The core of the KJV-Only and VPP arguments rests on the "Byzantine Priority" or "Majority Text" theory, which claims the Byzantine text-type represents the pure, original stream of scripture preserved by the church.
Early Church Fathers and Non-Byzantine Readings
Contrary to the claim of a monolithic Byzantine preservation, the earliest Church Fathers (pre-4th century) frequently quoted from text types that align more closely with the Alexandrian or Western traditions rather than the later Byzantine standard.
Concrete Proof: The Papyri
Until the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scholars lacked manuscripts from before the 4th century. The discovery of the Bodmer Papyri (P66, P75) and Chester Beatty Papyri (P45, P46) provided a "time machine" to the 2nd and 3rd centuries.
P75 (c. 175–225 AD): This papyrus contains large portions of Luke and John. It shows a near-identical match to Codex Vaticanus (B), a 4th-century Alexandrian manuscript that KJV-Onlyists often call "corrupt." This proves that the Alexandrian text-type is not a late invention but was the standard in the earliest centuries.
P46 (c. 200 AD): The oldest collection of Paul's epistles. It lacks several "Byzantine" expansions and liturgical additions found in the Textus Receptus.
Conclusion: A Baseless Foundation
The scholarship of the 21st century has only deepened the evidence against KJV-Onlyism. The "Perfect TR" is a 16th-century composite of late manuscripts that fails to account for the thousands of earlier witnesses discovered since 1850.
Churches that double down on these views are not defending "the faith once delivered," but rather a 17th-century tradition. By cutting themselves off from the historical reality of the manuscript record and the broader Body of Christ, they transition from a biblical church into a heretical movement centered on a linguistic and textual idol rather than the Living Word.
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