Bible College
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Way of Life Literature

Publisher of Bible Study Materials

Way of Life Literature

Publisher of Bible Study Materials

Way of Life Bible College
A Basic Bible Version Library
Enlarged and Updated August 16, 2023 (first published November 16, 2005)
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061
866-295-4143,
fbns@wayoflife.org
The battle against the English King James Bible and the preserved Hebrew Masoretic Old Testament and Greek Received New Testament is more fierce than ever. Every preacher needs to be well equipped to deal with this issue. The entire congregation must be educated. Where ignorance prevails, the victory for the preserved Word of God will not be won.

Following are some books that we recommend as a basic library on the Bible version issue.
The top four recommendations would be The King James Version Defended by Edward F. Hills, The Revision Revised by John Burgon, Why We Hold to the King James Bible by David Cloud, and Touch Not the Unclean Thing by David Sorenson,

THE BIBLE VERSION QUESTION ANSWER DATABASE by David Cloud gives accurate, well-researched, in-depth answers to 82 of the most important questions on this topic. A vast number of myths are exposed, such as the myth that Erasmus promised to add 1 John 5:7 to his Greek New Testament if even one manuscript could be produced, the myth that the differences between the texts are slight and insignificant, and the myth that there are no doctrines affected by the changes in the modern versions. The author has carried on extensive correspondence with men on all sides of this issue for the past 25 years, and this book answers the challenges that are made by the opponents of “King James Onlyism,” including James White, D.A. Carson, Doug Kutilek, the editors of From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man and One Bible Only, etc. It also includes reviews of several of the popular modern versions, including the Living Bible, New Living Bible, Today’s English Version, New International Version, New American Standard Version, The Message, and the Holman Christian Standard Bible. 423 pages. Available from Way of Life Literature, https://www.wayoflife.org/publications/all.php

CAUSES OF CORRUPTION by John Burgon and Edward Miller. Available from Bible for Today, 800-564-6109, www.BibleForToday.org

A CLOSER LOOK: EARLY MANUSCRIPTS AND THE AUTHORIZED VERSION by Jack Moorman. This is a groundbreaking piece of believing research. By careful and discerning analysis of the four major areas of extant textual evidence -- uncials, minuscules, versions, and quotations, Moorman demonstrates that the Traditional Text underlying the Reformation Bibles has much greater support than the critical text underlying the modern versions. Along the way he destroys many of the myths of modern textual criticism. The last section of the book deals with 365 doctrinal passages that are corrupted in the modern texts and versions, listing the support both for and against the Traditional Text. Pastor Moorman spent countless hours developing this very practical Manuscript Digest that should be in the library of every Bible defender. The book explodes the myth that there is the textual debate is not a doctrinal issue and that doctrine is not affected by the omissions and changes in the critical Greek text. We thank the Lord for the wisdom that God has given to this brother in Christ. Available from Bible for Today, www.BibleForToday.org.

EVALUATING VERSIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT by Everett W. Fowler (1906-1990). Fowler was a deacon in the famous First Baptist Church of New York City, a center of fundamentalism from its inception in 1711. He sat under the ministry of and served with the respected Fundamentalist leader Dr. Isaac M. Haldeman (1845-1933), who pastored the First Baptist Church from 1884 to 1933. By profession Fowler was an engineer, with a degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Fowler’s faithful heart for Christ was witnessed by a long life of faithful service in this church—deacon (over 45 years), Sunday School teacher (more than 40 years), trustee (37 years), church treasurer (more than 21 years), church clerk (25 years). As a young man, Fowler made a commitment to the Lord to rise before breakfast for personal devotions. He read the Bible through twice a year in English for some 40 years. This was in addition to his study of the Greek New Testament. Fowler’s concern for the issue of texts and versions began in 1953, when he enrolled in the New Testament class at his church with the goal of reading the Greek New Testament. As his study progressed, he became increasingly concerned about the differences he was seeing between the modern critical Greek text and the Received Text underlying his King James Bible. He began a diligent comparative study of the two, noting the exact differences between the various editions of the critical Greek text and the Received Text, as well as the differences between the modern English versions and the King James Bible. The fruit of this prodigious labor was his book Evaluating Versions of the New Testament. Its chief feature is a series of charts showing the significant theological differences between the texts and versions. Table I lists the whole verses omitted or enclosed in brackets in the new versions. Table II lists significant portions of verses omitted. Table III lists the omissions of names of Jesus Christ omitted. Table IV lists other differences that have a substantial effect on the meaning. Table V lists the total word differences between the United Bible Societies text and the Received Text. Table VI is a summary of the differences that affect translation. 8.5 X 11 format, 70 pages. Available from Bible for Today, www.BibleForToday.org.

