King James Only!!!

This is just a quick vent, not an exposition:

I have never actually been exposed to a clear, concise, rational argument of why certain men and women feel that the King James Bible is the only true Bible. And last night was no exception. I met a man in Santa Monica who has been a Christian for about 55 years. A friend and I began a conversation with him - just a regular "Nice to meet you" conversation. But then he made a negative comment about my pastor, to which I replied, "John MacArthur is my pastor." I wasn't defensive in my tone at all. I am used to hearing people who misunderstand other people make quick judgments. I was more curious about his reservations towards MacArthur. His answer was that "MacArthur called Erasmus (Desiderius) a humanist."

This was the catapult to the rest of the conversation, the KJV only conversation. Before I continue I must explain something. The word "humanist" as used in regard to Erasmus is not a pejorative term. Today humanism is generally understood as secular humanism, which is just another stream to the fountain of methodological naturalism. That's not the type of humanist that Erasmus was - but he was most definitely a humanist. As a matter of fact, Erasmus was called by his contemporaries, "The Prince of Humanists." Here is a definition from Wikipedia:

Renaissance humanists believed that the liberal arts (art, music, grammar, rhetoric, oratory, history, poetry, using classical texts, and the studies of all of the above) should be practiced by all levels of "richness". They also approved of self, human worth and individual dignity.

So, to make a really long story short(er), I will sum up quickly. Erasmus made a translation (actually 5 editions of his translation) of the Bible into Greek. And the KJV translators relied heavily upon the texts (the "Byzantine" texts) that would become known as the textus receptus (Eramsus' Greek translation). So if anyone were to insult Erasmus, he or she would be insulting the King James Bible.

Back to last night; since Larry (the KJV only gentleman) misunderstood the meaning of the word "humanist" he rushed to a quick judgment of Erasmus being called a humanist. That was the basis of his argument against Dr. MacArthur - a faulty argument.

So with all that said, here is the most shocking part of our conversation. After insulting MacArthur, Nestle, and Wescott and Hort he made the most shocking comment I have ever heard come out of a "student of Scripture's" mouth:

The King James Bible corrects any Greek translation of the Bible.

Granted, I am quoting what he said out of memory. But I am in no way misinterpreting what he said and meant.

I understand if someone has a translational preference. I like the King James Bible. It's a good translation. But it is in no way more authoritative than the Greek - the original language.

I really have no summation to this post. I am going to leave it open-ended so that more can be added at another time. But I will say, once again, that people need to think clearly, analytically, and thoroughly through their ideas so a faulty conclusion based on faulty reasoning is avoided.