The Connection Between One's World View and the Version Issue

Several days ago I wrote a post about logic and King James Onlyism in answer to a critic at another blog. After writing that, someone a few days later wrote a whole post attacking the one I had written. Very few King James supporters wander over there because of the juvenile nature of the major contributors. But someone emailed me to give me the heads-up about the post, so I knew about it. Several thoughts resulted from my venture over to that site, which is operated by a former teacher in our school who we fired for numbers of reasons (believe me, you would have fired him too if you knew the reasons---he was no martyr), and shortly thereafter (after also departing our church) he decided he believed drastically different on about five major doctrinal categories, a reformation that conveniently moved him into a new realm of fellowship and friendship from those who before knew him and to whom he was accountable. One could easily see what benefits he might think he could derive from attacking and criticizing those in his former life in order to discredit them and elevate himself. His new associates have gone right along for the ride.

Even though the answer to my post does not point out any logical fallacies with the logic I presented, my brief interaction there reminded me of one of the major issues that I see with multi-versionism. At the root of anyone's view of the world is whether he believes there is objective truth, whether he thinks that there is some authority outside of and greater than himself that has revealed the standard by which his life is to operate. Of course, without that authority, nothing is either wrong or right and everyone can live as he wishes without any fear of retribution. In that world, every man is a law unto himself.

In the only consistent world view, there is one God with one truth, one right, and one way, all His, and He will not deny Himself. Within that view of the world, there is one revelation of truth, which is the Bible. There is only one interpretation, God's, and one way to live, also His.

Multi-versionism opens up a theological and philosophical can of worms. The multi-versionist chooses what the words are, and so is responsible for what the standard is. And in a subtle way, he also places himself in authority above the words themselves. Now several views are legitimate. Men can agree to disagree, especially since no one really knows for sure. This puts more emphasis on man, centers more on him and what he wants. If someone can't know what the words are, he also doesn't know what the words mean, since the latter is the lesser to the former, which is the greater.

The person of nuance, of several views, really of doubt, is elevated in the system that logically results from multi-versionism. The great virtue in this view is toleration. Those who believe there are several ways to believe are therefore the most virtuous.

Scripture presents one view. It's God's view. A view which contrasts with God's is to be rejected, not appreciated. In an area in which God has spoken, there is not peace between contrasting points of view.

This corresponds to versionism. The worst enemy of multi-versions is one version. You just can't say there is one Bible---that can't be for the multi-versionist---when there really is only one Bible, like there is one God and one truth.

We live in an era where truth itself is being attacked. The way to combat that is not by allowing for the idea of more than one Bible. Truth depends on one authority, and it is the Bible, the one Bible.

In a pluralistic society, like the United States, two people or two sides can take opposing points of view. We have that freedom. But in a pluralistic society, each side doesn't have to like the other view or to treat it with respect. It's possible as well that civil discourse can occur between the two sides. However, both are not true, and the error often has eternal consequences.