KJV Onlyism – The Unacknowledged Facts Offered About "God's Only Bible", That Is, The Christian King James Bible Translations

Evangelical Outreach, EOMIN.org proclaims and defends the Christian Gospel against various forms of religious deceptions, including the KJV Only Cult.

It has been said that much can be lost in the translation. Nowhere is this more true than in the ongoing controversy that surrounds the King James version of the Bible. According to Wikipedia, there are 5 main classifications of the King James Only movement. All take slightly different paths, one even claiming that the KJV version is a "new revelation." This is an extremely important issue for Christians who must necessarily adhere to the truth, not opinion. Dan Corner, Director of Evangelical Outreach, recently had this to say:

Is the King James Only belief credible? Is the King James Version (KJV) the one and only Word of God or is that an extreme distortion, even a severe stumbling-block to others?

The truth is: the real Word of God is the actual writings first recorded in Hebrew and Greek from Genesis through Revelation. Because most people cannot read Hebrew and Greek, the need existed to translate the existent manuscripts accurately into the languages of the different peoples worldwide. Hence, there are translations of the Bible into many different languages from Chinese to Spanish to French to English, etc.

As far as an English translation of the Bible, the 1611 King James Version is one of the best known, but it was not the first English translation, nor is it what it has been commonly presented to be – far from it! The comprehension problems for KJV users are not going to go away. In other words, the KJV translation, with its archaic wording, is incomprehensible, frustrating, misleading, has bred ignorance of God's word and is a primary reason why so many professing Christians have never even made it through the New Testament despite, in some cases, decades of church attendance.

Some examples of these archaic expressions are vain janglings (1 Tim. 1:6), superfluity of naughtiness (James 1:21), and abusers of themselves with mankind (1 Cor. 6:9), etc. Despite the many problems with the KJV, some people continue to obstinately present the KJV as God's one and only Bible, the perfect translation, the only inspired word of God and the like, thereby setting it on a pedestal far above all other translations, regardless of the impossible-to-understand language.

Again, the most glaring problem with the KJV is the strange wording. The terms are so unusual in today’s world that many will never see those words again. In contrast to the hundreds of such bewildering KJV terms, the KJV Onlyite's outlandish propaganda is that even a 12 year old child can understand it! That is one of the biggest untruths about the KJV in our day. Reality is, even decades-long KJV preachers, do not know the meaning of those words, and they consult the modern reputable translations for their meanings, often sneak-reading these other easier translations. They need a translation of the KJV just to understand it. The situation is bad enough, but far worse for new converts struggling to learn God's truths about salvation and the Christian life.

The comprehension factor alone is more than enough to set the KJV aside in favor of the modern reputable translations, but there are other problems as well. The god represented by the KJV “repents of evil doing” from Ex. 32:12-14 to Amos 7:3 to Jonah 3:10 for hundreds of years. If the KJV were Holy Spirit inspired or perfect, as claimed, such inaccuracy, blasphemous really, would not be in it. God is perfect and holy and has never needed to repent, because he can never commit any evil to repent of.

The aforementioned examples are death blows to KJV Onlyism, but to cite three more serious problems, the King James translation further: (1) teaches that Noah was "saved by water" (1 Pet. 3:20), that is, the flood waters rather than the ark itself (which has been exploited by the baptism-is-necessary-for-salvation people); (2) misrepresents the Lord Jesus as being "slew" before getting nailed to the cross (Acts 5:30; 10:39). Not only does the KJV cite the term "slew" to mean kill as in David "slew" Goliath (1 Sam. 17:50-51; etc.), but also, in the book of Acts, "slew" is used to communicate kill, as happened to the Martyr Stephen (Acts 22:20); (3) and, finally, the Holy Spirit is presented as an inanimate thing by the pronoun "itself" instead of the more appropriate and accurate “himself” to reflect personhood (Romans 8:16; 8:26, KJV). These errors have helped the Jehovah's Witness to spread their errant dogma that the Holy Spirit is a mere force likened unto a radar beam.

The bold, aggressive and misinformed KJV Onlyites also insist others cite Bible verses and preach solely from the KJV. Beyond that, they will emotionally attack the sincerest and most God fearing Christians, who reject the KJV. If you are a KJV Onlyite, what are you defending – your pride and an archaic error-ridden translation which YOU cannot even understand and yet are trying to force on everyone else? How could the usage of the KJV correctly become the basis of your Christian fellowship? Has the KJV become an idol and stumbling-block to you?

Folks, do not allow pressure from the KJV camp to hinder your comprehension of God's word anymore. Be assured, the Word of God existed before 1611. Read a modern reputable translations and do not allow the KJV Onlyites to belittle you for wanting to know what scripture is saying or teaching from a better, easier-to-understand translation than theirs. (Save this teaching and pass it on to others.)

Dan Corner, a former pastor and ex-Catholic, is the author of a number of books including 'The Believer's Conditional Security: Eternal Security Refuted', 'The Myth of Eternal Security' and 'Is this the Mary of the Bible?'.

Dan is available for media interviews, including debates, and can be reached using the information below or by email at eternallifeblog@gmail.com, by phone at 724-632-3210 or by mail at PO Box 265, Washington, PA, 15301. His websites are https://www.evangelicaloutreach.org (EOMIN.org) and AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net) and EternalLifeBlog.com.

About Dan Corner:

After graduating from college, Dan Corner got saved by reading the Bible. For over four decades, he has diligently served the Lord Jesus. Dan Corner's pastoral, apologetic, counter cult and street evangelism experiences have equipped him to contend for the faith and win souls to Jesus from many backgrounds.

He is an ordained minister and director of Evangelical Outreach who pastored for almost seven years and has authored hundreds of Christian articles, answered thousands of emails and letters and has written several books of vital importance in our day.

Contact:

Dan Corner
eternallifeblog@gmail.com
EvangelicalOutreach.org (EOMIN.org)
AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net)
EternalLifeBlog.com
724-632-3210