"Why KJV 1611 Bible Version?" God is unchangeable. God's word is unchangeable too. In Matthew 24:35, the Lord Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Why then are we so ready to
accept changes to God's word in the form of different Bible versions?
The Authorized King James text has faithfully served the body of Christ
for almost 400 years. During this time, and during its translation,
Satan has viciously and relentlessly attacked it. I now hear Christians
attacking it too! I've heard preachers and lay people say things like,
"it's too hard to read" or "it doesn't properly reflect the true meaning
of the original Greek". The issue about the original Greek sets my
teeth on edge--which Greek? There are Greek manuscripts galore,
including the corrupted manuscripts that the Roman Catholic religion
uses. The snide remarks and attacks against this utterly reliable text
are unfounded. We must remember that the
Bible is a spiritual book and is understandable to those who are led by
God's Spirit. It is not possible for the natural man to understand it [I
Corinthians 2:14], hence paraphrasing or simplifying it will do no
good. The Bible is not supposed to read like a fairy tale--Peter said,
"for we have not followed cunningly devised fables" [II Peter 1:16].
The words of the Authorized King James are not laborious to me, they
are beautiful and full of God's power. Even the world knows it--the
Authorized King James has been listed on Norton Anthology's list of "the
world's best literature" for decades. The new versions have come up with
some dangerous changes to the scriptures. The Lord God gives us stern
warnings about changing His Word--
Revelation 22:18-19, 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. Proverbs 30:5-6, 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. Look at this change in the
NIV: John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son... The authorized King James
says, John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son. In this instance, the NIV
changes the scriptures by saying that Jesus is God's "one and only" Son
instead of His only begotten Son. This change causes a contradiction in
the word of God because God has more than one son according to both the
King James (Genesis 6:2, Job 1:6, John 1:12) and NIV (Genesis 6:2). I do not buy the line that
the inerrant word of God is found only in the originals-- which nobody
has. I know that God has the power to preserve His word and that he
wouldn't leave us out in the dark with an "imperfect" translation. In
the authorized King James Version God assembled, and moved with His
Spirit, a team of some of the world's best scholars to translate His
word into the world's most popular language, English. The complete translator's
notes of the Authorized King James scholars are not included in today's
publishings. This is unfortunate because these notes say a lot about
these men-- they were humble, loved the word of God, loved the King,
were berated by the Catholic religion, and they desired a translation
for the common man who was kept in darkness. Some of the translators
where killed for their faith. This book was forged in blood, sweat, and
tears. I've heard folks make a big
to-do about the italics in the Authorized KJV. Well, unlike many of
today's translators, the authorized KJV translators let us know which
words they had to add in translating in order to give the full meaning
of the original text (these are the words in italics in the KJV). Other
translators have added words too--but they don't tell you what they've
added. I speak a little Spanish and know that it is oftentimes necessary
to rearrange or add words so that the translation makes sense. These
men went through the extra trouble of identifying which words they
added. That's real scholarship and integrity. Let's fall in love with the
Authorized KJV again and stand on it. Let's get down to business and
read the Word and stop spending so much time reading what others have to
say about the Word in commentaries, Greek lexicons, study bibles, etc.
We want the Holy Ghost to talk to us. How many classes have you
been in where every student has a different textbook? None. It just
doesn't make good sense on a very practical level. We all need to be on
the same sheet of music so that we are in harmony. Let's not confuse our
kids by teaching/preaching from the NKJV, NIV, NASV, LB, the Message,
Phillips, GN, etc. Let's not accept the premise
that the tried and true Authorized King James is somehow outdated and is
to be replaced by dozens of new translations. A standard test
determined the Authorized KJV reading level to be 5th grade because it
contains mostly one and two-syllablic words making it one of the easiest
to read. People have been getting saved by reading it for a long, long
time. We know that it contains the Word of life whereby we live and
grow. Satan knows that in a
generation we won't uniformly quote the scriptures. Imagine ten people
with ten different translations trying to recite a psalm together.
Confusion. Satan knows that many newborn babes in Christ will not have
the real milk that they need in order to grow because they'll have a
watered down version of the truth. He figures that if he can't kill the
babes, he'll do the next best thing-stunt their growth. At the same time
the world will point to Christianity and say, "They don't even have a
definitive word of God. Anybody can write a Bible." They already say
that the Bible was "just written by men". Being able to talk to a child of God and have our spirits commune on the parts of God's word that we've memorized is great. I now find people who are quoting scriptures that I know, but they are worded so differently that I have to ask the reference. This is confusion, and we know who authors confusion, the enemy of our souls, the Devil. I believe that the emergence of these many different "Bible" versions is Satan's most successful attempt to attack God's word. The Bible says that in the last days there's going to be a falling away of the church and I believe that these other versions are helping to usher it along. |