Photo by Billy Hatham 2010 |
Imagine being able to hold the Word of God in your
hand! Indeed, you can do just that. The
Authorized King James Version (KJV) Bible is God's Word. It is God's love
letter to all mankind, containing Basic
Instructions Before Leaving Earth. It does not contain God's Word
or describe what God said; rather, it is
the Word of God, written during a period of 1,500 years by about 40 authors
inspired by the Holy Spirit to record His Word for all eternity (2 Timothy 3:16).
The authorized KJV Bible has appeared on Norton Anthology's
list of "the world's best literature" for decades, and it is the most
widely published, best-selling book of all time. The Bible is even the most
commonly stolen book -- go figure! I guess Bible thieves overlook the "Thou
shalt not steal" commandment! (Exodus
20:15)
Since God wrote the Ten Commandments on stone tablets and
gave them to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus
25:12), He has gone to great pains to preserve His inerrant Word
unchanged (Matthew 5:18). Throughout
the centuries, great Christians like Martin Luther. John Wycliffe, and William
Tyndale have suffered persecution and imprisonment so that the Bible would be
preserved, translated into different languages, and made available to all. The
result is that by reading the Bible, everyone who wants to know can understand
God's will and plan for their lives (Matthew
7:7-8; Luke 11:9-10).
God's plan of salvation is that Jesus Christ -- God the Son
-- came to earth in human form (John 1:14)
but without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21),
was crucified, and died as a perfect sacrifice to pay for all our sins, past,
future and present (John 1:29).
He then defeated death and the grave (1
Corinthians 15:55), rose on the third day, and ascended into Heaven,
where He sits at God the Father's right hand (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Mark 16:19; Hebrews 12:2).
Everyone who acknowledges and turns away from their sins,
asks God for forgiveness, believes in Jesus' finished work of salvation, and
accepts Him as their personal Savior with simple, childlike faith will not die
eternally in hell, but will live joyously forever in Heaven (John 3:16, Acts 2:21; Romans
10:13).
Once we are born again (John
3:1-8), the Holy Spirit enters our heart (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30),
teaching us the truth of God’s Word if we pray for wisdom (James 1:5) and apply ourselves to learning it (2 Timothy 2:15).
That truth will light the path of our Christian walk (Psalm 119:105), helping us to
make the right choices (Proverbs 3:5-6),
keeping us from sin (Psalm 119:105),
and bringing us closer to Christ. Before we were saved, God’s Word seemed to us
to be foolish, but when we are born again, we realize that it is the power of
God (1 Corinthians 1:18-21).
As the Christmas season begins, many of us might want to
give a Bible to a loved one, or even choose a new Bible for ourselves and a
reading plan to go through all the Scripture in 2015. Depending on the reader’s background,
spiritual maturity, and life circumstances, we might be tempted to choose a “modern”
version perceived to be more “relevant” or “easier to read.” My personal
preference for everyone, regardless of these factors, would be the KJV.
Why read the KJV Bible, and not one of the more contemporary
versions? The KJV Bible, published in 1611, is the signed, sealed and delivered
official Word of God in the English language. It was authorized by King James
and commissioned by God Himself, as He brought together a team of more than 50
of the world's best scholars to translate His Word into English, the world's
most widely used official language. Rather than seeking their own fame, glory
or profit, these scholars were humble, dedicated to the Lord and to spreading
His Word to all people, even if they had to pay for it with their own lives.
The Old Testament of the KJV Bible was translated from the
Masoretic Hebrew Text, and the New Testament was translated from the Majority
Text. The latter is also called the Received Text or Textus Receptus because
most (99.92%) of the 5,686 existing Greek texts are in agreement with it.
Most modern English Bible revisions are based on a Greek
text not agreeing with the Majority Text. Two men instrumental in authoring
these new versions, Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort,
intentionally omitted or changed portions of the Greek text to suit their own
beliefs, or rather doubts, regarding many key Bible truths.
They did not believe literal six-day creation (Genesis 1), the many miracles of Jesus described in the Gospels, His substitutionary sacrifice for us (2 Corinthians 5:21, etc.) the
power of His shed blood to wash away our sins (Revelation 1:5; 7:14; 1 John 1:7, Colossians 1:14 ,etc), or the existence of
Heaven and hell as real places (John
14:2; Acts 7:55-56; Luke 16:20-31; Mark 9:43-44, etc.).
The newer English versions are actually revisions, not
translations, of God's Word. Jesus warns of the dangers of adding to, taking
away from, or changing His Word in any way, and the punishment for those who do
so (Revelation 22:18-19; Proverbs
30:5-6; Deuteronomy 4:2; Matthew 5:18).
Apart from this most important reason to stick with the KJV
Bible, there is the poetic beauty of the text that reflects its inspiration
from God. If you compare Psalm 23,
for example, beginning with "The
Lord is my shepherd..." in the KJV Bible with that of any other
version, you can easily appreciate the majestic, musical quality of the KJV.
The profound influence of the KJV Bible on English literature is evident in the
masterpieces of famous authors including John Bunyan, John Milton, Herman
Melville, and William Wordsworth.
One of my personal favorite reasons to read the KJV Bible
is that Jesus promised to prepare a place for us in Heaven, and in the KJV, He
promises each of us a "mansion" (John
14:2). How can that compare with the "room" mentioned in the
modern versions?
A common objection to reading the KJV Bible is that it is
"hard to understand." Actually, studies comparing the language used
in the different versions show that the KJV is the easiest to read because it
uses more action words and contains no "fluff" or wordiness.
A standard readability test (Flesch-Kincaid) shows that the
KJV Bible is at a 5th grade reading level, whereas the English Standard Version
(ESV), for example, is at an 8th grade reading level. The average number of
words per sentence is 9 in the KJV and 19 in the ESV, and the KJV turns out to
be easier to read than the ESV in terms of sentence and vocabulary complexity
and use of short and simple sentences.
True, the KJV contains “thee” and “thou,” (but so does
Shakespeare, and we can get used to that very quickly). It also contains words
that we seldom use today, like “fornication,” and doctrinally specific words
like “propitiation.” These are easily understood with a good Bible dictionary
or study Bible. I have the KJV on Kindle for use when we travel, and if you
highlight a word, the Kindle automatically provides a definition!
But by far the most important reason to avoid the new versions is that they delete verses altogether; they delete key portions of other verses; and they frequently omit the Name of Jesus, Christ and Jesus Christ, as we shall see next week. Faith comes by hearing (and reading) the word of God (Romans 10:17), so may we believe what God has spoken, and not in men’s revisions designed to suit their own agenda.
© 2014 Laurie Collett