Benjamin George Wilkinson (1872–1968) was a Seventh-day Adventist

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

, educator, and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. He served also as Dean of Theology at the Seventh-day Adventist Washington Missionary College (now known as Washington Adventist University) which is located in

Takoma Park, Maryland Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., Washington, and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea C ...

, near

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Wilkinson is considered one of the originators of the

King James Only The King James Only movement asserts the belief that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is superior to all other translations of the Bible. Adherents of the King James Only movement, mostly members of Conservative Anabaptist, Conservativ ...

beliefs.''One Bible Only? Examining Exclusive Claims for the King James Bible'' by Roy E Beacham and Kevin T Bauder general editors, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 2001, pg 44.

Biography

Wilkinson is remembered mainly for a book he wrote in 1930 entitled ''

Our Authorized Bible Vindicated ''Our Authorized Bible Vindicated'' is a book written by Seventh-day Adventist scholar Benjamin G. Wilkinson advocating the King James Only (KJO) position, published in 1930. It asserted that some of the new versions of the Bible coming out, cam ...

,'' in which he claimed that some new versions of the Bible were based on manuscripts with corruptions introduced into the Septuagint by Origen, and manuscripts with deletions and changes from corrupted Alexandrian text. Some years later

Independent Baptist Independent Baptist churches (some also called Independent Fundamental Baptist or IFB) are Christian congregations, generally holding to conservative (primarily fundamentalist) Baptist beliefs. Although some Independent Baptist churches refuse af ...

preacher

David Otis Fuller David Otis Fuller (November 20, 1903 – February 21, 1988) was an American Baptist pastor. He was a graduate of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois and Princeton Theological Seminary. He pastored Chelsea Baptist Church in Atlantic City, New J ...

wrote a book concerning the Textual debate entitled, '' Which Bible?'', popularizing Wilkinson’s assertions and

beliefs. Wilkinson criticized the

English Revised Version The Revised Version (RV) or English Revised Version (ERV) of the Bible is a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version. It was the first and remains the only officially authorised and recognised revision of the King James Versio ...

, which New Testament was completed in 1881, because he claimed it was translated from inaccurate Greek texts. For example, in a change in the Greek text removed the word

Gentile Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym for ...

s. This was in a verse that requests Paul to preach on the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

. The longer Majority Greek text that was rejected in the ERV is helpful for the Adventist apologetic for Sabbath keeping. Wilkinson also criticized ERV translations. In the AV has "But after this, the judgement", the ERV "after this cometh judgement". Wilkinson supported the article inclusion with references to Middleton, Edmund Beckett and Canon Farrar. The AV text is considered more compatible with the Adventist belief in '

soul sleep Christian mortalism is the Christian belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal and may include the belief that the soul is “sleeping” after death until the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment, a time known as the interm ...

' while Wilkinson, from Farrar, asserted that the ERV text would support the 'intermediate state' belief. Wilkinson criticized Westcott and

Hort Hort may refer to: People * Erik Hort (born 1987), American soccer player * F. J. A. Hort (1828–1892), Irish theologian * Greta Hort (1903–1967), Danish-born literature professor * Josiah Hort (c. 1674–1751), English clergyman of the Chur ...

, believing they made changes to the text used in translation. Due to the fact that they rejected the use of the Textus Receptus and instead used their revised Greek text based mainly on the

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

and

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

. Those who preferred not to use the Textus Receptus, such as Westcott and Hort, used what Wilkinson claimed were corrupted manuscripts. Similarly, an earlier writer on the textual issues,

John Burgon John William Burgon (21 August 18134 August 1888) was an English Anglican divine who became the Dean of Chichester Cathedral in 1876. He was known during his lifetime for his poetry and his defence of the historicity and Mosaic authorship of Gen ...

, called it a "fabricated text", and "among the most corrupt documents extant"Burgon, ''Revision Revised'', p. 9. and likened the primary manuscripts used, the

and the

, to the "two false witnesses" of Matthew 26:60. . The Codex Vaticanus that has come down to us had portions which have been collated and changed or edited by several scribes over the centuries, with many exclusions and errors that were intended to be corrections made in the process, while the

has known textual variants in its text and exclusions.Bruce M. Metzger (2001). "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament", ''Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft'', Stuttgart: United Bible Societies. In his book ''Truth Triumphant'', Wilkinson painted a true church after Jesus' ascension in the face of apostasy and persecution, fled into the wilderness, preserved the Word of God and teaching of Jesus. The true church manifested during the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, bringing in long lost teachings of the bible that was forbidden during the Dark Ages, and that she will triumph over the beast and its image in the last days. Wilkinson was a participant in the

1919 Bible Conference The 1919 Bible Conference was a Seventh-day Adventist Church conference or council held from July 1 to August 9, 1919, for denominational leaders, educators, and editors to discuss theological and pedagogical issues. The council was convened by the ...

a highly significant event for the Adventist Church. The meetings included discussions on the nature of inspiration, both of the Bible and Seventh-day Adventist prophetess

Ellen G. White Ellen Gould White (née Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an American woman author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Along with other Adventist leaders such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, she wa ...

. Wilkinson was a representative of the conservative faction, arguing that White's writings were inerrant. Other leaders such as

A. G. Daniells Arthur Grosvenor Daniells (September 28, 1858 – April 18, 1935) was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and administrator, most notably the longest serving president of the General Conference. He began to work for the church in Texas in 1878 w ...

, the president of the General Conference, disagreed and ascribed inerrancy solely to the Bible. Adventists who today use the King James Version do not necessarily support the

King James Only movement The King James Only movement asserts the belief that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is superior to all other translations of the Bible. Adherents of the King James Only movement, mostly members of Conservative Anabaptist, Conservativ ...

. Many Adventists use other English language versions of the Bible, and the denomination does not recommend any particular one. Wilkinson Hall, the main administrative building on Washington Adventist University's campus, is named in Benjamin Wilkinson’s honor.

References

External links

Andrews.edu
Articles by Wilkinson as cataloged in the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index (SDAPI) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Benjamin G. Seventh-day Adventist religious workers Seventh-day Adventist theologians 20th-century Protestant theologians American theologians King James Only movement 1872 births 1968 deaths American Seventh-day Adventist missionaries

Biography

See also

References

External links