Misconceptions Clarified Episode XX: Is the KJV the Only Inspired Translation?
Welcome to Misconceptions Clarified Episode XX! When we began this series back on July 12th, 2016, with our very first article, “Is Christianity a Myth,” who would have ever thought that over 6 years later Christian Way Ministries would still be up to the task of clarifying misconceptions of the faith. Historically, the ministry originally started out as a blog called Trooth Therapy Ministries on November 12, 2014, exactly ten years after the Senior Pastor was baptized in Iraq with the initial intent to fulfill 2 Corinthians 10:5, to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” The next misconception this episode will be casting down is this notion that the King James English translation of the Bible is the “only” inspired translation of the Holy Scriptures. There are many groups and denominations that espouse KJV Onlyism while denouncing any other modern English translation including the New King James Version as corrupt.
Yet, the official authorized King James Version did not come out until the year 1611. If the KJV is the only inspired translation of Scripture, what about all the previous translations that led to the King James Version? What about the Geneva Bible, an earlier English translation? Or, what about the Latin Vulgate that was commissioned by Pope Damasus I, the bishop of Rome in 382 AD, over twelve hundred years prior to the 1611 KJV? Was that translation corrupted too? Or what about the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew language completed around 300 BC, which would be one of the primary translations used to develop other translations? Was this uninspired as well? This is not to mention the original languages of Scripture, the Hebrew and the Greek language? Surely, out of all the translations of Scripture, if there are any one of these versions that are more inspired than the rest, certainly it would be the original languages in which the Scriptures were first penned, right? Well, one of the held fundamental doctrines of the Christian church is the inerrancy of Scripture, which asserts that the original manuscripts (not in existence today) are without error or fault. The original manuscripts are the only version of the ancient Scriptures that was truly inspired by God and considered inerrant, not the subsequent translations of those original autographs. Now, this is not to say that God did not inspire the translators in their work of translating Scripture into other languages, but to make an assertion that the KJV 1611 is the only true inspired translation by God over all translations, how can this be so? What evidence is there to prove such a claim?
First, let’s consider the verse of Scripture that inspires those who only subscribe to the King James Version of the Bible. Proponents of KJV onlyism use Psalm 12:6 as inspiration to their conviction, which says, “The words of the Lord are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” Obviously, the words of the Lord are pure as he originally spoke them through the authors of Scripture, but from a contextual perspective, Psalm 12:6 has nothing to do with the translation of Scripture from its original language to the English language. Some proponents of KJV onlyism assert that King David was speaking prophetically about the King James Version, yet, this assertion is simply based on feeling and preference, not the truth about God’s original intent of Psalm 12:6 in its proper context. Additionally, when it comes to the actual process of translation, remember that it was not a perfect process to translate the ancient Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into other languages. This process in itself is a very complex task and required an indescribable amount of tedious study, contemplation, collaboration, and constant revising to create a single translation of the ancient Scriptures.
Take for instance, how the King James version came into existence prior to the year 1611. There was much controversy surrounding the church during that time between the Catholics and the Protestants. As the English language continued to evolve, the desire to have an English version of the Holy Bible continued to grow. The primary translation that existed in the Roman Empire was the Latin Vulgate, a Latin translation of the Greek Septuagint. Then came along the famous William Tyndale in 1525 who was the first to undertake the challenge of translating the very first Bible into English. Tyndale’s work led to the continuous desire to improve upon his translation that developed the Great Bible, the Bishop’s Bible, the Geneva Bible, and others. These translations were built upon the scholarly work of Desiderius Erasmus who took on the opportunity in the early 16th century to advance and polish the Latin and Greek translation of Scripture. Once King James was crowned over England in 1603 AD, he approved of a compilation to resolve any discrepancies of the English translations previously cited. A total of 47 scholars who were all from the church of England, were divided into six committees who took up the baton to develop the 1611 Authorized King James Version.
