Why I Do Not Use the King James Version
(I started this blog a couple of months ago but have just now finished it):
In light of two conversations that have happened this past week, I was again reminded at the notion, particularly in the town in which I live, that unless you read the King James Version of the Bible, you are not reading God's word. More specifically, the statements told to me were, "Our pastor told us there wasn't no Bible but the King James and all other ones were fake" and "You might as well throw other versions in the trash". This was said by two different individuals and needless to say, I was quite shocked.
I love Jesus Christ and seek to honor Him with my life, but I do not believe that the KJV is the one only true version of God's word, and furthermore, I will go so far as to say it is not biblical or loving to demand other believers adhere to this standard.
It is time we love the Lord with all our mind and use the knowledge and resources available to us. To be short, sweet and to the point, here is why I do not personally read the KJV.
The KJV is not as accurate as other translations
It's just not. We have nearly 6,000 Greek New Testament manuscripts, and around 10,000 Old Testament manuscripts. We have a few thousand more manuscripts in other languages, such as Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian. The New Testament was written in Greek and the Old Testament was written predominantly in Hebrew, with traces of Aramaic. The earliest New Testament manuscripts that we have are said to be dated around the second century, with one copy potentially from the first century. The oldest Old Testament manuscript are found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating back to the second century BC. When the KJV was put together and published in 1611, we did not have as many copies of manuscripts to go by. We had a handful, but more recent discoveries have helped us to better discern the accuracy of certain passages. (A noteworthy example is in 1 John 5:7, which I find incredibly problematic in the KJV. Here is a link on the issue:)
https://bible.org/article/textual-problem-1-john-57-8.
I have a copy of the original 1611 KJV and no one can read it.
If you really want to talk to a hard-core KJV only person, let them attempt to read just a few sentences from the original copy. Below is a picture of one of its pages. Letter shapes have changed, spelling is different, among other things, making it very difficult to read.
It is unloving to our brothers and sisters whose primary language is not English
God has been saving people long before 1611, and has saved plenty of people reading versions of the Bible in their native languages. It is unfair and unloving to a new believer to demand they read the KJV. You hinder their walk with Christ by making them read something they do not understand. It makes God seem far away, as if they cannot fully know him unless they know Old English. Brothers and sisters, that's just not true.
Most English speaking people cannot understand the KJV
I consider myself to be rather bright, but I cannot understand half of what I read in the KJV. I remember getting a KJV Bible when I was 13. I would sometimes open it to read, get through one sentence and just end up closing it out of frustration. It's not the language I use, the grammar is unfamiliar, and the word choices are foreign. I cannot grow in my understanding of God's word if I can't read it. It makes us think that only the preacher can fully understand God's word, when in fact God's word tells us that all believers are fully capable of understanding God's word on their own.
Well-educated, mature Christians have helped to develop more accurate translations.
To write them off as heretics before even trying to learn the heart behind their translations is a bit unfair. God has gifted many people linguistically, and we should be thankful that there are Greek and Hebrew scholars that are able to come together and agree upon what is the best and most accurate translation of God's word.
We are called to teach, preach and interpret God's word correctly.
As God's people, we are to be discerning. If a preacher preaches from the pulpit that something is God's word when in fact it may not be, we have severely stepped over the line.
I am not saying all translations are created equally. I personally like the NASB and ESV for their attempt at staying true to the manuscripts. However, I am not advocating that every translation is accurate or fair. It can be a little alarming for some people at first when we call into question the authenticity of translations, but in fact it should only motivate us to dig deeper into God's word and do our own research. We can more deeply understand God's word when we know Greek and Hebrew; when we're able to read the Psalms in their original poetic nature, when we're able to see specific word choices and word plays in the text that illuminate the coming Messiah, when we're able to see rhyming words and sentence structure that helps us interpret the passage more correctly. God is good and has given us minds so that we may understand him and his word more deeply.
In light of two conversations that have happened this past week, I was again reminded at the notion, particularly in the town in which I live, that unless you read the King James Version of the Bible, you are not reading God's word. More specifically, the statements told to me were, "Our pastor told us there wasn't no Bible but the King James and all other ones were fake" and "You might as well throw other versions in the trash". This was said by two different individuals and needless to say, I was quite shocked.
I love Jesus Christ and seek to honor Him with my life, but I do not believe that the KJV is the one only true version of God's word, and furthermore, I will go so far as to say it is not biblical or loving to demand other believers adhere to this standard.
It is time we love the Lord with all our mind and use the knowledge and resources available to us. To be short, sweet and to the point, here is why I do not personally read the KJV.
The KJV is not as accurate as other translations
It's just not. We have nearly 6,000 Greek New Testament manuscripts, and around 10,000 Old Testament manuscripts. We have a few thousand more manuscripts in other languages, such as Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian. The New Testament was written in Greek and the Old Testament was written predominantly in Hebrew, with traces of Aramaic. The earliest New Testament manuscripts that we have are said to be dated around the second century, with one copy potentially from the first century. The oldest Old Testament manuscript are found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating back to the second century BC. When the KJV was put together and published in 1611, we did not have as many copies of manuscripts to go by. We had a handful, but more recent discoveries have helped us to better discern the accuracy of certain passages. (A noteworthy example is in 1 John 5:7, which I find incredibly problematic in the KJV. Here is a link on the issue:)
https://bible.org/article/textual-problem-1-john-57-8.
I have a copy of the original 1611 KJV and no one can read it.
If you really want to talk to a hard-core KJV only person, let them attempt to read just a few sentences from the original copy. Below is a picture of one of its pages. Letter shapes have changed, spelling is different, among other things, making it very difficult to read.
It is unloving to our brothers and sisters whose primary language is not English
God has been saving people long before 1611, and has saved plenty of people reading versions of the Bible in their native languages. It is unfair and unloving to a new believer to demand they read the KJV. You hinder their walk with Christ by making them read something they do not understand. It makes God seem far away, as if they cannot fully know him unless they know Old English. Brothers and sisters, that's just not true.
Most English speaking people cannot understand the KJV
I consider myself to be rather bright, but I cannot understand half of what I read in the KJV. I remember getting a KJV Bible when I was 13. I would sometimes open it to read, get through one sentence and just end up closing it out of frustration. It's not the language I use, the grammar is unfamiliar, and the word choices are foreign. I cannot grow in my understanding of God's word if I can't read it. It makes us think that only the preacher can fully understand God's word, when in fact God's word tells us that all believers are fully capable of understanding God's word on their own.
Well-educated, mature Christians have helped to develop more accurate translations.
To write them off as heretics before even trying to learn the heart behind their translations is a bit unfair. God has gifted many people linguistically, and we should be thankful that there are Greek and Hebrew scholars that are able to come together and agree upon what is the best and most accurate translation of God's word.
We are called to teach, preach and interpret God's word correctly.
As God's people, we are to be discerning. If a preacher preaches from the pulpit that something is God's word when in fact it may not be, we have severely stepped over the line.
I am not saying all translations are created equally. I personally like the NASB and ESV for their attempt at staying true to the manuscripts. However, I am not advocating that every translation is accurate or fair. It can be a little alarming for some people at first when we call into question the authenticity of translations, but in fact it should only motivate us to dig deeper into God's word and do our own research. We can more deeply understand God's word when we know Greek and Hebrew; when we're able to read the Psalms in their original poetic nature, when we're able to see specific word choices and word plays in the text that illuminate the coming Messiah, when we're able to see rhyming words and sentence structure that helps us interpret the passage more correctly. God is good and has given us minds so that we may understand him and his word more deeply.
