In search of J. J. Ray

[rlvaughn]

While searching for biographical information on J. J. Ray, author of God Wrote Only One Bible in 1955 (1976 edition at link), I ran across a June 14, 2004 thread by Paul of Eugene (Oregon) called Can any body tell me about JJ Ray?. Paul was looking for information on Ray for Maurice Robinson of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. That's been nearly 14 years, and Paul and Maurice may have found what they were looking for by now. But, as for me, I couldn't find much of anything readily available, so went through Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com to see what I could come up with. One person in the thread asked Paul, "If you do find out anything about him, would you please share it here on the BB?"

In consideration that someone on the BB might still be interested. I am posting a bit of what I found.

...any other work JJ Ray was involved in besides his book. If he was a missionary or pastor in any capacity for any denomination...

WorldCat library catalog lists only the one book by Ray. His initial foray in the subject appears to be an 8-page pamphlet called The Eye Opener: an Unbiased, Non-sectarian Examination of the Revised Standard Version Bible, which was copyrighted in 1953. It even elicited a response in A Malicious Attack on the Revised Standard Version of the Bible: A Review of the Booklet "The New Blasphemous Bible" by Dr. Gerald B. Winrod and "The Eye Opener" by J. J. Ray, by someone named Carl J. E. Nelson of Colorado Springs, CO that same year. In 1978 Ray published "The New Eye Opener," a tract apparently about the TEV Bible. That was the extent of his writings that I found. The current Eye Open Publishers of Eugene keep for sale "The New Eye Opener" and an updated version of God Wrote Only One Bible.

Was he also 7th day adventist?

Though using the material of a 7th-Day Adventist, it is very unlikely that Ray was. He was a preacher and moved in evangelical circles, but I never found what his membership was. His mother's obituary says she was a Methodist. In 1920 he was the manager of a dry goods store in New Plymouth, Idaho, but by 1930 he is listed in the census as a Secretary of Home Missions. In 1934, living in Junction City, Oregon, he is listed as a missionary in the Eugene City Directory. In 1936 he became the new missionary for the American Sunday School Union in the Lane Field (Lane County and vicinity). He apparently was already with the ASSU before then, and he remained with them as long as I found any such references, into the early 1960s. He preached and did Sunday School work in many differently denominations -- Baptist, Bible Churches, Christian & Missionary Alliance -- but there was nothing that ever identified him with any particular denomination.

What was his "world wide ministry"?

According to God Wrote Only One Bible, Ray's world-wide ministry was his publishing business. "The Eye Opener Publishers is a world-wide ministry operating on a no-profit basis. It is international and absolutely non-sectarian, serving the entire body of Christ." (unnumbered page 2)

I suspect he self-published under the name "Eye-Opener Publishing" (sic); there is no listing of that publisher in any other context that I could locate.

Eye Opener Publishers is what appears to be called in Oregon an "Assumed Business Name." (Apparently this is the same as what we call in Texas "Doing Business As" or DBA.) J. J. and Ruth E. Ray are mentioned as the owners of this Assumed Business Name in the Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon), February 4, 1959 (Wednesday, p. 7B). There is someone doing business as Eye Opener Publishers at present in Eugene, Oregon.

I wonder if he was someone using a pseudonym?...there really was a Jasper James Ray who died 9/1/1985 in Lane County, Oregon. He was survived by his wife Ruth.

No pseudonym -- Jasper James Ray was born 10 July 1894 in Montana to T. H. Ray and Sadie Glassley. He died 1 Sept 1985 in Lane County, Oregon. Paul misread that he was survived by his wife (her name is given in the death index). Ruth Etta Ray died 4 April 1973.

Any other Rays in that town? Children, grandchildren?

With what I had access to, I could not determine if J. J. Ray has any living descendants. Both of his children were living at the time the BB thread was started in 2004 -- one in Lane County and the other possibly in Dallas, Texas -- but both have since deceased.

Probably too much information for most folks, and not enough for those with the greatest amount of interest.

 

[Jerome]

Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1969: July-December

RAY, JASPER JAMES, ed.
New eye opener. Folder (8 p.)
NM: additions & revisions.
© Jasper James Ray; 6Oct69;
A99643

 

[Jerome]

More from Ray (journal article):

The Oregon Exchange

 

[HankD]

I was a KJVO church member when I got hold of his book God Wrote Only One Bible.

