Is the King James Version the Best Translation?
Dear Friends:
I made a comment in the February 2008, Wake Up Report, “Did Jesus Claim to be God?” that the NIV (New International Version) translation of the Bible was my favorite study Bible. That comment has prompted several letters from people who are concerned that I am using a defective and errant translation of the Bible. Since I do not have time to address each letter individually, I thought a short response might be helpful.
First, if you are acquainted with my work over the past 30+ years, you know that I treasure the Bible. I believe the Bible is a means to an end and that end is the TRUTH about God. I have found that God’s TRUTH is so huge that it goes beyond human comprehension. Of course, there are essential truths which most people grasp, but I am speaking here about ETERNAL truths. God does not favor the English language above other languages. None (that’s zero) of the original manuscripts that make up the Bible were written in English. This means the KJV (King James Version) cannot be more accurate than the Santa Biblica (a Spanish translation), or for that matter, any of the other 1,000 languages into which the Bible has been translated. I know some people argue that the manuscripts used by the KJV translators were better than those used today, but that is not true
I have two objections with the foolish presupposition that the KJV is somehow a superior translation of the Bible. There are people whose teachings have created a context of fear and rejection by “proving” to people, who know nothing about the development of the Bible that certain verses and phrases in other translations, like the NIV, “are missing” or deleted. To me, this is nothing more than trickery and in order for it to work, there has to be ignorance and the assumption that (a) the KJV is perfect and unimpeachable, and (b) there’s an evil conspiracy going around diluting and diminishing the Word of God. The outcome of this trickery is a lie that states that the KJV is the only version of the Bible that can be trusted.
For what it’s worth, the so-called “authorized” version (KJV) was not authorized by King James or his government. King James gave translators permission to proceed with an English translation of the Bible, but he did not put “a stamp of approval” on their work. Even if King James had authorized the translation, who do you want to worship? Who has the omnipotence and omniscience to declare a 17th century English translation of the Bible to be THE only correct and final version of the Bible? If this were the case, where does that leave other translations, like Latin? If you insist that there must be an authorized version for the English language, then what about this one: The Douay-Rheims version? Catholics believe the pope has divine authority that came through Peter and his successors when Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter. (Matthew 16:19) The pope has authorized the Douay-Rheims version and it is based on the fourth century work of the scholar, Jerome. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate is a very early work, so it is far more valuable than the 17th century translation in terms of antiquity. So the bottom line is this: Do you want a Bible having the approval of some man or do you want a Bible based on the best manuscripts?
The KJV translators hoped to have one English Bible for all English speaking Christians in Europe. They wanted but did not receive a statement of superiority so that all Protestants could “be on the same theological page.” The translators did not want to see Protestantism fragment into denominations – people breaking away from the core of the reformation. The translators wanted Protestantism to remain one body, united against the Church of Rome. The KJV translation was not tested, verified, or seriously reviewed by students of Hebrew and Greek until many years after its translation. You may be surprised to learn that the KJV has had to undergo more than 500 changes since it was first printed and many grammatical errors remain in the KJV to this day. This is why translators published the “new” KJV to clear up these mistakes. I am not diminishing the KJV. As I wrote in the Wake Up Report, the KJV is one of my favorite translations, but the fact remains, I do not worship the Bible.
History shows that English speaking Christians used the KJV version of the Bible for about 200 years because it was the first one to be mass produced before the French Revolution (1613-1793). During this period, Protestantism fragmented into four or five opposing schools of theological thought. This was the very thing the KJV translators wanted to avoid, but it could not be stopped, even with everyone having the same English Bible! This proves that if there was only one true Bible in the world, there would still be variation among Christians about the content of TRUTH! There are over 200 different Christian denominations today! Just because a person owns a KJV, this does not ensure that person will find the TRUTH. How ironic is this? Isn’t getting to the TRUTH the reason for owning a Bible?
TRUTH is revealed to man through a combination of what has been revealed (in the Bible) and the work of the Holy Spirit. John 16:13 says, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” It is not a version of the Bible that leads to TRUTH, it is the Holy Spirit. A truth-seeker considers several Bible translations and the power of the Holy Spirit leads him into TRUTH. All translations are a means to an end and that end is TRUTH. A person who reads the Santa Biblica can reach an understanding of truth just as certainly as a person reading the KJV or the NIV. My library contains several translations of the Bible. I treasure them all. After studying Greek in college and making straight A’s in it, and after translating sizeable portions of the New Testament, I can appreciate the daunting task of translating the Bible. Words are imperfect vehicles of communication, yet it is the medium through which we must communicate. People who have studied languages and those who have grown up in bilingual settings understand the dilemma of conveying ideas back and forth between languages.
It seems foolish to me that people quibble over translations when there are many manuscripts and fragments available from which to compare Bible verses. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls did not change the substance of the Bible, although those ancient manuscripts are not identical to the KJV. Given my research on the topic of translation, I do not hesitate to say that I find the 1984 version of the NIV to be one of the best translations available today. First, it was translated by one hundred people who differed in their religious backgrounds. This was purposely done to prevent as much human bias from entering the translation as possible. Second, translators of the NIV had access to thousands of manuscripts and fragments which KJV translators did not have available at the time it was published. And finally, in addition to all this, today’s knowledge of ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek is far more comprehensive than it was in earlier times. The KJV has been around since 1611 and a thousand translations have occurred since then. Even with a translation as plain and clear as the NIV, millions of people are still in darkness. So, this fuss is just a foolish one the devil uses to keep Christians divided in a meaningless argument.
