FEBC liars telling lies

What FEBC Actually Teaches

FEBC teaches that the Greek and Hebrew texts were miraculously restored by the KJV translators in 1611 to be word-for-word identical with the original manuscripts (the autographa), effectively promoting a form of KJV-Onlyism and Verbal Plenary Preservation.

The Theological and Logical Collapse of KJV-Only Doctrine

The KJV-only movement rests on three foundational claims, each of which crumbles under scrutiny: that the King James Version represents a perfect English Bible, that God preserved His Word through a doctrine called “Verbal Plenary Preservation,” and that secondary separation—breaking fellowship with those who disagree—is biblically mandated. These claims are not merely debatable; they are internally contradictory and theologically incoherent.

The Illusion of Textual Certainty

The KJV-only movement exemplifies evangelicalism’s “desperate quest for certainty” that has “subtly, if unwittingly, relegated the person of God to a status secondary to scripture.”[1] This inversion is fundamental to the movement’s deception. Rather than trusting God’s character and active guidance, KJV advocates have constructed an idol—a book they claim is perfect—and demanded allegiance to it as a substitute for genuine faith.

By divorcing the Bible from history while viewing it as the source rather than the medium of divine truth, evangelicalism effectively deified a book.[1] The KJV-only position takes this further: it claims that God’s preservation activity ended in 1611 with the printing press, creating a static, ahistorical text divorced from the living God who claims to guide believers into truth.

The Doctrine of Verbal Plenary Preservation: Ad Hoc Theology

The doctrine of “Verbal Plenary Preservation” is not a historical Christian doctrine—it is a modern invention designed to protect KJV authority. While KJV-onlyism claims God’s continual preservation of the Bible until 1611, “providential preservation is revealed to be an ad hoc measure employed to protect certain favored interpretations.”[1] This is theological dishonesty dressed in pious language.

The doctrine contradicts itself immediately: if God preserved every word perfectly, why do different KJV editions contain variants? Why does the TR itself exist in multiple editions with documented differences? The answer exposes the lie—there was no perfect preservation; there was only selective memory and circular reasoning.

Secondary Separation: Weaponized Legalism

Secondary separation doctrine teaches believers to separate from other Christians who do not separate from those deemed “unorthodox,”[2] creating an endless spiral of division justified by claims of doctrinal purity. This practice directly violates Scripture’s mandate for unity and love among believers.

Those who practice secondary separation over translation preferences commit the exact sin Jesus condemned in the Pharisees: they create barriers to fellowship based on human traditions rather than biblical essentials. They divide the body of Christ while claiming to defend it—a contradiction that exposes their true motivation: power and control, not faithfulness to God’s Word.

How to Respond to These Deceptions

When encountering KJV-only advocates, respond with clarity and charity:

• Expose the logical contradiction. Ask them to identify which TR edition is “perfect”—they cannot answer without abandoning their position.
• Appeal to historical reality. Point out that Augustine, Jerome, and Luther all affirmed inerrancy of autographs only, not copies or translations. These giants of the faith would reject KJV-only claims.
• Distinguish infallibility from preservation. God’s Word is infallible in its original form; this does not require perfect transmission through copying or translation. Acknowledging textual variants honors God’s Word rather than dishonoring it.
• Emphasize the unity Christ prayed for. Rather than trusting God’s active presence in history as the one who will “guide us into all truth,” KJV advocates replace this with “a static set of propositions, the meaning of which is said to be universally, eternally, and thus ahistorically clear.”[1] This replaces a living relationship with God with dead certainty in a book.
• Refuse secondary separation. Maintain fellowship with faithful believers across translation preferences. Do not allow legalism to fracture the church.

The fundamental issue is this: KJV-only teaching asks believers to trust a human translation as infallible while claiming to defend God’s authority. This is idolatry. True faithfulness means pursuing the best available manuscript evidence with humility, maintaining unity across non-essential differences, and trusting God’s character rather than demanding textual certainty. Those who refuse this path reveal not devotion to Scripture but rebellion against its central message: love one another.

[1] Jason A. Hentschel, “The King James Only Movement,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in America, ed. Paul C. Gutjahr, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), 238.
[2] Mark Sidwell, Set Apart: The Nature and Importance of Biblical Separation (Greenville, SC: JourneyForth, 2016). [See here.]