Brooke Foss We stcott (1825-1901)

John Anthony Hort (1828-1892)

B rook e Foss West cot t (an Anglican bishop and professor at Cambridge Universit y) and Fent on John
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B rook e Foss West cot t (an Anglican bishop and professor at Cambridge Universit y) and Fent on John Ant hony Hort (also an ordained priest and professor at Cambridge) produced a Greek New Test ament in 1881 based on t he findings o f Tischendorf. This Greek New Test ament was t he basis for t he Revised Version of t hat same year. They also developed a t heory of t ext ual crit icism which underlay t heir Greek New Test ament and several ot her Greek New Test ament s since (including t he Nest le-Aland t ext ). Greek New Test ament s such as t hese produced most of t he modern English t ranslat ions of t he Bible we have t oday. On one side, t heir support ers have heralded t hem as great men of God, having great ly advanced t he search for t he original Greek t ext . On t he ot her side, t heir opponent s have leveled charges of heresy, infidelit y, apost asy, and many ot hers, claiming t hat t hey are guilt y of wreaking great damage on t he t rue t ext of Script ure. I have no desire t o sling mud nor a desire t o hide fact s. I just want t o share t he t rut h about t hese men. So, put on your seat belt , and get ready for a quick ride t hrough t he beliefs of West cot t and Hort . . . In order t o give you an idea of what t hey REALLY believed and what t heir REAL int ent ions were when creat ing t heir Greek New Test ament , I will let t he men speak for t hemselves. I will t ell you not hing. I will merely let t hese t wo men speak for t hemselves. The rest of t his page will be only quot at ions. If t his makes you angry, don't be angry wit h me...I'm just giving you t he words of West cot t and Hort ...

T ELLING QUOT AT IONS FROM WEST COT T AND HORT

Concerning the Deity of Christ: "He never speaks of Himself direct ly as God, but t he aim of His revelat ion was t o lead men t o see God in Him." (West cot t , The Gospel According t o St . John, p. 297). "(John) does not expressly affirm t he ident ificat ion of t he Word wit h Jesus Christ ." (West cot t , Ibid., p. 16). Concerning the Scriptures: "I reject t he infallibilit y of Holy Script ures overwhelmingly." (West cot t , The Life and Let t ers of Brook Foss West cot t , Vol. I, p.207). "Our Bible as well as our Fait h is a mere compromise." (West cot t , On t he Canon of t he New Test ament ,
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"Our Bible as well as our Fait h is a mere compromise." (West cot t , On t he Canon of t he New Test ament , p. vii). "Evangelicals seem t o me pervert ed. . .There are, I fear, st ill more serious differences bet ween us on t he subject of aut horit y, especially t he aut horit y of t he Bible." (Hort , The Life and Let t ers of Fent on John Ant hony Hort , Vol. I, p.400) Concerning Hell: "(Hell is) not t he place of punishment of t he guilt y , (it is) t he common abode of depart ed spirit s. (West cot t , Hist oric Fait h, pp.77-78). "We have no sure knowledge of fut ure punishment , and t he word et ernal has a far higher meaning." (Hort , Life and Let t ers, Vol. I, p.149). Concerning Creation: "No one now, I suppose, holds t hat t he first t hree chapt ers of Genesis, for example, give a lit eral hist ory . I could never underst and how anyone reading t hem wit h open eyes could t hink t hey did." (West cot t , cit ed from Which Bible?, p. 191). "But t he book which has most engaged me is Darwin. What ever may be t hought of it , it is a book t hat one is proud t o be cont emporary wit h..... My feeling is st rong t hat t he t heory is unanswerable." (Hort , cit ed from Which Bible?, p. 189) Concerning the Atonement: "I t hink I ment ioned t o you before Campbell's book on t he At onement , which is invaluable as far as it goes; but unluckily he knows not hing except Prot est ant t heology ." (Hort , Life and Let t ers, Vol. I, p. 322) "The popular doct rine of subst it ut ion is an immoral and mat erial count erfeit ...not hing can be more unscript ural t han t he t he limit ing of Christ 's bearing our sins and sufferings t o His deat h; but indeed t hat is only one aspect of an almost universal heresy ." (Hort t o West cot t , Life and Let t ers, Vol. I, p. 430) "I confess I have no repugnance t o t he primit ive doct rine of a ransom paid t o Sat an. I can see no ot her possible form in which t he doct rine of a ransom is at all t enable; anyt hing is bet t er t han t he doct rine of a ransom t o t he fat her." (Hort , The First Epist le of St . Pet er 1:1-2:17, p. 77).
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Concerning Man: "It is of course t rue t hat we can only know God t hrough human forms, but t hen I t hink t he whole Bible echoes t he language of Genesis 1:27 and so assures us t hat human forms are divine forms ." (Hort t o West cot t , August 14, 1860) "Prot est ant s (must ) unlearn t he crazy horror of t he idea of Priest hood ." Volume II, pp. 49-51) Concerning Roman Catholicism: "I wish I could see t o what forgot t en t rut h Mariolat ry (t he worship of t he Virgin M ary) bears wit ness." (West cot t , Ibid. ) "I have been persuaded for many years t hat Mary-Worship and Jesus-Worship have very much in common." (Hort , Life and Let t ers, Volume II, pp. 49-51) "The pure Ro manish view seems t o be nearer, and more likely t o lead t o t he t rut h t han t he Evangelical." (Hort , Life and Let t ers, Vol. I, p. 77) "I agree wit h you in t hinking it a pit y t hat M aurice verbally repudiat es purgat ory . . . t h e idea of purgat ion, cleansing by fire, seems t o me inseparable from what t he Bible t eaches us of t he Divine chast isement s ." (Hort , Life and Let t ers, Vol. II, pp. 336,337) Concerning the Cumulative Effect of Multiple Changes to the Manuscripts: "It is quit e impossible t o judge t he value of what appear t o be t rifling alt erat ions merely by reading t hem one aft er anot her. Taken t oget her, t hey have oft en import ant bearings which few would t hink of at first . . . The difference bet ween a pict ure, say of Raffaelle, and a feeble copy of it is made up of a number of t rivial differences . . . We have successfully resist ed being warned off dangerous ground, where t he needs of revision required t hat it should not be shirked. . . It is, one can hardly doubt , t he beginning of a new period in Church hist ory. So far t he angry object ors have reason for t heir ast onishment ." (Hort , Life and Let t ers, Vol.I, pp. 138,139) ------------------------------------------------------------It is one t hing t o have doct rinal differences on baby-sprinkling and perhaps a few ot her int erpret at ions. It is quit e anot her t o be a Darwinian t heologian who reject s t he aut horit y of
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(Hort , Life and Let t ers,

int erpret at ions. It is quit e anot her t o be a Darwinian t heologian who reject s t he aut horit y of script ures, Biblical salvat ion, t he realit y of hell, subst it ut ionary at onement , makes Christ a creat ed being t o be worshipped wit h Mary his mot her, and t o openly admit t hat your "t rifling alt erat ions" wit h t he Greek Text have begun a "new period in Church hist ory"!! Yet , t hese were t he views of bot h West cot t and Hort !! This is UNBELIEVABLE!! No less significant is t he fact t hat bot h men were involved wit h t he occult and were members of spirit ist societ ies (t he Hermes Club and t he Ghost ly Guild), and bot h men supposedly "t alked" t o Spirit s of t he dead.

Home Is Older Better?

Does it Really Matter? Other Translations

Manuscripts Codex Sinaiticus Receptus Westcott & Hort Altered Verses Constantine Catholics & the Jesuits

Codex Vaticanus Origen

Textus Tischendorf

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