A DEFENSE OF KING JAMES VI & I
By Barbara Aho
A recent Rapture Watch article contained many false accusations against King James I of England who authorized the translation of the 1611 Authorised Version. There was so much misinformation in this article that a response is in order. The particular slant of the Rapture Watch report was that King James I was a proponent of British-Israelism who controlled the translation of the 1611 Authorised Version in order to promote the religious superstition and political agenda of British-Israel.
To understand the full import of this charge, it is necessary to know that the British-Israel doctrine is based on the following unbiblical and superstitious beliefs:
1. The ten lost tribes of Israel migrated to the British Isles following the Assyrian Captivity.
2. After Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar, the daughter of King Zedekiah, Tamar, was removed to Ireland (via Egypt and Spain) by the prophet Jeremiah, who also brought the anointed Stone of the Covenant, known as the Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny, upon which the monarchs of England and Scotland were crowned.
3. The physical descendants of Jesus Christ who, we are told, married Mary Magdalene, migrated to Great Britain and the royalty of that country are of this divine lineage.
The author of the Rapture Watch report begins with the naive assumption that all modern translations are equal. He further contends that the KJV translators took great liberties in translating and would have encouraged comparison among the various translations. Also, the report states that the translators of the 1611 Authorised Version worked under the dark shadow of a wicked king who wished to impose his own pagan beliefs on the translation he authorized. The author concludes in the second part of this series that King James was a member of the Celtic [Druid] religion so prevalent in the British Isles. The knowledgeable reader is left to draw the obvious conclusion that King James was therefore a believer in the pagan practices of Druidism, which even included human sacrifice.
At various points, the author of the Rapture Watch report reassures the reader that, despite the evil king's oversight and domination of the translators, the King James Version is an excellent Bible translation. He also leads the reader to believe that, since all translations have errors, there is little difference among them. As well, he presents as facts a patchwork of undocumented theories and circumstantial evidence, rather than primary source evidence, in order to discredit King James VI & I and, by extension, the translation of the Bible he authorized.
In jurisprudence, the admissibility of evidence is governed by various rules. Rules of evidence are fixed by determining prima facie evidence [of a fact], corroborative evidence and forensic [laboratory] evidence, as opposed to evidence which is merely circumstantial. Circumstantial evidence is generally admissible in court unless the connection between the fact and the inference is too weak to be of help in deciding the case. Many convictions for various crimes have rested largely on circumstantial evidence.
However, we now hear of many convicted persons on death row who have been found to be innocent upon appeal. For this reason, it seems to us that God wisely adjudged under the Old and New Covenants that, in His divinely instituted judicial systems, at least two witnesses must be present to establish guilt. Consider His Word concerning jurisprudence in Israel and in His Church:
Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Num. 35:30One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. Deut. 19:15But if [your brother] will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. Matt. 18:16
In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. II Cor. 13:1a
Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses." I Tim. 5:19Another point of contrast between the rules of evidence established by God and man would be the number of witnesses required. Under both the old and new covenants, God required at least two witnesses, whereas one witness is sufficient in a secular court of law and even that is not essential. Nor do rules of evidence under the Noahide Laws conform to the Old Testament Law. Under the Courts of Law section of the Noahide Laws is the provision: "A person may be convicting [sic] in a Noahide court on the testimony of a single witness, but only if the witness is known to be righteous. If the character of the witness is not known, it takes two witnesses to be able to convict the accused."It is evident that God is more equitable and merciful than the world's system of justice. And so Christians must abide by the commands of Scripture in considering an accusation against an elder of the Church. In his capacity as King of Great Britain, James I was also head of the Church of England. If heresies or bad reports attended his person, the Church would have been required to judge him according to I Tim. 5:19. Happily, we have no record of such proceedings. To the contrary, we have the record of the A.V. translators, who were not only scholars but ministers of the Church. In their Dedicatory Epistle to the Authorised Version, the translators convey the definite impression that King James had earned the high esteem of his subjects and was a true follower of Christ:
"GREAT and manifold were the blessings, most dread Sovereign, which Almighty God, the Father of all mercies, bestowed upon us the people of England, when first he sent Your Majesty's Royal Person to rule and reign over us. For whereas it was the expectation of many, who wished not well unto our Sion, that upon the setting of that bright Occidental Star, Queen Elizabeth of most happy memory, some thick and palpable clouds of darkness would so have overshadowed this Land, that men should have been in doubt which way they were to walk; and that it should hardly be known, who was to direct the unsettled State; the appearance of your Majesty, as the Sun in his strength, instantly dispelled those supposed and surmised mists, and gave unto all that were well affected exceeding cause of comfort; especially when we beheld the Government established in Your Highness, and Your hopeful Seed, by an undoubted Title, and this also accompanied with peace and tranquillity at home and abroad.To refute the false witness of the Rapture Watch report and, hopefully, to some extent vindicate a Christian king whose good name has been maligned in our day by similar false reports, we will consider prima facie evidence regarding the person and works of King James. Additionally, certain revisers of the English Bible which he authorized will be evaluated."But among all our joys, there was no one that more filled our hearts, than the blessed continuance of the preaching of God's sacred Word among us; which is that inestimable treasure, which excelleth all the riches of the earth; because the fruit thereof extendeth itself, not only to the time spent in this transitory world, but directeth and disposeth men unto that eternal happiness which is above in heaven.
"Then not to suffer this to fall to the ground, but rather to take it up, and to continue it in that state, wherein the famous Predecessor of Your Highness did leave it: nay, to go forward with the confidence and resolution of a Man in maintaining the truth of Christ, and propagating it far and near, is that which hath so bound and firmly knit the hearts of all Your Majesty's loyal and religious people unto You, that Your very name is precious among them: their eye doth behold You with comfort, and they bless You in their hearts, as that sanctified Person who, under God, is the immediate Author of their true happiness. And this their contentment doth not diminish or decay, but every day increaseth and taketh strength, when they observe, that the zeal of Your Majesty toward the house of God doth not slack or go backward, but is more and more kindled, manifesting itself abroad in the farthest parts of Christendom, by writing in defence of the Truth, (which hath given such a blow unto that man of sin, as will not be healed,) and every day at home, by religious and learned discourse, by frequenting the house of God, by hearing the Word preached, by cherishing the Teachers thereof, by caring for the Church, as a most tender and loving nursing Father.
"There are infinite arguments of this right Christian and religious affection in Your Majesty; but none is more forcible to declare it to others than the vehement and perpetuated desire of accomplishing and publishing of this work, which now with all humility we present unto Your Majesty. . ."
In preparing this response, I consulted Tracy, the webmaster of n the Jesus Is Lord website on which is His Majestie King James VI & I Page, an extensive resource for Christians to study the writings and history of King James and his period, as well as obtain information on the translation of the 1611 Authorised Version. In the report below, Tracy's comments are noted as Jesus Is Lord along with the Watch Unto Prayer to the false accusations of Rapture Watch.
The Preface of the 1611 KJV should be read in its entirety. See: The Translators to the Reader as well as Edgar J. Goodspeed's Thesis on the importance of the Translators' Preface.
From: "Rapture Watch" <rls1@pcisys.net>To: Rapture Watch <rls1@pcisys.net>Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2000 11:57 AM Subject: A Message from the K.J. Translators
RAPTURE WATCH: It is not uncommon for us to be asked about Bible translations and why it is that we do not quote solely from the original version of the King James Bible. The following are some points why we defend looking up original words of Scripture over giving a blanket endorsement of any translation. The King James Version is superb--but not inerrant. Our stand is supported by the original translators as can be shown by the following references.
For a little help in understanding, V’s are U’s, U’s are V’s, I’ s are J’s and F’s are S’s etc.
1) The translators made it clear that translations could always use a reviewing and that they are still just translations.
“And to the same effect say wee, that we are so farre off from condemning any of their labours that traueiled before vs in this kinde. . .we acknowledge them to haue beene raised vp of God, for the building and furnishing of his Church. . .Yet for all that, as nothing is begun and perfited at the same time, and the later thoughts are thought to be the wiser: so, if we build vpon their foundations that went before vs, and being holpen by their labours, doe endeuour to make that better which they left so good; no man, we are sure, hath cause to mislike vs; they, we perswade our selues, if they were aliue, would thank vs. . .whom we speak before, translated the Bible as carefully, and as skilfully as he could; and yet he thought good to goe ouer it againe, and then it got the credit with the Iewes. . .
How many books of profane learning haue bene gone ouer againe and againe, by the same translators, by others?. . .And this is the word of God, which we translate. . .if a toy of glasse be of that rekoning with vs, how ought wee to value the true pearle?. . .to haue the translations of the Bible maturely considered of and examined. . .the same will shine as gold more brightly, being rubbed and polished; also, if any thing be halting, or superflous, or not so agreeable to the original, the same may bee corrected, and the truth set in place. . .
Now to the later we answere; that wee doe not deny, nay wee affirme and auow, that the very meanest translation of the Bible in English, set foorth by men of our profession. . .containeth the word of God, nay is the word of God. . . A man may counted a vertuous man, though hee haue made many slips in his life. . .though hee haue some warts vpon his hand, yea, not onely freakles vpon his face, but also skarres. No cause therefore why the word translated should bee denied to be the word, or forbidden to be currant, notwithstanding that some imperfections and blemishes may be noted in the setting foorth of it. . .”1
JESUS IS LORD: These folks fail to take into account the conditions under which the first translations were made. There was indeed need to refine them. John Wicliffe (Morning Star of the Reformation and "arch-heretick" according to the Catholic religion) only had the Latin Vulgate to work with. He lost his prestigious position at Oxford because of his devotion to the word of God. Tyndale translated as an outlaw on the run from the Catholic religion. When he was finally caught they strangled and burned him. The Bibles that immediately followed were essentially rehashes of Tyndale's version. There was NEED to refine! The writer seems to twist the humility of the translators in not condemning former translations. The Spirit of God revealed to them the reason for their labors--to refine so that "the same will shine as gold more brightly, being rubbed and polished; also, if any thing be halting, or superfluous, or not so agreeable to the original, the same may bee corrected, and the truth set in place. . ."