FAITH VS. THE MODERN BIBLE VERSIONS: A COURSE ON BIBLE TEXTS AND VERSIONS AND A 10-FOLD DEFENSE OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE by David Cloud. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive course on this topic in print. Faith vs. the Modern Bible Versions contains 790 pages of information and the two companion volumes (The Bible Version Question-Answer Database and The Modern Bible Version Hall of Shame) contain another 700 pages. This course contains information that has not appeared in any other book defending the King James Bible and breaks new ground in several areas -- such as the importance of the ancient separatist versions in the defense of 1 John 5:7; an exposition of the doctrine of Bible preservation from 43 passages of Scripture; documentation of the corruption of evangelical scholarship over the past 50 years and of the apostasy that enveloped the 19th century as modern textual criticism was devised and that further enveloped the 20th century as modern textual criticism became entrenched; and documentation of the role played by Unitarians in the development of modern textual criticism, to name a few. The course features 783 sectional review questions to reinforce the teaching. A separate teacher’s test book is available containing sectional and final tests with answer sheets. Available from Way of Life Literature, https://www.wayoflife.org/publications/all.php.

FOR LOVE OF THE BIBLE by David Cloud. This book traces the history of the defense of the KJV and the Received Text from 1800 to present. The book includes hundreds of testimonies and biographies; sketches of churches, schools, and organizations that have defended the KJV; a digest of reviews and condensations of major books and articles written in defense of the KJV in the past 200 years; excerpts from rare books on this subject which are no longer available; a comprehensive overview of the varied arguments in favor of the KJV. For Love of the Bible also gives a history of the modern English versions, beginning with the English Revised of 1881. Also included is a history of textual criticism, revealing that most of the textual scholars from the 19th-century on were rationalists who denied the infallible inspiration of Scripture. The 33-page bibliography is the most extensive in print on the subject, to our knowledge. A detailed index is also included. The author spent several thousand dollars researching the book and has written several hundred letters in this connection, communicating with men from around the world who stand for the KJV today. Michael Maynard, author of A History of the Debate over 1 John 5:7,8, wrote: "For Love of the Bible is a masterpiece. It ought to be in every academic, public, and special library in the world." 460 pages, 5X8, hard cover. Available from Way of Life Literature, https://www.wayoflife.org/publications/all.php

THE GNOSTICS, THE NEW VERSIONS, AND THE DEITY OF CHRIST by Jay P. Green, Sr. (b. 1918). This study traces the doctrinal corruptions in the modern critical Greek text to heresies that plagued churches in the 2nd century. Print book available from Amazon. Free PDF available at http://edudist.gitlab.io/00-santina-hagenes-2/1878442716-the-gnostics-the-new-version-and-the-deity-of-ch-.pdf

IDENTITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT TEXT by Wilbur N. Pickering. Print book available from Amazon. PDF available at https://www.prunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/The-Identity-of-the-New-Testament-Text-IV.pdf

