King James Only activists reject all none-KJV versions of the Bible as evil and refuse to use any other in debates and private reading. Although, to be frank, I really can't care less which Bible version Christians use, the idea thagt Westcott and Hort were spiritualists is another "crap Christian idea" and so deserves rebuttal.
Battle Cry, the publication of www.chick.com, in their July/August 1993 issue state:
Writing that his father had a lifelong "faith in what for lack of a better name, one must call Spiritualism," the son of famed biblical Greek text editor B.F. Westcott admits to considerable public alarm at his father's activity. Westcott & his famed partner, Hort, were among the founders of the Ghost Society in the 1850s. Fascinated by the spirit world, their club was dedicated to pursuing knowledge of ghostly encounters with spirits."
It is indeed true that B F Westcott formed a "Ghostlie Guild" (not a Ghost Society) while he was a student at Cambridge (long before he did the translations) its purpose was not to call up spirits/worship spirits at all! Arthur Westcott, son of B F Westcott, wrote:
"In spite of what he called his "Puritanic temperament," Westcott always delighted in congenial society. He was essentially affectionate and enthusiastic in any cause which invited co-operation and served some useful purpose. He devoted himself with ardour, during his last year at Cambridge, to two new societies. One of these was the "Ghostlie Guild," and the other the "Choral Society." The "Ghostlie Guild," which numbered among its members A. Barry, E.W. Benson, H. Bradshaw, the Hon. A. Gordon, F.J.A. Hort, H. Luard, and C.B. Scott, was established for the investigation of all supernatural appearances and effects. Westcott took a leading part in their proceedings, and their inquiry circular was originally drawn up by him. He also received a number of communications in response. Outsiders, failing to appreciate the fact that these investigations were in earnest and only seeking the truth, called them the 'Cock and Bull Club.'"
I fail to see how investigating whether supernatural appearances were occuring, in the same manner as many journalists have done/do, constitutes evil on the part of the investigator. Do Christians proclaim those who investigate psychic phenomena - scientists, journalists and even some Christians - as evil? No, they don't. They proclaim Westcott and Hort to be so only because they wish to discredit their method of translation of the Bible, and so 'defend' the King James Version.
Arthur Westcott also quoted his father's 'inquiry circular' as follows:
"The first object, then, will be the accumulation of an available body of facts: the use to be made of them must be a subject for future consideration; but, in any case, the mere collection of trustworthy information will be of value. And it is manifest that great help in the inquiry may be derived from accounts of circumstances which have been at any time considered "supernatural," and afterwards proved to be due to delusions of the mind or senses, or to natural causes (such, for instance, as the operation of those strange and subtle forces which have been discovered and imperfectly investigated in recent times); and, in fact, generally, from any particulars which may throw light indirectly, by analogy or otherwise, on the subjects with which the present investigation is more expressly concerned."
Not exactly seeking to call up the dead, eh! Also, Arthur Westcott records that his father left the guild because:-
"What happened to this Guild in the end I have not discovered. My father ceased to interest himself in these matters, not altogether, I believe, from want of faith in what, for lack of a better name, one must call Spiritualism, but because he was seriously convinced that such investigations led to no good."
(Life and Letters of Brooke Foss Westcott, abridged edition, London, 1905, p76)
This is most unlike what the writer of Battle Cry maintained - this was not a 'lifelong faith in spiritualism' but the belief that certain 'spiritual' things occured - demons, ghosts, spirits etc. Now, most Christians, at least the ones who believe what the Bible says about there being such spirits, also believe they exist. Does that make them spiritualists? Nope. Plus, Westcott decided his investigations were wrong, and stopped them. How can he be condemned for that? If you can condemn a man for investigating the supernatural and then leaving, you must also condemn all Christians who have ever done something which was not Christian, or which was wrong, and who have then decided to stop doing so. That would mean condemning everyone. This argument is sheer garbage, and really should be ignored.
Alpha & Omega Ministries their page on the fallacies of Gail Riplinger's "New Age Bible Versions". Also many articles on the foolishness of KJVOs.
Pilgrim Publishing their page on Westcott and Hort
http://biblicalresearch.gc.adventist.org/documents/kjvonly.htm Decent and sane page on the KJV debate
Chick tracts repeating the fallacy