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: In the days of the Reformers it was necessary to compile a body of manuscripts other than the corrupt Alexandrian manuscripts used by the Vatican for the Vulgate and other Catholic translations. The A.V. translators remark that the Roman Church made endless translations, each one more corrupt than the former: ". . .that certain Catholics. . .were in such an humor of translating the Scriptures into Latin, that Satan taking occasion by them, though they thought of no such matter, did strive what he could, out of so uncertain and manifold a variety of Translations, so to mingle all things, that nothing might seem to be left certain and firm in them, etc. . .What is to have the faith of our glorious Lord JESUS CHRIST with Yea or Nay, if this be not? Again, what is sweet harmony and consent, if this be?"
The deliverance of Reformed Christians from this confusion and the refining of Greek texts and English translations did not occur overnight. After the Textus Receptus was published in 1633, there was no need for another Greek New Testament. The 1881 Westcott-Hort Greek Testament based on Alexandrian manuscripts began the reversal of the Protestant Reformation, producing a superfluity of translations in contradiction to the Textus Receptus and causing no end of controversy and contempt in the Church.
RAPTURE WATCH: 2) The translators themselves instructed Bible students to compare other translations, and praised the effort as a good and profitable undertaking. Some now think this undertaking is a work of the Devil.
“Therefore as S. Augustine saith, that variete of Translations is profitable for the finding out of the sense of the Scriptures: so diuersitie of signification and sense in the margaine, where the text is not so cleare, must needes do good, yea, is necessary, as we are perswaded...They that are wise, had rather haue their judgements at libertie in differences of readings, then to be captiuated to one, when it may be the other...”2
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: In 1611, the majority of English translations available for comparison were based on the Textus Receptus, which cannot be said of our modern versions. A notable exception would have been the Jesuit Douay Rheims Version of 1609 and it is doubtful that the A.V. translators were advising readers to consult the Catholic Bible for verse comparison. Rather, the English Bibles based on the Textus Receptus which were read in Protestant England at the time of the translation of the 1611 Authorised Version are as follows: William Tyndale's New Testament [1534], the Coverdale Bible [1535] (first complete printed English Bible), the Matthews Bible [1537] (completed Tyndale Version), the Great Bible [1539], Cranmer's Bible [1540[ (2nd edition of the Great Bible), the Geneva Bible [1560] and the Bishop's Bible [1568]. It was comparison of this "variete of Translations" the translators no doubt considered "profitable for the finding out of the sense of the Scriptures."
The author of Rapture Watch has based his argument on the false assumption that our modern translations are reliable. If the other translations in 1611 were deemed corrupt, does he think that the A.V. translators would have suggested they be used for comparison's sake? The real issue in determining the authenticity of a Bible translation is the reliability of the Greek text upon which it is based. By camouflaging this hidden factor, proponents of modern versions shuffle believers from one corrupt version to another on the pretext that all are based on reliable manuscripts. To avoid exposure of their skulduggery, the bible version spin doctors magnify one or another presumed error in the KJV to prove their point that all versions are equally flawed.
The Rapture Watch report is typical of many who prefer to strain at gnats in the KJV, while they swallow the whole camel of modern versions that have been translated from the corrupt Westcott-Hort Greek Testament. Never mind the fact that the Westcott-Hort New Greek Text of 1881 altered the Textus Receptus in fully 5,337 places, according to Dean John Burgon, textual scholar and author of The Revision Revised, and that a great number of these changes are to be found in verses affecting fundamental doctrine. The replacement of the Received Greek Text with a New Greek Text by Anglican Spiritualists affiliated with secret societies having a vision for a global government and religion is the subject of our report, The Nineteenth Century Occult Revival.
THE ENGLISH REVISED VERSION OF 1881
B.F. Westcott, F.J.A. Hort & J.B. Lightfoot
The Life and Letters of B.F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort personally acknowledge the involvement of these Bible revisers in various occult societies. Additionally, the biography of Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, documents his founding of the Cambridge Ghost Society with B.F. Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort. The Society for Psychical Research: An Outline of its History provides further documentation of this fact:
"Among the numerous persons and groups who in the middle of the nineteenth century were making enquiries into psychical occurrences may be mentioned a society from which our own can claim direct descent. In the Life of Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, by his son, A. C. Benson, will be found, under the year 1851-2, the following paragraph:Westcott, Hort and Lightfoot, who dominated the Revision Committee for the English Revised Version of 1881, were also members of other secret societies, such as the Hermes and Apostles Clubs. 2. Also belonging to the Cambridge Apostles Club were Victor Rothschild and Arthur Balfour, the founder and first President of the Society for Psychical Research Society and future Prime Minister of Great Britain. In his position as Foreign Secretary of Great Britain, Lord Arthur Balfour presented to Lord Rothschild the Balfour Declaration of 1917 which recognized the Zionist goal: "His Majesty’s government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use its best endeavors to facilitate achievement of this object,. . .".
'Among my father's diversions at Cambridge was the foundation of a 'Ghost Society,' the forerunner of the Psychical Society [meaning the S.P.R.] for the investigation of the supernatural. Lightfoot, Westcott and Hort were among the members. He was then, as always, more interested in psychical phenomena than he cared to admit.'
"Lightfoot and Westcott both became bishops, and Hort Professor of Divinity. The S.P.R. has hardly lived up to the standard of ecclesiastical eminence set by the parent society." 1.Across the Atlantic Ocean but working closely with the English Revision Committee was Dr. Philip Schaff, the "Reformed and Catholic" ecumenist who chaired the committee which produced the 1901 American Standard Version [ASV]. Phillip Schaff had also been a member of the American Bible Union which,in 1865, produced a version that was regularly consulted by the English Revision Committee during. 3. This American revision of the English Bible, which predated the English Revised Version by 16 years, was predominantly a Baptist enterprise. The reader is invited and encouraged to read the fascinating chronology of interlocking events in England and the United States which led to the English Revised Version and the American Standard Version.
One notable member of the 1901 ASV committee was Skull and Bones member, Timothy Dwight.
THE AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION OF 1901
Philip Schaff & Timothy Dwight
In The Life of Philip Schaff by David S. Schaff we read of Dr. Phillip Schaff's work with the English Revision Committee in 1871, the year the revision commenced at Cambridge University:
"The summer of 1871 Dr. Schaff spent in Europe and had conferences with Dean Stanley and Bishop Ellicott and with the revision committee as a whole. From his daily journal it appears that on June 26, he saw the dean. 'I had a very important interview. All the details about Bible revision are settled satisfactorily. The steps I have taken in organizing the American committee are fully approved.' At Dr. Stoughton's, I dine with a number of the Bible Revisers.' Of the sessions of the Revision companies at the Deanery of Westminster he has this to say: 'The meeting of the New Testament Revisers was intensely interesting. Lightfoot, Westcott, Hort, Scrivener, Angus, Merivale, Eadie, David Brown, the Bishop of Gloucester. . .the Bishop of Salisbury and others were all there. No outsider is admitted except the Archbishop of Canterbury." 4.In the same volume is noted the formation of the ASV committee and its inclusion of Timothy Dwight:"The first meeting of the American committee was held in Dr. Schaff's study in the Bible House, New York, December 7, 1871.In Philip Schaff: Historian and Ambassador of the Universal Church are published Philip Schaff's visionary statements for a grand synthesis of "Evangelical Catholicism":"ff...to the New Testament company [was subsequently added]. . .Professor Timothy Dwight of Yale College." 5.
"To Timothy Dwight he wrote in 1892: 'It is impossible that a work to which a hundred scholars of various denominations of England and America have unselfishly devoted so much time and strength can be lost. Whether the Revised Version may or may not replace the King James Version, it will remain a noble monument of Christian scholarship and cooperation, which in its single devotion to Christ and to truth rises above the dividing lines of schools and sects.'" 6.Timothy Dwight had been initiated into the Order of Skull & Bones at Yale University in 1849. In 1856 he went to the University of Berlin and in 1858 he went to Yale Theological Seminary. From 1886 to 1898 he served as President of Yale University. The origins of the Skull & Bones in Freemasonry are explained in The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons & Secret Scrolls of Jesus:"The documentary evidence for the work of the American Bible revision committee is conveniently gathered in Documentary History on the American Committee on Revision, of which only 100 copies were privately printed. However, an abridged version was published by Timothy Dwight, Historical Account of the American Committee of Revision of the Authorized Version of the Bible (New York, 1885)." 7.
"This young immigrant scholar [Schaff] had soon come to realize that neither will any one of the existing churches ever become dominant in the United States, nor will sectarian anarchy prevail. Instead, the grand synthesis of 'Evangelical Catholicism' as the ripe fruit of a new reformation will find its providential local in the United States." 8.
"'Unity in diversity, and diversity in unity,' this slogan would be the ecumenical battle cry of Schaff's later years." 9.
