Church Division Is a Grave Sin
A Call to Repentance for Those Who Divide the Church over Bible Versions, Verbal Plenary Preservation, and the Perfect Textus Receptus
The unity of the church is not a small or secondary matter. The church belongs to Jesus Christ. He purchased it with His blood, and every believer who truly belongs to Christ is a member of His body. Therefore, when Christians deliberately create unnecessary division within Christ’s church, the matter must be taken seriously.
Church division is not merely a disagreement between Christians. There are times when separation is necessary because of the gospel, serious moral sin, or fundamental departures from the Christian faith. But division over matters that Scripture does not make conditions of salvation or fellowship is a different matter. When Christians separate from one another, condemn one another, or refuse fellowship because someone reads the NIV, ESV, NASB, CUV, or another faithful translation rather than the KJV, or because someone rejects the doctrine of Verbal Plenary Preservation or the idea of a "Perfect TR," we must ask whether we have placed human formulations above the unity Christ commanded.
Jesus prayed for His disciples:
"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us."
—John 17:21
Christ did not pray that His followers would be united around one English translation. He prayed that they would be united in God Himself. The foundation of Christian unity is Christ.
Paul likewise pleaded with the Corinthian believers:
"I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you."
—1 Corinthians 1:10
Paul's concern was not that every Christian must possess one particular translation. His concern was that believers were dividing themselves around human leaders and factions. "I am of Paul," "I am of Apollos," and "I am of Cephas" were becoming badges of division. Paul answered them by directing their eyes back to Christ.
The same principle must be applied today.
A Bible translation is not Christ. The Textus Receptus is not Christ. The KJV is not Christ. Verbal Plenary Preservation is not Christ. No theological system concerning textual preservation should become a substitute for the Lord Jesus Himself.
This does not mean that Bible translations and textual questions are unimportant. They matter greatly. Christians should study manuscripts, textual criticism, translation philosophy, and the history of the biblical text carefully and honestly. We should defend the authority, inspiration, truthfulness, and sufficiency of Scripture.
But we must distinguish between the authority of Scripture itself and a particular theory about how God has preserved the biblical text.
The doctrine of Verbal Plenary Preservation is a theological position concerning preservation. The claim that the Textus Receptus is a perfectly preserved Greek text is another theological claim. The claim that the KJV is the uniquely perfect English Bible is yet another claim. These positions should be examined by Scripture and by historical and textual evidence. They should not automatically be treated as the gospel itself.
The danger comes when a secondary doctrine becomes a test of Christian fellowship.
Suppose one Christian believes that the KJV is the best English translation, while another Christian faithfully reads the ESV. They both confess Jesus Christ as Lord. They both believe in His death and resurrection. They both trust the authority of Scripture. They both seek to obey God's Word.
Must they become enemies?
Suppose one believer accepts the Textus Receptus as a historically important Greek textual tradition, while another believes that the Greek New Testament should be established by considering the entire manuscript tradition, including early witnesses such as Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus.
Must they divide the church?
Suppose one Christian accepts Verbal Plenary Preservation while another believes that God has preserved His Word through the totality of the manuscript and translation tradition rather than through one perfectly preserved Greek edition.
Must they refuse fellowship?
These questions should cause us to stop and examine our hearts.
Romans 14 gives us an important principle: Christians must not despise one another over disputable matters. Paul writes, "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?" (Romans 14:4). The Lord Himself is the Master of His servants.
We must therefore be extremely careful before declaring another Christian disobedient to God merely because he or she uses a different translation or rejects our preferred theory of textual preservation.
There is an even more serious danger when church leaders use institutional authority to enforce such positions. If pastors, elders, teachers, or denominational leaders make a particular Bible version, textual tradition, or preservation theory an unofficial test of loyalty, they may create a culture in which Christians are afraid to ask honest questions.
That is not spiritual maturity.
The church should be a place where Christians can study difficult questions openly, respectfully, and honestly. We should be able to say, "I disagree with you," without saying, "You are not faithful to Christ."
The New Testament gives us a far higher standard.
"Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
—Ephesians 4:3
Notice the language: the unity of the Spirit.
Christian unity is not something we manufacture by forcing everyone to agree on every secondary question. It is something God has already created in Christ, and believers are commanded to preserve it.
Ephesians 4 continues:
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism."
There is one Lord.
There is one body.
There is one faith.
There is one baptism.
Paul does not say, "There is one English Bible translation."
The foundation of unity is Christ.
Therefore, those who have caused division in Christ's church over Bible versions, Verbal Plenary Preservation, or the supposed perfection of the Textus Receptus should seriously examine themselves before God.
If you have taught people that faithful Christians cannot fellowship with those who use another orthodox Bible translation, repent.
If you have treated rejection of the "Perfect TR" as though it were rejection of Christ, repent.
If you have elevated a particular theory of preservation into a test of Christian orthodoxy without sufficient biblical warrant, repent.
If you have condemned brothers and sisters who sincerely love Scripture but disagree with your textual position, repent.
If you have used your authority to pressure people into accepting a particular Bible-version position rather than allowing them to study the evidence honestly, repent.
If your teaching has produced fear, suspicion, broken friendships, divided families, damaged churches, or denominational conflict over matters that should never have become tests of fellowship, do not simply defend your position more loudly.
Stop. Pray. Examine Scripture. Examine your conscience.
And repent where repentance is necessary.
Repentance is not weakness. Repentance is obedience.
The church does not need Christians who win every argument about manuscripts while losing their love for their brothers and sisters. We need Christians who love truth without becoming proud, who defend Scripture without worshiping a translation, who study textual questions without turning them into weapons, and who hold convictions without destroying the unity of Christ's body.
Paul's words in Ephesians 4:1–2 are especially appropriate:
"Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love."
Truth matters.
Doctrine matters.
The biblical text matters.
But love also matters.
Unity matters.
The witness of the church matters.
And Christ's command matters.
Let us therefore refuse to make a secondary textual position into a primary test of Christian fellowship. Let us teach Christians to love the Scriptures, study carefully, think honestly, and hold their convictions humbly.
Above all, let us love Christ and His people.
The church belongs to Jesus Christ—not to the KJV, not to the Textus Receptus, not to Verbal Plenary Preservation, and not to any particular theological camp.
Those who have contributed to unnecessary division should hear the call of Christ and repent.
Those who have been wounded by such division should resist bitterness.
And the whole church should return to the biblical command:
"Let all your things be done with charity."
—1 Corinthians 16:14
May the church stand firmly for the truth of God's Word while refusing to make secondary matters weapons against fellow believers.
May pastors lead with humility.
May teachers teach with accuracy.
May Christians disagree without hatred.
And may the people of God once again demonstrate to the world that our deepest identity is not found in a Bible version, a textual tradition, or a theological camp—but in Jesus Christ, our one Lord and Saviour.
