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The Trinitarian Bible Society was founded in 1831 "to promote the Glory of God and the salvation of men by circulating, both at home and abroad, in dependence on the Divine blessing, the Holy Scriptures, which are given by inspiration of God and are able to make men wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
Contents
The Trinitarian Bible Society members separated from the British and Foreign Bible Society, itself founded in 1804, due to two controversies:
The arguments came into the open during the Annual Meeting in May 1831 of the Society. The membership voted six to one to retain the ecumenical status quo. On December 7, 1831, over two thousand people gathered in Exeter Hall in London to form the Trinitarian Bible Society, explicitly endorsing the Trinitarian position, and rejecting the apocryphal books.
Early years
Ultra-dispensationalist E. W. Bullinger was clerical secretary of the Society from 1867 until his death in 1913. Activities during his secretariat include:
Later years
The Society provides Bibles and Christian literature (from a historically Reformed perspective) to the world. They have chapters all over the world.
Their consider their primary function is to translate and disseminate worldwide Bibles in languages other than English. The translation of Bibles into non-English languages is based on the Hebrew Masoretic Text and Greek New Testament edition of the Textus Receptus compiled by F. H. A. Scrivener and published in 1894.
The Society sells copies of the King James Version of the Bible, as well as Scriptures in other languages, to the general public. These Scriptures are printed by the Society itself. They also sell or give away Scripture-based Christian literature, such as tracts and children's items in English and other languages.
The Society produces a magazine, The Quarterly Record, and sponsors meetings during which the Society's work and issues surrounding translation and text are discussed.
King James Only
The Trinitarian Bible Society has been associated with the King-James-Only Movement. However, the Society stated "The Trinitarian Bible Society does not believe the Authorised Version to be a perfect translation, only that it is the best available translation in the English language."
Unlike others in the King James Only movement, the Society claims, "The supernatural power involved in the process of inspiration, and in the result of inspiration, was exerted only in the original production of the sixty-six Canonical books of the Bible (2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Peter 3:15-16)."
"Translations from the original languages are likewise to be considered the written Word of God in so far as these translations are accurate as to the form and content of the Original."
"Translations made since New Testament times must use words chosen by uninspired men to translate God’s words. For this reason no translation of the Word of God can have an absolute or definitive status. The final appeal must always be to the original languages, in the Traditional Hebrew and Greek texts."