Which Bible ??

KJV or not KJV

At the risk of upsetting a few people, I want to pose a question which to me is so un-necessary but which I know divides the church from top to bottom. Why the King James Version? The version we use today is nowhere near the version created when, in 1604, King James the 1^st of England commanded production of the Bible in English for everyone to understand. This work was completed in 1611 and was actually the third translation into English the first being Henry VIII’s Great Bible. Then in 1662 the, after some further changes, it became known as the Authorised Version for use in every English church. So those good folk who swear by the 1611 KJV as being the most accurate version ever and therefore the only trustworthy one are very probably slightly askew with their view.

As the centuries passed and scholarly study and learning increased, people wanted a Bible which spoke their English – without all the anachronisms of the 1662 KJV. So we started the plethora of versions now available – all claiming to be the latest most up-to-date translations and so on. The trouble is that everyone ignores the fact that the KJV was based on the Latin Vulgate which in turn was based on Greek texts. It all gets very confusing but we do the best we can with the translations we have.

The KJV was the first decent translation but more modern versions do have the benefit of better understanding of the ancient Greek and Aramaic languages. The more modern versions also have an additional understandability factor in that they are written in modern every day English. They are not perfect but then, neither is the KJV. For any group to claim, as some do, that to preach or even read other than the KJV is apostasy, is arrogant nonsense to me. It is an elitism that is so divisive and un-necessary. Quite honestly the church has better things to be doing than dividing her members by the version of the Bible they read. The only caveat I will put on that is the new “PC” version of the NIV which seems to have completely lost its way. The 1984 Niv is, in my opinion, a wonderful version. Also the Gay & Lesbian Bible, which is surely, a deception from the pit of hell.

There, that should have upset someone.

There is only one way to study the Bible and that is to go back to ancient Hebrew and Greek for intonation and nuances. That being so, what matter it which version you base your studies on? For the record, I have 8 or 9 different translations on my bookshelves plus I have CD versions of two versions. I use them, exactly the same as many people do, to find a wording that best suits the point I am making without forsaking the meaning – as best I understand it. Each has its own merits. I love the language of the KJV and that was what I was brought up on. The Good News version and the NIV were among the first ‘modern translations’ I bought. I love the expansions given in the Amplified version and the brilliant paraphrasing of the Message. Who can prove that the accuracy of any translation is better than any other?

I think sometimes we throw baby out with the bath water just because we don’t like something – any little thing – about a translation. The Word of God is exactly that – the Word of God. Holy Spirit was given to us as teacher and to ‘lead us into all truth’. Can He not lead us just as well through any translation He chooses? Can we not learn from Him using whichever translation suits us best?

Every version of God’s Word we have today, from the KJV onwards, was produced by fallible human beings but is revealed to us by God, the Holy Spirit.  I know which I prefer to believe – and it’s not any translation it is the revelation of the Lord Himself speaking to my heart and my mind, giving me His understanding.

After all, we have the mind of Christ don’t we?