Burn a Bible? Why no Christian would do that, you say. Not in enlightened Western civilization. Only Muslims or Hindus, or Nazis, or Antifa, or…

No, no. Not just in other lands. Not just in our Portland, Oregon.

This pastor S. has an annual Bible burning at his church, now called – or has he moved to another location? – “Pure Words” Baptist Church. Yes, he invites all via an internet video, to gather up all false Bibles and bring them to church on a given Sunday. He will teach the “truth” about all these Bibles, then the delighted folks will sit and watch the Word of God go up in flames as they sit and eat s’mores around the Bible-provided campfire.

Not sure how many other churches approve of such a practice. Not sure if there are others that may even do it themselves. But my heart is ripped out in anguish over one calling himself a man of God who would dare such a contemptible act.

This is exactly what happened to the Bibles of the Middle Ages, when Rome reigned over the hearts of men. What reigns over the hearts of these Independent Fundamentalist Baptists, I wonder? Fear? Tradition? Hatred?

False teaching, for sure. May God have mercy on “Pastor” S. in that Day, and on all who desecrate Scripture.

The KJV movement was not always “-only” based. Great independent Baptists decried the idea in the early years. Consider John R. Rice, no lightweight among fundamentalists:

Rice believed that “the various translations contain, together, the eternal, unchangeable Word of God…A perfect translation of the Bible is humanly impossible…there are no perfect translations. God does not inspire particular translations” (Our God-Breathed Book–The Bible, 1969, 376).

And we cannot leave out Jack Hyles, “a close friend and associate of Rice for over twenty-two years. He also valued other versions of the Bible early in his ministry. In Hyles’ commentary on Revelation he repeatedly corrects the King James Version and the Textus Receptus!

“These examples show that KJV-Onlyism was not the standard for independent Baptists at least until the 1980s.” (Josh Teis)

Then came Ruckman. Peter Ruckman’s extreme teaching that the King James was not only an inspired translation, but also God’s newly-inspired word that could be used to correct the Greek text itself (!) was part of package of strange views that catapulted the KJVO movement into unnecessary division and separation. The Cult had arrived.

Even Hyles, mentored by Rice, flipped his position when Rice died:

Per Teis:

“In a 1984 sermon he [Hyles] declared: ‘It bothers me when people say, We believe that the Bible, in the original manuscripts, is the Word of God. If that’s true, we have no Bible. Did you hear what I said? We have no Bible.’

“In the same sermon, having already rejected the traditional Baptist position on Bible translations, he further rejected his mentor John R. Rice’s position (and even calling Rice’s faith and fundamentalism into question):

“You say, I don’t like your preaching. I don’t give a flip. I don’t like your liberalism either. I don’t like your compromise. I don’t like your dirty NIV Bible. I don’t like your dirty ASV Bible. I don’t like your dirty New ASV Bible, or your Revised Standard Version of the Bible. I’m trying to say, anybody that’s got any sense to understand this Bible, and you can understand it, you’ve got the Holy Spirit that lives on the inside of you, and He said, He will lead you into all truth. So maybe you liberals ought to have a bigger Bible.”

“Hyles’ acerbic language and KJV-Only teaching reflected Peter Ruckman’s language. With Hyles as the most dynamic and influential pastor at that time in large portions of independent Baptist fundamentalism, the KJV-Only position moved from the edges of independent Baptist life to the very center.”

In response to Mr. Hyles, before we move on, I must add that if the “original autographs are inspired” doctrine is not true, then all the persons from the second century until 1611 had no Bible.

Hyles and company would have us believe that no true translation of the Bible from the days of the apostles until the days of the KJV translators, existed. Why those poor impoverished saints of 1,500 years!

Even the reformers and the English with their Coverdale and Genevan and Bishops’ Bibles were all hopelessly lost, reading a Bible that was from the enemy of their soul and worthy to be burned.

Ruckman, Hyles, Jack Chick (and his heir), and men like the one I will answer later in this book, are the few voices that have fired up a multitude of falsenesses and caused brother to come against brother needlessly. May their tribe decrease.

And just how widespread is the KJVO phenomenon? There are nearly 7,000 congregations worldwide that are listed as “KJV Independent Fundamentalist Baptist” churches. Over 5,000 are in the United States.

But this “doctrine” is not limited to the IFB people. Members of other brands of Baptist fellowships, along with the older Pentecostal groups, Mormons, Episcopalians (because derived from the church of England/Anglican), Presbyterian churches , Bible churches, and other individuals sprinkled throughout Christendom, will proudly hold up their KJV in your face and condemn you if you cannot match their gesture.