ross will question me. I have provided such information in the books Ross claims to have carefully read, but no, he says, like Rick Norris does, to effect, “You have failed to provide any so-called quote.” When I tell him it’s in my book, or I am presenting from private correspondence, Ross acts like if I didn’t conform to his demands I am suspect. Ross’ attitude in this is wrong.
Again, if CUP doesn’t have records published or information on something, Ross says, “that is assertion” or something, even though my entire two books he claims to have carefully read are full of empirical, scientific and obviously fact and reality based information with sound deductions, interpretations and conclusion (in regards to CUP and their publishing) showing things. But Ross wants to point to CUP who don’t know. In this, he is obviously rejecting what I have provided on the false basis that CUP’s lack of knowledge is more authoritative than all the study I have done. Ross’ attitude in this is wrong.
ROSS EXPLAINS HIS INVESTIGATION
Ross says, “I am asking whether the printed history, by itself, establishes the PCE as a single, consciously created, final Cambridge edition”.
This is a silly question because he already knows that Cambridge did not consciously create a final edition of any sort. Therefore, he is going to use the naturalistic position of Cambridge against the idea that there could be a final edition.
It is clear that while Ross has an ambivalent attitude towards the actual printed Cambridge Bibles, for example, the PCE, he has a specific theological motive to reject that there could be a perfect edition.
In that, he has engaged with my teachings to some degree, and he has done that probably so that he could reject the plain King James Bible Only approach without being explicit that he was doing so.
He has talked about Pentecostalism and other matters, which are his way of poisoning the well, when in fact his real issue, I suspect, is to reject King James Bible Only positions about having the Word of God perfectly.
In other words, he conveniently fought against my theology which he rejects while really wanting to quietly put down the idea that the King James Bible is exact and perfect in itself without need for change.
The end of the Ross debate
INTRODUCTION
Bryan Ross has put out his Lesson 283 video, which puts his concluding case against what he calls the PCE position. In it he conflates the Pure Cambridge Edition (PCE) of the King James Bible (KJB) itself with the teachings of Matthew Verschuur (Bible Protector). There is an objective reality of the PCE, an Edition made by Cambridge in the early 20th century, and printed in many editions throughout, including from Collins. This of course has led to people accepting that the PCE is a standard (by virtue of having an accurate electronic file copy) or at least is a normal Edition to use. On the other hand, from 2007, through the Bible Protector website, there have been teachings on King James Bible Only, Church Restitution, Bible prophecy and Pentecostal-related matters. While the PCE is related to the Word and Spirit movement on the website, obviously the PCE is openly being used by all kinds of people.
It is clear that Bryan Ross seeks to attack the gamut of teachings from Bible Protector because it conflicts with his own. While this blog has outlined a conflict over Pentecostalism and Historicism, the conflict seems also very sharply about King James Bible Only.
Essentially, Ross should be challenged on how much he actually believes that the King James Bible is perfect, precisely exact and right, because it seems that behind his public preference for the KJB and that he thinks it to be the best, he certainly does not view the King James Bible as the very stringent dimensions of written perfection.
REVELATION
The word “revelation” has two relevant meanings, but Ross has not understood this or deliberately tried to fog the distinction in which this word is used.
“Revelation” can be used by cessationists, Reformed people and others as a dirty word, meaning people claiming to be Pentecostals giving prophecies, words in tongues and having visions and dreams and so on.
I very strongly oppose the mistaken or deliberate accusation that is being made that it is by this sort of “revelation” that I came to understand or confirm the Pure Cambridge Edition.
The other use of “revelation” relevant here means to understand something spiritual. For example, when a person understands they need to be born again, this is a revelation. So to discover something spiritual by natural, academic or scholarly study is a revelation.
This second use ties to the usual cessationist and Reformed use of that word where they speak of Scripture being God’s revelation to man. In such a way, to understand the Scripture is itself “revelation”. Again, cessationist and Reformed people will say that it is possible to understand the acts of God in history and broad events (providence), and the existence and nature of God in looking at creation and maybe also even in what people do in their own life and their sense of calling (e.g. becoming a Presbyterian elder or something).
I think Bryan Ross is very remiss to wrongly connect that people understand about the King James Bible and the PCE as though this must be like Pentecostal experiences rather than an act of intellect received from God so to speak.
GLISTERING TRUTHS
Bryan Ross was probably one of these KJBO types that believed the 1611 was right and that this is what we have today with some typos fixed and spellings standardised. He then read David Norton’s book, and not only did he see that there had been proper editing in the KJB (something which he mocked me for when I said that it was morally right for Blayney to have done his work), but then I think seeds of doubt began in Ross’ heart about the specialness of the KJB, and he began to look at it more and more naturalistically.
So because Ross began to doubt the specialness of God’s words in the KJB specifically, he began down a path of just saying that the KJB was good and best and that the word of God can’t be tied to specificity of lettering. (Even though that is the very definition of what “Scripture” means.)
He constructed a view called “verbal equivalency” and began to allow parameters on what is or could be the Word of God without having a specific anchor. It has I think opened him to enter into a kind of middle realm between holding the King James Bible but sort of interface with the modernistic view of modern version/translation ideology.
