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chestertonian
Registered Member

Date Joined Nov 2003
Total Posts : 31

Posted 11/28/2003 12:39 AM (GMT -6)

I'm hoping someone can help me. I understand that many of you are Americans. In your country, I believe, there are people who regard the King James Version as the only legitimate Bible. Now, I understand that one might consider it the most beautiful, or elegant, or the most reliable translation. But what is the logic by which it is the only true one?
Is this a version of what many people over here feel, that 'God is an Englishman'?
Or have I misunderstood?

Regards, C.

Alan Rhoda
Registered Member

Date Joined May 2002
Total Posts : 680

Posted 11/28/2003 6:33 AM (GMT -6)

Hey chestertonian,
I don't know much about this issue, but I have met some people who think the KJV is the best English translation. I think it has mostly to do with a sort of tradition-bound inertia coupled with a fundamentalist suspicion of all things new. We've been using the KJV for hundreds of years. We like it. It's good. And it's the "Authorized Version". Along come all these newfangled translations and they phrase verses in unfamiliar ways, they note textual variants and call into question certain parts of the Bible, and in some places (I don't know the chapter and verse citations) they translate verses about Jesus that seem to weaken his claims to deity. Thus, these new versions are weakening the authority of Scripture and undermining the deity of Christ. Such, I take it, is the basic reasoning of those who espouse this view.

God bless,
Alan

fyodor
Registered Member

Date Joined Dec 2002
Total Posts : 179

Posted 11/28/2003 7:45 AM (GMT -6)

Many would consider the King James as the slave Bible. Many verses are translated wrongly elevating kingship, following the order of government and law. King James wasn't even a Christian, but the translation suited his purposes. Progressive African American churches are ridding themselves of the King James...

†††"One rarely finds an exposition of which it holds true that the exposition is that which is expounded." – S. Kierkegaard

honorman
Registered Member

Date Joined Oct 2002
Total Posts : 1137

Posted 11/28/2003 10:18 AM (GMT -6)

There are those here who would be called KJV only believers, who believe the KJV is God's actual word in English. But they are a very small minority. Most here in the states accept a variety of translations.

chestertonian
Registered Member

Date Joined Nov 2003
Total Posts : 31

Posted 11/30/2003 11:21 PM (GMT -6)

Thank you all for your help. I knew it was an odd minority belief, but it helps to understand why it's held. Alan, I'm fascinated by what you say about

quote:
Along come all these newfangled translations and they phrase verses in unfamiliar ways, they note textual variants and call into question certain parts of the Bible, and in some places (I don't know the chapter and verse citations) they translate verses about Jesus that seem to weaken his claims to deity. Thus, these new versions are weakening the authority of Scripture and undermining the deity of Christ.

Do you have any idea where I could find out more about this subject?

Alan Rhoda
Registered Member

Date Joined May 2002
Total Posts : 680

Posted 12/1/2003 5:38 AM (GMT -6)

chestertonian--

I think James White has done some good research on this issue. Try this link on his website for more info.

aomin.org/kjvo.html

Alan

honorman
Registered Member

Date Joined Oct 2002
Total Posts : 1137

Posted 12/1/2003 11:22 AM (GMT -6)

James WHite has an excellant book on the subject called "The King James Only Contraversy."

chestertonian
Registered Member

Date Joined Nov 2003
Total Posts : 31

Posted 12/1/2003 9:45 PM (GMT -6)

Alan, honorman:
Thanks a lot. I've looked at the website and I may get that book. It's all so improbable and intriguing.
Much obliged.
C.

Laplace
Registered Member

Date Joined Apr 2003
Total Posts : 138

Posted 12/15/2003 11:57 AM (GMT -6)

chestertonian,

Defenders of the KJV say that English version is superior than the others because it translates word-for-word rather than phrase-by-phrase (the NIV for example does this).

However, as someone who has sudied foreign languages, and who has seen amusing attempts of such literal translations, it is NOT the best way to translate in many cases. In addition, one language may have a word for a concept that another language has no direct translation for or it would be jibberish (metaphors for example).

However, that does not mean the KJV is a "bad" translation. Simply a one with a different style. My opinion on what constitutes a "bad" translation is one that tries to change the meaning of the text simply because one does not like it. Some modern English translations for example downplay the sin of homosexual acts or call it something else when it is clear that is what it is talking about.

Cheers!

"I say we blast the meatbag, Master" -HK-47, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

trey dogg
Registered Member

Date Joined Dec 2003
Total Posts : 26

Posted 12/21/2003 11:30 AM (GMT -6)

as far as i know, those who hold the KJV (AV) to the highest standard have been quite legalistic. i once ran into a woman at Barnes and Noble in Roseville MN who was like this. it was actually kind of funny... i had picked up the TNIV (dont go off subject please) just to take a look and she tells me i should pick up a Scafold (sp?) Bible aka KJV.

this is kind of off, but apparently she was also big on conspiracy theories and what not and told my friend and i about a "black pope", in the sense of evil and "negroid" (the term she had the nerve to use).

here's a link to a site who promotes this viewpoint www.av1611.org

on the whole, i think preparation H feels good...

meg: chris, you're hogging all the fans!
chris: well you're hogging all the ugly!
(from family guy)

timlings
Registered Member

Date Joined Apr 2002
Total Posts : 130

Posted 12/21/2003 11:59 AM (GMT -6)

Hey, I'm from England too...wow.

I go to a pentecostal church, and the KJV is used widely. And I quite like that actually.... I myself am an NIV man, although soon to get an NASB.

I think different translations are favoured by different churches. NIV is very popular amongst Conservative Evangelicals in the UK, and anything else is sometimes frowned upon a bit...especially the GNB! I think it might be to do with a territorial spirit people hav - this is NIV country, we'll have no trouble here! But I'm just as guilty of that too.

The English language does have a unique problem, in that it has been written down for so long that there are 400 year old translations! Compared with other tongues, we're very luck to have so many versions. And in a way, the more we can read, the better, as we get a fresh look at scripture.

love

timlings

Tigress
Registered Member

Date Joined Feb 2003
Total Posts : 1252

Posted 12/22/2003 10:53 AM (GMT -6)

I believe that all this translation controversy is exactly why Jesus said that we must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. The holy Spirit can fill in the blanks where they may seem gray regarding what a particular translation is saying. Therefore, we get the truth as God would have us to know it. To have only the Truth (Word) without Spirit would lead to legalism and division. But, to try to rely only upon the Spirit without the foundation of the Word can lead to heresies and cults like some Quaker sects, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. Jesus said to test the spirits to see if they are truly from God, and we do that by going back to the Truth contained within the Bible. Spirit and Truth must be utilized in tandem for the Church to be accurate in discerning God's Will and Wisdom.

Tigress

"Name a shrub after me. Preferably one that's prickly and difficult to eradicate."

-Captain Jack Aubrey
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"

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