presidente said:
There are some people who teach basically that the King James Bible is word-for-word inspired. That would require basically the canon of scripture to be open until 1611, turning translators into something like inspired scripture writers.
God’s Word teaches that copies of His Word are inspired Scripture. If you were to compare the existence of the Isaiah scroll in the New Testament with Luke 4:17, along with the existence of what appears to be another Isaiah scroll in Acts 8:28, Acts 8:32-33, at least one of these scrolls would have to be a copy and not the original. Each of these manuscripts of Isaiah are called Scripture. Timothy had known the Scriptures since he was a child (2 Timothy 3:15). Again, these Scriptures he had would have been copies. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. ALL Scripture is inspired, and not just some. Meaning, copies that are called Scripture are given by inspiration of God and not just the originals (See video
here to learn more) (Note: Keep in mind that while the author of this video does offer some insightful truths in Scripture, I do not agree with his wrong and hateful attitude at times).
You said:
I've seen a variety of arguments for KJV onlyism. One is to point to flaws of other manuscript compilations that some other translation was translated from. But that doesn't prove the KJV is an inerrant inspired translation. Another argument is that the Bible you have 'in your hand' needs to be inspired. But I could hold an NIV or NASB in my hand, too. That doesn't make it inspired.
It is actually more systematic than just pointing out a few flaws actually. While I have come up with 101 Reasons for the King james Bible being the Pure Word of God, there are actually 10 categories of evidences that defend the KJB being the Word of God.
For a list of changed doctrines, see
here, and
here.
For a list of the categories that defend the KJB, see
here.
You said:
Another argument is that there has to be a 'final authority.' It doesn't make any sense to use that to argue that the KJV is an inspired inerrant translation.
If this was the only argument, then I could see this being a problem. Remember, we have to build our case and look at all of the evidence to make an informed decision. We do not base our decision solely on one reason alone as to why we believe the KJB is the pure Word. It may start off that way when we are new in the faith and we see the doctrinal changes that are for the worse, but as we study this issue involving the Bible and history, we cannot escape the inevitable conclusion that the evidence overwhelmingly points to the KJB as being the Word of God for today. Anyway, the point of authority is Scripture. Jesus and the apostles did not talk about textual variants or argue over how a word could have been better rendered in the Scriptures. Christ and His followers quoted Scripture with authority. That’s a biblical fact, and should play into how we have faith today. Nowhere does Scripture teach that His words would pass away and would be up to us to piece them together like some kind of Frankenstein monster.
You said:
Some KJV-onlyist argue that it was the only translation 'authorized' by a king. But Henry VIII had the Great Bible translated, and that doesn't make it an inerrant translation.
Why would they say this?
Because it aligns with what the Bible says.
Ecclesiastes 8:4
”Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?”
But again, not all KJB believers are saying this is the sole reason or even the greatest of all reasons for the KJB.
It is only one link in the chain of evidences that show that the KJB is a book unlike any other books in human history.
I mean, where else in history can you find another team of translators that was comparable to the 47 KJB translators. Their credentials are unmatched by any recent scholar of today. If you were to study their credentials and compare it with any else in Bible history, you would see that they were the cream of the crop or the best that came to us in history. But again, this would not be our sole reason. There are many evidences that show that the KJB is the Word of God. We look at all the evidences to determine this truth, sort of like how a detective looks at all the evidences to solve a crime.
You said:
Yet another argument is to take a verse about how pure or preserved the word of God is, quoting a verse about it. But those verses existed in the actual original languages scripture was written in, and they show up in the other translations as well. So how is that an argument for KJV onlyism?
Scripture did not last long. They had to keep making copies and copies and more copies. So nothing stayed in the original languages. The idea here is that we do not have the originals. Not even the apostles were dealing with original Hebrew Scriptures anymore. They had copies of copies. It does not make the copies any less the Word of God or inspired. So if a copy can be inspired, then so could future copies of Scripture in another language. In fact, we know God translates languages just fine in Scripture.
God’s Word teaches us that God translates languages. At Pentecost, in Acts chapter 2: Certain Jewish men each spoke in their own tongue, and yet God translated their language so that they could understand each other with no problems (See: Acts 2:5-13). This is a pure translation done by God. Can a translation of God’s Word (Scripture) be divinely inspired and or perfect? Well, we learn in the Old Testament: Joseph had spoken Egyptian, and yet these words that record this very fact are written in Hebrew (Genesis 42:23). In the New Testament, we learn: Paul had spoken to the Jews in Hebrew and yet these words were recorded in the Greek within the Scriptures (See: Acts 21:40, and Acts 22:1-2). Again, this is a perfect translation unless you doubt God’s Word. In addition, at the cross: The words on a sign said, “JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.” These words were written in different languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Latin) that were translated for us (John 19:19-20). In addition, Jesus said, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is to say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). In other words, if God indeed divinely granted us the translation of the King James Bible (as I believe He has), it would align perfectly with the consistency of other translations of God we read about in Scripture.
Besides, there is nothing said that God’s Word had to remain in the original languages. By looking at how God moved the language to Greek with the NT Scriptures proves that God was not stuck to just preserving His Scriptures into one set original language.
You said:
The fatal flaw of KJV-onlyism is that it is an ignorant back-woods idea made up by preachers or others some time after the KJV was translated, and not part of 'the faith once delivered to the saints. The apostles did teach it. The Bible doesn't teach it. People got saved through believing the word of God before King James was born.
Before the King James Bible, I believe it is possible that the Bible may have perfectly existed with the Waldenses who dated back to the early church. Unfortunately they were wiped out by the Catholic Church. The Bible they had was the Latin Italic Bible.
There was no need for KJB Onlyism until the 1800s.
See “For the Love of the Bible PDF (WayofLife):
https://www.holybibleinstitute.com/files/For_Love_of_the_Bible.pdf
While the Geneva Bible was popular here in America when they first settled it, but later that would change.
The Bible here in America was the King James Bible since the 1700s (18th century).
The first Bible printed on American soil was the Aitken’s King James Bible, and it was approved by Congress.
Granted, it did not go over well financially, but other publishers quickly took up the helm of publishing the KJB and it became this nations national book until the early 1960s (Which was around the time they also just took the KJB or the Bible out of public schools).
The KJB had an affect upon US presidents and other notable figures in US history.