"As the new Master (Mason) is raised he looks back down at his tomb to see a Skull and crossed bones on his death shrould. This symbol of earthly remains was used by the Knights Templar as their marine battle flag." 10.Interestingly, the Rothschild influence on establishment of the Skull & Bones Order at Yale University in 1833 is disclosed in an online book, The Historical Influence of International Bankingby Herbert Dorsey. 11.According to Antony Sutton, author of America's Secret Establishment: Introduction to the Order of Skull and Bones: "The Order was incorporated [as the Russell Trust] in 1856." 12. Sutton stresses that Yale University presidents after Timothy Dwight were typically members of the Order:
"In 1886 Timothy Dwight (The Order) had taken over from the last of Yales' clerical Presidents, Noah Porter. Never again was Yale to get too far from The Order. Dwight was followed by member Arthur T. Hadley ('76)." 13.Rev. Timothy Dwight (S&B, 1849) was the grandson of Rev. Timothy Dwight (1752-1817) who was the grandson of the famous Rev. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), president of Union College. Both Timothy Dwights were presidents of Yale. The elder Timothy Dwight, who was born on May 14, 1752 in Northampton, Massachusetts, was a also personal friend of President George Washington, a high-level Mason."Timothy Dwight was a man for all seasons: an ordained Congregational minister, grandson of Jonathan Edwards, personal friend of George Washington, and Army chaplain. He began reading the Bible at age four, and secretly learned Latin despite his father's prohibition. In 1785, he published the 11-volume Conquest of Canaan. In 1787, he received a Doctor of Divinity degree from Princeton University. In 1795, he became president of Yale University (where, like his grandfather Jonathan Edwards, he matriculated at age 13). He helped found Andover Theological Seminary—the first seminary in New England—in 1809. Dwight died of cancer after serving as president of Yale University for 22 years. Died: January 11, 1817, New Haven, Connecticut." 14.According to Paul Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture, Jonathan Edwards and his grandson, Timothy Dwight, believed that America would be the seat of Christ's Millennial Kingdom. This vision was, in actuality, the Plan of British Freemasonry for the United States:"With the struggle for independence, patriot prophecy writers reenacted the familiar process of adapting their end-time scenarios to current events, and vied in identifying contemporary British leaders as Antichrist. . .By 1773 King George himself, like Charles I 150 years earlier was being portrayed as Antichrist . . .In his book Antony Sutton advised readers: "Select a major historical event and search for the guiding hand of The Order." 16. This maxim ought to be applied with respect to the historic revision of the English Bible in the last century in both Great Britain and the United States -- by members of secret societies. [See footnote #11 Rothschild and Skull & Bones Order]"The independence movement also revived the belief of the Mathers and of Jonathan Edwards that America might be the seat of Christ's millennial kingdom. But what had been formulated in religious terms now took on a secular cast, as prophecy speculation -- already politicized during the French and Indian War -- oriented itself around the Revolutionary cause, laying the groundwork for. . .'civil millennialism.' In 'A Poem on the Rising Glory of America,' delivered to their Princeton graduating class in 1771, Philip Freneau and Hugh Henry Brackenridge looked to the day when the New Jerusalem would 'grace our happy earth, perhaps this land.' And independent American nation, declared Ebenezer Baldwin 1776, would be 'the principle seat of that glorious kingdom', which Christ shall erect upon the earth in the latter Days. Revolution and liberty, rather than revival, now became the high road to the blessed future foreseen by the biblical apocalypticus.
"With symbolic appropriateness, Jonathan Edwards' grandson, Timothy Dwight, most fully elaborated this secular vision of the Revolution's prophetic significance. Dwight's 1771 poem 'America' written when he was a nineteen-year-old Yale student contains the kernel of is civil millennialism. . . Five years later, speaking at Yale three weeks after the Declaration of Independence, the now twenty-four-year-old Dwight fully eschatologized the stirring events of the day. In America, history would reach its climax in the fulfillment of 'that remarkable Jewish tradition' of a thousand years of 'peace, purity and felicity.' Ushered in by Yale-trained lawyers, physicians and other professionals, the Star Spangled Millennium, he speculated (echoing Samuel Sewall whose ideas had intrigued his grandfather), would probably begin about the year 2000. In the soaring apocalyptic language of the prophet Isaiah, Dwight hailed the emerging nations: 'Arise, shine, for thy light has come.'" 15.
Based on these facts regarding the 19th century revision of the Bible, can any objective researcher believe that translators of the 1611 A.V. would recommend our modern versions which are based upon the 1881 English Revised Version and the 1901 American Standard Version?
ERRORS IN THE 1611 AUTHORISED VERSION?
RAPTURE WATCH: 3) The translators confess they took a degree of liberty with certain words and phrases.
An other thing we thinke good to admonish thee of (gentle Reader) that we haue not tyed ourselues to an vniformitie of phrasing, or to an identitie of words, as some peraduenture would wish that we had done, because they obserue, that some learned men some where, haue beene as exact as they could that way. Truly, that we might not varie from the sense of that which we had translated before, if the word signified the same thing in both places (for there bee some wordes that bee not the same sense euery where) we were especially carefull, and made a conscience, according to our duetie. . .
"For is the kingdome of God become words or syllables? why should wee be in bondage to them if we may be free, vse one precisely when wee may vse another no lesse fit, as commodiously?. . .Now if this happen in better times, and vpon so small occasions, wee might justly feare hard censure, if generally wee should make verball and vnnecessary changings. . .Adde hereunto, that nicenesse in wordes was always counted the next step to trifling, and so was to bee curious about names too: also that we cannot follow a better patterne for elocution then God himselfe; therefore hee vsing diuers words, in his holy writ, and indifferently for one thing in nature: we, if wee will not be supersitious, may vse the same libertie in our English versions out of Hebrew & Greeke. . .But we desire that the Scriptuire may speake like it selfe, as in the language of Canaan, that it may bee vnderstood euen of the very vulgar. . .”3
JESUS IS LORD: The key ideas to these comments is thus -- They utilize the richness of the English language to accurately convey the sense of the scripture. "Truly, that WE MIGHT NOT VARIE FROM THE SENSE of that which we had translated before, if the word signified the same thing in both places (for there bee some wordes that bee not the same sense euery where) we were especially carefull, and made a conscience, according to our duetie. . ." In the King James Bible, the same Greek word may be translated, "look or behold". The words are synonymous. Word choice does not change the scriptures, but rather enriches it. The translator comments confirm this, ". . .vse one precisely when wee may vse another NO LESSE FIT, as commodiously? we cannot follow a better patterne for elocution then God himselfe; therefore hee vsing diuers words, in his holy writ".
RAPTURE WATCH: The translators are found carefully apologetic when trying to explain away the liberty they took when translating in some particular instances.
JESUS IS LORD: That is not what they did. They were very careful to let us know that they selected words no less fit than its synonym.
RAPTURE WATCH: On such mistranslation we are convinced concerns their use of the word “Easter” in Acts 12:4. The original word is absolutely not “Easter”, and the translators were careful everywhere else to translate it properly as “Passover”.
“EASTER: PASCHA, mistranslated “Easter” in Acts 12:4. A.V., denotes the Passover (R.V.). The phrase “after the Passover” signifies after the whole festival was at an end. The term Easter is not of Christian origin. It is another form of Astart, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the queen of heaven. The festival of Pasch held by Christians in post-apostolic times was a continuation of the Jewish feast, but was not instituted by Christ, nor was it connected with Lent. From this Pasch the Pagan festival of Easter was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate Western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt Pagan festivals to Christianity.”4
PASSOVER: PASCHA, the Greek spelling of the Aramaic word for the Passover, from the Hebrew pasach, to pass over, to spare, a feast instituted by God in commemoration of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and anticipatory of the expiatory sacrifice of Christ. The word signifies (I) the Passover Feast, e.g., Matt. 26:2, John 2:13, 23; 6:4; 11:55; 12:1; 13:1; 18:39; 19:4; Acts 12:4; Heb. 11:28; (II) by metonymy, (a) the Paschal Supper, Matt. 26:18, 19; Mark 14:16; Luke 22:8, 13; (b) the Paschal lamb, e.g., Mark 14:12 (cp. Ex. 12:21); Luke 22:7; (c) Christ Himself, I Cor. 5:7.”5
The question then arises: Why the blatant change from their previously correct translation of the original manuscript? We have great difficulty with their explanation that they had a liberty to commodiously use a less fit word while translating, and absolutely refuse to change the Word of God to accommodate their offered rationale which is clearly outside the bounds of an error or difficult interpretation.
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: The critic's difficulty with the translators' explanation is due to a misreading and misquote of their words as taking "liberty to commodiously use a less fit word while translating." The actual statement in the Translators' Preface is: ". . . why should wee be in bondage to them if we may be free, vse one precisely when wee may vse another no lesse fit, as commodiously?"
The Trinitarian Bible Society Quarterly Record credits William Tyndale with translation of the word "pascha" as "Easter" in twenty-nine places of his 1534 New Testament. Although this was not a literal translation, it is understandable considering the period of transition during which Tyndale produced this first printed bible. In 1525, the Protestant Reformation was in its early stages and readers of the new Bible, being yet unfettered from the Roman Catholic strait-jacket, were unfamiliar with many facts of Old Testament history.
"When Tyndale applied his talents to the translation of the New Testament from Greek into English, he was not satisfied with the use of a completely foreign word, and decided to take into account the fact that the season of the passover was known generally to English people as 'Easter', notwithstanding the lack of any actual connection between the meanings of the two words. The Greek word occurs twenty-nine times in the New Testament, and Tyndale has ester or easter fourteen times, esterlambe eleven times, esterfest once, and paschall lambe three times. 17.The New Unger's Bible Dictionary confirms that the word "Easter" is often used in the English versions which predate the 1611 A.V."Easter. [Gk. pascha, from Heb. pesah] The Passover ..., and so translated in every passage except the KJV: "intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people" [Acts 12:4]. In the earlier English versions Easter had been frequently used as the translation of pascha. At the last revision [1611 A.V.] Passover was substituted in all passages but this. . .Two centuries prior to William Tyndale, John Wycliffe produced a hand written English translation of the Bible using only the Latin Vulgate. Again, the Trinitarian Bible Society explains the difficulty involved in the translation of the Hebrew word "pesach" into Greek and then into English:"The word Easter is of Saxon origin, the name is eastra, the goddess of spring in whose honor sacrifices were offered about Passover time each year. By the eighth century Anglo-Saxons had adopted the name to designate the celebration of Christ's resurrection." 18.
