KJV-Onlyism: The House Built on the Sand, Part 1

 

Firstly, one thing must be said. The King James Only Movement is among the greatest mistakes in the history of the Church. 

    Christians today are getting harassed, bullied, lectured, and most importantly, divided in the work of Jesus Christ because of the Bible translation they use. Does that make sense to you? It certainly does not make sense to me. There are many examples I could give where the King James translators mistranslated certain words or phrases, and there is even some slight paraphrasing in some areas. This will be dealt with in greater detail in a future article, but let me give you just one example to show you what I mean. In the book of Romans, the phrase 'God forbid!' appears many times throughout the text. But what many people don’t know is that that phrase does not appear in the original Greek. Seriously, the word 'God', and the word 'Forbid' are not there. A literal translation would be 'may it not be so!' The Translators paraphrased. There are many more examples I could give you that have been put forth by respected, conservative scholars. But the above example proves that really, no translation is perfect, and only the original autographs penned by the Bible writers themselves can be considered perfect and without flaw.

POINT 1 AGAINST KJV-ONLYISM:

KJV TRANSLATORS WOULD AGREE WITH US IN SAYING THAT WE DO NOT ONLY NEED TO USE THE KJV

An example: Meet Howard Long. One day, he was in a hotel lobby, and he began witnessing a man there. He was quoting from the King James Version. At last the man who he was witnessing burst out laughing. He said that he had never heard such strange English in his life! Later, the man went to his pastor and talked about what had happened. They stressed the need for a Bible translation that the man on the street could understand. It took 23 years, but the NIV was the result. Now, when I read this story in the excellent book, “Authorized, the Use and Misuse of the King James Bible '' by Mark Ward, I realized something. I don’t agree with all of the methods of translation that the translators used, but they are still my brothers in Christ, and I respect any effort to translate the Bible into a plain language that people understand. You see, the fact is this–God never intended for His word to be forever read in language nobody can understand, he wants it to be read, as Tyndale said, "In the language of the ploughboy”. And the language of the ploughboy is not 17th century English. Modern translations are actually superior in many ways as far as the grammar goes. Ever Heard of the ESV, or English Standard Version? It is, in my opinion, the most beautiful modern English translation out there, and has an impressive list of translators, such as Leland Ryken and Wayne Grudem, the latter author of “Systematic Theology”. All biblically sound translations today follow very strict methods of translation, and every translator of the NKJV, for example, had to go through rigorous interviewing. Only the most mature scholars worked on the NKJV. In the words of the preface to the 1611 KJV, 

"But how shall men meditate in that, which they cannot understand? How shall they understand that which is kept close in an unknowen tongue? as it is written, Except I know the power of the voyce, I shall be to him that speaketh, a Barbarian, and he that speaketh, shalbe a Barbarian to me."

My friends, God will not be angry with you for reading a translation that you can actually understand. And the great King James translators would agree with you. The Bible is for the ploughboy, the man on the street, as well as the scholar.

Now, a word. I don't hate our IFB/KJV-Only brothers and sisters in Christ. I have friends who hold to that position, and they are the nicest people I've ever met. But I think that, if you ever meet or become acquainted with a KJVO Christians, maybe talk to them. Explain your side of the matter, and show them that they should, at least, consider other opinions on the debate about textual criticism. Hating, jeering at, or insulting them will play right into the devil's hands. He wants us to be divided, and fight against ourselves. We cannot let that happen, folks. More next segment.