WHY USE THE KING JAMES
VERSION?
Currently
there is much confusion in Christendom over the location of God's Word. A
simple stroll through the Bible section at the local Christian bookstore
could not help but leave the honest Christian confused. If God only
authored and inspired one Bible, how can there be so many translations all
claiming to be God's Word? The New International Version (NIV), the New American
Standard (NASV), the King James (KJV), the New King James (NKJV), and many others
all claim to be accurate and faithful translations of the
"original" manuscripts. The average Christian thinks modern
translations such as the NIV, NASV, NKJV or the New Living Translation are
simply an updating of the "archaic" language of the King James
Version, therefore, all versions are essentially the same.
Unfortunately,
upon further investigation a serious and glaring problem becomes apparent.
The modern translations are not simply updates of the King James language,
but totally different Bibles altogether. For example, let us compare Mark
1:2-3 in both the King James Version and the New International Version.
First let us consider the King James. It reads:
2)
As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger
before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3) The voice of
one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his
paths straight.
Upon careful study the reader will notice the use of the word
"prophets" in verse 2. This is a critical point because Luke is
quoting in these verses from more than one prophet. In verse 2 the
quotation "Behold I send my messenger before thy face, which shall
prepare the way before thee", is found in Malachi 3:1. Verse 3, on
the other hand, is a quotation from Isaiah 40:3. Thus the King James
Version is accurate in its use of "prophets" in verse 2 because Mark is referencing more than one prophetic book.
In
contrast, the NIV offers a reading that is not only inaccurate but also
wrong. In the NIV Mark 1:2-3 reads as follows,
2)
It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger
ahead of you, who will prepare your way" 3) "a voice of one
calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths
for him.'"
According
to the NIV reading both quotations come from the book of Isaiah. Notice
that the New International's use of "Isaiah the prophet", is
singular when according to their own footnotes, Mark is quoting from both
Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. The resulting reading is not even correct.
The King James's use of "prophets" is plural thus correctly
identifying Mark as quoting from more than one prophet.
The
reason the NIV and KJV differ in their rendering of Mark 1:2 has nothing
to do with the translation of individual Greek words. In other words, the
Greek manuscripts used by the King James translators contain the Greek
word "prophetes" which is correctly translated prophets. In
contrast, the Greek manuscripts used by the New International translators
contain the Greek word for Isaiah thus accounting for the verse's
incorrect reading.
The
real issue at stake in the version debate is not how to translate
individual words from Greek into English, rather, it is which set of
manuscripts are used to make the translation. In the brief example cited
above the reason the KJV and NIV say different things is because their
underlying Greek texts are different. Common sense says that you cannot
translate a verse that is not in the Greek manuscript you are trying to
translate. For example, the reason the NIV leaves verses out of the Bible
like, Matthew 23:14, is because the entire verse is missing from the Greek
texts being translated. The reason the King James includes Matthew 23:14
is because the Greek texts used by its translators contained the verse.
One is left to conclude that the real issue in the version debate is which
set of Greek manuscripts are going to be used when translating.
It
is the view of the saints at Grace Life Bible Church that the King James
Version and its underlying Greek text the Textus Receptus is the correct
and uncorrupted location of the Word of God. We hold firmly to the
doctrines of the Verbal Plenary Inspiration of the Scriptures (II Timothy
3:16-17), and the preservation of every word of the Inspired Scripture
(Psalm 12:6-7). As a result, we are pleased to offer the following online
resources to help you understand the issues surrounding our conclusion,
that the King James Bible is the accurate and preserved Word of God for
the English speaking people.
Resources By Pastor Bryan Ross
The Apocrypha and the King James Bible
The
Argument For Innerancy and the King James Bible
Two
Bible Lines
The
Critical Text The
Preserved Text
Additional Resources
Note:
Pastor Ross may not agree with every individual point made in the following
resources but does concur with their over all conclusions.