This single occurrence of Easter in the Authorised Version as a translation of the Greek pascha, "passover", is an interesting reminder of the problems which have confronted translators of the Holy Scriptures for many centuries. When the scholars of Alexandria came to translate the Hebrew into Greek in the third century B.C. they could find in the Greek language no precise equivalent for the Hebrew pesach, and they decided to adopt the Hebrew word in a Greek form. When the Bible was first translated into Latin the same course was followed, and the Greek pascha was adopted without translation. Centuries later, when Wycliffe translated the Bible into English from the Latin version, he could find in the English language no satisfactory equivalent, so he just gave the Latin word an English form -- pask or paske. In the 16th century the Rheims New Testament followed Wycliffe's example, but slightly changed the English form to pasche. None of these actually translated the word. . ."When Tyndale began his translation of the Pentateuch he was again faced with the problem in Exodus 12.11 and twenty-one other places, and no doubt recognising that easter in this context would be an anachronism he coined a new word, passover, and used it consistently in all twenty-two places. It is therefore to Tyndale that our language is indebted for this meaningful and appropriate word. His labours on the Old Testament left little time for revision of the New Testament, with the result that while passover is found in his 1530 Pentateuch, ester remained in the N.T. of 1534, having been used in his first edition several years before he coined the new word passover."The History of the English Bible chronicles developments which made possible the mass publication of an English Bible from the Greek and Hebrew languages:John Wycliff's hand-written manuscripts were the first complete Bibles in the English language (1380's). Wycliff (or Wycliffe), an Oxford theologian translated out of the fourth century Latin Vulgate, as the Greek and Hebrew languages of the Old and New Testaments were inaccessible to him. . .Wycliff spent many of his years writing and teaching against the practices and dogmas of the Roman Church which he believed to be contrary to the Holy Writ. Though he died a nonviolent death, the Pope was so infuriated by his teachings that 44 years after Wycliff had died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river!Gutenburg invented the printing press in the 1450's, and the first book to ever be printed was the Bible (in Latin). With the onset of the Reformation in the early 1500's, the first printings of the Bible in the English language were produced illegally and at great personal risk of those involved.
William Tyndale was the Captain of the Army of English reformers, and in many ways their spiritual leader. His work of translating the Greek New Testament into the plain English of the ploughman was made possible through Erasmus' publication of his Greek/Latin New Testament printed in 1516. Erasmus and the printer and reformer John Froben published the first non-Latin Vulgate text of the Bible in a millennium. For centuries Latin was the language of scholarship and it was widely used amongst the literate. Erasmus' Latin was not the Vulgate translation of Jerome, but his own fresh rendering of the Greek New Testament text that he had collated from six or seven partial New Testament manuscripts into a complete Greek New Testament.
Erasmus' translation from the Greek revealed enormous discrepancies in the Vulgate's integrity amongst the rank and file scholars, many of whom were already convinced that the established church was doomed by virtue of its evil hierarchy. Pope Leo X's declaration that "the fable of Christ was very profitable to him" infuriated the people of God. . .As previously stated, the English Bibles based on the Textus Receptus which preceded the 1611 Authorised Version were: William Tyndale's New Testament [1534], the Coverdale Bible [1535], the Matthews Bible [1537], the Great Bible [1539], Cranmer's Bible [1540], the Geneva Bible [1560] and the Bishop's Bible [1568].The Tyndale New Testament was the first ever printed in the English language. Its first printing occurred in 1525/6, but only two complete copies of that first printing are known to have survived. Any Edition printed before 1570 is very rare and valuable, particularly pre-1540 editions and fragments. Tyndale's flight was an inspiration to freedom loving Englishmen who drew courage from the 11 years that he was hunted. Books and Bibles flowed into England in bales of cotton and sacks of wheat. In the end, Tyndale was caught: betrayed by an Englishman that he had befriended. Tyndale was incarcerated for 500 days before he was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536. His last words were, "Lord, open the eyes of the King of England".
When considering the single use of "Easter" in the 1611 A.V., it is imperative that one also consider its multiple occurrences in the English Bibles which preceded it. Following the transmission of the word "Easter" in these early Bibles, it becomes apparent that the A.V. translators were helping to phase out this mistranslation -- but retained the word in Acts 12:4 for a good reason which will demonstrated shortly.
In the Textus Receptus, the Greek word "pascha" is found in the following verses:
Matthew 26:2, 26:17, 26:18, 26:19Occurrences of the word "Easter" in New Testament verses cited above:
Mark 14:1, 14:12, 14:14, 14:16
Luke 2:41, 22:1, 22:7, 22:8, 22:11, 22:13, 22:15
John 2:13, 2:23, 6:4, 11:55, 12:1, 13:1, 18:28, 18:39, 19:14
Acts 12:4
I Corinthians 5:7
Hebrews 11:28.The following table shows graphically the occurrences of the word "Easter" in these five English Bibles which preceded the Authorised Version of 1611. [The Coverdale Bible (not represented in graph) used "Easter" in Acts 12:4. We have not examined the other verses in the Coverdale Bible, nor the Matthews Bible. The Cranmer Bible is the 2nd edition of Great Bible which is shown in the table.]
- John Wycliffe's translation based on the Latin Vulgate used the word "paske" or "pask" in all of the above New Testament verses.
- William Tyndale's translation used "Easter" in all the above verses except Mt. 26:17 and Jn 18:28.
- The Great Bible used "Easter" in 14 verses: [Mt. 26:2, 18; Mk. 14:1; Lk. 2:41,22:1; Jn. 2:13, 2:23, 6:4, 11:55, 12:1, 13:1, 18:39, 19:14; Acts 12:4].
- The Geneva Bible eliminated "Easter" altogether.
- The Bishop's Bible [1568] used "Easter" in 2 verses: John 11:55 and Acts 12:4.
- The Authorised Version of 1611 used "Easter" in only one verse: Acts 12:4.
N. T. VERSES
WITH EASTER
Wycliffe
Bible
(1382)
Tyndale
Bible
(1534)
Great
Bible
(1539)
Geneva
Bible
(1560)
Bishop's
Bible
(1568)
KING JAMES Version (1611) Matt. 26:2
X X 26:17
26:18 X X 26:19 X Mark 14:1 X X 14:12 X 14:14 X 14:16 X Luke 2:41 X X 22:1 X X 22:7 X 22:8 X 22:11 X 22:13 X John 2:13 X X 2:23 X X 6:4 X X 11:55 X X X 12:1 X X 13:1 X X 18:28 18:39 X X 19:14 X X Acts 12:4 X X X X I Cor. 5:7 X Hebrews 11:28 X So much for Rapture Watch accusation #5 that King James had the translators of the Authorised Version insert the word "Easter."
The only instance the A.V. translators chose to retain "Easter" is Acts 12:4:
"And when he [King Herod] had apprehended him [Peter], he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people."Why did the translators revert to the earlier -- Tyndale, Coverdale, Great Bible and Bishop's Bible's -- translation of "Easter" rather than "Passover"? The answer is found in the Translator's Preface:"Another things we think good to admonish thee of (gentle Reader) that we have not tied ourselves to an uniformity of phrasing, or to an identity of words, as some peradventure would wish that we had done, because they observe, that some learned men somewhere, have been as exact as they could that way. ... we have on the one side avoided the scrupulosity of the Puritans, who leave the old Ecclesiastical words, and betake them to other, as when they put WASHING for BAPTISM, and CONGREGATION instead of CHURCH: as also on the other side we have shunned the obscurity of the Papists, in their AZIMES, TUNIKE, RATIONAL, HOLOCAUSTS, PRAEPUCE, PASCHE, and a number of such like, whereof their late Translation is full, and that of purpose to darken the sense, that since they must needs translate the Bible, yet by the language thereof, it may be kept from being understood. But we desire that the Scripture may speak like itself, as in the language of Canaan, that it may be understood even of the very vulgar."
WAS KING JAMES A BRITISH-ISRAELITE?
RAPTURE WATCH: It is interesting that one of their reasons offered was that it was “according to our duetie.” Let us look at the conscience of duty being spoken of while considering why certain words were apologetically mistranslated.
4) It must be kept in mind that the King James translators were not free agents, but were under constant direction by King James to hastily provide him with their progress and results for his “allowance and acceptance” as the recognized “principal moouer and Author of the Worke” and to satisfy their humble craving for his approbation (sanction).
“. . .this Worke, which now with all humilitie we present vnto your MAIESTIE. . .your MAIESTIE did neuer desist, to vrge and to excite those to whom it was commended, that the worke might be hastened, and that the businesse might be expedited in so decent a maner. . .we hold it our duety to offer it to your MAIESTIE, (keep in mind this word “duety” for a later point) not onely as to our King and Soueraigne, but as to the principall moouer and Author of the Worke. Humbly crauing of your most Sacred Maiestie, that since things of this quality haue euer bene subiect to the censures of ill meaning and discontented persons, it may receiue approbation and Patronage from so learned and iudicious a Prince as your Highnesse is, who allowance and acceptance of our Labours, shall more honour and incourage vs. . .”6
JESUS IS LORD: These people obviously hold His Majestie and the King James Bible in contempt. They've willingly mis-interpreted the nature of King James oversight. His Majestie was very excited about the project and supported it. How many projects get started only to flop because nobody cares. It is well known that King James was an able theologian and devout Christian. Why wouldn't he be excited about this auspicious undertaking? Just look at the results--almost 400 years old and just as readable today.
WHAT ABOUT THE JACOBUS (UNITE)?
RAPTURE WATCH: 5) The reason for why the ancient pagan British festival of the Celts known as Easter was inserted in the Bible can be laid directly at the feet of the former king of Great Britain. Our attention must then be focused on King James himself to find out if there is perhaps a motive for the mistranslation of certain other words in the Authorised King James Bible, and if any of these words have been altered to serve a hidden agenda.
