Molehills Part 2, The King James Only Movement

 

“Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us,” Luke 9:49.

 

The King James Version (KJV or AV) is indeed an old translation of the Bible, translated largely from the Textus Receptus (Received Text) and the Hebrew Masoretic Text. Beloved by many, it has found itself thrust into the uncomfortable position of divine appointment. In short, the KJV has developed a movement over the decades of people that believe it is divinely inspired and without error, like the original Biblical autographs God inspired the prophets and apostles to write.

The King James Only movement can be so severe that fellowship may be sundered between believers if someone espouses the NASB, NRSV, or (Heaven forbid) the NIV as one’s reading preference, as coming from inferior, corrupted, and Satanic sources, meant to cripple and shipwreck the faith of the saints. Not even the NKJV (my personal reading favorite, simply for stylistic reasons) is safe. But I relied on the NIV for several years of my Christian walk exclusively. I leave my own testimony on this blog as whether or not the NIV ruined my faith.

 

There are reasons, both logically and Biblically, to refute the controversy. For instance, Erasums, a Roman Catholic scribe, added an emendation to 1 John 5:7, an emendation kept in the KJV despite the fact that it was a late addition found in no other manuscript source earlier than 1520 (codex 61) at the Roman church’s request. Church consensus, and the Roman church at that, was the motivator for the verse’s addition, not divine appointment. Yet the KJV retains a known and deliberate addition.

 

Ancient manuscripts such as Codex Sinaiticus (1844) and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1947-56) had yet to be discovered and further enrich our understanding of the parent languages the Bible was written in. The ancient languages used in the Old and New Testaments were sometimes obscure, so textual criticism was necessary to propound a proper rendering, whereas in the four centuries since the King James Version, our understanding of the languages has improved. Newer versions have more abundant source material to draw from, and can sharpen the meaning of formerly obscured passages.

 

Not to mention the King James translators received no small input and interference by King James himself, on behalf of the Church of England. James was concerned about defending his divinely ordained royal supremacy he believed the current Geneva Bible failed to provide. Standing on the shoulders of men the likes of John Wycliffe and William Tyndale, the scholars constructed what became known as the King James Version, or the Authorized Version of the Bible. If one reads into the history of this process, it becomes increasingly clear that divine appointment was not at work here, and no Bible today (including the KJV) can parallel in terms of divine inerrancy the place held by the original autographs. The wealth of manuscript resources at our disposal (some fragments dating back to 125 AD!) is legion. There are, estimated, 5700 manuscripts in part or in whole, of the New Testament alone. Whether that is the Received Text, the Majority Text, or otherwise, that amount of preserved Scripture is amazing. Couple that with the copious writings of the church fathers, dating from 2^nd through 5^th century AD, and we may tally more than 1,000,000 citations. For the New Testament alone, Randall Price tells us, only 13 verses of Scripture were NOT cited by the early church fathers. The New Testament could effectively be pieced back together by the church fathers’ writings alone.

 

God preserved His word, which He said was truth, but not in the manner the King James Only movement believes. But enough of the point and counter point. Instead, we’ll allow Scripture to speak for itself. I will quote several well-known verses from four major Bibles and contrast them to the KJV, and we shall see how corrupt and tainted these versions are, in terms of presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ, necessary for man’s salvation, to a sinful world.

 

John 3:16

KJV For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

NLT For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

 

NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

ESV For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

 

RSV For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

 

Acts 4:12

KJV Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

 

NLT There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

 

NIV Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

 

ESV And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

 

RSV And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

 

Ephesians 2:8, 9

KJV For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

NLT God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

 

NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

 

ESV For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

 

RSV For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—not because of works, lest any man should boast.

 

This movement, which has been answered by more skillful men than I, doesn’t simply make mountains out of molehills; it make mountains out of flatlands. Where there is no issue, one is created, seemingly for the sole purpose of engendering strife. Along with it comes elitism, arrogance, and exclusion tactics. But the KJV is no more inerrant than other, perfectly good renderings of Scripture that have led many, including myself, to Christ and the eternal life He offers. One may have a favorite version of the Bible. Again, mine is the NKJV, though I did read the NIV for numerous years, and also highly favor the NASB. But when I turn from “I like the NKJV best” for personal reasons, to, “the NKJV is the only version anyone can read and hope to find God’s truth,” I have grossly erred, and this is both ignorant and unloving toward the brethren.

 

The verse I cited in Luke chapter 9 seems fitting for this scenario. John, a young and undisciplined believer, thinks that he is doing a good thing by forbidding a fellow believer in Christ from serving his Lord, because he doesn’t follow them specifically. But Jesus rebuked John and commanded that such people should not be hindered, because they are for Christ and advancing His gospel, Luke 9:50. It’s disturbing and depressing that this is even an issue in Christendom, when an unsaved world is dying and the saints quibble over a book’s divine origin. Yes, the Bible is God-breathed. But no, the King James Version is not wholly inerrant in a way the original autographs were, and neither is any other version, for that matter. The truth about how that Bible came to be is public record, and it does not speak of providence, but of royal pressure and preference.

 

Are there bad translations of Scripture abroad? Yes, of course. The Message is one of those, as is the SDA’s Clear Word Translation, just to name two. Both mutilate Scripture to liberally paraphrase, or to insert a doctrine not found in the Bible, respectively. But many translations are sound, and bring the gospel’s light to many lives. This too falls under the admonition of not receiving your brother to disputes over doubtful things, Romans 14:1. May we who are mature strive not to fall into this legalistic pit, lording our faith over others.