By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true, 2nd Corinthians 6:8.
A friend recently copied and sent me the sole review on Amazon Kindle for my book Further Thoughts on the Word of God: Revised Edition. I had not expected any great moving of the book but after reading the review, I could see why it wasn't moving. I wouldn't buy the book if that review was accurate.
The reviewer suggested that I had sown the demon seed in that I rely on the Oxford English Dictionary and mandate that others do so.
Quoting from the Amazon review:
"Where it falls short is its pronouncements without justification (or rather hypocritical) that the KJV must be interpreted by the Oxford English Dictionary. This is a seed of the serpent, the originals only thinking, rather than a preservation and purification thinking. Instead of the Bible self defining itself, it appeals to the original English, rather than the English the KJV itself makes through its own contextual definitions."
My chapter on the Oxford English Dictionary starts with this premise:
There are generally three ways to determine the definitions of AV 1611 words. The first and foremost is to look the word up in every single context it is found. Throughout scripture, even words with which the reader already feels familiar can take on a different and deeper light once examined. I would encourage the reader to take a word like heart and prayerfully examine it in every context from Genesis to Revelation. It will never look the same. Page 194.
(The Kindle Version may paginate differently. Look for chapter 12.)
A few paragraphs later the book says this:
The English words contained in the AV 1611 are the exact words the Spirit of God intended to use to convey the meaning of the Greek. What is needed is a mechanism to determine what the English word meant to the AV translators when they wrote that word. By going back to the Greek, the reader can do no more than open up the endless possibilities inherent in the translations of the word.
The best thing the reader can ever do is to use a concordance to look up every place the word is used. By studying that word in context, each of the places it is used, the reader can usually determine exactly what the translators meant when they used the word, Page 195.
I even warn people about places where the OED misleads:
The OED is not perfect, as we shall see. When it tries to treat the KJV as different it usually errs. When it sticks to giving the reader every possible option for possible definitions and the approximate year that definition was in vogue it does best, Page 195.
I could use some help. From today, January 15, 2011 through January 19 2021, the Kindle Version of the book is free. If you would be so kind, please download it. If you find that after reading it, the reviewer's comment is justified, then review it yourself and warn people. If you find the reviewer to be in error, then without rancor or insult please write a review and put it on the site.
Amazon reviews indicate whether a reviewer is a genuine purchaser of the book. Even if you have read a hard copy of the book, please purchase the free book before reviewing.
I want to thank each of the many readers of this blog for your readership and as the case is with some, your friendship. I want the book to be a blessing to people.