Introduction
What is the textus receptus? Why is this manuscript significant to King James Bible users?
Textus Receptus is the name given to a series of Byzantine-based Greek texts of the New Testament printed between 1500 and 1900.
12 Powerful Bible Verses on Biblical Accountability
The name Textus Receptus was first used, to refer to editions of the Greek New Testament published by the Elzevir Brothers in 1633.
The name has been retrospectively applied to all the printed Greek texts of the same Byzantine text type. The Byzantine text type represents over 95% of the 5,800+ Greek manuscripts of the New Testament still in existence today.
Textus Receptus contains the translation base for the first Greek translation of the New Testament into English by William Tyndale and is the textual base for the Bishops Bible, the Geneva Bible, and the King James Bible.
- It was published by Desiderius Erasmus in his 1516 edition of the Greek New Testament: Novum Instrumentum omne
- It was refined by Robert Estienne [Stephanus] in 1550
- It was further refined by Theodore Beza in 1598
- It was again edited by F.H.A. Scrivener in 1881
Textus Receptus strongly upholds the Christian faith
- It is not corrupted by the deletions, additions, and amendments of the Minority Text.
- It agrees with the earliest versions of the Bible: Peshitta (AD150) Old Latin Vulgate (AD157), the Italic Bible (AD157), etc.
- It agrees with the vast majority of the citations from scripture by the early church fathers. It has now been calculated that there are more than one million quotations of the New Testament by the fathers. These fathers come from as early as the late first century and the middle ages.
- It is untainted with Egyptian philosophy, heresies, and unbelief
Conclusion
If you are looking for a reason to believe the King James Bible of the Scripture, these reasons will help you to affirm your belief in the King James Bible.
