Why We Use The KJV?
We Walk By Faith
The rule of faith, (Ro.14:23) "for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Faith is believing God, "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God." In other words, faith is not just believing in a God, but believing what the God of the Bible says in His holy Bible. (Ja.2:23, see Ge.15:1-6) Some other verses on faith: 2Co.5:7; He.11:1-6; Ja.2:19-20.
What God says about the giving (inspiring) of His Bible, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." (2Ti.3:16) The Author of the Bible is the God "that cannot lie." (Ti.1:2) Therefore, the Bible is completely without error. God's Bible is said to be "very pure" (Ps.119:140), "holy" (2Ti.3:15), "faithful and true" (Re.22:6).
Not only did God just inspire the thoughts in His Bible, God Authored each and every word, "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth" (1Co.2:13), "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Ma.24:35). Other verses on inspiration: Mt.22:31; He.3:7; Re.19:9; 21:5; 1Th.2:13; Ja.1:18; Jn.17:17; Ps.68:11.
Some would claim these statements to be true only for the original autographs (the actual-original-writings of the Prophets and Apostles).
What does God say? "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." (Ps.12:6-7) That is a promise from the mouth of God to keep safe every word He has given to us. Jesus believed in the preservation of every single word of God, "till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (Mt.5:18), which includes His words for He is God—"heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Ma.24:35). Other verses on preservation: Is.30:8; Jn.10:35; Ps.33:11; 100:5; 119:152,160; Is.40:8; 59:21; 1Pe.1:23,25;2Pe.1:19.
Wait, look at what Jesus said: "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." (Jn.12:47-48) Having the very WORDS of God is essential to salvation.
Those that would change the words of God follow the method of Satan, and have a curse upon their head. "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." (Re.22:18-19) Also, "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." (Pr.30:5-6.)
(Genesis 3:1-5)
Doubting God's Words— verse 1 —"Yea, hath God said?"
Diluting God's Words— verse 2 —"We may eat," (Ge.2:16c)
Distending (expanding) God's Words—verse 3d —"neither shall ye touch it"
Diminishing God's Words— verse 3e —"lest ye die" (Ge.2:17)
Denying God's Words— verse 4 —"ye shall not surely die"
Displacing God's Words— verse 5 —"ye shall be as gods"
Colossians 2:8 warns against…
TRADITION — which adds to God's Word.
PHILOSOPHY — which subtracts from God's Word.
Therefore, the Bible that we must use must be God's Bible.
Superior Texts
Basically, there are two types of Greek texts. They have come to be known as the Received Text and the Alexandrian Text. The Received Text is the Greek Text behind the King James Bible, and the Alexandrian Text is behind all modern English translations—all! Here is how they match up.
Received Text—
Out of 5,255 Greek Manuscripts 90% agree with the R.T.
Ancient Translations: Peshitto Syriac, 150 A.D. is mostly R.T., Curetonian Syriac, 3rd cent. A.D. is mostly R.T., Old Latin (Vetus Itala), 2nd cent. A.D. is R.T.
Church Fathers: There are approximately 300 early Christian writers that quote the R.T. between 100 and 600 A.D. [The Apostle John died in 100 A.D., this evidence places the R.T. with the Apostles who wrote it.]
The R.T. was used by… the Apostles (they wrote it), the Churches of Palestine, Antioch of Syria, the Donatists, Montanists, Paulicians, Waldenses, Lollards, and Ana-baptists, (All of these groups were Bible believing, Bible defending, missionary, and Baptist in practice.) the Reformers, all English Bible translators from Tyndale to the King James translators, Luther's German Bible, the French Olivetan and LeFevre translations, and the Italian Diodati Bible.
Alexandrian Text—
The 10% of Greek Manuscripts of this type all disagree with each other in thousands of places.
Ancient Translation: Some ancient translations display the A.T., but they are come from time periods and places and people known for corruption.
The A.T. cannot be traced to the Apostolic age.
Numerous' Church Fathers liked the A.T., especially the heretics like Origen, the chief corrupter of Bibles.
The A.T. was only used during two periods of prolific heresies; in the 2nd to 4th centuries and in the 20th and 21st centuries!
Superior Translators
The translation of the English Bible from the R.T. began with William Tyndale in the 1520's. He sealed his work with suffering, loneliness, privation of food and shelter, and finally with his life. Master Tyndale was burned at the stake in Germany on October 6th, 1536. Blood has flowed from the people of God due to the translation of the Bible into English. Tyndale's friend and fellow translator John Roger was the first martyr under Bloody Mary. Tyndale preceded the King James Version by almost 80-years but 75-90% of the KJV New Testament is Tyndale's work. It was so good the 1611 translators had no need to change it.