King James was a devoted proponent of what is known as British Israelism, who claimed the Lord had made him king over Israel. In 1604 he had a gold coin minted called the Unite or Jacobus which demonstrated his beliefs. The belief of this religion is that the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic people are the lost tribes of Israel and the throne of King David is located in the British Isles; the very same throne that Queen Elizabeth II now sits upon.
JESUS IS LORD: Er. . .Jacob is the Latin word for JAMES! The King's writings speak for themselves. I've never read anything but sound Bible exposition in His Majestie's writings.
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: So far, the Rapture Watch report has provided no hard evidence that King James subscribed to this aberrant interpretation of Scripture.
The Unite was a gold piece introduced by proclamation in November 1604, which took its name from the union of England and Scotland under a single king when James became king of "Great Britain." The reverse side of the coin proclaims "Faciam eos in gentem unam" meaning "I will make of them one people." The union of Scotland and England was finally achieved with the Act of Union under Queen Anne in 1707. Although Ezekiel 37:16-22 is engraved on the reverse side of the Unite, it should be obvious that uniting Scotland and Britain was never intended to mean the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy to the nation of Israel.
Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.True British-Israelism, as promoted by the Stewart Clan Home Page, holds that the sticks in Ezekiel's prophecy are the lost tribes of Israel (i.e., all of the Anglo-Saxon nations) which were scattered to the four winds, but will be reunited when Christ returns:"Therefore, in writing the name of Judah on one stick and the name of Joseph on the other, is simply showing the separation or division of God's People, Israel, and that by a miracle, He will rejoin them into one people. Our Father says that when asked about the meaning of this joining, tell them as follows: Verse 20: "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick (the House or people) of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim (whose leader was Ephraim -- at that time), and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah (join them with the House or people of Judah -- the remnant), and make them one stick (one people), and they shall be one (a single nation, as in the beginning) in mine hand." Verse 22 confirms that these two sticks represent people who have been scatterd to the four winds -- but will be reunited when Christ returns; read carefully:RAPTURE WATCH: Also of further interest is the statement from the A.K.J.V. translators in ‘The Epiftle Dedicatorie’ when referring to the king: “. . .the appearance of your MAIESTIE, as of the Sunne in his strength” (see Malachi 4:2 and Revelation 1:16)."22 And I will make them *one nation* (one stick, one people) in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king (Christ) shall be king to them *all* (Shiloh; Whose right the Stone of Destiny represents): and they shall be no more two nations (two sticks), neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:" Can Christ be a King over anything except people? These two sticks being joined are specifically used to remind the descendants of Israel, even today, that they will yet be reunited into one nation -- a single people -- in the original land given to Abraham!" 19.
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: It is unclear what objection Jamma has to this statement of the translators, who were employing a literary device in the form of allegory to describe the righteous administration of their king. Their language recalls King David's magnificent description of a just ruler, whom he likens to the rising sun on a clear day:
The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me,
He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds;
As the tender grass springeth out of the earth by clear shining after rain. II Sam.23:3,4
RAPTURE WATCH: Two mistranslated or altered words of significance in the A.K.J.V. are the words unicorn and the word Zion which is spelled in places with an s instead of a Z. King James oversaw the change in spelling of Zion to sion in what we find are significant places when we are reminded that in The Epiftle Dedicatorie the translators refer to Great Britain as “our Sion”, and when recalling King James’ devotion to British Israelism. The changes to the spelling of Zion to sion are found in Ps. 65:1, Matt. 21:5, John 12:15, Rom. 9:33, 11:26, Heb. 12:22, I Peter 2:6 and Rev. 14:1.
JESUS IS LORD: Once again, this is easily dismissed as a lie when we look at earlier versions. Wicliffe's version came out almost 200 years BEFORE KING JAMES WAS BORN and "Zion" was spelled "Sion" in Matthew 21:5. I did not look up all the verses because it is not necessary. Same thing with Tyndale which was OVER 30 YEARS BEFORE KING JAMES WAS EVEN BORN.
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: The Geneva Bible, published 50 years before the Authorised Version, uses "Sion" in all of the New Testament verses mentioned above. Again, it becomes obvious that the author of the Rapture Watch has not searched out the facts when he maintains that "King James oversaw the change in spelling of Zion to sion in what we find are significant places." The truth is that the word "Sion" which was common usage in the English New Testaments before the A.V.1611.
RAPTURE WATCH: In point number three we shared how the translators defended the liberty they claim for altering such words as Easter and sion, but what about the insertion of the word unicorn which is translated by the Jews as a wild ox? “Will the wild-ox be willing to serve thee? Or will he abide by the crib? Canst thou bind the wild-ox with his band in the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee? Job 39:9-10.7
The Jews have never taught on unicorns. Why did the A.K.J.V. introduce a creature unknown to be indigenous to the earth? Why didn’t Jesus enlighten the Hebrew’s understanding of this passage at His first coming since the idea of a unicorn is so far removed from what the Jews understood the creature to be? The translators of the A.K.J.V. Bible in their opening address to us again appear to have made an excuse for this misrepresentation which is accountable to King James. The unjustified identification of this creature is made acceptable by categorizing it as an issue unimportant to doctrine of salvation.
JESUS IS LORD: First of all the following explanation by the translators is very reasonable. [See information on unicorns below.]
“. . .it hath pleased God in his diuine prouidence, heere and there to scatter wordes and sentences of that difficultie and doubtfulnesse, not in doctrinal points that concerns saluation. . .but in matters of lesse moment, that fearefulnesse would better beseeme vu then confidence, and if we will resolue, to resolue vpon modestie with S. Augustine. . .it is better to make doubt of those things which are secret, then to striue about those things that are vncertain. There be many words in the Scriptures, which be neuer found there but once. . .so that we cannot be holpen by conference of places. Againe, there be many rare names of certaine birds, beasts and precious stones, &c. concerning the Hebrewes themselues are so diuided among themselues for judgement, that they may seeme to haue defined this or that, rather because they would say something, the because they were sure of that which they said, as S. Hierome somewhere saith of the Septuagint. Now in such a case, doth not a margine do well to admonish the Reader to seeke further, and not to conclude or dogmatize vpon this or that peremptorily?”8
RAPTURE WATCH: The translators appear to have offered up a reasonable explanation for using the term “unicorn”, but still no explanation is available for why they chose a mythical creature. It is to their honor that inspite of their dangerous situation under the king they instructed people to seek further and not dogmatize in such cases. Interestingly enough, this is exactly what is being condemned by some supporters of the King James translators who they believe were inerrant and as divinely led as the original apostles.
JESUS IS LORD: "Dangerous situation?" King James was well known for loving peace and hating violence. He fought no wars during his reign and he even tried to live peaceably with the Catholic recusants in his kingdom! [See Extracts On Peace from King James accession speech to Parliament, 19 March 1603.] 20. Was King James an imperial tyrant of whom the translators were afraid? Consider the sincerity of their Dedicatory Epistle and the following extracts On Kingship from King James accession speech to Parliament:
"I do acknowledge, that the special and greatest point of difference that is between a rightful king and an usurping tyrant is in this: That whereas the proud and ambitious tyrant does think his kingdom and people are only ordained for satisfaction of his desires and unreasonable appetites; The righteous and just king does by the contrary acknowledge himself to be ordained for the procuring of the wealth and prosperity of his people, and that his greatest and principal worldly felicity must consist in their prosperity. If you be rich I cannot be poor: if you be happy I cannot but be fortunate: and I protest that your welfare shall ever be my greatest care and contentment: and that I am a servant it is most true, that as I am Head and Governor of all the people in my Dominion who are my natural vassals and subjects, considering them in numbers and distinct ranks; So if we will take the whole people as one body and mass, then as the head is ordained for the body, and not the body for the head; so must a righteous king know himself to be ordained for his people, and not his people for him." 21.Furthermore, in A Trew Law of Free Monarchies (Or the Reciprock and Mutual Duetie Betwixt a Free King, and his Naturall Subjects, c.1597), King James stated that he conducted his administration in the fear of the Lord, knowing that he would give account to God for his administration of justice: ". . .for certainly a King that governs not by his law can neither be countable to God for his administration nor have a happy and established reign. For albeit it be true, that I have at length proved, that the King is above the law as both the author and giver of strength thereto, yet a good King will not only delight to rule his subjects by the law, but even will conform himself in his own actions thereunto; always keeping that ground, that the health of the commonwealth be his chief law." 22.RAPTURE WATCH: We believe the answer for King James’ introduction of the mythological unicorn into the Scriptures is once again found in the king’s commitment to British Israelism.
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: "We believe. . .," they say -- but their accusation is without documentation. [See further refutation of the charge of British-Israelism at end of report.]
RAPTURE WATCH: King James Charles Stuart I & IV (Scotland’s Royal House of Stuart were long known as the ‘House of Unicorns’ and to this very day the “Unicorn” along with the “Davidic Lion of Judah” are incorporated in the Royal Arms Great Seal of Scotland and the British Coat of Arms--further information is available at: http://www.rev.org/bi.htm), had input and control over the work--this may explain why the mythological creature called the unicorn was introduced into the Scriptures over the Jewish knowledge of it being a wild ox.
“God who brought him forth out of Egypt is for him like the lofty horns of the wild-ox (unicorn in the KJV); He shall eat up the nations that are his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces, and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall ruse him up? Blessed be every one that blesseth thee, and cursed be every one that curseth thee. Numbers 24:8-9.9
JESUS IS LORD: Er. . .he was the VI of Scotland, not the IV.