It was like a second bible to me at that time.

I don't know why but I thought he was Plymouth Brethren.

 

[rlvaughn]

Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1969: July-December

Looks like the 1978 New Eye Opener wasn't so new after all. Probably a readaptation of the 1969 one -- which probably included some references to some new Bible that had been recently published around that time.

More from Ray (journal article):

The Oregon Exchange

There is also one of these -- no preview -- for 1921. Interesting to know that he had some background in the printing/publishing industry.

Thanks.

 

[rlvaughn]

I was a KJVO church member when I got hold of his book God Wrote Only One Bible.

It was like a second bible to me at that time.

I don't know why but I thought he was Plymouth Brethren.

From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man: A Layman's Guide to How We Got Our Bible (edited by James B. Williams) called J. J. Ray "a Baptist minister". Unfortunately, he gives no source.


[I learned a new term from the above book, Williams calls the opposite extreme from KJVO "King James Discreditors".]

 

[rlvaughn]

"The Revision of 1881 [et al.]...are in no true sense a revision of the King James of 1611. If they were, they would follow the same Greek text, the Textus Receptus. All that they should have done, was to replace the obsolete words, correct a few errors in translation, and clarify some hard-to-be understood expressions...The crying need of today is still for an honest, trustworthy revision of the King James Bible. However, it remains the very best English translation now extant."

J. J. Ray gets cited a lot in KJVO and anti-KJVO writing. Both sides might be surprised he wrote the above sentences. God Wrote Only One Bible, pp. 30-31

 

[HankD]

"The Revision of 1881 [et al.]...are in no true sense a revision of the King James of 1611. If they were, they would follow the same Greek text, the Textus Receptus. All that they should have done, was to replace the obsolete words, correct a few errors in translation, and clarify some hard-to-be understood expressions...The crying need of today is still for an honest, trustworthy revision of the King James Bible. However, it remains the very best English translation now extant."

J. J. Ray gets cited a lot in KJVO and anti-KJVO writing. Both sides might be surprised he wrote the above sentences. God Wrote Only One Bible, pp. 30-31

The reason I ask is that there were no "modern" versions before W&H 1881 RV and therefore no KJVO movement necessary.

Thank you for the PDF file.

 

[rlvaughn]

The reason I ask is that there were no "modern" versions before W&H 1881 RV and therefore no KJVO movement necessary.

I don't understand for certain what you are asking, but I generally agree. On the other hand, there were some incidents that called on Christians, churches, or associations to verify their stand on "which Bible," such as the 1817 Tennessee Association upset by John Wesley's 1755 New Testament. See HERE.

Thank you for the PDF file.

You're welcome.

 

[TCassidy]

The reason I ask is that there were no "modern" versions before W&H 1881 RV and therefore no KJVO movement necessary.

1808 -First Septuagint in English, the first in the world, and the first complete re-translation of the Bible by an American, Charles Thomson, was printed in Philadelphia.

1833 - Noah Webster's Revised Bible.

1850 - American Bible Union Version.

1853 - Rabbi Leeser translation of Hebrew scripture into English.

1862 - Catholic Bible revised by Archbishop Kenrick from Rheims-Douai version.

1867 - The Holy Scriptures, translated and Corrected by The Spirit of Revelation, by Joseph Smith (also known as the Inspired Version or IV); Published by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

1876 - Julia E. Smith Bible; (Hartford) American Publishing Company.

1877 - Caxton Exhibition "12-hour" Bible.

1878 - Rotherham Emphasized Bible.

1881-85 - Revised version.

 

[HankD]

1808 -First Septuagint in English, the first in the world, and the first complete re-translation of the Bible by an American, Charles Thomson, was printed in Philadelphia.

1833 - Noah Webster's Revised Bible.

1850 - American Bible Union Version.

1853 - Rabbi Leeser translation of Hebrew scripture into English.

1862 - Catholic Bible revised by Archbishop Kenrick from Rheims-Douai version.

1867 - The Holy Scriptures, translated and Corrected by The Spirit of Revelation, by Joseph Smith (also known as the Inspired Version or IV); Published by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

1876 - Julia E. Smith Bible; (Hartford) American Publishing Company.

1877 - Caxton Exhibition "12-hour" Bible.

1878 - Rotherham Emphasized Bible.

1881-85 - Revised version.