I often tell people who complain at my seminars that I am not using the KJV that they should go find someone who does. I say, “If the KJV is such a superior Bible, where are the KJV people who are preaching and teaching present truth?” I have not found one yet. Even more, how can any person today explain present truth in crystal clear terms using 17th century English? It will be interesting to see if the 144,000 located all over the world use only the KJV. Do you really think that God’s servants will be speaking to everyone on Earth in English and reading from an English KJV? No! The 144,000 will be speaking in their own native languages and reading from their own translations of the Bible. By the way, that’s what the Second Seal in Revelation 6 was all about.
I hope this helps!
Best regards,
Larry Wilson
P.S.: “Eternal truth is not what I believe. Truth is greater than me. Truth is not even what I know for truth is larger than anything I know. Truth is fact. I may not believe it. I may not know it. But, that does not change it. It is there nevertheless, waiting to be discovered and believed. Truth does not depend upon the unsettled and changing opinions of men. It was there before it was believed and it remains truth whether it is believed or not. Truth is true. Reason does not originate it nor create it, it merely discovers it. Consequently, reason is not its source. Truth goes back beyond the beginning of reason. Some would have us believe that the church is the source of truth, particularly in matters of theology. They are wrong. The church is the product of truth. It does not originate it. The church came into being by accepting divine revelation. The church is not the source of that revelation. Truth goes beyond the church, it is antecedent to it. Truth, eternal truth.” (Carlyle B. Haynes (1882-1958), When a Man Dies, p.4)
Larry Wilson, founder of WUAS, became a born-again Christian in 1972. His interest in the gospel led him on a 40+ year quest to learn more about what God has revealed to Earth’s final generation. The results of his research have been shared throughout the world in books, television & radio broadcasts, media interviews, and seminars that are publicly available on all different types of media (see our Christian Bookstore).
What is Wake Up America Seminars (WUAS)?
Wake Up America Seminars, Inc. is a nonprofit, nondenominational organization with a focus on the study of End-Time Prophecy. WUAS is not a church, nor does it endorse any denomination. Our focus is singular: We are dedicated to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and His imminent return. We are delighted that people of all faiths are diligently using the Bible study materials produced by WUAS. All study materials are based solely on the Bible alone.
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in many ways i agree with you because God has promised to preserve His Word and also what father whose son asks him for bread will give him a scorpion or a snake or a rock? however, in the NIV, there are indeed certain passages that have definitely been altered and really do dilute the power of God and His Word. you will be a busy man and so i will only respond to you if you respond back. well done for the series btw, very insightful and Thank God scriptural!
The discoveries of ancient manuscripts since 1600 have put scholars and translators in a difficult position because Bible manuscripts can be and in fact, are different. Because there are no original manuscripts of the Bible in existence and knowing that every manuscript copy is hand written and subject to the transcriber’s motive and pen, it is generally accepted that older manuscripts should be more accurate since fewer copies stand between them and the original manuscripts.
People who are bilingual well know that every translation can be made better over time. Language is an imprecise medium for conveying thoughts. When transferring one thought from the Spanish mind to the English mind, or the Russian mind to a Spanish mind, different translators will express their understanding of the “two minds” in different ways and with different words.
I have had a number of books and article translated by laymen and professionals who fluently read and speak other languages. Foreign readers (who well understand my teaching in the English mindset) have often told me that even though the translations were sincere and helpful, they did not sound like me. The translations did not fully convey the tone, pathos or even the English concepts in the second language. There’s much more involved with translation than converting one word into another. Bilingual people inherently know this, but non-bilingual people can only imagine the problem.
The Santa Biblica (Spanish) translation of the Textus Receptus (from which the KJV was translated) conveys similar but not identical ideas when compared to the KJV. The KJV has undergone many revisions over time. https://bible.org/article/changes-kjv-1611-illustration
God has His hand over His Word regardless of the language. It is not the Bible that leads us into all truth. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. (John 16:13) Millions of KJV-Only people believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. Millions of KJV-Only people do not. What does this say about the KJV-Only argument? For me, it says that no translation of the Bible can lead us into all truth!
I own and use 17 translations of the Bible. Each is valuable to me. I favor the NIV and KJV translations because (a) the language used in the NIV is very similar to the language I speak and write, (b) the KJV was my first exposure to the Bible and language is ingrained in my thoughts and (c) all translations (English, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Mandarin, etc.) are a means to an end. This end is to know the character and ways of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to have a saving relationship with them! If one translation becomes a favorite, this is great! But no translation is absolute because no language or manuscript can define an infinite God of love.
I hope this helps.
First of all, I agree, Wow, you are on target Larry, you are absolutely right, no one translation has it all, thank you for setting the record straight. I have at least 4 or 5 translation that I use myself through the years. I also have to use a dictionary from time to time, and I was giving for Christmas A Strong’s Concordance if you really want to study the word you have to go deep, very deep, for your own understanding not a surface study like some people do, thank you, Mr. Wilson.