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: Regarding the unicorn, the word is found in the Geneva Bible which was translated 50 years before the Authorised Version. The unicorn is not a mythical creature, but there were common English usages of the word "unicorn" in the 19th century and probably in Elizabethan era also. The 1828 Webster's Dictionary does not even mention a mythical creature, but defines unicorns as varieties of animals:
Unicorn, n. [L. unicornis; unus, one, and cornu, horn.]1. An animal with one horn: the monoceros. This name is often applied to the rhinoceros.The earlier English Bibles -- Wycliffe's, Tyndale's, Coverdale's, Matthew's, Great, Taverner's, Geneva, and Bishops' -- ALL used the word "unicorn" in Deuteronomy 33:17. The Geneva Bible uses "unicorn" in the other eight verses where it is found in the 1611 AV, and most likely the other Bibles did also. There is one revealing reference to unicorns in Psalm 22:19-22. This appears to be a prophecy of Christ's death at the hands of the Pharisees, who were the teachers of oral traditions which made the Word of God of none effect.
2. The sea unicorn is a fish of the whale kind, called narwal, ramarkable for a horn growing out at its nose.
3. A fowl. Fossil unicorn, or fossil unicorn's horn, a substance used in medicine, a terrene crustaceous spar. 23.It appears entirely reasonable that David was speaking prophetically of the Pharisaic "lions" and "unicorns" as the Kabbalists who were the forefathers of the Merovingians -- the House of the Unicorns who would produce the Antichrist. This translation alone would disprove that King James was a British-Israelite paying homage to the mythical beast symbolic of the House of Unicorns."But you, O Lord, do not withdraw your help from me: look towards my defense.
Rescue my soul, O Lord, from the spear, my only soul from the hand of the dog.
Save me from the lion's mouth, and my lowliness from the unicorn's horns".
The Rapture Watch reference to the House of Unicorns is based upon Laurence Gardner's Bloodline of the Holy Grail, The Hidden Lineage of Jesus, which is a flawed attempt to prove that the Scottish Stewarts are the royal Stuart bloodline, rather than pretenders to the British throne. According to Gardner, the unicorn is a mythological beast typifying the virile Christ. An entire chapter of this book is devoted to "The House of the Unicorns," which is purported to be the Sang Raal or sacred bloodline of Jesus Christ, whose bride was Mary Magdalene, here referred to as the Sacred Prostitute.
"We have already seen that the 'Horn' of the Unicorn was equivalent to the 'Blade' in Grail lore, and both were represented by the male symbol L. Along with the Davidic Lion of Judah and the Franco-Judaic fleur-de-lys, the Desposynic Unicorn was incorporated in the Royal Arms of Scotland. The Unicorn was considered to correspond to the virile Jesus, and was related to the anointing (Messianic) imagery of Psalm (sacred song) 92:10. The mystic beast was among the foremost symbols of the Albigensian Cathars, who were so hideously persecuted by the Inquisition. In medieval legend the Unicorn was always associated with fertility and healing, and Renaissance tapestries portray his head in the lap of the Bride. This alludes to the ancient ritual text for the Sacred Marriage (the Hieros Gamos), 'The king goes with lifted head to the holy lap,' as originally expressed in the poetic rite of old Sumerian Mesopotamia-the land of Noah and Abraham." 24.Thus far the Rapture Watch has presented not one statement from the writings of King James or other source document which proves his thesis of "the king's commitment to British Israelism." This is not only poor scholarship but it is bearing false witness. If King James belonged to the House of Unicorns and promoted its errant theology -- that the horn of the unicorn represented the virile Christ, the male symbol of fertility in a Sacred Marriage with the Sacred Prostitute, Mary Magdalene -- then why does not mention of this fundamental doctrine of the Celtic Church appear in the king's writings, which are prolific?RAPTURE WATCH: In summary what needs to be emphasized is the foremost message the King James translators were conveying within their discreet revelation about the king’s uncontestable control over their efforts. And that is that the Word of God is fully available to all in the manuscripts they were translating out of and that there are justified reasons for students of the Scriptures to engage in comparative studies in order to gain greater understanding of these preserved documents.
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: See first section: Are All Translations Equal?
RAPTURE WATCH: It should be noted that in the original Authorized 1611 King James Version the Apocrypha was included. If the Authorized King James Version was divinely inspired, then how accountable are those who took it upon themselves to remove the Apocrypha, and why do King James purists not demand its reinstatement?
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: The translators did not believe the Apocrypha was inspired. Although the Authorized Version of 1611 contained the Apocrypha, so did the English Bibles which preceded it:
Tyndale's Bible (1525 A.D.) places them by themselves as "uninspired."
Coverdale's Bible (1535 A.D.) does likewise, and with the following title:
"Apocrifa. The bokes & treatises which amonge the Fathers of old are not rekened to be of authorite with the other bokes of the Byble, neither are the foude in the Canon of the Hebrews." (1)Matthew's Bible (1537 A.D.) and Taverner's Bible (1539 A.D.) place the Apocrypha between the Testaments.
Apocryphal books were omitted from the AV in 1629 and by 1827 the Apocrypha was excluded permanently. Landmarks of English Bible: Manuscript Evidence, by Robert Sargent, provides additional information about the Apocrypha with the following explanation pertaining to its inclusion in the Reformation Bibles: "Many of the early English versions contained the Apocrypha for two basic reasons - because of the general acceptance of the Apocrypha during the Dark Ages, and/or (in case of the Authorized, King James Version) for Scriptural analysis. In each case, the Apocrypha were delineated either in an appendix and/or with an explanation showing them to be non-canonical." 26.The Authorized, King James Version (1611), like the Great Bible, (1539 A.D.), the Geneva Bible (1560 A.D.) and the Bishop's Bible (1568 A.D.) before it, places them in an appendix. 25.
In the Basilicon Doron, published in 1598, King James advised his son to avoid these books as common fare compared to the precious pearl of the inspired canon: "As to the Apocriphe bookes, I omit them because I am no Papist (as I said before) & indeed some of them are as like the dietement of the Spirite of God, as an Egge is to an Oyster." These sentiments of King James were published years before thought was ever given to translation of the Authorised Version. 27.
RAPTURE WATCH: The translators went to great measures to make it clearly understood that they made no claim to having produced an inerrant translation delivered by an infallible revelation from God. What man would know this fact better than themselves?
JESUS IS LORD: Well, when John the Baptist was asked if he was Elias, he said "No" but Jesus tells us he was! Humble people don't seek to exalt themselves. They are so low to the ground they can't conceive that they are doing such a marvelous thing.
RAPTURE WATCH: With total confidence before the Word of God Jesus Christ, we will not change even one word of the Scriptures God has preserved for us in the majority manuscripts in order to conform to any error, oversight or direct act of subterfuge found in any Bible translation, and are in agreement with the wisdom shared by the translators of the King James Bible. . .” To have the translations of the Bible maturely considered of and examined. . .the same will shine as gold more brightly, being rubbed and polished,”10
We believe it to be an unwise practice, and we will not entertain circular arguments by any professed Bible believer who when desiring to take a position on a particular word translation fails to research for themselves first.
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: Strong words for a false witness who obviously failed to research source documents on his subject.
Your brother and friend in Christ,
Jamma
The Daemonologie of King James VI & IWhen false statements in the Rapture Watch were recently challenged, the first report was followed with yet another which boldly asserted, again without factual evidence, "...when King James secured a place for Easter within the Bible, this Celtic king of Great Britain soundly established the Celtic religion above Rome." [See Why No Easter in Acts?]
RAPTURE WATCH: "When investigating King James’ motive for having the pagan holiday of Easter supplant God’s Feast of Passover in Acts 12:4, we need to realize that Easter is of great significance to the Celtic religion. When Roman missionaries vied with Celtic missionaries for supremacy at the Synod of Whitby the date of Easter became an issue for proving authority since the date of Easter was in dispute between the two apostate churches. It was at Whitby in 664 that Rome gained her first doctrinal victory over the Celtic Church regarding five major issues which included the date for celebrating Easter. By King James’ act of subterfuge (when he secured a place for Easter within the Bible) this Celtic king of Great Britain soundly established the Celtic religion above Rome."
WATCH UNTO PRAYER: To state that King James was really a member of the pagan Celtic, rather than the Anglican Church is a brazen allegation that James believed himself to be of the Merovingian dynasty or divine bloodline of Jesus Christ. Such presumption is also found in New Age books like Laurence Gardner's Bloodline of the Holy Grail, which maintains that the Stuart dynasty of England helped to establish in Great Britain the Orders of the Rose Croix and Freemasonry.
Gardner also declares, without a note of documentation, that Rosicrucian Grand Master "Robert Fludd assisted with the English translation of the King James (Authorised Version) of the Bible." [pp. 311-12]
This fallacy was originally propagated through Manly P. Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic, & Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy. William T. Smedley writes. 'It will eventually be proved that the whole scheme of the Authorized Version of the Bible was Francis Bacon's.'" 28.
Dennis Cuddy takes up the torch in his book, Dawning of the New Age New World Order: "[John] Dee's disciple, Robert Fludd, was the chief proponent of Rosicrucianism in England, and Fludd along with Sir Francis Bacon and others were commissioned by King James I,. . .to produce an English translation of the Holy Bible." 29. Dr. Cuddy's source for his information is Manly P. Hall, hardly a reliable source. This reference is omitted in his book but made available to researchers, who proceed to circulate the Masonic falsehood as fact.
These allegations have transitioned into a full-blown assault on King James and the 1611 KJV by David Bay of Cutting Edge Ministries. Our exposure and refutation of this attack on the KJV is available on audio. See the Watch Unto Prayer homepage.
