The Authorized King James: Loved, Hated or Ignored

I’m quite sure that most people will see the title of this post and pass it by, but please bear with me because the subject is very important, whether you know it or not.  In Christianity today, there are few in number that still hold to their King James bible.  Most have been caught up by promoters of the new versions,  who use the excuse that their version is based on “older and better” manuscripts, (or so they believe) or else that it will be “easier to understand”.  Why did this happen? and what are the consequences? My next post will be notes from a sermon regarding the history of the King James and why it is so important.

My own history with the King James began when I was in grade 4, back in the day when the school day began with a bible reading from the King James and a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.  The teacher asked me to memorize Psalm 23 and I am still struck by the beauty of the poetry of this most well-known and loved of Psalms.
Lets compare it with Young’s Literal Translation which is also in the public domain.

Psalm 23:1-6  Young’s Literal Translation
 Jehovah is my shepherd, I do not lack, In pastures of tender grass He causeth me to lie down, By quiet waters He doth lead me.  My soul He refresheth, He leadeth me in paths of righteousness, For His name’s sake,   Also — when I walk in a valley of death-shade, I fear no evil, for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff — they comfort me.  Thou arrangest before me a table, Over-against my adversaries, Thou hast anointed with oil my head, My cup is full!  Only — goodness and kindness pursue me, All the days of my life, And my dwelling is in the house of Jehovah, For a length of days!

Psalm 23: 1-6  King James
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

In the examples above, both of them are quite close in meaning, although the Young’s suggests a time period in the last verse, “for a length of days” while the King James is comforting in  that David believes that he will “dwell in the house of the LORD for ever”.  But more importantly, which one would be easier to memorize?  In the King James, the words flow in poetic beauty as it does throughout all of this bible (I won’t call it a version).




But back to my memories of the King James.  When I was 10 years old I asked my parents for a bible  and so for Christmas that year they bought me a lovely King James,  bound in white leather, with gold-leafed page edges.  Not that the appearance was important, but it has remained in my memory although I no longer have the bible.  I try to remember what happened to it because it stayed in my possession until I was grown and married with children, and then it disappeared.

In the mid 70s I met a woman who was a Christian, and I began going to an Evangelical Free Church with her.  She urged me to buy a bible, and said that it should be a  New American Standard because it was “easier to understand”..    but I remember attending an adult Sunday school class at that church and the leader used the King James.  They were studying Romans and I well remember thinking to myself that my NASB did not say the same thing as the leader’s King James.  But those years ended and it wasn’t until 1987 that the King James became part of my life again.

I was divorced in 1985 and remarried to a Christian man in February of 1987.  In April of 1987 I was saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we attended a brethren assembly where  he had been going for years before we were married. He bought me a King James with notes by Ryrie.  But I did not like a bible with notes that are men’s opinion and not the word of God, so I changed to a King James with no notes.  In the 1980’s the assembly had strong leadership and pretty much everyone used the King James except for a few that had switched to the NIV.  In the passage of time the elders began to pass on to glory, new people came in and then we began to hear regarding the King James, that “this word should be this, or that word should be that”  also that lie mentioned earlier that the newer versions were based on “older and better manuscripts”..  this last one was from a woman who wanted the chapel to give up the old hymns of the faith in favour of  the new “praise” music that was pretty much replacing the old hymns in other churches.

There was also a home bible study where some of the people used the King James, but some used a mixture of the more modern versions like the New Living Translation and when a chapter was read around the room people got lost because they could not follow along.  It was a sure sign that something was not right.  We stopped attending that study when a discussion arose regarding Matthew 5:22 “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”  When the verse was read out by someone with another version,  the phrase “without a cause” was not there.  One of the ladies that had always used the King James brought out this fact and the leader replied that “after all King James was a homosexual so how can you trust his bible?”.  And with that remark, my husband and I got up and left the study never to return, and thus began a time for us of searching out the history of the King James, with the result that we were firmer than ever on our resolve to hold to the King James bible.

In 2011 we moved to Vancouver Island and began attending another brethren assembly which, as it turns out, is an assembly in name only.  In reality  it is a gathering of people who use all manner of versions, come from an assortment of churches, and those who have been in the assembly for a long time have given up many assembly principles such as modest dressing and head coverings (but I digress).   Only a very few use the King James, and this has led to liberalism and compromise which is bound to get much worse.   For a number of reasons, we have chosen to leave this assembly and are planning on visiting another church that teaches and preaches from the King James.
The subject of the King James is very divisive.  People love it or hate it, or have no clue what it is because when they made a profession of faith someone led them to a modern version and so for them, the King James is ignored.

It is my hope that after reading this, if you have borne with me this long, that you will read the next post I put up which will be of sermon notes regarding this most important issue, and that it will give you a new understanding of where, why and how the King James bible came to be, and why it is so important.  It is my prayer that at this time when Christianity is so liberal and compromised with easy believism, emergent practices, dangerous teachings like Spiritual Formation, and filled with watered-down bible versions, that God will open people’s eyes and bring them back to the King James, God’s word preserved in the English language.

Psalm 12:  6-7 “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

I pray that this post will reach those for whom it is intended, surely with God all things shall be possible.

vcg/December 2015