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The Trinitarian Bible Society and Its Position on Scripture
Four days ago the Trinitarian Bible Society launched this video, called, “Upholding the Word of God.”
I appreciate their stand on scripture. What they present is what, I believe, many Christians across the world say they believe. What the above video explains is also why they believe it.
Scriptural Presuppositions
The Trinitarian Bible Society starts with scriptural presuppositions. Their practice of Bible publication arises from their biblical beliefs about the Bible. This is how it should be. It’s also what we do not see with those on the critical text side. They do not emphasize or most often even teach at all what is the scriptural basis of their position. Their position does not have a biblical mooring.
Someone who appears and speaks often in the above video is Jonathan Arnold, who is also pastor of the Westminster Baptist Church in London. My wife and I visited that church twice on trips to England. I appreciate this younger man’s stand on the Word of God in a time of much attack on the doctrine of scripture. He is now the General Director of the Trinitarian Bible Society.
Many pastors across the world use the Greek New Testament, textus receptus, printed by the Trinitarian Bible Society. They also print an entire original language Bible in the received text of the Old (Hebrew) and New (Greek) Testaments.
Separatist Heritage
The Trinitarian Bible Society is by history and, therefore, by definition a separatist organization. It started from a split from the British and Foreign Bible Society over spreading Unitarianism, hence, Trinitarian, and over scripture, therefore, Bible. As an indication of how significant people thought that was, two thousand gathered for the first meeting at Exeter Hall in London in 1831. Could they get that many to gather for that separatist purpose today?
The British and Foreign Bible Society allowed a Unitarian as an officer. Unitarian at the time became the doctrinal position du jour. It’s a familiar theological term now, unitarian, but it really does encapsulate almost every major theology error in the history of heresy. It was essentially Socinianism, which taught works salvation and anti-Trinitarianism. Unitarians denied not only the deity of Christ but also the miracles of the Bible. They did away of the authority of scripture.
For a long period of time, we would call Socinianism or Unitarianism theological liberalism. Most liberal churches in whatever denomination are Socinians or Unitarians. In many ways, we would say they don’t believe anything. They are drawn together by their denial of scriptural and historical doctrine, which is to say, they deny the truth.
Overall
I have attended many churches affiliated with the Trinitarian Bible Society (TBS) in England. Some strong churches exist who would not fellowship with the Trinitarian Bible Society, but very few. A majority of the strongest churches in England, where the best representation of New Testament Christianity exists, associate themselves with the TBS. This says much about the outcome or consequences of the received text of the original languages of scripture and the King James Version, which these churches support and propagate.
I differ from most of these Trinitarian Bible Society affiliated institutions in ecclesiology, eschatology, and dispensationalism versus covenant theology. That saddens me, but it does not take away the joy I have for what they do believe. I rejoice in that. I have more in common with these churches than I do most other Baptist churches today.
The churches affiliated with the Trinitarian Bible Society believe an orthodox, true position on the Trinity and about the Lord Jesus Christ. They preach a true gospel, including repentance and Lordship. TBS type churches utilize reverent worship. They are active in their evangelism of the lost. Their churches are not worldly churches. Their preaching of scripture is dense and thorough. They rely on scripture for their success. I am not saying these doctrines and practices are all that matter, but they do distinguish the Trinitarian Bible Society affiliated churches.
The Blue Trinitarian Bible Society Greek New Testament or Scrivener’s Greek New Testament
Someone said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. When I hear a critique of the perfect preservation view, standard sacred text view, or verbal plenary preservation view, it almost always focuses on ‘which text is the perfect text of the New Testament.” In the White/Van Kleeck debate, White asked this kind of gotcha question, which Textus Receptus edition is identical to the autographs? A person then waits for the answer.
In the Van Kleeck/White debate, White asked Van Kleeck whether Scrivener’s TR is the perfect Greek text. He said, “Yes.” I’m not saying it’s a good argument, but it works well with a certain audience.
I watched a critical analysis of Van Kleeck in the debate, and the podcast started with the moment White asked Van Kleeck that question. The critical analysis is essentially ridicule of the most inane variety. The young man in the podcast with three other men simply repeated Van Kleeck’s answer and then summarized it with a mocking voice. They didn’t explain why Van Kleeck’s answer was wrong. It just was. Why? Because it is so, so strange and ridiculous.
The critical text side does not have a settled text. If the question were reversed, that side would say it doesn’t know, unlike it’s proponents might say about knowing the 66 books of the Bible. They would say that’s knowable, even though the oldest extant complete twenty-seven book manuscript of the New Testament dates to the fourth century. Books are knowable. The words are not. Why? No biblical reason, only naturalistic ones. The same reasons could be used to debunk any doctrine of the Bible.
I believe Van Kleeck said that Scrivener’s or the blue Trinitarian Bible Society Greek New Testament is identical to the autographs of the New Testament because that corresponds to His bibliological position. If someone says he believes the biblical and historical doctrine of scripture, his saying there is a perfect text conforms to that belief. If he did not know what the text was, he would also admit that he doesn’t believe what the Bible says about itself or what churches have believed about what the Bible says about itself. An alternative is to change the historic and scriptural doctrine of bibliology to fit naturalistic presuppositions.
A biblical methodology that proceeds from a biblical bibliology must fit what the Bible says about itself. Because of this, it believes that the agreement of the church is evidence. This is the unity of the spirit. I’m not going to continue through every aspect of a biblical bibliology but all of those components combined lead to an agreement on one text. Van Kleeck had the audacity to utter it with confidence. I’m assuming that his confidence and assertiveness comes from faith that comes by hearing the Word of God.
