Versions of the Bible - KJV Bible I'd like to share my own personal reasons as to why I read, teach from and recommend the Authorized Version also known as the King James Version Bible. It's not because I'm a Greek scholar or a Bible translator. Quite the opposite. I'm a blond guy of average intelligence. But perhaps like you, I love the Lord and want what's important to Him to be important to me.
I came to know the Lord in my early teens and was taught from the KJV Bible. In fact, I didn't even know there were other versions of the Bible until much later.
I came to know the Lord in my early teens and was taught from the KJV Bible. In fact, I didn't even know there were other versions of the Bible until much later.
After reading the Bible through in a year using a One Year Bible, I picked up a New King James Version edition and started reading it through the following year. But after about 3 weeks in to my daily devotions, I went back to the KJV. It was an odd experience. The best way to describe it was like going from eating steak to chewing gum. With the New King James Version, I was going through the motions of eating but my soul wasn't being fed. The power wasn't there. I know that sounds flimsy, but that's just how it felt.
My next experience with different versions happened when I taught Bible studies to people around the neighborhood near the church building in Portland, Oregon. Whether we were at the kitchen table or a cafe, we'd open up our Bibles and take turns reading the scriptures. Quite often someone brought a New International Version or NASB. When we compared the verses, about half the time they basically said the same thing. The other times there were noticeable differences. And every so often an entire verse just wasn't there. The chart below from AV1611.com shows a few examples of these differences. Decide for yourself if these seem like minor differences to you:
My next experience with different versions happened when I taught Bible studies to people around the neighborhood near the church building in Portland, Oregon. Whether we were at the kitchen table or a cafe, we'd open up our Bibles and take turns reading the scriptures. Quite often someone brought a New International Version or NASB. When we compared the verses, about half the time they basically said the same thing. The other times there were noticeable differences. And every so often an entire verse just wasn't there. The chart below from AV1611.com shows a few examples of these differences. Decide for yourself if these seem like minor differences to you:
Versions of the Bible Comparison Chart - AV1611.com
The premise I've always heard for having different versions of the Bible was for easier, more understandable reading of the scriptures. I suppose that makes sense since English has changed over the years. Words like "thee", "thou" and "superfluity" aren't part of my everyday speech. I get that. But when I've compared the scriptures side by side, what I find are not subtle differences in language; I find different verses that frequently gave different meanings.
Is this really a big deal? Isn't it more important to read the Bible than to get hung up on which version we should read? That's a great question! Since I began this post by stating that if it's important to God, I want it to be important to me, let's go to the Bible to get some answers.
How does God feel about his own word:
- Deut 4:1-2 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
- Prov. 30:5-6 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
- Rev. 22: 18-19 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
To me, God takes his word very seriously, not just in a general sense, but as Proverbs states above, every word. There are many other verses that testify to the purity and perfection of the scriptures and warnings against any alterations.
David wrote in Psalm 119:142, "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." In other words, God's word doesn't just contain truth mix in with it; It is the truth. And according to John 8: 32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." But what if someone has added to it or taken away from it? Can it still be truth? Will it still have the power to make us free?
David wrote in Psalm 119:142, "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." In other words, God's word doesn't just contain truth mix in with it; It is the truth. And according to John 8: 32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." But what if someone has added to it or taken away from it? Can it still be truth? Will it still have the power to make us free?
The more that I've compared versions of the Bible over the years, the more disturbing the differences appear to me. I'm not talking about a few differences here and there, but hundreds throughout the Bible. Whether it's the NIV, NASB, TLB, Etc., each new edition more changes are made and the gap between them and the KJV grows. Let me give you one more quick example: Who is the morning star? I remember singing the song, "...He's the lily of the valley, the bright and Morning Star, he's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul" taken from Rev. 22:16 which reads: "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." Now consider this...
Versions of the Bible - Click to Read More About the Morning Star Discrepancy
I don't bring any of this up to pick a fight or start a debate. But as a church elder, I am responsible for what I teach. As Christians, we are all responsible for what we believe. The Bible isn't a novel or just a light summer read. It is the foundation of our doctrine and faith. If the purity of the scriptures is important to Him then it must be important to me.
Let us all preach and teach the truth in love, lest we be blind leaders of the blind and we both fall into the ditch.
Let us all preach and teach the truth in love, lest we be blind leaders of the blind and we both fall into the ditch.
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