I was sitting in a small Baptist church one day when the preacher said the KJV is the only true word of God, all others a blasphemy. I did not question it then, but wondered why the other Baptist church I attended used the NIV. Others used the NKJV, while others used the ESV. So my question was which was right?
First let’s look at history of the KJV Bible. It was started in 1604 and finished in 1611 under the watchful eye of King James. This started with a “riff” between the Catholic Church and the English monarchy. In 1534 with King Henry VIII, who at the time wanted to divorce his wife and Rome forbid it. Although the Church of England split from the Catholic Church, it still maintained much of its theology and practices with Henry VIII. The Protestant reformer slowly applied influence, but the “reforms” we limited. This is the state of the Church during the time when King James took control.
The Bible was written primarily to ensure the writings would reflect the “episcopal” structure of the Church of England. It is ironic that this was in direct conflict with many of Protestant beliefs, including the Baptists (where some consider the Church of England and the Catholic Church a “cult”). Interestingly the earlier English versions (the Wycliffe, the Tyndale and the Geneva Bibles) were considered flawed because of their links to the reformers.
With the history behind us we know the roots of the KJV, now let’s look at other versions. The game of telephone is a perfect example used by many to justify the other translations being wrong. This games is where you tell someone something and then it goes around to more and more until it gets back to you very changed. Each person put their “spin” on it until the story had changed significantly from the original. When you apply this logic to say the NLT it fails, since all these versions were transcribed from the original texts and not any other translation.
The English language has evolved so much since 1611 that even the KJV had to be updated to the NKJV. Even in the last 100 years words like “gay” have taken a whole new meaning that directly conflicts with today’s meaning. “Tom is gay” means something completely different in 1920 than today. So often we need to refresh the interpretations so people reading it today could understand.
This ties into the problem with the Catholic Church who at the time of the KJV only allowed a Latin version, thus limiting the translation by the priests since Latin was a dead language. The information was controlled by the papal leadership; much like the Pharisees controlled the Word in Jesus’ time. Before the Church took control there were hundreds of translations, once the Catholic Church came into world power it was limited to the one Latin Version. That was the other reason King James commissioned the Bible, to “in your face” to the Catholic Church.
The other problem with limiting the interpretations is “hermetics” or the true meaning of the author. We use the word “love” to interpret 4 Greek words. Agape is the love for other, Eros is the sensual love, Philla is the love for family and close friends and Storge is the natural love on feels for their offspring. Each means different things and depending on how the word love is used could change the whole meaning of a verse. So often people get into a nuts and bolts arguments over did Jesus say we could move a physical mountain or a “figurative” one?
My quest is to fully understand God’s word without having to learn, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic. I also wish to learn what other non-canonical text has to say. I notice the Gospel of Thomas includes references to the “second heaven” while canonized texts only touch on the first and third heavens. I want to know God and fully understand the battle before us. If we do not take the time to learn as much as we can in a language we all understand it’s all for naught if some false teacher can mold us away from Jesus.