Ross therefore was especially reactionary against my major concept, i.e. my monograph Glistering Truths, that began to show that the very words and letters of the KJB, specifically in the PCE, are necessary for the very finesse of conceptual accuracy. He has not liked the idea of such rigidly specific perfection of scripture setting connecting to conceptual perfection of ideas. He has broad brushed his idea of general equivalence (to what standard or authority?) in opposition to accuracy to the nuance.
While rightly reacting against the idea that God’s words have been perfectly in one standard copy to the jot and tittle of correctness passed down from 1611 to today, he has gone far into his own reactive view which seems to build upon the modernistic loyalty to the originals.
As such, he has balked and reacted against the idea that God’s words are perfect in Heaven and have, by promises and through providential mechanisms, manifested in an answer to the heavenly sanctuary on Earth. In fact, besides his anti-Pentecostalism and so on, it is probably this idea of having an exact standard, perfect, specific set of lettering of Scripture that has been most offensive to him, and been his primary motivator.
I challenge him as to why, in his heart, he does not wish to conform to an exact expression of God’s law but seeks rather the freedom to have acceptable (to him) variations to God’s message.
ROSS GIVES HIMSELF OVER TO HIS ERRORS
Ross says, “No single historical PCE exists. Early–mid 20th‑century Cambridge/Collins Bibles show family resemblance, not a documented, fixed, final edition. ‘PCE’ is a retrofit label invented by Verschuur himself in the early 2000s, not a contemporaneously attested artifact”.
Ross now blatantly tries to make out that many of the Cambridge and Collins editions through the twentieth century were not the same Edition.
He will say they are not the Pure Cambridge Edition because he might find one letter different, which is Ross being super hypocritical since he claims to be for “verbal equivalency” and against “verbatim identicality” yet he is saying that one print character difference is essentially a major factor.
Even more bizarrely, Ross argues that because people didn’t specifically document about the PCE or about the specificities of setting in recognising the conformity of Cambridge Bibles through the 20th century, that somehow this invalidates reality and history.
Ross goes even further in his foolishness, trying to make out that “The modern ‘PCE’ is an editorial synthesis, not a historically settled edition. What is marketed or circulated today as ‘the PCE’ is a post‑hoc, harmonized profile assembled from multiple non‑identical ‘vintage’ printings. There is no single, contemporaneously published volume that functions as the authoritative standard; the modern PCE derives its uniformity from recent collation and normalization, not from a historically fixed print tradition.”
Such a statement is now utter hypocrisy from a person who is hung up about jots and tittles (a verse, Matthew 5:18, that he has sought to reinterpret to not mean jots and tittles but just the gist), and yet he is saying that the many different printings from Cambridge, even if they differ perhaps in a hyphen or two or something, that these are not the same Edition, even though manifestly they are.
I THINK ROSS REJECTS KING JAMES BIBLE ONLY
Ross attacks the concepts of King James Bible Onlyism by disconnecting exactness of wording from divine preservation. He specifically denies that God could get publishers to have an exactly correct printing of the Bible.
While he knows that King James Bible Onlyists use and uphold Cambridge printing, Ross is unwilling to recognise or allow that God would have worked through history with the Cambridge University Press to bring about accuracy of printing and editing.
Ross rightly sees historical preservation as continuity and sufficiency, but he refuses to recognise there could be any end or conclusion as far as having a world standard copy of Scripture. In other words, Ross is going towards the error of uniformitarianism, which says, what we have seen in the past must continue into the future.
In 2 Peter 3:4, 5 it warns that in fact there are interventions of God in history, there is an “end”. Therefore, it follows there is also an “end” of the “slackness” in which Scripture has been transmitted, and we come to sharpness and certainty.
Proverbs 22:20, 21:
20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
Remember, God’s work is perfect (Deut. 32:4) and that God is not just allowing the looseness of naturalistic phenomena to act on His Word so it just drifts on and on with editorial or even version/translation variation without it actually being made known exactly to the world in precision.
Ross is therefore drifting towards compromise with the anti-KJBO and pro-modernist deistic position when he says, “Scripture and history align when preservation is understood as God’s faithful maintenance of His Word in the Church, not a quest for a last, flawless English edition. That framing grounds confidence without manufacturing edition‑finality.”
Already many KJBOs understood that we were more than just 1611 KJB users by accepting that the great work of 1769 has come to us. But as we have understood that each of the publishers have gone a little further from 1769, it is a matter of knowing what is right. The accurate and accepted Cambridge tradition has been established by KJBO leaders. The validity of the PCE to be central there is what is provided as a gift to all, so that God’s words can be known, as it says:
“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).
“What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” (Deut. 12:32).
Editions studies and lists
This is a brief overview for charted lists of edition differences in the King James Bible.
When I began studying the area of edition differences of the KJB in 2000 there weren’t a lot of resources available. The internet was in its infancy, and letters rather than emails were still regularly sent.