The Rosicrucians must exploit the Stuart prestige to make credible their pretense that "Stewart" = the Stuart bloodline, and their claim to authorship of the 1611 A.V. is intended to give theological respectability to their spiritually bankrupt belief system. However, Gardner is careful to lay the charge of consorting with the Rosicrucians -- not on King James -- but upon his son and grandson:
"In Britain, and during their later exile, the Stuart kings were at the very forefront of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, which was founded on the most ancient of all arcane knowledge and Universal Law. Their Breton heritage was closely allied to the noble families of Boulogne and Jerusalem, and their background was largely Templar-inspired. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that it was under Charles I and Charles II (who posed such a problem to the narrow-minded Puritans and the Anglican Church) that the Invisible College of the Royal Society emerged - a college that within a brief period of Stuart patronage revealed some of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time." 30.At this point, a brief overview of the Stuart period is in order. Under the Tudor King Henry VIII, England formally severed allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church. Queen Elizabeth I, his daughter, established the Church of England around 1570 and, according to Rosicrucian literature, also formally employed the Order of the Garter "as a means of drawing noblemen together in common service to the crown." 31.The virgin Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 and James VI of Scotland (son of Elizabeth's cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots who was beheaded) became King James I of England. Upon James' accession to the throne, England and Scotland were united. Also, the king received a petition signed by 1,000 Puritan clergymen for a new translation of the Bible, as the Translators' Preface explains:
". . .for the very Historical truth is, that upon the importunate petitions of the Puritans, at his Majesty's coming to this Crown, the Conference at Hampton Court having been appointed for hearing their complaints: when by force of reason they were put from other grounds, they had recourse at the last, to this shift, that they could not with good conscience subscribe to the Communion book, since it maintained the Bible as it was there translated, which was as they said, a most corrupted translation."It seems that the Authorised Version was the result of conflict between the Episcopalians and the Puritans:"King James was confronted with two religious parties - the Episcopalians and the Puritans - each seeking to dominate the course of the English reformation. Though raised in Presbyterian Scotland, James preferred the episcopal notion of the 'divine right of kings,' a dogma based on Scripture such as Proverbs 16:10. ('No bishop - no king!') For this reason he despised the Geneva Bible with its republican notes. (e.g., a note at Exodus 1:19 commended the Hebrew midwives for their disobedience to Pharaoh.) But it was this conflict between the two religious parties which Providentially led to the publication of the King James Version." 32.Proverbs 16:10 states: "A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment." The following extracts from King James' speech to Parliament in 1609 delineate the monarch's position On the Divine Right of Kings. These sentiments are expressed also in Scripture, which declares that the appointment and authority of rulers are derived directly from God [Romans 13:1, I Peter 2:13,14,17, Titus 3:1]. As noted previously, King James understood well that, athough a king may rule with virtually unlimited power on earth, he will receive a stricter judgement from God for his administration of justice:"The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth . . . Kings are justly called Gods, for that they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power upon earth. For if you will consider the attributes to God, you shall see how they agree in the person of a king. God has power to create, or destroy, make, or unmake at his pleasure, to give life, or send death, to judge all, and to be judged nor accountable to none: to raise low things, and to make high things low at his pleasure, and to God are both soul and body due. And the like power have Kings; they make and unmake their subjects: they have power of raising, and casting down: of life, and of death: judges over all their subjects, and in all causes, and yet accountable to none but God only.According to Frances Yates, author of The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, King James I of England, who succeeded the childless Queen Elizabeth in 1603, participated in the investiture of his future son-in-law, Frederick, with the Order of the Garter. After their wedding, Frederick and the daughter of King James, Elizabeth II, returned to Heidelberg, Germany. There Frederick became associated with the Protestant League, which was infiltrated by the Rosicrucians in order to more effectively defeat their common enemy, the Hapsburg/Roman Catholic alliance. In 1619, King James opposed the occupation of Bohemia by the Protestant League which, led by his son-in-law Frederick, overthrew Catholic/Hapsburg King Ferdinand. According to Yates, James, ever the peacemaker, acted for political reasons; however, there is evidence that the king recognized the Rosicrucian foothold within the Protestant League."Now in these our times we are to distinguish between the state of kings in their first original, and between the state of kings and monarchs, that do at this time govern in civil kingdoms . . . In the first original of kings, whereof some had their beginning by conquest, and some by election of the people, their wills at that time served for law; Yet how soon kingdoms began to be settled in civility and policy, then did kings set down their minds by laws . . . And I am sure to go to my grave with that reputation and comfort, that never king was in all his time more careful to have his laws duly observed, and himself to govern thereafter, than I.
"I conclude then this point touching the power of kings, with this axiom of divinity, that as to dispute what God may do, is blasphemy . . . so is it sedition in subjects, to dispute what a king may do in the height of his power: But just kings will ever be willing to declare what they will do, if they will not incur the curse of God. I will not be content that my power be disputed upon: but I shall ever be willing to make the reason appear of all my doings, and rule my actions according to my laws . . . Therefore all kings that are not tyrants, or perjured, will be glad to bound themselves within the limits of their laws; and they that persuade them the contrary, are vipers, and pests, both against them and the Commonwealth." 33.
While revisionist historians and opponents of the Authorised Version are overly eager to include King James I among the Stuart affiliates and patrons of the Rose Croix, Frances Yates makes clear that King James was no friend of the leading occultists of his day -- Rosicrucian Grand Master Francis Bacon and John Dee, whose Monas Hieroglyphica had influenced the Rosicrucian Manifestos and ultimately generated the Rosicrucian movement in England. Yates, the most respected historian of The Rosicrucian Enlightenment,wrote of James' abhorrence of all manner of witchcraft and its practitioners, such as Dee and Bacon:
"There has never, I think, been suggested that James's doubtful attitude towards Baconian science might be connected with his very deep interest in, and dread of, magic and witchcraft. These subjects had a fascination for him which was tied up with neuroses about some experiences in his early life. In his Demonology (1597) James advocated the death penalty for all witches, though he urges care in the examination of cases. The subject was for him a most serious one, a branch of theology. Obviously James was not the right person to examine the - always rather difficult - problem of when Renaissance Magia and Cabala were valuable movements, leading to science, and when they verged on sorcery, the problem of defining the differences between good magic and bad magic. James was not interested in science and would react with fear from any sort of magic."It is not surprising that when old John Dee appealed to James for help in clearing his reputation from charges of conjuring devils, James would have nothing to do with him. Dee's fruitless appeal to James was made in June 1604. The old man to whose learning the Elizabethan age was so infinitely indebted was disgraced in the reign of James and died in great poverty in 1608. Bacon must have taken good note of James's attitude to Dee, and he must also have noted that survivors from the Elizabethan age of mathematics and magic, of navigational boldness and anti-Spanish exploits, were not sure of encouragement under James as they had been under Elizabeth." 34.William T. Still, author of New World Order: Ancient Plan of Secret Societies, sheds some light on another famous character and member of the Baconian secret society whose reputation for knightly chivalry is legendary:"British exploration in America began in 1585 when Sir Walter Raleigh, an adventuring British nobleman, mounted an expedition to colonize Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. The twenty-four year-old Raleigh was already a member of a secret society which would later become known as the Baconian circle. This circle, of course, believed that America was to be the glittering 'New Atlantis' promised for centuries by secret societies." 35.The authors of Sir Walter Raleigh’s Speech from the Scaffold relate his role in the American enterprise:"Hugh de Selincourt, one of Raleigh’s many biographers, has called him ‘the most romantic figure of the most romantic age in the annals of English history.’ It is hard to dispute that characterization. David Quinn, another biographer of Raleigh, calls him ‘a representative figure, an originating rather than dominating one . . . in the history of the beginning of British overseas enterprise.’ An originator of such an empire places Raleigh as a foundation stone in what he hoped would become ‘an English nation’ in America." 36.However, the Encyclopedia Britannica records Raleigh's treason and eventual demise under King James -- a clear indication that things were not going well between James and the Baconian Circle."In 1603, he and others were accused of plotting to dethrone the king. . . In 1616, he was released but not pardoned. Accused of treason by. . . James I, he was imprisoned in the tower of London and eventually put to death. . ." [He was beheaded in 1618.] 37.
The author of the Rapture Watch would find no support in the works of King James for the superstitious practices of the Celtic or any other pagan religion. To the contrary, when James wrote the Basilicon Doron [the "Kingly Gift"], a book to instruct his young son, Prince Henry, about the conduct of a Christian king, he warned about heresies and superstition, which are the main ingredients of the Celtic religion:
"Above all then (my Sonne) labour, to keepe sounde this conscience which manie prattle of, but over-fewe feele: especiallye be carefull to keepe it free from two diseases, which it useth oft to bee infected with, to witte, Leaprosie, and Superstition: the former is the mother of Atheisme: the other of Heresies. . .And for superstition, the word it selfe is plaine ynough, being vocabulum artis. . .And for keeping your conscience sound from that siknes of Superstition, which is called Morbus animi, yee muste neither laye the safetie of your conscience upon the credit of your owne conceits, nor yet of other mens humours, how great Doctors of Divinity that ever they be: but ye must only ground it upon the express Scripture: for conscience not grounded upon sure knowledge, is either an ignorant fantasie, or an arrogante glaikerie. Beware therefore in this case with two extreamities: the' one, to beleeve (with the Papistes) The Churches authoritie, better nor your own knowledge: th' other, to leane (with the Anabaptists) to your own conceites & dreamed revelations." 38.A year before the Basilicon Doron, in 1597, King James VI had authored another book titled The Daemonologie, to denounce in no uncertain terms and instruct his Scottish subjects concerning the rampant witchcraft of that era, whose practitioners he then prosecuted. King James set forth his purpose in the Preface:"The fearefull aboundinge at this time in this countrie, of these detestable slaves of the Devill, the Witches or enchanters, hath moved me (beloved reader) to dispatch in post, this following treatise of mine, not in any way (as I protest) to serve for a shew of my learning and ingine, but onely (mooved of conscience) to preasse thereby, so farre as I can, to resolve the doubting harts of many; both that such assaultes of Sathan are most certainly practized, and that the instrumentes thereof, merits most severely to be punished: against the damnable opinions of two principally in our age, whereof the one called SCOT an Englishman, is not ashamed in publike print to deny, that ther can be such a thing as Witch-craft: and so mainteines the old error of the Sadducees, in denying of spirits. The other called WIERUS, a German Phisition, sets out a publick apologie for all these crafts-folks, wherby, procuring for their impunitie, he plainely bewrayes himselfe to have bene one of that profession." 39.The full text of The Daemonologie is available here. In 1996, the book was reprinted by Godolphin House, the publishing house of the School of Wicca and was sold at Amazon Books, Border's and other bookstores for $6. [ISBN #0-9630657-9-3]. At present, it is only sold through Godolphin House Publishing. The Daemonologie vindicates the character of King James and should silence those who irresponsibly claim that he was an occultist. On the back cover, the Wiccans explained their reason for publishing a book which they despise:"This book was used by many as an excuse to torture, maim and kill many thousands of women. James became convinced at the Danish court that Witchcraft was real and that the central source of the Witch's power was the demonic pact. James focused attention on Witchcraft, because his underlying fear was that magical means might be used to end his life as the divinely ordained king of Scotland."After his return from the Continent in 1590, he became intensely interested in sorcery and Witchcraft trials and particularly the trial of his political enemy, Bothwell (1590-1591). Witches were vigorously hunted and persecuted - to such an extent that some villages had no females left in them. The period ends with the publication of this Daemonologie in 1597. Because of the impact of the Daemonologie on the ruling classes, more trials were now held with the Kings' approval, and very many more convictions were obtained.
