2011 is the 400 year-anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible…so it’s getting a lot of well-deserved attention these days. One kind of attention, however, isn’t so good. The “King James Only” movement exalts the KJV above all other Bibles.
What’s the big deal, you say? You say that it doesn’t seem like preferring one Bible over another is a problem. You’re right. If that’s all it was, nobody would care.
Instead, the KJO movement makes some outlandish statements about God, the Bible, and the King James. It’s not a monolithic movement, so you’ll find that some are more “out there” than others. Here’s a sampling of the kinds of things that KJO folks believe:
- The King James Version is the only legitimate English Bible.
- The King James Version was supernaturally translated by God.
- The King James Version is more accurate than the original Bible manuscripts.
- The King James Version contains no errors.
- The King James Version is the only Bible in the world that can be trusted.
Not all KJO advocates believe all of that, of course. Some simpy believe that it’s the most accurate English Bible, and consider it only marginally better than other Bibles. Others believe that to read any other Bible is to take part in a satanic conspiracy to remove the truth from the Gospel story.
Now you can see the problem. It’s a cultic movement.
Any honest and curious student can find that there are errors in the King James Versions of the Bible. That does NOT mean that God’s Word has been compromised, of course…only that the KJO position is based in ignorance. All it takes to show that the KJV is not flawless is a single error. Here’s one of dozens, from Acts 12:4…
And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
What’s the problem with that? Simple: “Easter” should read “Passover”. That’s the proper translation of PASCHA, which agrees with verses like Matthew 26:2, Matthew 26:17, Matthew 26:18, Matthew 26:19, Mark 14:1, Mark 14:12, Mark 14:14, Mark 14:16, Luke 2:41, Luke 22:1, Luke 22:7, John 6:4, John 11:55, and so on.
I could point to many more examples, but there’s no need. Those who exalt the KJV do so because they don’t know better, or because they refuse to see the truth. Those who don’t know better can look at even a single example and know what’s going on, but those who refuse to see the truth can gloss over 50 such errors without blinking.
I sincerely hope you’re willing to look at the evidence. I’ll post other examples, in case you’re not convinced. KJO folks are notoriously loyal to their point of view, so you should know that I’ve never convinced one of them to drop the nonsensical view that the KJV is flawless. In fact, I lost a Facebook friend just this morning over this very post. He didn’t want “strife” on his page, so he removed me. I would prefer that he do a little homework and see that he’s been leading people astray, but I’m not sure he’s willing.
I’m down a friend. If you’d like to be my friend on Facebook, I promise to continue doing what I’m doing. =)
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