The translators of the King James Version (1611) used the Textus Receptus (Received Text) for translating the New Testament. The Textus Receptus (TR) is also referred to as the Majority Text (the majority of existing manuscripts support this reading). The 1881 Revisionists charted a different course for their new version and used the Westcott-Hort Greek Text (W-H) which is supported by only a small portion of existing manuscripts. For obvious reasons, this text is referred to as the Minority Text. By rejecting the Majority Text in favor of the Minority Text, they defined the battleground and raised the ante in a holy war that began in the Garden of Eden when the Serpent questioned and altered what God had said: “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Gen. 3:1
Manuscripts
A manuscript (MS, ms) is a hand-copied document. This was the method used for writing and duplicating existing literature prior to the invention of printing. There are over 5000 existing manuscripts of the scripture. Some of these manuscripts contain a large portion of scripture, while other are fragments.
D B Loughran writes in his essay, Bible Versions:
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Manuscripts produced by the early Christians fall into three categories:
1.Copies of masters or of earlier copies. 2.Versions: These are translations of Scripture made directly from the original languages. For example from Hebrew or Greek into Syriac, Latin, German, English or French. A translation from Latin into English, or from English into Chinese, cannot strictly be called a 'version.' It is simply a translation of a translation: whereas a 'version' must be a translation from the original. Bear this important fact in mind. 3.Church Fathers: "Our third group is the early church fathers. These are the men who led the Christians in the first few centuries after the New Testament was completed. We have record of their early sermons, books and commentaries. They will be able to provide us with much information on disputed passages. Many may have seen the original autographs." |
Lectionaries
Included in the third category are a large number of manuscripts called Lectionaries. A Lectionary is a section of scripture that was read at appointed times in the churches. In the early days of the church, not everyone was able to own an entire bible, therefore Lectionaries were read to familiarize members with scripture they would not otherwise have access to.
Manuscript Format
As already noted, there are more than 5000 manuscripts in existence. These manuscripts are divided into several different formats:
1. Papyrus fragments-- papyrus was relatively inexpensive compared to vellum (animal skins), and therefore was widely used. However, it was not very durable and copies would “wear out” rather rapidly through usage. The size of these papyrus fragments range from a few verses to large portions of an entire book.
2. Unical-- these are copies that were written in capital letters.
3. Cursive (minuscule)-- those written in running or small hand.
Of these 5000+ existing manuscripts, ninety-nine percent are in agreement with, and form the basis for the Textus Receptus (Majority Text)-- the text the King James translators used. Strange as it may seem, the 1881 Revisionists threw out the preponderance of manuscript evidence (99%), and opted rather to go with the 1% Minority text! Hence we have inheirited an ongoing struggle among New Testament critics, accompanied by havoc and confusion in churches caused by the introduction of these conflicting New Testament Greek texts. Since 1881, subsequent versions have followed the Minority text reading.
Study the information in the following table. Although this data was compiled in 1967, recent archeological discoveries will not significantly effect the results. This data illustrates why the Textus Receptus is referred to as the Majority Text.
| Type of Manuscript | Total Number of this type MSS. | Number that support WH* | Number that support TR** |
| Papyrus | 88 | 13 (15%) | 75 (85%) |
| Unical | 267 | 9 (3%) | 258 (97%) |
| Cursive | 2764 | 23 (1%) | 2741 (99%) |
| Lectionary | 2143 | 0 | 2143 (100%) |
The table gives the approximate number and percent of each type of Greek manuscript that supports the Westcott-Hort (WH) Greek text, as well as the number and percent of each class that supports the Textus Receptus (TR) Greek text. These approximations are taken from the careful research of Dr. Jack Moorman in his book Forever Settled. [From: THE FOUR-FOLD SUPERIORITY OF THE KING JAMES VERSION By Dr. D.A. Waite]
Textus Receptus
Textus Receptus is known by other names: Traditional Text, Majority Text, Byzantine Text, or Syrian Text. In his essay Texual Criticism, Dr. Thomas Cassidy writes:
“The Traditional text of the New Testament has existed from the time of Christ right down to the present. It has had many different names down through the years, such as Byzantine Text, Eastern Text, Received Text, Textus Receptus, Majority Text, and others. Although no complete Bible manuscripts have survived which would allow us to date the Traditional text to the first century, there is a strong witness to the early existence and use of the Traditional text by the early church in its lectionaries.”
A few facts showing the respected historical position of the Textus Receptus are in order. It’s prominence and respect did not begin in 1611 with the KJV translators--they merely recognized (as others before them had), that the Textus Receptus was God’s preserved word in the original New Testament language. Consider the following:
As the data in the table illustrated why the Textus Receptus is called the Majority Text, So the foregoing facts illustrate the reason it is called the Traditional Text. The words of William P Grady in his book Final Authority capsulate the dilemma the critic of the Traditional Text faces:
"If the critic of your King James Bible is correct in his rejection of the underlying Textus Receptus, then he is also under the greatest pressure to account for its existence. To complain of fabrication is one thing, but to account for its universal prevalence is quite another. Whenever a large body of ancient documents are seen to be in agreement, this inexplicable harmony becomes their greatest evidence for legitimacy. Simple arithmetic confirms that the nearer a particular reading is to the original, the longer the time span will be for descendants to follow. The longer the family is, the older the original source must be."
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