WHO IS WESTCOT AND HORT?
The
1881 Revision
A Brief Historical Synopsis
 In
1881 A.D. part of the Church of England (Anglican) decided
to revise the King James Bible (the Authorized Version). The
Greek New Testament upon which this translation had been
based was the result of years of study and work by the
brilliant scholar, Desideruis Eransmus (1466 - 1536 A.D.)
Being satisfied with the King James Bible, the northern
convocation of the Church of England did not want a
revision. However, the southern convocation favored a change
and proceeded alone. A committee of Hebrew and Greek
scholars was selected and was charged to change the obsolete
spelling, update punctuations, change archaic words like
"concupiscence" to "unholy desires", etc. and thus update
the language. As the Southern convocation was content with
the text itself, no real overhaul of the version was
intended. All changes were to be of minor significance. That
is not what the committee did. The men composing the
revision committee went against the directive that the
Anglican Church had given them. Without authorization and in
totally direct insubordination, rather than merely improve
the English they produced a radically different Greek text -
a very different New Testament! They did not even use the
Greek text upon which the King James was based. Cast aside
as worthless were the Greek manuscripts upon which not only
the King James but the many other English Bibles which had
preceded the King James  had
been based (i.e. the Great Bible, the Bishops' Bible,
Matthew's Geneva etc.) They thus produced an entirely
different "Bible". This is one of the least know facts and
greatest guarded secrets within the confines of Christendom.
Few people, laymen or pastors are aware of these happenings.
We must understand that
if we have a version other than the King James, it has been
based upon a Greek text different from the one used to
produce the King James Bible. Although it was misleadingly
named the "Revised" Version, it was not a revision. Instead,
the committee altered the original Greek text - introducing
5,337 alterations - yet almost no one is cognizant of this!
From whence came this New Greek text? To answer and unravel
this calls for a look into the past. Several diverse paths
must be followed and examined. Strengthen yourself gentle
reader that which follows is a dreadful account of
compromise, deception, and betrayal - all directed against
the Living God, His Word, and His people.
This excerpt was taken from Which Version is the Bible? by
Floyd Jones.
Who are Westcott
and Hort?
THE GREEK TEXT OF WESTCOTT AND HORT
The Men Who Controlled the 1881 Revision
Let us return to the
1881 Revision Committee and examine the lives and text which
its two leading members produced - Westcott and Hort. These
two men had been working in secret prior to the revision for
over twenty years putting together a theretofore unpublished
Greek text of the New Testament which was based almost
exclusively upon one manuscript, Vaticanus B. Their New
Testament altered the 140,521-word text of the Textus
Receptus at 5,604 places involving 9,970 Greek words.
Representing 7 percent of the total word count, these 9,970
included Greek words that were either added, subtracted or
changed.
When the Committee
initiated its revision process in 1870, W - H succeeded in
getting it to agree to a secrecy pledge concerning the
actual product of the revision. On this committee was Vance
Smith, a Unitarian scholar who did not believe in the deity
of Jesus Christ and had so stated in writing. At the initial
meeting, Westcott and Hort insisted that Smith be included
in the inaugural communion service. This speaks loudly as to
the true commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ that these two
"professors" of faith actually held forth.
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"
I had no idea until the last few weeks of the importance
of texts having read so little Greek Testament and
dragged on with the villainous Textus Receptus. Think of
that vile Textus Receptus leaning entirely on late
manuscripts."
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Thus at only age
twenty-three and having admitted he had almost no
preparatory background, Hort concluded that the Textus
Receptus was "vile" and "villainous." At that time he
dedicated his life to its overthrow, intending to supplant
it with another text. The text he eventually replaced the TR
with was Codex Vaticanus B.
At the time of this
decision, young Hort had been schooled in Classical Greek
and was unaware that the New Testament had not been written
in that form of the Greek language. Since the Greek of the
New Testament as recorded in the Textus Receptus did not
rigidly follow the syntax of the Greek of the classics, Hort
deemed it as an inferior quality of Greek. This
misconception was responsible for his having rashly termed
the TR as "vile" and "villainous." Indeed, the Egyptian
papyri, which proved that the N.T. had been written in Koine
(common) Greek rather than Classical Greek had not yet been
discovered.
Vaticanus B had been
"discovered" in 1481 on the library shelf of the Vatican. To
understand Vaticanus B, we have to go back to approximately
200 A.D. to an early so-called "Father" of the church named
Origen. If the student researches encyclopedias and other
reference materials, he will find Origen, Westcott and Hort
spoken of as having been great men of God - men of faith.
They will state how much the Church is indebted to them,
that Origen was the first scientific textual exegetical of
the Scriptures, etc. However, such is not what one finds
upon close examination of the facts. For further information
on this subject please see Which Version is the Bible?, by
Floyd Jones.
AN ASSESSMENT OF
WESTCOTT AND HORT - THEIR CHARACTERS
Westcott, an Anglican Bishop and professor at Cambridge
Uersity, and Hort - also an ordained Anglican priest and
professor at Cambridge - came to participate in the 1881
Revision Committee of the King James Bible under the guise
of being Protestant scholars. Actually, they were very Roman
Catholic in doctrine, belief and practice. Both conservative
and liberal branches of Christendom hold Westcott and Hort
in high esteem as if God had greatly used these men to
reestablish and restore the text of the Bible. However, it
is most difficult to believe that God would use two men to
perform such a task who did not believe that the Bible was
the verbal Word of God.
From published letters written by Westcott and Hort, either
to each other or to family members, the following has been
gleaned. On one occasion, Mr. Westcott was near a monastery
and upon going into the chapel, found a Pieta. In writing
from France to his fiancιe in 1847 concerning the event he
wrote: "Had I been alone, I could have knelt there for
hours." As he was not alone, he had to refrain for to have
so done would have revealed just how Roman his beliefs
actually were
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"I
wish I could see to what forgotten truth Mariolatry
bears witness." |
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He stated that
the fall of man was an allegory covering a long succession
of
evolutions. He rejected Genesis 1 - 3 as a literal
history and also denied the fall of man. Westcott felt
all women should be named "Mary" so that
his wife Sarah, at his request added "Mary" to
her name and he ever so addressed her. Does that sound
like a Protestant?
WESTCOTT AND HORT'S
INVOLVEMENT IN SPIRITISM
Westcott and Hort belonged to what Westcottt's son referred to as "The
Ghostly Guild." Westcott took a leading role in this society and
its proceedings, the purpose of which was the investigation of ghosts
and other supernatural appearances. They believed that such things existed.
Concerning this society,
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"Westcott,
Gorham, C.B. Scott, Benson, Bradshaw, Lauard, etc.
and I have started a society for the investigation
of ghosts and all supernatural appearances and
effects, being all disposed to believe that such
things really exist, and ought to be discriminated
from hoaxes and mere subjective disillusion." |
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Such is spiritism and absolutely
forbidden by Scripture
Excerpts taken from Which
Version is The Bible? by Floyd Jones.
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