Steele's
Introductory Remarks
My name is Darron
Steele. I
am at the other end of this public
correspondence. I have some comments that I am hoping that
Brother Morton will share with you.
First of all, it is
sometimes
alleged that Christians who advance
positions holding that the King James Version is superior to any other
English translation or even any translation into any language do so for
personal gain. I have never doubted that T. Morton truly does
believe that the King James Version is superior to any other Bible
translation, and both reading his book and our private and public
correspondence confirms this in my judgment.
I first contacted T.
Morton in 2002
to try to explain a position that
he criticized in his book on pages 25 and 26 with these words:
“Frequently,
when Bible believers say
the King James Version is the pure, inerrant word of God, someone will
object and say: "If God gives the English speaking people a perfect
Bible as you claim, is He not obligated to give one in every other
language?" The answer is a resounding NO! Bible correctors and ignorant
Christians often use this type of "logic" to try and intimidate the
believer into thinking it is impossible for the Authorized Version to
be pure and inerrant. Actually, they are saying either the King James
Version has errors in it or God is unjust in not giving all other
nations a perfect Bible in their own language. With this kind of
either/or reasoning, they try to force the Bible believer to concede
that the Authorized Version has errors in it by insisting that if it
does not, God's integrity is in question. What a devious tactic: trying
to pit the believer's love and respect for God against God's word and
promises. These people did not learn this type of reasoning by studying
the Bible; it is purely human, if not Satanic.”
I tried to explain to
him how the
argument actually works, and that the
people who use it are not evil people. He returned an e-mail
gently attacking my position. Our e-mails escalated into less
than pleasant ones. We only corresponded sporadically, but every
time we did our e-mails escalated. A couple of habits that
bothered me about Brother Morton were 1) his tendency to allege that I
did not believe cardinal doctrines of proper Christian faith, and 2)
his tendency to attack me on issues completely unrelated to the
subjects of discussion. Over time his reasons for doing both
seemed to become understandable. Since I did not hold the same
position as he did regarding biblical authority, it is natural that he
would suspect that I rejected cardinal Christian doctrines exposited by
Scripture in any Greek text. His second tendency seemed at first
to be in part a coping strategy for being unable to deal with the
central issues of the KJV debate and in another part an inability to
attack an issue without attacking its holder, but over time it became
apparent that He was concerned that I am not saved because I did not
think like he does on many subjects. Naturally I appreciate his
concern about my salvation!
Subsequent bursts of
communication
occurred because I had
questions for T. Morton. I am delighted to have a 'superiority of
the KJV' author to correspond with because although I have an academic
understanding of this position, I do not understand it fully because I
do not hold it myself. Brother Morton does not always answer
questions kindly when he suspects that the asker does not believe like
he does regarding the KJV. This resulted in escalations into less
than pleasant e-mails and one or both of us would come to our senses
and just stop. The burst of communication that inspired this
public correspondence started when I sent T. Morton a pre-publication
copy of my book. It was just an 'F.Y.I.'
and I was surprised when he responded about two months later. He
took issue with something in my book that had nothing to do with the
KJV debate. This resulted in escalating less than pleasant
e-mails and I finally had enough; I decided this time that I was going
to try to show him the folly of his position even if he would not
accept it. He got tired and suggested a public correspondence,
and at the same time I independently began to feel guilty for my part
in a correspondence that would not glorify God and the religion of His
Son the Lord Jesus Christ. I confessed to both myself and to T.
Morton that I had begun writing e-mails not just to defend myself
personally anymore but also “pushing to win.” I told
him that I
now recognized that I would not convince him anymore than I would
convince Dr. Samuel Gipp or Dr. Peter Ruckman. I asked permission
to ask questions as I had them, but I did not want to argue
anymore. He responded that he likewise was curious about my ways
of thinking since I think uniquely. I consented to this public
correspondence which you can now read.
T. Morton is not like
many who hold
to the 'supremacy of the Authorized
Version.' Many will do no more than regurgitate what their pastor
tells them or what the intellectual leaders of the 'supremacy of the
KJV' movement write. T. Morton is not like that. I read his
book and would sometimes get the impression that he agrees with
something the likes of Dr. Peter Ruckman or Dr. Samuel Gipp wrote, only
to learn in an e-mail that in fact he does NOT believe something I
deduced he did. This happened multiple times in our private
correspondence. I have come to the conclusion that T.
Morton is indeed an individual thinker within the 'supremacy of the
KJV' movement, and is as complex and analytical as the movement's
intellectual leaders.
The reader needs to
understand the
basics of my religious convictions.
I believe that the Hebrew/Aramaic Old Testament and Greek New Testament
as God gave them the first time bear God's full authority.
Details are best seen in the PDF outline. I believe Christians
should believe everything that those Scriptures teach and dogmatically
hold no belief that they do not authorize. More importantly than
this, however, I believe that
1)
all people
are sinners
2)
that God
cannot allow sin to go unpunished
3)
that Jesus
Christ lived a sinless life and died a
brutal death bearing the punishment for the sins of those who would
accept His act on their behalf and would recognize Him as Lord
4)
that those
who trust Jesus Christ to save them on
virtue of His brutal death and will strive to serve Him as Lord will
have their sins taken away and be forgiven of them so that they go to
Heaven and escape Hell.
I have accepted Jesus
Christ's
sacrifice on my behalf and seek to serve
Him as my Lord. If you have not done so, I cannot urge you any
more strongly that you should do this immediately.
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