In 1604 a list a 50-plus men was drawn up and a thorough translation of the English Bible from the Received Text and the Hebrew (O.T.) Masoretic Text was to be started shortly. Only 47 of these men made it actual work on the translation due to death and other reasons. Obviously, biographical sketches of 47 men is impossible here, but we can take a wide view of their general characteristics. These men were all multi-language capable. All knew at least four languages (English, Hebrew, Latin, Greek) and many knew more. The chief man of the group, Dr. Lancelot Andrews, was conversant in 15 languages. All the men were known for their lives of prayer and learning in England and a number of them were sought by universities abroad for their expertise. These men did not just study ancient languages; they conversed locally and internationally in these languages. Some were known to have their private devotions in Greek, and write to colleagues in Hebrew or Arabic.
Many today think that our learning is better, but the fact is that our generation is lazy. None of the modern translation teams have ever assembled a team like the 47 KJV translators who were giants of learning and, just as importantly, in their daily Christian lives. It should be noted that there were one or two men considered for the KJV translation work who were rejected due to their ungodly, contentious lives. Holiness and learning were both essentials for this group. This is in large contrast to the Unitarians (deny the trinity/deity of Christ) that have been on various translation committees; the NIV had a lesbian and a sodomite on their committee, not to mention the large number of Liberal theologians that deny the historicity of the Bible, believe in evolution, deny verbal inerrant inspiration, etc. Surely there is no need to go one.
Superior Techniques
The 47 translators were divided into six companies. Each company was assigned a portion to translate. Each individual in the company would do his own translation, then read it to the whole company, who were seated with various texts and version to compare. All comments and criticism were compiled and discussed until the company produced one translation of their portion. Then five copies were made and distributed to the other companies who would also examine and compare the work and recommend changes. After the whole Bible was completed there was a final translation committee made from the most learned from each of the companies and then a publication team of three men. The whole work took about four years.
The KJV translators are known to have had the following resources for meticulous comparison: Tyndale's N.T. and pieces of the O.T., Matthew's Bible, Geneva Bible, Bishop's Bible, Complutensian Polyglot, Antwerp Poliglot, Targums, Peshitta, Olivetan Bible (French), Diodati Bible (Italian), Luther's Bible (German), Waldensian Bible (Old Italic), Rheims-Douay New Testament, Spanish translations (un-named), Tremellius' Latin Version, and Beza's Latin Version. The KJV translators knew of the Alexandrian Text and rejected it
There method of translation used is called Formal Equivalence. That means it is based upon word-for-word translation with some variation so as to capture the exact meaning in English. (I.e. one Greek word may require an English phrase of three words to say the same thing.) This translation method agrees with the fact that God breathed individual words to make His Bible.
All modern versions (except the NASV) use a paraphrase method called Dynamic Equivalence. Here, the translator paraphrases what he believes the meaning to be with no particular care for words. What about God's WORDS?
The doctrines (teaching) of God is full and complete in the KJV. The modern version, by removing words, phrases, and verses have diminished many doctrines and actually taken at least one completely out of the Bible. A chart is the best way to demonstrate. We will use the NIV to compare to because it is popular and in the middle of the road in regards to corruptions.