Van Kleeck attacked the presuppositions of White in the White/Van Kleeck debate. He wanted to expose the naturalism. White wouldn’t answer the questions and the moderator would not require an answer. White also took the offensive by saying that the audience also was offended by the questions. It’s a common tactic of the left, when they “channel” everyone in the United States by speaking for “the American people.” Van Kleeck asked if there was even a single verse of the New Testament that was settled, guaranteed never to change with a future find of older manuscript evidence. White would not answer.
A vast majority of the opponents of the biblical and historical view on the preservation of scripture say the Bible doesn’t say how God would preserve scripture. I like to say that the whole Bible describes how God would do it. The Bible is very clear about how God said He would preserve what He said. If He told us how, that castigates all the means other than how He said, which includes modern textual criticism.
Very often, even among the standard sacred text proponents, they will not say what the perfect edition is. They anticipate the reaction. They ready for the ridicule. If it isn’t that blue Trinitarian Bible Society textus receptus, then what is it?
A Movement Back to the Scriptural and Historical Belief of the Means of the Preservation of Scripture and God’s Sovereignty over His Written Words
In 2003 our church published, Thou Shalt Keep Them, a Biblical Theology of the Perfect Preservation of Scripture (if you prefer Amazon, then here). When you might read the reviews, it reflects the good reviews. The bad ones are because of someone who hates the position or got the kindle edition, which is not a great format of the book. The book focuses on the crux of the issue on versions, that is, what does the Bible teach about its own preservation?
If God says He will preserve His Word, then believers will expect that to come true. They believe what God said He would do. God always does what He says He will do. That issue starts and ends there. Being a believer means believing scripture about scripture.
Our church planned to write a second book that would flesh out the practical ramifications of what God said. It would probably add some further teaching on preservation not found in the first book. The first one did not cover every single preservation passage, especially leaving out Isaiah 59:21 and Revelation 22:18-19. Those two need covering too. Also the second would likely include a chapter on the testimony of the Holy Spirit to Scripture.
To start, someone should ask, “What does the Bible teach about preservation of scripture?” Then, “what does God promise that He will preserve?” After that, “how does God say that He will preserve His Word? Put in another way, “What is the means by which God said He would preserve His Word?”
Most evangelicals and fundamentalists say the Bible is silent on how it is preserved. This matters. It is major. Our book, Thou Shalt Keep Them, explains the means of preservation. God says how. No one answered this point in Thou Shalt Keep Them. I understand. No critical text or multiple version person has an answer.
Our blog here gives you an index with all the articles written on the preservation of scripture and associated doctrines up until about two years ago, when I finished that index. Besides the book we wrote, it is a one stop shop on many different facets of the issue.
Thomas Ross includes a section at faithsaves.net on the preservation of scripture. He wrote many posts here on that doctrine too (see those with “T” next to them). He also produced a video course on the the doctrine of preservation and related doctrines.
I did not start a received text movement. Jesus did that. However, I have been at the forefront of a recent one. You will see Thomas Ross and I with our own heading in a Wikipedia article, titled, “Verbal Plenary Preservation.” Websites with our view mention our book (here, here). Men quote the book on the subject (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). Oxford Handbook of the Bible quotes Thou Shalt Keep Them.
The received text movement continues to grow under the following names or titles: Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Standard Sacred Text, and Confessional Bibliology. I agree with these positions and the men who propagate them. You can now find sites with reading and materials from these, such as Confessional Bibliology, Standard Sacred Text, Text and Translation, and Trinitarian Bible Society. Jeff Riddle writes regularly on this doctrine at Stylos and makes video presentations or podcasts at his Word Magazine youtube site. You can find articles at YoungTextlessandReformed and its podcast. Also see textusreceptus.com.
The biblical and historical position moves forward in various evangelical denominations, including the Unaffiliated and Independent Baptists, certain Southern Baptists, Bible Churches, Free, Orthodox, and Bible Presbyterians, Reformed Baptists, and Free Churches. I’m sure there are more. Feel free to inform me. England has many defenders of the scriptural and historical position on preservation, many in the fellowship of Peter Masters and Metropolitan Tabernacle.
I write, “God’s Sovereignty Over His Words,” because this represents Protestant and Baptist Confessions of Faith. If God keeps believers in salvation, He surely can and will keep His Words. The former proceeds from the latter.
Some new books have been written in the last few years. I would hope to read some or all of these as soon as possible. I’ve read the following book by Milne on kindle. Peter Van Kleeck writes at the Standard Sacred Text website above. I hope these men will think themselves free to refer to Thomas Ross and I by name. We should strengthen one another on this doctrine.
2017
Has the Bible been kept pure? The Westminster Confession of Faith and the providential preservation of Scripture, by Garnet Howard Milne
2021
A Philosophical Grounding for a Standard Sacred Text: Leveraging Reformed Epistemology in the Quest for a Standard English Version of the Bible, by Peter Van Kleeck, Jr.
An Exegetical Grounding For A Standard Sacred Text: Toward the Formulation of a Systematic Theology of Providential Preservation, by Peter Van Kleeck, Sr.
2022
A Theological Grounding for a Standard Sacred Text: An Apologetic Bibliology in Favor of the Authorized Version, by Peter Van Kleeck, Sr. and Jr.
Why I Preach from the Received Text: An Anthology of Essays by Reformed Ministers
You have much to read and think about. These resources will provide much to understand and take the biblical and historical position on the preservation of scripture against the attack by modern textual criticism. Let us keep the momentum going for the glory of the Lord.
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