King James Only: Why is the King James Version the most accurate English Translation of the Bible?

You could have the nicest house made of the fanciest materials. It could be a big house. The kind of house many people dream of. But this house could be worthless. It could have many rooms and be a large space. It could be in a nice neighbourhood. The expensive part of town. But your house could be worthless. For if the foundations of your house are bad, then that will not be offset by your many bedrooms or fancy neighbourhood. For who would want to buy a house that falls down? Who would want to buy land that has no value? Foundations matter. For if the foundations are destroyed, the house cannot stand.

The infallible inerrant word of God, the Holy Bible is foundational to our Faith. Because God guided the hand of the Bible writers. What you read in the Holy Bible has been authored by God Himself. Yes He composed this work through 40 Bible writers. But what we read is the word of God. The document produced by the hands God guided were infallibly inspired and inerrant. Through God’s incredible providence these documents have been translated into hundreds of tongues around the world. Ensuring we use an accurate translation is vital. Would you want to use an inaccurate map when navigating? Would you want to use an inaccurate recipe when baking? No, of course not!

The English-speaker has many options of what Holy Bible to choose from. Now we must be careful. For most mainstream Bible translations faithfully render the Gospel and the essential Christian truths into English. While a map that is 70% accurate is better than no map at all, clearly it still has the potential to get us lost. Wouldn’t we prefer a map that was 99% accurate?

The reason the King James Bible is the most accurate English translation is outlined below. What I want you to do dear Christian is to understand and form a view on what really matters. Some people do not like thee and thou. This doesn’t matter. Form doesn’t matter. What matters is the accurate rendering of truth. Given the 70%+ accuracy of modern English translations I would not consider this an essential matter. I would not allow it to cause division in a church and I would respect you if you disagree with me. However, while it may not be a capital-E essential, given it relates to the foundations of our faith I’d say it’s not entirely non-essential either. Do your research with all faith and come to a reasoned and prayerful conclusion. Don’t just make your choice based on preference. This is the Word of God we are talking about!

Reason #1 - The Superiority of the Byzantine Manuscripts

This is most crucial. How frustrating that so many believe that the difference between the ESV/NIV and the KJV is archaic language. It is true that the King James Bible has beautiful language. It does take about two weeks to get used to it, but you soon get used to it. My six year old reads it regularly with little issue! You’ll get used to it. But that is not the crucial issue. The crucial issue is the manuscripts that underlie it. There is a secular academic approach to understanding historic works. It’s called higher criticism. It’s a literary version of dissecting a frog. When we want to understand Plato or Shakespeare, we can place the work under a microscope and dissect it like a frog in a science class. You tell me Christian, is that how we should approach the Word of God? Never! What irreverence! What arrogance! No! Furthermore, it has its limits to what we can learn. Put two historians in a room and get three opinions on a text! This flawed, non-empirical, approach specifies that the closer a copy of a work is to the original, the more accurate it is. The original copies of the Scripture (called the Autographs) were subsequently copied. Copies were made by hand until the invention of the printing press. There were two main libraries of copies. One referred to as the Alexandrian. One referred to as the Byzantine. This refers to their locations. After a time, the Byzantine became the standard in the Church. What happens when a manuscript is recognised as accurate? Two things. One is it gets used. A lot. The second is they get copied, because they get worn out. In the Byzantine libraries, we have many copies. They were copied regularly because they were accurate. It became the standard until a few hundred years ago. Then archeologists discovered lots of fragments from the Alexandrian library. These were far less complete. But they were dated as being closer to the Autographs. Therefore, those who would put God on the table as though He were a frog, decided these were more accurate. However ask yourself this. If I made a mistake, say I left an important verse out for instance, would I keep making copies of the erroneous manuscript? Would I tear the page perhaps (making it incomplete)? Older does NOT mean more accurate. The Church had the Byzantine texts as its basis for much of its history. Was it in darkness before a God-doubting archeologist discovered the Alexandrian texts? You’ll need to form a view on this my dear Christian. But do the research and form an informed view.

Reason #2 - The unashamedly protestant Christian context it was compiled in

Today’s world is very different to 1611. In the English speaking world Christian culture has been all but lost. Yet in 1611 we had the height of the Reformation. A work is NOT produced in isolation. It was a time of revival and man waking up to God’s Word. We live today in a dark age of secularism. Blind leaders of the blind. We cannot, short of a Western revival, recreate that cultural context. Now God’s Holy Ghost is moving around the world. There are many non-English parts of the world experiencing great revival as we speak. They would be able to produce a great work like the KJV. But the English speaking world? No. Inevitably the modern translations create unholy alliances with commercial God-hating publishers and God-denying academics. The great academic institutions of our land (which while having much to be admired about them) are not primarily Christian nor have a Christian worldview. In the era the KJV was produced they did. This means modern versions are either compromised by an uneven yoke or lack the resource for adequate scholarship. Even if you can forgive all of this, what about the scourge of ecumenism? The Roman Catholic Church today, with her many biblical compromises, sells quite comfortably an ESV edition. The Orthodox Church sells an Orthodox Bible with the RSV. Neither will touch the unapologetically Protestant King James Bible. One last note on this, people will say well look at King James! He was a bad man! He merely gave it Royal Patronage. In England the KJV is actually referred to as the Authorised Version. So if that be a stumbling block to you, you can follow that naming convention instead.

Reason #3 - The sheer scale and numbers of English speaking Christians it has reached over 400 years

When the English speaking Protestant Church was strongest, the King James Bible was the standard. Since the time of the Revised Version there has been an onslaught of ecumenism which has eroded any concept of an absolute truth. This led the way for secularism and post-modernism. The project of Bible revision has borne the fruits of Godless generations, a collapse in Church attendance and the end of a Christian culture in society.

When the foundations were swapped out for cheaper substitutes, the houses of clay were crushed before the moth. But ‘it’s easier to read’ some will harp. God’s word is worthy of your time. It’s worthy of your understanding. Stop rushing it. You’ve done to God what you’ve done to every other aspect of your life. Convenience over substance. Just as your fast food leads you towards a heart attack, your dumbing down of the Scripture has been disastrous.

Yet look at the legacy of the King James Bible. When we get to heaven, the vast majority of English speaking Christians we encounter will have been saved in the context of the King James Bible. Look at the fruit of the Scripture.

The King James Bible led to much of the World being saved. The modern, proprietary, Bibles have led to division of the body, weakness and post-modernism. Even if the King James Bible didn’t use superior manuscripts, this alone would be a strong enough reason to favour this translation.

The evidence for the King James Bible being the best English translation is significant. It does take a bit more effort. It does mean being is a little less lazy in your study. That will be for your good. You’re out of shape Christian. You used to cherish the Word. You used to cherish your time with God. You’ve gotten lazy and spiritually out of shape. Put God first place. Put His Words in their proper place. Build a STRONG foundation for your faith. If you are first and foremost an English speaker, then choose the King James Bible as your chosen translation. You won’t go wrong.

P.S. If you disagree with me, know I still love you as a sibling in Christ. We are still in fellowship. But I stand by my convictions.

See you in the Kingdom.