Trinitarian Bible Society

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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."^[1]

The Trinitarian Bible Society members separated from the British and Foreign Bible Society, itself founded in 1804, due to two controversies:

Inclusion of the Biblical Apocrypha in published Bibles
Inclusion of adherents of Unitarianism as officers in the Society, and refusal of the Society to open meetings with prayer.

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.

1 Early years
2 Later years
3 King James Only
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links

[edit] Early years

E. W. Bullinger, the noted dispensationalist, was clerical secretary of the Society from 1867 until his death in 1913. Accomplishments of TBS during his secritariat include:

Completion of of a Hebrew version of the New Testament under a TBS contract with Christian David Ginsburg after the demise of Isaac Salkinson. First edition publication was in 1885.
Publication of Ginsburg's first edition of the Old Testament (Introduction to the Massoretico-Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible) in 1897.
Formation of the Breton/Brittany Evangelical Mission Society under Pasteur LeCoat and translation of the Bible into the Breton language.
First-ever Protestant Portuguese Reference Bible.
Distribution of Spanish language Bibles in Spain after the Spanish Revolution of 1868.

[edit] Later years

The Society provides Bibles and Christian literature (from a historical, Reformed perspective) to the world. They also have chapters all over the world.

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 Textus Receptus which underlies the King James Bible.

The Society sells King James Bibles to the general public. These Bibles are printed by the Society itself. They also sell (and give away) Christian literature in English such as tracts. (These products are available on the web site.)

As far as accountability to donors (the Society is funded by the donations of individuals and congregations) is concerned, the Society provides a good deal of transparency: Their web site provides the complete annual report in PDF format for each year, which details finances and activities, to the general public.

The annual report is presented at a yearly meeting. This meeting contains addresses to Society members, often on Bible translation and King James Only topics. Anyone wishing to support the Society's goals may join at their web site.

[edit] King James Only

In modern times, the Trinitarian Bible Society has become a leading promoter of the King James Only movement in the UK. They sponsor meetings to discuss the issue with various churches in the UK. (Some of these meetings can be found at Sermon Audio under their current head, Malcolm Watts. In addition to promoting the use of the King James Bible in English, the translation work done by the Society into other languages is done from the Textus Receptus on which the KJV is based. The Society sells only King James Bibles in English, and no other translation.