Final Authority

KJV translators in their dedicatory epistle were concerned: "that if, on the one side, we shall be traduced by Popish Persons at home or abroad, who therefore will maling us, because we are poor instruments to make God’s holy Truth to be yet more and more known unto the people, who they desire still to keep in ignorance and darkness, or if, on the other side, we shall be maligned by self-conceited Brethren, who run their own ways, and give liking unto nothing, but what is framed by themselves, and hammered on their anvil". We confront the same concerns today.
Do we assume the scripture lacked the certainty that these soft sciences provide? Are we to take innumerable and textually varying manuscripts from history, arrange them in certain orders, develop theories and assumptions of origin, evolutionary development and scribal habits, and impose them upon the manuscripts? And say ‘These be thy gods O Israel”?

The self attesting nature of scripture is appealed to by John Calvin in his Institutes (Book 1 Ch.VII sec.4-5, Ch.VIII sec.1,V), the Westminster confession (IV, VIII,IX, X), Belgic confession (Articles5 and 7) the 1689 London Baptist Confession, also in the larger Westminster catechism (question4) the 1658 Savoy Declaration #5. These all appealed to the self attesting witness of the Spirit to the scripture, even though, as Calvin asserted, in face of the murmurings of the wicked, certain worthy persons “have not a clear proof at hand to silence them” (reference above). He contends that the Spirit confirms the faith of the godly “inwardly”. The 1689 Confession states the “authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God”. The Spirit taught these believers inwardly well before the empiricist’s discovery of the “oldest most reliable manuscripts”. Were they misled?
The 1689 Baptist confession, and the Westminster confession elevated the Greek and Hebrew originals to the status of final appeal (VII), they continued their assertion by faith in Gods “singular care and providence” by which he “kept pure in all ages” these same Greek (including Mk.16:9-20 and Jn.7:53-8:11) and Hebrew books (Old and New Testament). They made no appeal to handwriting analysis, or scribal habits in their confession regarding final authority. They did not appeal to dating methods as handwriting styles (letter size and punctuation, artistic embellishments etc. comparing to styles on other secular ancient documents with a clear date) types of material used upon which to write and with which to write (ink), the existence of books verses scrolls, as though they provide a clear simple timeline- give or take 50 to 100 years (as opposed to complex events dictating dynamic and unpredictable changes).
2 leading proponents of the critical approach to the New Testament- Kurt & Barbara Aland “The Text of The New Testament”
pg6-7 "Yet no real progress was possible as long as the Textus Receptus remained the basic text and its authority was regarded as canonical...Every theologian of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (and not just the exegetical scholars) worked from an edition of the Greek text of the New Testament which was regarded as the "revealed text." This idea of verbal inspiration (i.e. of the literal and inerrant inspiration of the text), which the orthodoxy of both evangelical traditions maintained so vigorously, was applied to the Textus Receptus with all of its errors..." https://books.google.com/books?id=Rtc...)
I would like to point out some of the same arguments that Josh McDowell used in 'The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict', to prove the authenticity of "the bible" can be, and is used in defense of the KJV. For example: 1. Unique in its influence on civilization pg.15 2. Unique in its influence upon Literature pg.14 (and the English language) 3. Unique in its survival through criticism pg.9 4. Unique in its circulation pg.7-8 His reasonable conclusion was not that this proves the bible is the word of God, but superior to all other books. We apply the same here.