| Reference | Passage | NIV Change | Doctrinal Consquence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Tim. 3:16 | "… God was manifest in the flesh…" | "…He appeared in a body…" | Who appeared in a body? God's Bible says that Jesus is God in this verse. |
| Acts 8:37 | "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." | OMITTED | When the passage is read in the NIV it teaches salvation by water baptism. |
| Isaiah 7:14 | "… a virgin shall conceive…" | "…The virgin will be with child…" | The difference between on little word is amazing. When a person refers to "the virgin" that is a reference to the Roman Catholic goddess Mary. |
| Luke 2:33 | "And Joseph and his mother marvelled…" | "The child's father and mother marvelled…" | Jesus' father was the Heavenly Father, this strips Jesus of His deity and virgin birth. |
| John 3:16 | "…only begotten Son…" | "…one and only Son…" | In the Bible "the only begotten Son" speaks of position irrespective of birth. Jesus is the only begotten, but not the only son—see Hebrews 2:10. |
| 1 John 4:3 | "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God…" | "…but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God." | The old gnostic heresies included the idea that all matter was evil, therefore, they thought Jesus could not have had a real body. No doubt the NIV is just translating this ancient error from their ancient corrupt text. |
| Col. 1:14, 20 | "In whom we have redemption through his blood… made peace through the blood of his cross…" | "…in whom we have redemption…and through him to reconcile…" | Without the blood of Jesus there is no remission of men's sin. |
| 1 John 5:7, 8 | "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." | "For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement." | This attack on the Trinity is very blatant. |
| Luke 4:4 | "It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." | "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone." | The NIV's omission leaves much room for personal interpretation—i.e. man also needs water to drink! The KJV is right in recording the words of Jesus—men need every word of God. Therefore, the NIV must be rejected. |
| 1 Pet. 2:2 | "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." | "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." | This makes salvation a process instead of an event carried out by God in the life of a sinner. Also, notice the deletion of the need for the Bible here. |
| Mat. 18:11 | "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost." | OMITTED | The purpose of Jesus' first coming is being attacked. |
| Mark 9:44, 46 | "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." | OMITTED BOTH TIMES | The doctrine of Hell and personal torment for sin is being attacked. |
| John 6:47 | "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." | "I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life." | What would the NIV have people believe here? The KJV knows where faith is to rest—in Christ alone. |
| Romans 5:1 | "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" | "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." | Is it the doctrine of justification by faith or through faith? Justification is by faith alone in Christ's blood alone—Romans 3:23-26. |
| Romans 1:16 | "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ…" | "I am not ashamed of the gospel…" | Which gospel? There is only one true Gospel, that of Jesus Christ; but, there are many false ones—Galatians 1:6-9. |
| Rev. 21:24 | "And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it…" | "The nations will walk by its light…" | Only the saved will get to walk in the light of the New Jerusalem. The NIV gives way to the heresy of the universal fatherhood of God. (i.e. all will be saved) |
| Mk. 16:9-20 | Authenticity questioned by footnote. | ||
| Jhn 7:53—8:11 | Authenticity questioned by footnote. | ||
| James 5:16 | "Confess your faults one to another…" | "…confess your sins to each other…" | The Roman Catholic Priests could use the NIV to fill their confessional booths. God's Bible says, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1Tim. 2:5KJV) |
| Luke 2:22 | "…her purification…" | "…their purification…" | The NIV teaches here that the holy child Jesus needed purifying—blasphemy. |
| 2 Cor. 2:17 | "…For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God…" | "…Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit…" | We just cannot figure out why the NIV changed this one— please forgive the sarcasm |
Common Misconceptions About The KJV
- Is not the KJV's English old English? Technically, no. The KJV English is modern English, but yes some words have fallen out of popular use now. This can be quickly remedied by a good dictionary that will give you the older meanings. The Bible was meant to be studied—2 Tim. 2:15.
- Is not the modern King James Bibles you buy very different for the 1611 edition due to many changes? A technical comparison of a 1611 edition and a modern King James Bible would show approximately 22,000 differences. But what are the nature of these differences, and are they 'changes?'
- —Corrections of typographical errors. Printers make mistakes, not God!
- —Updated orthography. Before the 1700's the type 'font' was changed from "Gothic" to "Roman." The 'Gothic' was slightly different, using "f" for our "s," "v" for "u," etc.
- —Spelling. Spelling was not standardized until the mid-1700's. English is a phonetic language, regardless of spelling if a word sounds the same in the ear it is the same word.
- —Punctuation. Punctuation was also standardized over time.
- —Abbreviations. Early editions sometimes used "&" for "and," and the letter "y" for the word "the."
- —Word refinement. Some words were updated in their form, like "hidden" to "hid," or "returned" to "turned." There are about three instances of word replacement, like "the crowned" to "thy crowned," but these could have been printer errors. A few words have been added, like "this thing" changed to "this thing also."
- —Word order. A couple of these have been found, like "also shall" to "shall also."
- These are not changes that affect God's Bible. The Modern Versions are removing thousands of words; individual words, phrases, verses and whole passages. Not to mention they are from the Alexandrian Text.
- Should we not get rid of the "Thee's" and "Thou's," no one speaks like that any more? In fact, people did not speak like that in 1611. "Thee," "thou," "ye," and "you" are all second person personal pronouns and by the 1600's people were just commonly using "you" all the time. Using the four separate second person personal pronouns is very important for it tells you the number of people being addressed. "Thee" and "thou" are singular, and "ye" and "you" are plural. Now you can tell if Jesus was speaking to a group or just one person—Lk. 5:24; Jn. 3:11; Acts 5:9.
A Need To Stand
When Israel stood shaking in their boots at the giant Goliath the young man David upbraided the older men for their unwillingness to fight, saying, "Is there not a cause?" (1Sa.17:29)
We must stand for God's Book in the English language, the King James Bible. There is a cause!