(Yes, I do capitalize words at random, like the perfectly wonderful A. A. Milne. No, I am not sorry. Let’s move on.)
As a (oooh) Independant Fundamental Baptist (ooooh), I occasionally deal with controversy (lump me in with those Westboro nuts and we’ll have to take this outside). Usually, the controversy involves something along the lines of worship standards, music, pulpit construction materials (Plexi-glass? Really? Come on!), or clothes (four-finger, rule, ladies?). These topics are important (sort of), but occasionally, a hill comes along that is worth grabbing a weapon and standing a post and defending violently if need be. The Hill Worth Defending for today is
The King James Version of the Bible.
(I heard you sigh dramatically over there in Peoria. Dial it down a notch, Hamlet. I’ll explain.)
There are roughly 128,592 English translations of the Bible available today, including the The American Patriot’s Bible (to take with you to the next Tea Party shin-dig), The Clear Word Bible (to help keep things from getting muddy, ‘per-shee-ate that), A Conservative Version (to help in the voting booth-what a blessing!), Easy-To-Read Version (Is it written phonetically? Is it in large print? Are there lots of pictures? Has all the cool vengence and weird prophetic stuff and graphic violence been removed?), the Great Bible (for those unconcerned with humility), Quaker Bible, or the Simplified English Bible (Probably written in txt. Probably includes smileys. I am not making this stuff up). There is also the KJV, NKJV, TNIV,RSV, ESV, just pick you two or three letters you like, shove them together, and you’ll probably have an actual version available for purchase in thirteen charming colors, or downloadable to your Kindle or smartphone at Amazon.
Does that seem a little weird to anyone else besides me? I don’t see anybody revamping Shakespeare every other week, slapping a hip cover on it, getting themselves a copyright, a slick ad campaign, and then running around trying to re-sell (updated for today’s reader) “MacBeth” to the masses. I swear I once saw an NIV marketed to look like Teen Cosmo. It was revolting.
The clearest revelation we have available to us of God is His Word. It is a “more sure word“, according to Peter (2 Peter 1:16-21), than having God Almighty standing right in front of you in His Glory. So, it stands to reason that opponents of God might want to toss in a bit of confusion with regard to what God actually said. How many of you have sat in a bible study or Sunday School and asked or been asked, “What does your version say?” Somehow, we have been led to believe that God’s Actual Word is somewhere floating around the room in between all of these versions, and if we compare and contrast them all like a 7th grade science report, we’ll have the Truth, more or less, maybe. Perhaps.
Or, maybe you’ve been in church, and the pastor flashes onto the Big Screen his text in eight different versions, like some sort of Consumer’s Report Comparison Chart. Rate your favorite according to a)Beauty of the language, b)Readability, c)Brevity, d)Relevance to me today here in 21st century America, e)Presence or absense of “Thees” and “Thous”, f)Warm fuzzy factor, and g)Convictionality. Of course, once you’ve determined the text gets just three stars for today, shrugged a bit because the version in your lap isn’t even up there, and compared notes with your neighbors, who all have different versions that weren’t on the screen, either, including a Wild Rebel two seats down who showed up with The Message, the service is over, and you’re still cramming your bulletin into your camo bible case while everyone else is already getting a table at Applebee’s.
Church is such a hassle today, isn’t it? So many people have the same complaint: they’re just aren’t being fed. Is it possible that one reason for that is people are at a mammoth buffet of Bible Versions (There’s a version out there just for you! Just ask your friendly Family Christian Store Salesperson.) and they can not decide what to put on their plate, much less consume. So many people pile their plate so full of versions, they can’t carry the thing, and if they attempt to drink all of that milk and chew all of that meat, embarrassing hurling is certain to occur. So, Christianity walks around the buffet with full plates and empty hearts, asking the same thing the serpent did…”Yea, hath God said…?”
This is not a new issue: Adam and Eve dealt with it. God said, “Don’t eat the fruit.” Eve reported to the serpent that God said, “Don’t eat it and don’t touch it, or you’ll surely die.” Look at the mess her translation caused. Small changes cause small doubts, and doubts can eat into faith, and a faith that’s been chewed on is weakened.
I have studied bible versions for several years (it’s a topic I find fascinating), and for me, the English version that is closest to the best manuscript evidence we have is the King James Version. I will take several posts in the coming weeks to explain why, but it boils down to this:
God promised to preserve His Word, and He has. History shows us that the manuscripts that underlie the King James Version are the same manuscripts that have been used and cherished since the Apostles preached in the churches of Asia Minor. All of the other English versions of the scriptures use a different family of manuscripts. As a great preacher of the past once said, “Things that are different are not the same.”
This May marks the 400th Anniversary of the King James 1611 Version. Pull yours off the bookshelf and read the final chapters of Luke as we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. It is exquisite and it is perfect; it is the divinely inspired Word of Almighty God, written for you in your own language, preserved by a faithful Father throughout 
the ages for you, personally.
It is a treasure.
Accept no imitations.