I believe this… The King James Bible (not the King James Version) is God’s preserved presentation of His inspired Word in the English language. I know there have been updates of the vernacular in it over the centuries, but nothing has been changed about the KJB from the texts used in its original translation. I call it the King James BIBLE and not the King James VERSION, because VERSION indicates possible equality among many versions. I believe there is no English comparison or equality between the KJB and any other book purporting to be God’s Word.
Please do not feel it necessary to correct me or educate me on the supposed error of my thinking or the supposed superiority of your point of view. I will not be offering Scriptural references as support for my position, no one will read them and certainly no one would be impacted by them. I am merely presenting my position so that I may share some of what I have learned in over fifty years of walking with the Lord through His Word. I hope that revealing the fruit of my journey may stimulate some folks to embark on their own journey of personal discovery in Christ. I have not come to these conclusions lightly or easily. First involved, was the process of taking an inquisitive look at what teaching I had absorbed in my youth from respected instructors and seeing if I could, independently, justify it from the Bible. Second involved, was/is the process of filtering everything through the Bible and under the influence and ministry of The Holy Spirit. I discovered that The Holy Spirit and the King James Bible are always in sync. However, scholarship is always in flux and never seems to stay with one position for very long. Thanks for reading.
When reading the KJB, there are, I admit, frequent occasions where I am not understanding what I am reading. However, I do not assume that there is a problem with the translation, but rather with my understanding. Let me share two anecdotes from my life experience that were used to bring me to my position. 1. I became a Christian two days after my 17th birthday in 1964. Two years later, in my first year of Bible college I was sitting in class with a red, Collins, Youth For Christ edition of a KJB. For whatever reason, I was overwhelmed with a sudden, emotional, love for the Word of God. I can’t explain it, except to say that it was a God thing. I held my Bible between my hands and bowed and kissed its compressed pages. I vowed to God at that time, that whether I understood what I was reading or not, that I would believe everything that He has put in His book. I had not yet been exposed to the claims of “scholarship”, where every man’s opinion is supreme and corrective of The Holy Spirit’s inspiration. However, when exposed to the claims of “scholarship”, I have been reminded of that love and the corresponding vow and hurry to the feet of The Author of The Book for clarification and understanding. Number two demonstrates how I learned to do that. 2. In 1971 I was pastor of a church in Culbertson, Nebraska. In my personal study through 1 Corinthians, I was enjoying the rich fruit of God’s Word until one day as I read, it seemed that I could proceed no further with clarity and understanding. It was like someone had poured a handful of silt into a clear glass of water. I could not see through the muddy water. The experience may also be likened to a bright moonlit night, when a heavy cloud passes in front of the moon and severely diminishes the night’s light. My first response was to read the text over, repeatedly, but no improved result. Then I went to my bookshelves and brought two translations and three commentaries to my desk and began to investigate what learned men had discovered and passed on to neophytes like me. Can you believe it? Not one of the five reference books, all from respected scholars, agreed with another in the collection, not one. As I pondered the confusion, I was reminded of Jesus’ promise, when He said that The Holy Spirit would teach us everything that Jesus said and taught. I was also reminded of my love for the Bible and my vow to believe it. So, I put my collection back on the shelves, took my Bible and put it on my chair (open to the page of blockage), got on my knees and prayed. I reminded my Lord of His promise to teach me His Word. I thanked Him in advance for His ministry, got up and placed my Bible on the desk, sat and began to read at the beginning of the offending chapter. Truly, when I came to the place of the obscurity, the muddy water cleared and the moon shone brighter than ever and The Holy Spirit gave me understanding of what I was reading. In the passing of fifty years I have not consulted “scholarship” more than ten times and then, only when my walk with The Lord was slacked for a bit. I testify that attending upon The Author of Scripture is superior to consulting human “scholarship” at any level or source. He has never failed to give me understanding when I wait upon Him and compare Scripture with Scripture.