Tom do you know which of the above NT's would be considered "modern" or non TR.

I know the Douay-Rheims is from the Vulgate.

Joseph Smith "translated and corrected", Hmm.

 

[HankD]

I don't understand for certain what you are asking, but I generally agree. On the other hand, there were some incidents that called on Christians, churches, or associations to verify their stand on "which Bible," such as the 1817 Tennessee Association upset by John Wesley's 1755 New Testament. See HERE.

You're welcome.

OK you answered my question, KJVO per-dates Ray.

 

[TCassidy]

Tom do you know which of the above NT's would be considered "modern" or non TR.

I know the Douay-Rheims is from the Vulgate.

Joseph Smith "translated and corrected", Hmm.

As the critical text did not come along until after 1880 the assumption is they were based on various representatives of the TR.

 

[HankD]

As the critical text did not come along until after 1880 the assumption is they were based on various representatives of the TR.

OK, thanks, I wondered if the Alexandrian texts were an issue before W&H.

 

[rlvaughn]

OK you answered my question, KJVO per-dates Ray.

I think with KJV, like so many other things, issues are addressed when the come up. For example, you'll not likely find much about churches or denominations addressing abortion or homosexual marriage before these became major issues in our society. In the same way, since almost everyone -- despite the fact some other version might have been theoretically available -- was using a King James Bible (regardless of what they thought about it), so there was little reason for the topic to come up. The incident in 1817 in the Tennessee Association was predicated, apparently, by a Methodist preacher hawking John Wesley's New Testament. There seems to be general agreement (and I have no reason to doubt it) that the impetus for J. J. Ray's book (and Edward F. Hills, as well) was because some people were pushing the Revised Standard Version which had recently arrived on the scene.

 

[rlvaughn]

Regarding the works of J. J. Ray, "The New Eye Opener" is online HERE. I'm not sure which "year model" it is (maybe 1978, it mentions the TEV).

 

[Logos1560]

1850 - American Bible Union Version.

The 1850 New Testament that I have seen is a slight revision of the KJV as edited by Spencer Cone and William Wyckoff.

Cone, Spencer and William Wyckoff (eds.). The Commonly Received Version of the New Testament with several hundred emendations. New York, 1850 and 1851.

According to what I have seen, the complete American Bible Union Version of the New Testament was not printed until 1866. One partial edition of the American Bible Union Version with just the four gospels was printed in 1862, at least that is all in the reprint edition that I have.

A second revision of the American Bible Union Version printed in 1874 listed the following as the first rule:

"The received Greek text, critically edited, with known errors corrected, must be followed."

 

[rsr]

The later revisions of the American Bible Union (whose work was transferred to the American Baptist Publication Society) New Testaments gradually departed more from the Received Text, although they went nowhere as far as the RV. They occasionally placed readings (like the Pericope Adulterae) in brackets, noting they were "wanting in most of the ancient copies."

The Union's translation was most notable for using immerse rather than baptize.

 

[Jerome]

Newspaper article from 1947, interesting that the Gideons are mentioned:

Albany (Ore.) Democrat-Herald, September 20, 1947, p. 4

"Missionary J. J. Ray Honored At Rally"

"More than 100 friends of Missionary J. J. Ray gathered at Junction City grange hall for a surprise sunday school rally which culminated in an ovation for the work done by Mr. Ray in his 21 years of missionary work of the American Sunday School union. Following a delicious turkey dinner served by the ladies of the grange was a program of music and singing and a sermon by Rev. Mr. Templin of the Junction City Baptist church. At the close of the program. Missionary Ray was presented with a new Chevrolet sedan....Mrs. Ray was presented with a new purse containing a $50 bill....Contributions and gifts came from members of the Portland, Corvallis-Albany, and Eugene camps of the Gideons; from members of the American Sunday School Union Sunday schools scattered over Linn, Lane, Benton and Douglas counties and from a host of other friends In Oregon and Washington. A special Oregon Trail bus was chartered from Albany to accommodate the large group coming from that place to participate in honoring Missionary Ray for his work In the Sunday school field."

 

[Jerome]

Springfield (Ore.) News, May 18, 1922, p. 4

"Eugene Watrous has transferred his interest In the Junction City Times to Jasper J. Ray, and retired from the business. The firm name is now Nelson & Ray. Mr. Ray is a son-in-law of Mr. Nelson."