Download the Course Syllabus as a PDF file Download the Syllabus as a Word doc Note: The PDF files that are not part of the syllabus proper, but are in the appendices, can be found at the Bibliology page of this website.
Session #1: Course Overview; the spectrum of positions on the preservation of Scripture and Bible texts and versions; and the Bible’s Teaching on its own Inspiration and Preservation: Verbal, plenary inspiration and verbal, plenary preservation.
View this lecture on Youtube here.
Session #2: Scripture’s teaching on its own preservation continued
View this lecture on Youtube here.
Session #3: Scripture’s teaching on its own preservation continued and objections to verbal, plenary preservation examined and refuted
Session #4: Scripture’s teaching on its own preservation and objections to verbal, plenary preservation examined and refuted
Session #5: Does it make a difference? The textual differences between the KJV/TR, the critical text, and the Hodges-Farstad text-type examined
Homework: Modern Bibles: The Dark Secret, Jack Moorman.
Session #6: God’s preservation of the Old Testament Hebrew text and ancient versions
Homework: Forever Settled, Jack Moorman
Session #7: God’s preservation of the Old Testament text and the debate over the inspiration of the Hebrew vowel points
Session #8: The debate over the inspiration of the Hebrew vowel points and a Scriptural and historical defense of their inspiration
Session #9: God’s preservation of the New Testament text: The types of documents
Session #10: God’s preservation of the New Testament text: The Biblical view of textual transmission and the unbelieving view
Session #11: Westcott, Hort, and other pioneers of the unbelieving view: their theories and beliefs
Session #12: The critical view of the transmission of Scripture and the believing view of the preservation of the Textus Receptus: analysis and critique
Session #13: The critical view of the transmission of Scripture and the believing view of the preservation of the Textus Receptus: analysis and critique
Session #14: The Baptist and conservative Protestant view of the preservation of Scripture and the Textus Receptus in the Reformation and Post-Reformation era
Session #15: A history of the English Bible: from Wycliff to the Authorized Version to modern versions
Session #16: A history of the English Bible: from Wycliff to the Authorized Version to modern versions
Session #17: A textual defense of selected passages in the Textus Receptus omitted by modern Bible versions and inferior translations in the modern versions
Session #18: A textual defense of selected passages in the Textus Recptus omitted by modern Bible versions and inferior translations in the modern versions
Session #19: The so-called “Majority Text”/Byzantine-priority position and the Textus Receptus: Why the Textus Receptus and Authorized Version are correct where they differ from modern printed editions of the so-called “Majority Text.”
Session #20: Major defenders of the KJV in the modern era: a history of the good defense of perfect preservation and a critique of recently originated and unscriptural Ruckmanite extremism; Questions and Answers on Bible Texts and Versions, beginning
Session #21: Questions and Answers on Bible Texts & Versions, concluded
The information below is the course outline for the upcoming class on the Bible’s preservation, on Bible Texts and Versions, and Manuscript Evidence, that will begin on Thursday, February 4 at Mukwonago Baptist Church, 1610 Honeywell Road, Mukwonago, WI 53149 (262) 363-4197 http://mukwonagobaptist.org. The lectures should be videotaped and will be available online in the future, Lord willing. To get more information, or to sign up, please call Mukwonago Baptist Church at (262) 363-4197. This webpage has been put up hastily, is under construction, and will be more organized in the future, Lord willing; all that is below right now is the course outline. To get the sense of what this page will, Lord willing, look like in the future, please see this page for the completed Trinitarianism class or this one for the first semester of Biblical Hebrew (the second should be starting soon).
Thomas D. Ross
Biblical Preservation, Bible Texts and Versions, and Manuscript Evidence
Course Outline
Course outline: This course on Biblical preservation, Bible texts and versions, and manuscript evidence will examine God’s promises concerning the perfect preservation of Scripture and its perpetual availability to His churches. The fulfillment of those promises throughout history in the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Textus Receptus underlying the Authorized, King James Version of the Bible will be surveyed through an examination of the history of the Hebrew and Greek text’s transmission. The errors and corruptions found in the Greek alternatives to the Textus Receptus, the Hebrew Masoretic text, and the English Authorized Version will be examined and refuted, as will the unbelieving presuppositions underlying these non-preserved texts and the unbelieving authors of those presuppositions. The historic Baptist position on the preservation of Scripture will also be examined, as will the history of the Bible in English.
This class is 3 credit hours and is avaiable for either undergraduate or graduate credit.
The class costs $25 to audit, $50 for Institute credit, $100 for undergraduate credit, and $125 for graduate credit.
Classes will be held on Thursdays at Mukwonago Baptist Church from 7-9 PM (undergraduate and graduate students) or 7-8 PM (Institute level students). The first class date is February 4. There may be a few Thursdays when there is no class because of church events or other conflicts. The class lectures will be recorded and will be available on the web.
Assigned Texts
There is no required reading or other required assignments for auditors.
Required reading for institute level:
Syllabus
Jack Moorman, Forever Settled: A Survey of the Documents and History of the Bible. Collingswood, NJ: Dean Burgon Society, 1999.
Required reading for undergraduate credit:
Syllabus
Kent Brandenburg, ed., Thou Shalt Keep Them: A Biblical Theology of the Perfect Preservation of Scripture. El Sobrante, CA: Pillar and Ground, 2006.
Cloud, David, The Bible Version Question-Answer Database: Answering the Myths Promoted by Modern Version Defenders. Port Huron, MI: Way of Life, 2005.
Jack Moorman, Modern Bibles: The Dark Secret.
Jack Moorman, Forever Settled: A Survey of the Documents and History of the Bible. Collingswood, NJ: Dean Burgon Society, 1999.
Additional reading for graduate credit:
Cloud, David, Faith vs. the Modern Bible Versions: A course on Bible Texts and Versions and a 10-Fold Defense of the King James Bible. Port Huron, MI: Way of Life, 2005.
Cloud, David, For Love of the Bible: The Battle for the Authorized Version and the Received Text from 1800 to Present. Port Huron, MI: Way of Life, 2005.
Hills, Edward F., The King James Version Defended.
Moorman, Jack A., When the KJV Departs from the Majority Text. London: Old Paths Publications, 2010.
Waite, Donald A., The Theological Heresies of Westcott and Hort, as Seen in Their Own Writings. Collingswood, NJ: Bible For Today, 1979.
Students will also write a paper on a topic related to the preservation of Scripture and / or manuscript evidence of 5-8 pgs (12-15 pgs, graduate). No paper is required for institute level work. In the class sessions below, the first hour is simpler and is for institute and auditors. The second hour is for undergraduate and graduate students, although institute students and auditors are welcome to attend also.
Each session is assumed to be two hours long.