The reason I'm telling you this is because my friend and Christian brother JeffS believes the KJV is the only valid bible. For many people it is a preferred way to hear the word of God, but for me I only hear gibberish when I read the KJV. If that were the only version of the bible I would have never found salvation. However, if you are one who actually studies scripture it is essential. 1 Corinthians 12:5 tells us there are differences of administrations (or ministries or different kinds of service), but the same Lord. I don't think God wants to be enigmatic, He wants to be known.
JeffS sometimes sends me little articles and links to help me better understand why the KJV is better than other versions of the Bible. These invariable turn into great bible studies so, though I don't entirely agree with his point of view, I enjoy receiving them. This week he sent me the following link: http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/whatabout-nkjv.html. Below you will find my commentary, but you should read the article for yourself and listen to what God tells you about what your read. He will minster to you in a way that is meaningful if you have Christ as your chief priest.
I
1 John 5:7
(King James Version)
7For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
(New King James Version)
7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
(Holman Christian Standard Bible)
7 For there are three that testify: [a] 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood —and these three are in agreement.
Footnotes:
a. 1 John 5:7 Other mss (the Lat Vg and a few late Gk mss) read testify in heaven, the Father, the word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are One. 8 And there are three who bear witness on earth:
(New Living Translation)
7So we have these three witnesses [a]-- 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood--and all three agree.
Footnotes:
a. 1 John 5:7 Some very late manuscripts add in heaven--the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And we have three witnesses on earth.
This part of the article was inaccurate. It stated that 1 John 5:7 was omitted from NKJV, but it was not as shown above.
Quote: "The deletion of 1 John 5:7 is an example. The translators of the Authorized Version accepted this passage as inspired Scripture and they placed it in the English Bible. The editors of the NKJV, on the other hand, do not believe 1 John 5:7 is Scripture, and they have omitted the passage from the Hodges-Farstad Majority Text, together with dozens of other portions of Scripture and hundreds of words, and they have cast great doubt upon this verse in the NKJV with an inaccurate marginal note."
MATTHEW 7:14
(King James Version)
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
(New King James Version)
14 Because[a] narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 7:14 NU-Text and M-Text read How . . . !
(Holman Christian Standard Bible)
14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
(New Living Translation)
14 But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.
Though the translations differ, I think using a comparative analysis of four different version helps deepen the message of the passage. Especially when you look at the whole book of Matthew. The article states, "They teach that the sinner must trust Christ PLUS do many other things. Contrary to the warning in Romans 11:6, they intermingle works with grace, law with faith. That does indeed create a difficult salvation, because the sinner must do many things or he will not ultimately be saved, but it is a false gospel." In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus teaches us that works are important, though not as important as faith in Christ Himself. He commands us to feed the hungry, water the thirsty, house strangers, cloth the naked, care for the sick, and visit the imprisoned. 45 "Then He will answer them, 'I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either. 46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." I think, then, that the gate is narrow because because it is wide enough for only one person and the gateguard standing there is Christ himself. When you committ yourself to Christ he lets you in. The road beyond is narrow because you are expected to behave and act a certain way, a Christian way. This behavior should prompt you to do the will of Christ. If this were not so then the road would be broad. I think we can all agree that doing the will of Christ can be difficult because we would rather do our own will. In that respect the road is both narrow and difficult. Obeying this command, perhaps, can be be done by simply paying your tithes or supporting a charity. Works without faith, admittedly, won't even get you through the gate.
MATTHEW 20:20
(King James Version)
Then came to him the mother of Zebedees children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
(New King James Version)
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.
(Holman Christian Standard Bible)
Then the mother of Zebedee's sons approached Him with her sons. She knelt down to ask Him for something.
(New Living Translation)
Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor.
The main objection to this change is the apparent rejection of the deity of Jesus. I think that if the intent of the publishers was to deny the deity of Jesus then John 1:1-18 would have been omitted altogether. The church docrines of trinity and Messianic deity are probably the most difficult to understand and I could dedicate an entire post to it, but will not do so until I've finished studying the prophets and that will take a while. Its a topic that encompasses the entirety of the bible and not just the gospels or epistles or the law and the prophets. I've met many believers who refuse to believe because of the way some churches make an unyeilding demand on this docrine right from day one without presenting it in a meaningful way. Taking a new believer to the side and immediately demanding this doctrine is like taking Friday's star batter for the local high school and putting him in the starting line up for the Boston Red Sox on Monday. I don't think they are ready for it. St. Patrick used a shamrock to explain the trinity to irish pagans. There is only one shamrock, he would say, but it has three leaves. In the same way, there is only one God, but also the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I think some new believers need a bigger picture first, while others want the bottom line. There are many different ways that people learn, so there needs also to be several different ways to teach.
