Questions about the Bible: The 100 Most Frequently Asked Questions About the Bible by S. Michael Houdmann

Author:S. Michael Houdmann [Houdmann, S. Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781490878010
Publisher: WestBow Press
Published: 2015-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

Some of the books mentioned belong to a group known as the “Apocrypha,” books of Jewish origin that are normally considered to lie outside the canon of the Old Testament.

Question: What is the KJV-Only Movement? Is the King James Version the only Bible we should use?

Answer: Many people have strong and serious objections to the translation methods and textual basis for newer translations and therefore take a strong stance in favor of the King James Version. Others are equally convinced that the newer translations are an improvement over the KJV in their textual basis and translation methodology. Got Questions Ministries does not want to limit its ministry to those of the “KJV-Only” persuasion. Nor do we want to limit ourselves to those who prefer the NIV, NASB, NKJV, etc. The purpose of this article is not to argue against the use of the King James Version. Rather, the focus of this article is to contend with the idea that the King James Version is the only Bible English speakers should use.

The KJV-Only Movement claims loyalty to the Textus Receptus, a Greek New Testament manuscript compilation completed in the 1500s. To varying degrees, KJV-Only advocates argue that God guided Erasmus (the compiler of the Textus Receptus) to come up with a Greek text that is perfectly identical to what was originally written by the biblical authors. However, upon further examination, it can be seen that KJV-Only advocates are not loyal to the Textus Receptus, but rather only to the KJV itself. The New Testament of the New King James Version is based on the Textus Receptus, just as the KJV is. Yet, KJV-Only advocates label the NKJV just as heretical as they do the NIV, NASB, etc.

Beyond the NKJV, other attempts have been made to make minimal updates to the KJV, “modernizing” the archaic language while using the same Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. These attempts are rejected nearly as strongly as the NKJV and the other newer Bible translations. KJV-Only advocates have no desire or plan to update the KJV in any way. The KJV certainly contains English that is outdated, archaic, and sometimes confusing to modern English speakers and readers. It would be fairly simple to publish an updated KJV with the archaic words and phrases updated into modern, 21st-century English. However, any attempt to edit the KJV in any way results in accusations from KJV-Only advocates of heresy and perversion of the Word of God.

When the Bible is translated for the first time into a new language today, it is translated into the language that culture speaks and writes presently, not the way they spoke and wrote 400 years ago. The same should be true in English. The KJV Bible was written in the common, ordinary language of the people at that time (the 1600s). Bible translations today should follow the same principle. That is why Bible translations must be updated and revised as languages develop and change.

Our loyalties should be to the original manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

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