My (Matthew Verschuur) website and materials provide lists of differences between editions, such as comparing 1611 to today, and differences between 20th century editions. It’s something I continue to discuss, study and interact with people about.
The earliest example of this, though I didn’t ever see it until later, was a list of spelling differences of words in contemporary editions in William Savage’s Dictionary of the Art of Printing (1839). This list mainly looked at spelling and whether words were hyphenated, joined or separate. You can find this on the main page of bibleprotector.com
The general foundations in edition studies (as we might term it), was the book by Scrivener, called The Authorized Edition. This book was quite obscure at the time, and has been an important source of information. Scrivener wrote this book in line with also making a highly edited edition of the KJB called the Cambridge Paragraph Bible. I obtained a physical copy of Scrivener’s guide from D. A. Waite, but the book is now easily available on archive.org
The next main source was D. A. Waite’s attempt at reading out a 1611 and comparing to a tape recording, and reading along with Cambridge Bible, and listening differences he heard. It wasn’t fully thorough, but it was enough to indicate that Scrivener’s information wasn’t wrong, and that there really were differences between 1611 and today. This document was being sold in the 1990s and early 2000s. My church bought a copy of his booklet.
In response to Waite’s work, was the far more pedantic and comprehensive investigations into editions by Rick Norris. Rick Norris has been a fairly prolific poster online, and has self-published a number of books, listing variations in many edition of the KJB. Norris published his materials after my website went up, and he first mentioned my website online in April 2007, which led me to get involved with the KJB bulletin boards/forums of those days.
When I was first examining the editions issue, one early website was from Touchet Baptist, which had a list of edition differences, including Joshua 19:2, Job 33:4, Jeremiah 34:16, Ezekiel 11:24, Nahum 3:16, Matthew 4:1, Matthew 26:39. It had a major section called “Capital ‘S’ left off the word Spirit affecting the deity of Christ”. I have a print off of this.
Another source document which was published on the Touchet Baptist 1611 website was Peter Ruckman’s Differences in King James Version editions, online in six parts, but originally written in perhaps the 1980s. I have a print off of this. He mentioned variant words in editions.
There was also a web page, which is still online, about being aware of counterfeit KJBs by Nic Kizzah, which listed differences been the Concord Cambridge and other editions.
Also, at that time, Sam Gipp’s Answer Book was around, which used a pamphlet by David Reagan which wrote about the changes in editions of the King James Bible.
Then Prof. David Norton’s book came out called A textual history of the King James Bible, which I bought. This book was designed to give information about Norton’s work to revise Scrivener’s Paragraph Bible, by making a New Cambridge Paragraph Bible. There are actually two editions of the Norton highly altered edition of the KJB.
Because of my website I’ve had interaction with different people looking at editions of the KJB over the years.
Gail Riplinger published a booklet in 2011 called Settings of the KJB, which goes through edition differences, and also mentions the Pure Cambridge Edition.
Laurence M. Vance has written a book in 2025 called The Text of the King James Bible, which has some very good tables of differences between editions. Bryan Ross and his circle of friends have been in interaction with Vance and been looking at editions over the years as well, including the Pure Cambridge Edition. So has Christopher Yetzer, a missionary and facebook user.
Brandon Peterson, author and youtuber, has made a chart comparing various editions and discussed the topic.
There are ongoing discussions of people looking at and listing differences in editions.
What is interesting is that many of the names listed above prefer Cambridge (in one form or another).
Further, in relation to comparing editions, a list was generated at MIT as recorded in an email exchange:
From: <mafetter@ATHENA.MIT.EDU>
…
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 89 04:42:39 EDT
To: tytso@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Subject: diffs
This email from 1989 (I have a copy) showed a machine output of differences between two online texts they were comparing, one of which was a PCE text from the old Oxford Text Archive from the 1980s (that text is still available on several websites, was worked on by Robert A. Kraft).
Spelling matters
Someone asked me about the Cambridge, Oxford and London, and older and newer spelling difference of “rasor” versus “razor”. The question is, does it really matter?
If you are going to really believe that every word of God is pure and that jots and tittles really matter, then you will want precision.
So is it really important to have “rasor” and why should we consider the Cambridge spelling to be correct? The answer could be, even if it doesn’t matter (I personally can’t see a doctrine hanging on the spelling of the word), the point that the rest of the Edition that has that spelling is right, we go right along and accept rasor as well.
But for the argument of etymology and propriety. In Middle English, the French influence, it was rasour, so the z spelling is more recent.
Now, if we go one way, we will find really big differences which are important, like between “intreat” and “entreat”.
| FORM | SENSE | DIRECTION |
| intreat | ask, please | toward will/favour |
| entreat | treat, deal with | toward person/condition |
But in the other direction, in something which ordinarily wouldn’t matter, we ought to side with the Pure Cambridge Edition of the King James Bible.
By the way, the spelling “ought” not “aught” is not in the Pure Cambridge Edition. The mid-20th century London Edition used the spelling “aught”. If it is all the same one way or the other way, that’s one thing. But the spelling convention in the Bible (coming from 1611) has been “ought”.
“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).
See that word in bold in that statement.