1 CORINTHIANS 1:18
(King James Version)
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
(New King James Version)
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
(Holman Christian Standard Bible)
For to those who are perishing the message of the cross is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is God's power.
(New Living Translation)
I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God.
The article says, "This change wrongly implies that salvation is a process." Every missionary in the world knows that salvation is a process. If it were not then the second a missionary stepped onto the shores of a strange country every inhabitant would immediately fall on their knees in worship. Are all chinese nationals saved? No, but some are being saved every day. Are we not commanded to go forth and make deciples of the whole world? Only God can make something and have it appear instantly, the rest of us need to follow a process to make anything.
HEBREWS 2:16
(King James Version)
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
(New King James Version)
For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
(Holman Christian Standard Bible)
For it is clear that He does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham's offspring.
(New Living Translation)
We all know that Jesus came to help the descendants of Abraham, not to help the angels.
I read the entire KJV of Hebrews chapter 2 and I didn't understand what it was saying. I couldn't distinguish between the different parties being discussed or what was quoted from scripture or new material. For this reason I was unable to determine what the nature of angels actually is or what the nature of the seed of Abraham actually is. The article says the greek word "means to lay hold of, to seize, to catch, to take," but that doesn't clear up the meaning for me either since the word "nature" is not in that definition. The other three translations make more sense to me. So, before I pass judgement or comment further I need to know the reason for this deviation.
HEBREWS 3:16
(King James Version)
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
(New King James Version)
For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?
(Holman Christian Standard Bible)
For who heard and rebelled? Wasn't it really all who came out of Egypt under Moses?
(New Living Translation)
And who were those people who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Weren't they the ones Moses led out of Egypt?
Again, I didn't understand what the KJV was communicating when the passage was put in context. The article says, "the Old Testament plainly teaches that not all of the Israelites rebelled and provoked God." Well, the bible says that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That means that every single human that ever walked the planet has rebelled against God. It has been this way since the dawn of creation. Jesus is the only one without sin to walk the planet. So the article is wrong.
REVELATION 1:18
(King James Version)
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
(New King James Version)
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
(Holman Christian Standard Bible)
and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.
(New Living Translation)
I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.
The article opposes changing the word hell to the word hades in 11 different verses. It holds that this causes confusion to the reader. This, however, is a hypocritical statement because there are many more confusing word choises throughout the KJV itself (jot and tittle for example). The author does concede that the change may have been made for reasons of copyright.
II
The article contests the removal of the thee, thou, thy, thine language. All I can say is . . . THANK GOD!
The author states "THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM THAT WE HAVE WITH THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION IS THAT IT IS A BRIDGE TO THE MODERN VERSIONS." This is a presumptuous statement. Basically, I think he is saying that if you read any version of the bible other than the KJV then you will eventually become a pagen and go to Hell. I pictured him in a picket line with the Reverand Phelps holding a sign that says, "Thank God for dead soldiers." Phelps is a baptist too.
Then there is a very long list of objections to margin notes, not to the text itself.
He mentions that there were 136 substantial changes to the KJV when comparing the modern KJV to the original KJV, but doesn't list them. I'd like to know what the nature of the changes were.
The article ends with an acknolegement that the language of the KJV is antiquated and hard to understand especially for people for whom english is a second language, but that it's not the right time for a new translation. He presses that one need only study the bible a little harder to understand it's message. I don't think God intended his instructions to be difficult to understand, and that men have made them that way as a way to puff themselves up, to make themselves seem superior in the eyes of others. Originally, the word of God was only 10 easily understandable sentences, we called them the 10 commandments. I wonder what the author of this article thinks about translating the word of God into chinese and other asian languages? No wonder Christianity is growing so fast there, they have a bible written in a language they can understand.
I think baptists should take a different approach. I think that they should get together and create a faithful translation of the hebrew and greek texts in modern english in the same way they would translate into any other native language. They should not wait for sometime in the future, they should do it now because tomorrow the Lord could come and take his family home and there are thousands still waiting to be saved who cannot be reached by the KJV.
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