One of the disagreements, or topics of discussion among Christians today is regarding the version of the Bible. To me, this is a sad topic, because a lot of time is wasted, and ink spilled on this topic. I am quite certain that I could write an entire book on this topic and still not convince those who believe otherwise.
I do not desire to waste so much of my own time on this, so I will simply lay out a few thoughts and facts, to state the beliefs of this church and the reason for them.
Arctic Grace Baptist Church uses the King James Version in all official documents, webpages, links, Doctrinal Statements and considers the KJV the most accurately translated version. However, we will occasionally use the NKJV during our services or displayed text on the livestream. The NKJV is not translated from corrupted texts and is simply an easier read that matches more closely the language spoken today.
"Modern" versions of scripture leave out important text, verses, statements and phrases when compared to the KJV. This is a fact, not just an opinion or a guess. I have been personally involved in this research, when comparing a "decent" modern translation (The NIV, for example) to the KJV. Upwards of 4,000 words, phrases or verses are missing when comparing the two versions. Many versions removing important doctrines or truths, or deleting the name of Jesus or God altogether. This can also be seen in newer music that is touted as Christian or worship hymns. The name of Jesus or God being replaced with pronouns that refer to Jesus or God. There is power in the name of Jesus, there is no power in the word "he". We see in Philippians 2:10 that "at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow." One startling example of this is found in Acts 8:37. If you look at the ASV, ESV or NIV you will find that verse not just edited, but removed entirely. And a footnote added at the bottom that says that other manuscripts include verse 37. If you click the link for the KJV text, you will find this to be an incredibly important verse. If someone is reading the Bible for the first time, they may very well find this passage. Imagine if they are reading that passage and discover that the only action they need to accomplish is to baptized to enter heaven? What a horrible deletion this verse becomes. Because this man clearly declared that he believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, following principles found in Romans 10:9-10 Another quick example, this one seemingly "unintentional" but is clearly written to change the very foundational truths of the Bible...is found in Isaiah 7:14. In this verse, the KJV, says "a virgin shall conceive", in the RSV it simply says "a young woman". This is a massive change, because it was obviously God's plan for Jesus to be born of a virgin, a child given and conceived by the Holy Ghost. If you compare all the English Versions you will see that many, nearly half, leave out the doctrine of the virgin birth. Dangerous!
There is also a "textual" reason to use the KJV. Meaning that the texts from which many of the modern versions are translated from are not the same text as the KJV is translated. I will refer to this as the corrupt(ed) text. There are over 100 modern versions of the BIble...which alone should be enough to scratch your head and wonder what is happening. Nearly 300 years ago, a committee of "scholars" began to debate the validity of the text from which the KJV had been translated from, we will call this the "received text". They began to rework the this text, despite being the text that had been accepted as the written Word of God, for centuries by Christians. When you begin to tamper with the Word of God, you will find yourself realizing that you can change whatever you want to, at your own discretion instead of taking God at His Word, you can edit and adjust it to fit your own lifestyle! What a blasphemy this becomes! These new "bibles", translated from the corrupt texts, into English or other languages, can be translated any way the author sees fit, because there's no sense of preservation in the translation process. 2 Peter 1:20-21 reads that God's Word is not to be given by private interpretation, but rather given and inspired by the Holy Ghost. Ironically enough, the modern versions leave this verse in, despite going against that very verse!
These are just a few words that can be said about his topic, and I will leave it at that so as not to belabor this point endlessly. But we believe that KJV is the most accurate way that God has expressed to us His Word, and therefore we will continue to use it.
Comments