THE KING JAMES VERSION DEFENDED by Edward F. Hills. Dr. Hills (1912-1981) was a professionally trained textual scholar as well as a godly Christian. He was a distinguished Latin and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University. He also earned the Th.B. degree from Westminster Theological Seminary and the Th.M. degree from Columbia Theological Seminary. After doing doctoral work at the University of Chicago in New Testament textual criticism, he completed his program at Harvard, earning the Th.D. in this field. Though largely ignored by professional textual critics and translators, Hills has encouraged thousands of pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and Bible teachers by his defense of the Received Text and his exposure of the unbelief of modern textual criticism. In 1956, he published the first edition of The King James Version Defended: A Christian View of the New Testament Manuscripts. It was enlarged through the years. Key chapters include “A Short History of Unbelief,” “A Christian View of the Biblical Text,” “The Facts of New Testament Textual Criticism,” “Dean Burgon and the Traditional New Testament Text,” and “The Textus Receptus and the King James Version.” Hills devastated the Westcott-Hort textual theories and exposed the rationalistic foundation of the entire modern version superstructure. Unlike most modern textual scholars, Dr. Hills approached his topic with humility and with confidence in God’s promise to preserve the Scriptures. Most of the questions which are raised today in the Bible version debate were already answered by Dr. Hills 50 years ago. Print book available from Amazon. PDF available at
https://archive.org/details/TheKingJamesVersionDefended

THE MODERN BIBLE VERSION HALL OF SHAME by David Cloud. This book documents the apostasy of some of the most influential names in the field of modern textual criticism and modern Bible versions from the past 250 years. There are articles on 110 influential modern textual critics and 40 modern version translators, including Simon, Bengel, Wettstein, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tregelles, Tischendorf, Westcott, Hort, Schaff, Thayer, Gregory, Briggs, Driver, Brown, Nestle, Liddle, Scott, von Soden, Kittel, Conybeare, Kenyon, Burkitt, Robinson, Lake, Souter, Clark, Moffatt, Goodspeed, Dodd, Bratcher, Taylor, Colwell, Kilpatrick, Elliott, Phillips, Epp, Nida, Ehrman, Childs, Wikgren, Aland, Martini, Metzger, and Karavidopoulos. Included are reports on some of the key evangelical popularizers of modern textual criticism, such as Tregelles, Hodge, Warfield, Robertson, Black, and Carson. 292 pages. Available from Way of Life Literature,
https://www.wayoflife.org/publications/all.php.

THE REVISION REVISED by John Burgon, one of the greatest textual scholars of the last 200 years. This is Burgon’s masterly refutation of the Westcott-Hort theories of modern textual criticism. Though published in 1883, it almost as relevant to the Bible text issue now as the day it first appeared. 549 pages, hard bound. Available from Bible for Today, www.BibleForToday.org. Print book available from Amazon. PDF available at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36722 and https://archive.org/details/revisionrevised0000john/page/n7/mode/2up

THREE HUNDRED FIFTY-SIX DOCTRINAL ERRORS IN THE NIV AND OTHER MODERN BIBLE VERSIONS by Jack Moorman. “The Digest records the bare facts of a warfare that has raged through the centuries over the doctrinal heart of the New Testament. From the beginning, the pressure has been upon God’s people to surrender the doctrinal edge of their Sword until it is something not much more than a butter knife! The 356 doctrinal passages listed here are what makes the Authorized Version unique among today’s ‘Bibles.’ Despite the enemy’s rage against these precious lines of truth -- in one manuscript, out of another -- they have all come home to their rightful place in the pages of the King James Bible. The Digest is, therefore, not only a record of the substantial support they command, but is also something of a chronicle of their warfare and travels through the manuscript period of transmission history.” Available from Bible for Today, www.BibleForToday.org.

