by: David Owens
“I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.” Psalm 119:99
Do Christians need “original languages” such as Greek to better understand the King James Bible? We are sometimes intimidated as believers with the idea that an education in another language is superior to the English language that we understand.
As I understand from Scripture, the doctrine and practice of separation is key to our relationship with Christ and our being eternally effective for Him. Biblical separation also applies to the “who” and “what” we use to influence us concerning the very Word of God. Eve should not have been influenced by, listening to or “reading” the serpent’s doctrine. Eve should never have allowed the serpent to give her an understanding of God’s commands. Separation also applies to Bible study.
I was raised going to neo-evangelical churches. I attended Moody Bible Institute where we used the NASV and where I was taught the Hebrew and the Greek. Praise God, He delivered me! I mention this because sometimes in our circles I see the very same mistakes made by the Bible correctors by whom I was influenced. As I see it, we (independent, fundamental Baptists) are making a grave mistake by using the same logic and tools that the Bible correctors use to justify changing, compromising and explaining away God’s Word. I believe that the KJB is God’s perfect Word in English. If so, the Bible itself is able to teach you about itself.
Jesus promised in John 14:16 that it was the Holy Ghost who would teach us all things. The absence of the mention of “original languages” to teach us is very telling. Child of God, you have just as much of the Holy Spirit as the preachers and the educators; now allow Him to teach you.
If you speak and understand English, why do you believe that we have to refer to or even mention the Greek language? Please allow me to list some reasons as to why I ask this important question.
1. There may appear to be legitimate reasons to consult an original language coming from those who do so; however, does God Himself condone doing so? This is not an “I think so” or even an “I believe so” issue, it is a “Thus saith the Lord” issue. What does God say I should use to learn and understand His Words?
2. Our KJB is God’s preservation and interpretation of the Greek. We cannot improve on God’s definitions.
3. God gave us the KJB so that we would not have to find definitions of words from a dead language that we really do not understand.
4. The Bible that God gave to us is alive. (Hebrews 4:12) Using the Greek is like digging up a dead body to explain what we are. This is what the evolutionist does to define us.
5. If the explanation we think we found in the Greek is really truth, it is just as true in the English, without referring to the Greek. You have an English mind, not a Greek mind, and God gave you His Words in English for your mind. Use an English dictionary if necessary, but most passages and words will be well understood by reading the passages in English. Using Greek, even if correct, never makes truth any more true.
6. If it is OK for me to run to the Greek to explain the English then it is OK for the Bible correctors to do the same.
7. By referencing the Greek language and lexicon, we are using the same methodology as the Bible perverting critical text crowd uses, but somehow we believe we will get better results.
8. By using the Greek, we really have no way to even know who we are allowing to teach us.
9. You cannot be absolutely be sure that your Greek meaning is correct. It is just as easy to pick a wrong definition from a Greek lexicon as the correct one. We Bible believers are already ridiculed by the Bible correctors and critical text thinkers, we do not need to give them more ammunition for their attacks.
10. The use of the Greek may well muddle the message because we have an English mind, not a Greek mind, and it is too easy to read into a definition which is not there.
11. Referencing the Greek puts the Greek language and lexicon above or as an authority over the KJB.
12. Nowhere does Scripture suggest that we go back to an older language. When Jesus quoted the Old Testament, He did not refer to the Hebrew language, even for a definition.
13. We need to settle whether the Bible is complete in and of itself or if we need outside sources to complete it. Should we compare spiritual with spiritual, or academics with spiritual, or religious with spiritual? Psalm 19:7; Romans 7:14; John 6:63; 1 Corinthians 2:13
14. We must be careful not to develop “religious traditions” in the manner in which we study and preach, which actually subtract from the power of God’s words. Matthew 15:6
15. If we don’t understand a Scripture, we are to wait on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our teacher, not James Strong, etc.
16. We don’t necessarily believe that using some outside tools like a dictionary to understand the Bible is wrong, yet we find no Bible command to do so or Bible illustration where it was done. We do find that we are to study, rightly dividing the word of truth and to compare spiritual things with spiritual. 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Corinthians 2:13; Romans 7:14
I am not being critical of those who use Greek, I am only sharing with you some truths and applications that God has shown me. (Proverbs 27:17) It has taken Him a long time to get some of these truths through my thick skull and He is still working on me. But, it does frighten me when I see and hear Bible believers doing the same as those who feel free to correct God’s words. This got them in trouble and it will also get us in trouble.
So, how do you read and understand God’s Word?
1. Make sure you are saved. 1 Corinthians 2:14
2. Pray, asking the Holy Spirit to allow you to understand all that He wants you to understand.
3. Make up your mind that you will believe all that you read whether you understand it or not.
4. Read it. Read it. Read it. Read it. Desire to read it. 1 Peter 2:2
5. If there is something you don’t understand, don’t worry, look for what you do understand.
6. So, you want a human teacher? God gave you one, he is your pastor, and he has the God-given aptitude and job to teach you. 1 Timothy 3:2
7. Do not look to the internet to teach you unless your pastor recommends or approves of the site. There is much more false doctrine on the internet than truth. Don’t eat out of a garbage can. 2 Peter 2:1
8. Now, live what the Holy Spirit taught you!
Christian, you can understand God’s Word. You can understand as much as your Heavenly Father wants you to understand. Now read it, believe it, think about it and obey it. “I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.” Psalm 119:99
Pastor David Owens
Westside Baptist Church
Pacifica, CA