Edward F. Hills

Edward F. Hills

Edward Freer Hills (1912–1981) was an American Presbyterian scholar, perhaps the greatest 20th Century Traditional (“Byzantine”) Text, and Received Text defender.^[1][2] Dr. Hills integrates his theological perspective alongside New Testament criticism.

Reading Dean John William Burgon inspired Dr. Hills to approach textual criticism from a “logic of faith” (1952 is the year that Dr. Hills made a definite commitment to this view).^[3] As to the relationship of the King James Bible to the Received Text, Hills wrote "the King James Version ought to be regarded not merely as a translation of the Textus Receptus but also as an independent variety of the Textus Receptus."^[4]

Education

• Graduated summa cum laude at Yale University (1930–1933)^[5][6]
• Th.D. from Westminster Theological Seminary (ca. 1935)
• Th.M. from Columbia Theological Seminary
• Th.D. in New Testament textual criticism from Harvard under the supervision of Henry J. Cadbury, Kirsopp Lake as one of the readers^[7]

Books by Dr. Hills

• The King James Version Defended: A Christian View of the New Testament Manuscripts (1956). ISBN 0-915923-00-9.
  • An online version of his book is available here [1] and here [2] and in HTML at [3]
• Believing Bible Study. First edition, 1967; Second edition, 1977, Third edition, 1991. ISBN 0-915923-01-7.

See Also

• The King James Bible Defended

External Links

• How anti-KJVOnyists pussyfoot around E. F. Hills

Notes

• 1. One Bible only?: examining exclusive claims for the King James Bible Roy E. Beacham, Kevin T. Bauder p48 - 2001 "Edward F. Hills - Another individual who made a sizable contribution to the KingJames-Only movement, although not drawing directly from the works of Wilkinson and Ray, is Edward F. Hills (1912-1981). Hills actually possessed genuine ..."
• 2. James D. Price (who isn't a KJO proponent) alludes to this in: King James Onlyism: A New Sect, 2006 pg. 263
• 3. This statement can be seen in the 2nd to last paragraph of The Testimony of Dr. Edward F. Hills by David Cloud
• 4. (King James Version Defended, Ch. 8)
• 5. See the Robert Barnett's contribution at http://www.deanburgonsociety.org/KJBible/barnett91.htm.
• 6. I am assuming since Dr. Hills mentioned that he was a sophomore at Yale in 1931, that would mean his years of study at Yale would most likely be around 1930-33.
• 7. Hills Revisited by John Whitmer