Thought this may be of interest to US readers, especially given that I know Americans only read and trust the KJV as the authoritative translation of God’s Holy Word. Dry British Humor aside, there are no big surprises here:

#1
Psalms 23:4 – “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

#2
Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

#3
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

#4
Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

#5
1 Corinthians 13:11 – “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

#6
2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

#7
Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

#8
Ephesians 6:12 – “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

#9
2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

#10
Genesis 1:2 – “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

Sorry… a little off-humor, but I am a little off.

So this post was originally the paper – but now it is in this book:

Thought you might enjoy this…

]] is a Christian and an English professor, so perhaps it’s a given that he would love the richness of the King James Version Bible translation — so much so that he wrote a book to mark the 400th anniversary of its publication.

But Ryken, a professor of English at Wheaton College in Illinois, isn’t a King James-only believer, and his service on the translation oversight committee of the English Standard Version (ESV) puts him in a unique position to critique the King James Bible, the most printed book in history. (He was a literary stylist for the ESV committee.)

Much has been gained by having new translations, Ryken says, but much has also been lost. Scripture memorization, for instance, took a hit when multiple translations came on the scene, he believes.

Ryken, author of “]]” (Crossway, 2011), spoke with Baptist Press about the King James Version. Following is a partial transcript:

via Baptist Press – Q&A: King James Bible has strengths that many other translations lack, prof says – News with a Christian Perspective.

• Seventeen percent of those surveyed believe the King James Bible was first released shortly after the time of Christ.
• Younger Americans (age 18 to 26), often categorized as considerably less religious than older Americans (age 65 and older), are equally likely to be unsure of why the King James Bible was significant (34 percent vs. 33 percent respectively).
• Non-Christians or those with no faith are approximately twice as likely to know when the King James Bible was published (32 percent), than are non-practicing Christians (17 percent).
• Approximately half (45 percent) of all Bible readers use the King James Bible; far fewer say they read the New International Version (10 percent).
• Approximately six out of 10 adults who own a Bible own a King James Bible (57 percent) whereas only one out of eight Bible owners have a New International Version (12 percent).

via News Releases – American Bible Society Newsroom – DeMossNews.com.

HT – James McGrath on Facebook

Big, big #facepalm…

Related articles

• Hitchens Reads The King James Bible (andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com)
• George Washington starts a tradition (manifoldgreatness.wordpress.com)
• Thoughts on the King James Bible (kiwianglo.wordpress.com)
• The King James Version (KJV): The Fool’s-Gold Standard of Bible Translation (goddidntsaythat.com)
• King James editions marred by mistakes (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

As I was politely reading the newspaper this morning, politely, I ran across a ‘story’ by Ron Grossman of the Chicago Tribune about the King James Version of the Bible. It is littered with bad facts, to be honest. First, King James Only is not a denomination, as Ron grossly misstates,

The suburban Chicago church belongs to a loosely defined denomination known as the “King James Only” movement. Members believe that the King James version is not just another translation, but the indispensable underpinning of a Christian’s faith.

No such thing as a loosely defined denomination. I mean, you have oneness, trinitarians, baptists, and pentecostals who subscribe to it. It is a corrupt doctrine, based only in misinformation. It is not something to be lauded, but something to be corrected. The reporter then gets the history of it wrong,

From the perspective of the throne, a Bible was needed that would command respect — an English version that, as the translators wrote in their preface, “containeth the word of God, nay is the word of God; as the King’s speech which he uttered in Parliament, being translated into French, Dutch, Italian and Latin, is still the King’s speech.”

Th Geneva Bible anyone? James wanted a bible which was more in line with his politics, such as the divine rights of kings, and that entire two men in a bed thing.

Pastors of “King James Only” congregations feel much the same way. Some believe the King James version to be every bit as divinely inspired as earlier Hebrew and Greek texts.

Well, some may, but many KJVO’ers feel that the KJV is more inspired than the original texts and will go so far as to say that the KJV corrects the original texts.

In another article, a pastor gets it really, really bad when he says,

Randy Brock, senior adult pastor for Lakeland’s Victory Church, said while the King James Version certainly provided groundbreaking insight for churches, it is just one of many valuable versions available.

Brock said that his personal insight as a pastor — not particularly that of his church — is that the release of the King James Version had great impact. “It was the first version in modern day English for the times, and that was huge,” he said. “But it is a translation. They call it the ‘authorized version,’ but it is not the only version — King James authorized it.

No, good pastor, it was not. It was not even a real translation, but more of a revision. It revised other English bible, notably from William Tyndale’s version, some 80 years before. Plus, by time the KJV came out, it was outdated with the thees and thous.

KJV-Onlyism is an outdated and disastrous doctrine. It flies in the face of Scripture and Church Tradition and is completely unfounded. I wish that people wouldn’t try to tie this horrible doctrine to the love and respect for the beauty of the KJV which we should all share.

Related articles

• On the KJV’s impact on the English language, post #1 (gratefultothedead.wordpress.com)
• ‘Telling Tales’: Discussing the KJV Bible on its 400th Anniversary (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• My Cousin and The King James Problem (thepursuitofgodandhisgrace.wordpress.com)

The last sermon I heard preached at the previous place of worship was by a very angry man – generally angry, but on this occasion, angry at me for using something other than the KJV-1611 (which, ironically, he didn’t use either). He used the text which Jason analyzes. Why? Because they see that in the KJV (generally an Oxford 1769) and say ‘See, so you cannot have modern translations’.

Problem:

And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.
(Rev 22:18-19 NLT)

Every translation says the same thing here, but before that, so did the Greek, but in Greek. And, what’s really great, is that the sanctions are really only for either Deuteronomy or Revelation, but texts set in the apocalyptic arena.  Anyway, check out his post:

Revelation 22:18-19 And The King James Only Debate | Pastoral Musings.

Thanks to Suzanne for pointing this out.

No book means so much to religion as the Bible. In all its forms it has greatly served religion, and in its modern forms its meaning comes out more clearly and more tellingly than ever. It has more to teach the modern world about religion than even its strongest advocates have realized. Few of them have fully explored the wealth and depth of its contribution to modern religious attitudes.

Of all the forms of the English Bible, the most distinguished and widely cherished is the King James Version. Its value for religion is very great, and it is on that account all the more important that its origin and place in the history of the Bible be understood, so that false ideas about it may not prevail, for in so far as they do prevail they are likely to impair and to distort its religious usefulness.

You can read the rest here:

Thesis by EJ Goodspeed Regarding the Preface to the KJV 1611.

I actually have the Goodspeed translation, which is a good one, and I have a reproduction of the KJV-1611, which includes the pre-face. (There is a New Cambridge Paragraph Bible, that I have, which has the 1611 text, margin notes, etc… in to update spelling and grammar as well.) In the preface, you will find enough evidence to disprove, from the Translators themselves, this notion of King James Onlyism.

ht