TOUCH NOT THE UNCLEAN THING by Dr. David Sorenson. The following review first appeared in The Fundamentalist Digest, Nov.-Dec. 2001: “This ‘explosive new’ book is a powerful defense of the KJV, as well as a thoroughly documented expose of the modem versions and their inextricable links to religious apostasy. In the reviewer’s opinion, this book is not only the newest release on the market on this important issue, it is the most logical presentation and most thoroughly documented treatise since the publication of Dr. D.A. Waite’s excellent treatise several years ago Defending The King James Bible. This book fills a much-needed void because it centers on a vital theme that has been vastly neglected in many otherwise excellent studies in this area: the application of the Scriptural doctrine of separation to the Bible textual/translation issue. Because of its logical order, reading format style and extensive documentation, this book can be equally used in a seminary classroom, as a college or Bible institute text, or as resource for church adult training unions. The 296-page book contains 11 information-packed chapters, plus five extensive appendixes, a selected biography divided into two sections citing books and articles. Sorenson has superbly woven the difficult twins of scholarship and simplicity into a treatise that can be readily grasped not only by full-time Christian vocational workers, but also by the average layman in the pew if he will seriously ponder the book’s contents. In the book’s introduction, (chapter one), the author indicates that he is a ‘convert’ to the TR/KJV position, having accepted the critical text without question during his college and seminary training. He began his pastoral ministry adhering to that position. After a friend gave him a copy of Dr. David Otis Fuller’s book Which Bible, however, Sorenson began to see that ‘the critical text had connections with apostasy’ which made him, as a Fundamentalist, ‘quite ill at ease.’ The crux of the book is stated on pp. 4-5 when the author relates that the history of the Received Text is associated with ‘persecuted, martyred brethren,’ while the ‘lineage of the critical text’ is ‘linked to apostasy at virtually every step of its history.’ As the book unfolds it becomes readily apparent ‘that one lineage is linked with apostasy, and the other with true believers.’ On p. 7, Sorenson makes a potent statement that zeroes in on the heart of the issue. Sorenson's quote is the reason why the Fundamentalist Digest (FD) editor has become so vitally involved in this issue: It is because leading Fundamentalists are standing now at apostasy's door but are seemingly unaware of where they stand! Sorenson discerningly writes: ‘As the debate regarding the textual issue continues, those supporting the critical text come perilously close to the position of “thought” inspiration.’ Sorenson staunchly believes ‘the integrity of the Word of God is at stake’ (p. 9) over this matter, a statement with which the reviewer heartily concurs! Another timely observation by Sorenson is that he believes that loyalist graduates of Fundamentalist schools that promote the critical texts are in danger of moving in a direction that violates Biblical Principles. For Sorenson, as well as this reviewer, ‘the issue at hand is the ‘integrity, accuracy, and trustworthiness’ of ‘the Word of God’ (p. 13).” Northstar Baptist Ministries, 218-726-0209, davidsorenson625@gmail.com

MODERN BIBLES--THE DARK SECRET by Jack Moorman. In my estimation, this 48-page booklet contains one of the best concise presentations in print today refuting the modern versions and defending the King James Bible. Using the popular New International Version as his basis, Pastor Moorman notes the serious omissions in the modern versions, the attack upon the Deity of Jesus Christ, and many other doctrinal corruptions. Some defenders of the modern versions, such as James White, have denied that the modern Bibles weaken the doctrine of Christ’s deity, but they are dead wrong. In the 19th century, the Unitarians readily observed that they could support their doctrinal errors much more easily from the critical Greek text than the Received Text. The Unitarians in the first half of the 19th century were among the first to call for the removal of the word “God” in 1 Timothy 3:16 and for the obliteration of 1 John 5:7 from the Bible. The Unitarians could see what James White and D.A. Carson other defenders of the modern versions today claim they cannot see, that the critical Greek text is more in conformity with heretical theology. In Modern Bible Versions--the Dark Secret, Pastor Moorman also refutes the Westcott-Hort theory of textual criticism, gives much helpful information about the history of the Bible text, and presents an outline of the all-too-neglected doctrine of Bible preservation. Pastor Moorman has a gift of making the complicated subject of Bible texts and versions understandable to the average Christian. Available from Plain Paths Publishers, http://www.plainpath.org

WHY WE HOLD TO THE KING JAMES BIBLE (2023 edition) by David Cloud. This is an extensive defense of the King James Bible and refutation of the modern versions. We examine five reasons for holding to the KJV: (1) because of the doctrine of divine preservation, which authenticates the Traditional Greek Text underlying the King James Bible, (2) because the theories of textual criticism supporting the Modern Greek Text are heretical, (3) because the modern texts and versions are a product of end-time apostasy, (4) because of the King James Bible’s superior doctrine, and (5) because of its unmatched heritage. The book contains an exposition of the doctrine of Bible preservation, documentation of the apostasy that enveloped the 19th century as modern textual criticism was devised, and documentation of the role played by Unitarians in the development of modern textual criticism. The book concludes with an exciting study on the history of the English Bible from Wycliffe to the 1611 KJV. If you are new to the Bible Version issue and want to understand it, we believe this is the book for you. Available from Way of Life Literature, https://www.wayoflife.org/publications/all.php

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