Statement from the School Proprietors regarding the Authorised (King James) Bible

“We acknowledge that in many versions of the Bible, there are many individual verses which can be trusted. However, we recognise the revisionist work of Westcott and Hort of the 1870s, and the manuscripts on which they based their work, to be untrustworthy. Hence we can not support any version of the Bible based partly or wholly on their work. Neither can we support any version of the Bible published with footnotes which are consistent with the revisionist work of Westcott and Hort. Hence the King James Bible is the only reliable Bible currently available in English which we trust as The Word of God.

We do not say that the King James Bible is as perfect as the original manuscripts. It is a translation. Yet it is the form in which the LORD has been pleased to preserve His Word, and to use His Word despite many subtle and violent attacks to the contrary. Hence it is the form in which we trust, and which we are most privileged to have in our homes and school.

This is our belief and the very foundation upon which the school stands.”

The Ponatahi Christian School Trust, 27th August 2001.

This statement was issued after a parental inquiry. It is printed here for the benefit of all existing and prospective parents. In addition, we have produced a booklet for Religious Education, “Why we use the King James Version?” This quotes over 100 texts showing that the doctrinal position of modern Bibles in many places is different from that of the KJV in a manner which can not be justified by “modernising the language”. We have no doubt that some modern versions such as the NIV and NASV have been well translated, and that the Holy Spirit is able to use them. But our problem is the family of texts they have been translated from. This family of texts has been accepted throughout the ages by the Roman church, soundly rejected by the Reformers of the 1500s, and introduced into Protestant churches by Westcott and Hort in the 1870s. We also are saddened by footnotes in many modern Bibles which cause the reader to doubt the veracity of the Word and are, at best, misleading when referring to “oldest” and “most accurate” evidence, which is a reference to two manuscripts of the 4th century at the time of the Arian controversy. The “Textus Receptus” or “Received Text”, as used by the Reformers is still supported by over 95% of all known manuscript available today.