Fortunately, the King James version of the Bible would become the most popular translation of that era and is still revered by many in the 21st century, which proves its significant impact throughout the subsequent generations. The problem this episode is attempting to clarify is not in regard to the actual translation itself, which is a beautiful translation, but against this staunch belief that the KJV is the only true inspired translation while all the other modern translations are corrupt. It’s one thing to have a preference of one translation over another, but another thing to defend the translation as the only one inspired by God, especially since the KJV translation is not in itself a perfect translation. As a matter of fact, none of the translations of the ancient Scriptures into different languages are perfect. Only the original autographs are considered to be inerrant, which are not in existence today. Part of the reason why none of the translations are perfect is simply because of the many variances within the languages themselves. For instance, the differences between the Hebrew and English language are substantial. Hebrew reads from left to right, has 22 letters in their alphabet, each character possesses numerical value, and contains no vowels and no articles. The English language on the other hand reads from right to left, has 26 letters in their alphabet, has no numerical value, and contains vowels and articles. Additionally, the English language has a sizeable difference in vocabulary. The modern Hebrew language has about thirty-three thousand words in their dictionary compared to more than four hundred thousand in the English dictionary. The English language has a plethora of different words to choose from to describe something, which is part of the reason why there exists several modern English translations of the Bible. This is not including all of the variances of the other languages like Spanish, French, and many others from Hebrew and Greek. For KJV onlyism to claim that the 1611 version is the only true inspired translation of the ancient Scriptures is not based on truth for several reasons:
1). The KJV uses an old and outdated version of the English language that is no longer in use in the twenty-first century. For those that love the 16th century version of the English language, by any means, please continue to read the Word of God according to one’s preference. However, do not condemn those that decide to use a more contemporary version.
2). No translation from the original languages is perfect because of the many disparities between the ancient and modern languages.
3). The English language in itself is a language that derives from an inclusion of other languages. In other words, the English language is a completely borrowed language. To say that the KJV is the only true inspired translation is like saying that a mixed Beagador is the only true breed of Beagles.
4). The translators who were responsible for the 1611 Authorized King James version never claimed their translation was the only true English translation. If the original translators didn’t consider their own work the only inspired English translation by God, how can anyone else claim sole inspiration of the KJV?
5). The impetus that led to the development of the KJV include the alleged various discrepancies from the earlier English translations mentioned previously, which were influenced by the work of Erasmus who utilized Greek manuscripts that were limited in quantity and late in the date of the manuscripts called the Textus Receptus.
6). Modern translations such as the New International Version, the English Standard version, the New American Standard Bible, etc., use an older collection of manuscripts that were not discovered during the compilation of the KJV that date closer to the first century known as the Critical Text. There are two manuscripts traditions, the Byzantine which the KJV uses and the Alexandrian line that the modern translations pull from. The earlier manuscripts that the modern translations use do not contain some verses that are included in the later manuscripts that the KJV uses. For instance, passages such as John 7:53-8:11 and Mark 16:9-20 were not contained in the earlier manuscripts, yet the modern translation include those passages with side notes. For more information about the translation process, consult the New English Translation, the NET Bible that has compiled over sixty thousand translation notes so the average reader can gain a greater insight into all the nuances that are involved with obtaining a certain translation.
7). With access now to a conglomerate of manuscripts not available four centuries ago, with vastly improved technology, along with the evolvement of the English language, God has afforded His people an opportunity to understand who He is and what He has done with even greater clarity; thanks to the many manuscript discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls found in 1947 along with the technological advancements.
8). According to some reports, there are over four hundred thousand minor variances in the English translation of the ancient manuscripts, which none of those variances distorts the fundamental truths of the Gospel message. All of those minor variances are in reference to language disparities, which proves yet again that there is no such thing as a perfect translation or that God approves one English translation over the others, especially when the English language did not exist during the time Scripture was written.
Lastly, regardless of whichever preference a person has when it comes to the translation they prefer to read, humanity is blessed beyond measure to have some version of the Word of God translated in more than two thousand languages around the world. The Bible is the most translated book, the most preserved book, the most sold book, the most given-away book, the most read book, and the most stolen book in all of human history. The Word of God is so powerful that regardless of the translation, God who created languages and the interpretation of those languages is able to reveal Himself regardless of human limitation. Not only that, but for those who are critical of the modern translations can be confident in the fact that with the thousands of manuscripts preserved around the world, the modern translations in circulation today are completely trustworthy, reliable, consistent, and have not distorted any fundamental truth of His Word. Therefore, let’s try not to put God in a box by limiting His word to one single translation. Let’s hope that the body of Christ does not get caught up in a translation war and condemn people who have a different taste of preference knowing this would play right into the hands of the enemy. Instead, let us be reminded of the real spiritual battle at hand, and remember that the KJV along with many other English translations (except the New World Translation or the Queen James version) are all unique, and point us to the One and only living God and to the One and only Savior of the World, Jesus Christ our Lord.
#MisconceptionsClarified #EpisodeXX