Frontline Ministries of Wisconsin

CLICK HERE FOR INFO ON KJV ONLYISM:
http://www.kjvonly.org

I love the King James Version of the Bible. I have been reading it for over thirty years. It has a beautiful flow and the wording is familiar and very comfortable. But because I often found myself "translating" (on the fly) the archaic language of the KJV as I was reading it to other people while witnessing or teaching my family, I decided to switch to the New King James Version.
Some take their reverence of the King James Version too far, to the point where King James Onlyism has become like a cult. Some claim that it is the only translation that God approves of, or that God specifically preserved his word only in this translation. Others, who may not say that God directly inspired the KJV itself, still hold to the belief that it is the best translation, and ostracize those who do not agree with them. Some even will say that if you do not use the KJV, that you are somehow less than a good Christian, and maybe not even saved, since you use "demonically inspired" versions of the Bible.
Do I think that all Bible versions are acceptable? No. Far from it. Compare John 3:16-18 in the KJV, the NKJV and The Message. You can see that the NKJV is virtually identical with the KJV, but that The Message expands upon the wording to the point of being embarrassing.

King James Version

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

New King James Version

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

The Message Bible

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

But really, the controversy lies in two areas: 1) Which are the best manuscripts from which to translate the Bible, and, 2) The process of translating a Bible.
Neither the KJV nor the NKJV are perfect, nor are any other versions. Often, when I am reading the NKJV, there will be a number by a word, and in the reference column, there will be a word given as a better word for that instance. I always ask myself, "If that was the better word, why didn't they just use that word when they translated this version?" The KJV also has many instances of words that could have been more accurately translated, and, since nearly four hundred years have passed since the translation of the KJV, there are many, many words in that translation which are no longer in common usage. Why should we struggle with outdated words? After all, the KJV was originally translated because the people needed a version in the common language.
Is the KJV a perfect translation? Are the texts from which was translated really the best texts? Have the KJV Only people been honest in their defense of that version? This subject has been exhaustively investigated by others, and so I will not attempt to recreate what others have done so well. I will however, recommend that you visit the following site for many great articles about this important issue.

http://www.kjvonly.org