The Inaugural Meeting of the Reformation Bible Society

VIII. The Old Testament in Hebrew, (which was the native language of the people of God of old,) and the New Testament in Greek, (which at the time of the writing of it was most generally known to the nations,) being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical;r so as in all controversies of religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto them.s But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have right unto and interest in the scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them,t therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come,u that the word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner,w and, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, may have hope.

Westminister Confession of Faith.  Chapter 1:8.

The basis for the Reformation Bible Society is the doctrine of the divine providence of God in preserving the traditional Greek and Hebrew text of the 27 New Testament books and the 39 Old Testament books of the Protestant editions of the Holy Scriptures.  While the society does not endorse the King James Only view, it does affirm that the King James Version is the preferred translation because it holds firmly to the Textus Receptus of the Scrivener edition of the Greek New Testament, published in 1881.  Further, the society affirms that the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Old Testament is to be preferred over against what is commonly called the Septuagint or the LXX.

One of the presenters at the conference, which took place at Liberty University on Saturday, August 3, 2024, was Dr. Russell Fuller, formerly a professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky.  Dr. Fuller's paper called into question whether or not there actually is something identifiable as "the" Septuagint.  That's because there is no monolithic standard set of texts that can be called the Septuagint.  There were various Greek translations of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek for the Alexandrian Jews of Egypt.  Although the translations were done earlier than the Masoretic text, there are many variations that differ from the Hebrew text.

I was extremely pleased to be able to fellowship with so many like-minded brothers in Christ.  There were several there from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.  The four main papers were presented by:

1.  Dr. Russell Fuller:  "What Exactly Is the Septuagint?" (Former professor, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary).

2.  David Kranendonk:  "What Was the Reformation Perspective?"  (Puritan Reformed Seminary).

3.  Dr. Jeff Riddle:  "How Did the Early Church Use the Septuagint?"  (Christ Reformed Baptist Church).

4.  Christian McShaffrey:  "How Does This Ancient Version Matter Today?"  (Five Solas Church, Orthodox Presbyterian Church).

The entire day was packed with papers.  In addition to the four main presentations there were three other break away sessions with two thirty minute presentations each.  You can see those by scrolling down on the Reformation Bible Society link. 

On the first night, those who arrived early met at the Liberty University museum for Holy Scripture.  I was able to sit with Dr. Russell Fuller, Jonathan D. Arnold (Trinitarian Bible Society), and an Ethiopian pastor from Indianapolis, Indiana.  His first name is Haileluel Emiru.  Haile recently translated the Bible into the Ethiopian language, Amharic, working on behalf of the Trinitarian Bible Society.  You can watch Pastor Haile's interview for the Trinitarian Bible Society on YouTube here:  Amharic translation.  His interview begins at about the 1:46 minute mark.  Matthew Vogan is also in the video.  Matthew and Jonathan Arnold are from the United Kingdom.  Jonathan pastors a Reformed Baptist Church in the UK and did his theological training at the London Reformed Baptist Seminary at the Metropolitan Tabernacle.

I am looking forward to next year's conference.  Hopefully, it will be close enough that I can drive there again.  The RBS does not say that the KJV is an inspired translation.  It does affirm the tradition view of the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1647 and the London Baptist Confession of 1689 as noted in the quote above.