King James Only?

Last Sunday during church many of our people at Redeemer received literature (from some people not associated with Redeemer) on their windshields comparing other versions of the bible to the King James Version (KJV). As well intentioned as the authors and distributors of that literature may have been, it was full of misinformation. All of the literature is written from the perspective of King James Onlyism, a belief that the KJV is the only true Bible with God's endorsement and all other translations are heretical.

Most of the literature criticized other translations of the bible for their inaccuracies by comparing them to the KJV. Seemingly anywhere a version differs from the KJV that proves it is flawed. Unfortunately, many of the claims made about the KJV were exaggerated or simply incorrect. I hope to briefly shed some light on the intent of the KJV translators and illuminate the history of the translation process.

The KJV was the eighth English Bible to be published. Here is the timeline of English Bibles published from 1525 - 1769.

1525 - Tyndale Bible (Tyndale was martyred in 1536 for this translation)
1535 - Coverdale Bible (first complete English Bible)
1537 - Matthews Bible
1539 - Great Bible (the first Authorized version)
1560 - Geneva Bible
1568 -Bishop's Bible
1582 -Douay-Rheims (1st Catholic version of the New Testament)
1611 - King James Version with apocrypha #1
1611 - King James Version with apocrypha revision
1611-1769 Many revisions and new publishings of The King JamesVersion
1769 - The Oxford Standard Edition King James Version (one still used today)

The KJV was a good version of the Bible for the time it was written. It was necessary for the bible to be put into language that could be read by the masses. The same need exists today. In the original preface of the 1611 version of the KJV the authors wrote, "So the church should always be ready with translations in order to avoid the same kind of emergencies [i.e., the inability to understand because of a language barrier.] Translation is what opens the window, to let the light in. It breaks the shell so we may eat the kernel." I wholeheartedly agree. It seems the authors of the 1611 preface would have been open to updating translations as language and culture changes.






Here are some historical facts about The Kings James Version:

As shown above there were seven English translations of the Bible prior to the KJV being printed.

In 1604 King James I commissioned English university scholars to create a new "authorized" translation of the Bible.

The KJV was finished and first published in 1611.

In order to create the thousands of copies desired, two different printers were used. This resulted in the creation of two separate editions with over 200 differences.

The 1611 KJV had 80 books as it included the Apocrypha, a group of Jewish books accepted by Catholics but not Protestants.

The KJV had many major revisions between 1611 and 1769.

The 1769 version revised by Benjamin Blayney is the one currently in publication.

There are thousands of differences between the 1611 and 1769 KJV editions.

The KJV used the Textus Receptus (Latin for "received text"), a Greek text published in the mid 1500's.

The KJV used some of the best resources available at the time of publication, however, thousands of older Greek and Hebrew manuscripts dating as far back as the second century are now available to modern Bible translators.

I think the KJV is a fine translation for people comfortable with the archaic english of the 17th century. I do not feel it is the best translation since it lacked the thousands of manuscripts and fragments that have been unearthed in the past four centuries.

I am thankful that we live in a time where it is possible to have many translations of the bible in our language. No matter which translation is read, a relationship to the Author is what is essential. May we abide in Him regardless of which acronym is on the binding.



Recommended for further study:
Grasping God's Word by J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation by W.W. Klein, C.L. Blomberg, and R.L. Hubbard
The King James Version Debate by D.A. Carson






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