INTRODUCTION
Mark Ward is working on a book which he thinks is about understanding the Bible better, and on that side, his desire is good, but because he has accepted false premises of small “m” modernism, his execution is tainted.
LANGUAGES
Ward follows the “Reformed” position of the Puritans that God’s words as written in Hebrew, Chaldean-Syriack and Greek are more superior than translation. The idea that God used Hebrew and Greek without error is true, but to imply that truth is locked there because translation is a human work is incorrect.
Translation is a human work in a normal sense, but we have the promises of God which override the natural things of this world.
“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).
Notice that God promises that the nations are to know the Scripture and to be able to obey (comprehend and do exactly) it.
“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20).
Again, the gentiles clearly can know what Jesus said, even in the end of time, because it is being communicated to them.
From these and other passages we can infer easily that God can and is using the Scripture in English, and even further, we can find that the correct form of the Scripture for the world is in the global language of English.
Just as people after the time of the Apostle John have correctly understood and articulated doctrines from Scripture like the Trinity through church council creeds, and just how the correct canon of Scripture has been settled, so likewise a correct translation of the Scripture has been made in English as a standard for the world.
Remember, languages are under the hand of God, he scattered the people by confusing their languages, and God is in control over tongues, so that they may serve the Lord Christ in His historical reign until He come in person.
God is superintending over language, specifically English.
GOD’S USE OF LANGUAGE
Mark Ward has sadly taken on a naturalistic view of the transmission of Scripture, of translation and of language. It is the view that permeates evangelical Christianity, which has accepted Deistic principles of small “m” modernism.
While modernists like Ward accept that God is in general control and that He has caused in a messy way to have the Scripture come to us, they do not see God’s more pervasive superintendence through the natural processes, but instead act as if God’s will is just natural processes and ironically they put more emphasis on human learning to have to struggle and strive to translate and get the Scripture to us today.
It is a very weird fatalism that says, “Whatever is happening is God’s will, but God is not actually getting anything perfect through human agency”. Yet the Scripture shows us a very different view, which appears to be a prophecy against modernism:
“GIVE ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.”
(Deuteronomy 32:1-7).
God’s work is perfect, therefore God is able to get His word to us properly. Why should we believe that the inspired autographs are perfect, but the providentially supplied English translation made common in English-speaking evangelicalism throughout the globe has not been highly exalted by God?
THE KING JAMES BIBLE IS GOD’S ENGLISH
Mark Ward starts from the very naturalistic, even mocking position, that the King James Bible is merely bound to Elizabethan and Jacobean English. Because it was made in those times, it is bound to them. But is it? Because the King James Bible is speaking to today.
Ward also uses a propagandistic technique of saying that the seeming weight and sacredness of the language of the King James Bible is parallel to Tridentine Catholics making out as if Latin is more holy than common languages. However, there is a major fault here: Latin was ostensibly a dead language in the 16th century, whereas English is a world dominating language today. And again, the language of the King James Bible itself is more “Bible-ish”, recognisable and currently comprehensible due to internet tools and education than ever.
This is because the KJB is God’s use of English, and it speaks clearly to people today.
Mark Ward mocks the KJB by trying to say there are incomprehensible or difficult words. But that is due to the nature of Scripture, not due to the nature of language usage. Scripture has advanced concepts.
Ward has also inconsistently attacked KJB words like “study” or “halt” by trying to read in modernistic definitions. These are similar to attacks on the KJB’s translation of words like “firmament”, “unicorn”, “bishop”, “power”, “bowels”, etc., etc. These attacks are made from adherence to Jewish fables, from ignorance, from theological partisanship, from error, from pride, etc.
The truth is that the Spirit of God is giving comprehension of the exactness of words and their meanings from the KJB, and having a stubborn-hearted, ignorant or addle-minded approach towards God’s setting up and use of the KJB is a disservice to the manifest providence of truth which God uses to speak as a paper prophet to today. That is why there is a warning in Scripture that those who do not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.
NATURAL PRINCIPLES ARE SUBSERVIENT
It is obvious that the Scripture is God’s use of language, and that He uses words to mean what He means.
But Mark Ward wants to be like Humpty-dumpty and limit or dictate whether words mean what they mean, or do another tricky thing, and impose a category about what words meant (used to mean) and what they apparently mean now.
Except, if anyone looked at the human record of English word usage (the Oxford English Dictionary), they will find meanings still exist, and that words are only lost if they are not used any more, and if words no longer have the meaning they used to have (like the nefarious agenda of the Newspeak Dictionary).
It is therefore a propaganda technique to imply that words have lost meaning, and that means are irrecoverable. The opposite is true: the KJB word meanings are not lost, and through both the direct work of the Spirit and human agency like internet technology, word meanings are kept in knowledge.
The Holy Ghost really is leading and guiding into all truth.
ALL THE BLATHER ABOUT THE GREEK
I’ve been criticising the idea that preachers and teachers take Greek words in their sermons and say what those words mean. Such a practice is a complete waste of time and contrary to Scripture. It is not a method Paul or Peter used, it is not in any way materially helpful, especially since we have good translations.
Having every jumped up basket weaver telling us what the Greek words are and what they “really” mean, in contradiction to the use and definition in the KJB, is in fact warring against the KJB’s translation. Are these unlearned men really right even though they might try to make themselves look smart by mentioning Greek words.
How do Greek words really help? And yet Mark Ward is writing in his book that they are Hebrew and Greek words that Christians should know. Well, that’s confusion and nonsense. There are Greek words that are now English words. There are Greek words which the KJB translators had to know in order to translate into English. There are Greek words which good men had to know to confirm that the KJB’s translation was correct. But that’s happened for 400 years, and that time is over now. Now we can rely on the KJB’s translation itself. There’s nothing in English that’s more or less than the originals, but we have it all perfectly fine, indeed, exactly right.
Let’s find God’s words in the KJB and stick with them.
In a moment of rare clarity, Mark Ward himself also has seen that having people spout Greek is not always a good thing. After all, the Greek academic mafia and the power of the Greek diviners is about maintaining their system, that Greek is controlled by them, and means what they particularly want it to mean.
So if people are just spouting Greek for the sake of it or using poor tools or not bringing actual clarity of understanding, Mark Ward knows that he has to “lovingly correct” his own side.
Ward has the temerity to accuse loving the KJB to be akin to Roman Catholic venerations but the irony is that there is a funded body of the Greek curia which wants to control Bible interpretation and doctrinal concepts. The problem isn’t the authority of adhering to an interpretation, the problem is the usurping authority of the modernistic methodology and the adhering to wrong doctrinal outcomes.