"This book should therefore be in every true Witch's library at the very least as a monument to those who died." 40.
BEARING FALSE WITNESS
A Chronology of American & English Bible RevisionThe author of Rapture Watch is not alone in bearing false witness against King James VI & I who, according to all reliable evidence, was an honourable Christian statesman to whom the Church and the world owe a considerable debt. It is astonishing to us that the promotion of unsubstantiated rumors concerning King James and the A.V. translators frequently comes from sources that would be loath to publish such shoddy research in any other field of study. To what perverseness can be ascribed their blatant denial and suppression of prima facie evidence pertaining to King James, and preference of publishing vicious rumors instead -- without a footnote of solid documentation? The A.V. translators would say. . . "This seemeth to argue a bad cause, or a bad conscience, or both." 41.
To those Christians who carelessly circulate their slander, we admonish you to diligently search out the facts of a man's life and work or you will be found bearing false witness -- a sin for which you will surely suffer loss of rewards when called to account at the judgment seat of Christ. We hope that those reading these words, if they apply, will receive them in the spirit of love in which they are offered. The truth ought never offend any child of God, but rather motivate him to reassess his position and to furnish him with the facts needed to correct it.
Finally, we refer all who love the Word of God to examine the evidence pertaining to the life and works of His Majestie King James VI & I, who authorized the translation of the Bible which has evangelized the lost and been spiritual nourishment to many generations of Christians who have gone before us to glory. We believe that the recommended website deserves an award of excellence for reflecting the order and dignity that is worthy of its exalted subject--which is, in the final analysis, the Word of God. Nor are the authors of His Majestie King James VI & I Page conferring undue praise on men; rather they are equipping the saints to contend for the faith of Jesus Christ. And what saith the Scriptures?
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Rom.13:7Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. I Pet.2:17
The Ninteenth Century Occult Revival
Rapture Watch NOTES
1. The Translators To
The Reader, The Holy Bible 1611 Edition King James Version, 1st Edition
of the Authorized Version.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. W.E.Vine, Expository
Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 14.
5. Ibid., p. 166.
6. The Epiftle
Dedicatorie, The Holy Bible 1611 Edition King James Version, 1st Edition
of the Authorized Version.
7. The Masoretic
Text, The Jewish Publication Society.
8. The Translators
To The Reader, The Holy Bible 1611 Edition King James Version, 1st Edition
of the Authorized Version.
9. The Masoretic
Text, The Jewish Publication Society.
10. The Translators To The
Reader, The Holy Bible 1611 Edition King James Version, 1st Edition of
the Authorized Version.
Watch Unto Prayer ENDNOTES
1. W.H. Salter, The Society For Psychical Research,
An Outline of it's History, London, 1948, pp. 5, 6.
2. Arthur Hort, Life and Letters of Fenton
John Anthony Hort, Vol. I, Macmillan & Co., 1896, pp.170-172.
3. Thomas Armitage, D.D., L.L.D., A History
of the Baptists: Traced by their Vital Prinicples and Practices, from the
Time of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to the Year 1886, NY: Bryan,
Taylor, & Co., Chicago: Morningside Publishing Co., 1887, pp. 908-9.
4. David S. Schaff, The Life of Philip Schaff,
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1897, 362-3ff.
5. Ibid., pp. 362-3ff.
6. Klaus Penzel, Philip Schaff: Historian
and Ambassador of the Universal Church, Mercer University Press, Macon
GA, 1991, p. 260-61.
7. Ibid., p. 252ff.
8. Ibid., p. 154.
9. Ibid., p. LV.
10. Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas, The
Hiram Key: Pharoahs, Freemasons & Secret Scrolls of Jesus, Element
Books, 1996, p. 178.
11. Herbert G. Dorsey, The
Historical Influence of International Banking, "World Revolution and
World War": http://www.freeyellow.com/members2/moneyfacts/page3.html
"The serious historian will find that the Civil War was largely stirred up by Rothschild's illuminati agents in the United States. One of these prominant Illuminati Orders was the secret "Order of Skull & Bones", Chapter 322, founded at Yale University in 1833 by William Huntington Russell and Alphonso Taft. The Order was incorporated as the Russell Trust in 1856. William Russell became a member of the Connecticut State Legislature in 1846 and a General in Connecticut National Guard in 1862. Alphonso Taft became Secretary of War in the Grant Administration in 1876, U.S. Attorney General in 1876 and U.S. Ambassador to Russia in 1884. Alphonso Taft's son later became Chief Justice and United States President. One researcher claims that this secret order originated in Germany about the time the Bavarian Illuminati was outlawed in 1786 by the Bavarian Elector. William Russell brought the Secret order to Yale from his student days in Germany in 1831 to 1832. As an ancient tradition the gravestones of Master Masons would have a skull and crossbones engraved on them. The name of this secret society probably is derived from this tradtradition. Yale is the only University with societies open exclusively to seniors. Only 15 Junior Class members are selected to be initiated during commencement week each year. The candidates are always male white Protestant and usually from wealthy and powerful families, often their fathers were also members of the Order. During the Senior Year, members are called "Knights", then they become "Patriarchs" for life. A number of "Skull and Bones" Patriarchs were to become leaders in the Sucessionist movements of various Southern States. Thus, setting the stage for events leading up to the Civil War. The Rothschild Banks loaned money to both sides during the war. This strategy greatly weakened our nation, but failed with the Union victory."
12. Antony Sutton, America's Secret Establishment:
Introduction to the Order of Skull and Bones, Liberty House Press,
1986, p. 92.
13. Ibid., p. 93.
14. The Cyber Hymnal, http://tch.simplenet.com/bio/d/w/dwight_t.htm
15. Paul Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More:
Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture, Cambridge, Mass., Belknap
Press of Harvard University Press, 1992, pp. 72-3.
16. America's Secret Establishment, p.
98.
17. Trinitarian Bible Society, Quarterly Record,
Issue #470, Jan.-Mar. 1980
18. Merrill F. Unger, New
Unger's Bible Dictionary, Ed., R.K. Harrison, Moody Press, 1957, 1988.
19. Stewart Clan Home Page: http://associate.com/stewart/stone_o_scone.html
20. His Majestie King James VI & I Page,
On Peace and the Uniting of England & Scotland, http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kjpeace.htm
21. His Majestie King James VI & I Page,
On Kingship, http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kjkingsh.htm
22. His Majestie King James VI & I Page, A
Trew Law of Free Monarchies Or the Reciprock and Mutual Duetie Betwixt
a Free King, and his Naturall Subjects, c.1597, http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kjtrew2.htm
23. Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the
English Language, G & C Merriam Co., 1828.
24. Laurence Gardner, Bloodline of the Holy
Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed, Element Books, 1996, p.
324.
25. Robert J. Sargent, Landmarks of English
Bible: Manuscript Evidence, Bible Baptist Church Pub., pp. 73-4.
26. Ibid., p. 73.
27. His Majestie King James VI & I Page, Basilicon
Doron, http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/basilico.htm
28. Manly Palmer Hall, The Secret Teachings
of All Ages, Los Angeles, CA: The Philosophical Research Society, 1977,
p. clxvi.
29. Dennis Laurence Cuddy, Now is the Dawning
of the New Age New World Order, Oklahoma City, OK: Hearthstone Publishing
Ltd., 1991, p. 11.
30. Bloodline of the Holy Grail, p. 324.
31. Frances Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment,
Routledge, 1972, p. 308.
31. Landmarks of English Bible: Manuscript
Evidence, p. 208.
33. His Majestie King James VI & I Page,
On the Divine Right of Kings, http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kjdivine.htm
34. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, pp.
123-4.
35. William T. Still, New World Order: Ancient
Plan of Secret Societies, Huntington House Pub., 1990, p. 50.
36. The James Bell Ford Library, "Sir Walter
Raleigh’s Speech from the Scaffold", translation of 1619 Dutch Edition,
and Comparison with English Texts by John Parker and Carol A. Johnson, http://www.bell.lib.umn.edu/ral_form.html
37. Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., pp. 913-14.
38. His Majestie King James VI & I Page, Basilicon
Doron, http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/basilico.htm
39. His Majestie King James VI & I Page, Daemonologie, http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kjdaemon.htm
40. King James' Daemonologie, Godolphin
House, 1597, 1996, back cover.
41. His Majestie
King James VI & I Page: The Translators to the Reader:http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/pref1611.htm
