Call Me A King James Only Baptist
Pastor
David Green
November
6, 2010
II Corinthians 4:2
Introduction.
One question that is asked of me about our church is "what version of
Bible do you use?" A lot of times people will express their
dismay when I tell them that we use the King James Version. In a
trip out west earlier this year, I
was at a Bible Conference in which a conversation came up
about “errors” in the King James
Bible. More recently, there was an article which was printed in the
Berea Baptist Banner entitled, “The Truth About
KJV-Onlyism.” As
a “King James Only” preacher, I have
decided to
respond.
The truth is, God's Word has survived many storms
and attacks through the years and I am confident that it will survive
this one as well in spite of our feeble efforts to defend it.
FROM
THE POSITIVE.
1. If “King
James
Only” defines one who believes that God inspired the ORIGINAL
text and has providentially PRESERVED His Word in and through the
King James Bible and previous versions of Scripture including the
Geneva Bible, then you may call me “King James Only.”
(See Psalm
68:11)
Isaiah
40:8
The grass and the flower will someday fade away, but
God has
promised to preserve His word! He cannot lie and therefore we must
believe that this is an unconditional
promise. How great it is to realize that there will never be a time
when the Word of our God has not been in existence. How awesome it is
to know that there will never be such a time in the future either.
Matthew
24:35
Christ again repeated this promise. We know that the
world
will not always be in existence in the way that we now see it, but
someday will be destroyed (II Peter 3). Yet, the Word of God will not
ever pass away.
2.
Similarly, if “King James Only” defines one who
believes God's preservation of His church and His preservation of His
Word go hand-in-hand then call me “King James only.”
I
Timothy 3:15
John
17:17
The
church is the pillar and ground of the truth. That truth is the word
of God, the Bible. If we believe that the church of the living God
has existed in all the years from the time Christ established it
until now, we must also believe that there has never been a time when
His church did not have the truth. God's preservation of His church
and His preservation of His Word go hand-in-hand. We cannot have one
without the other. They are directly related.
History tells us
that the Lord's church has in fact been in existence since the time
of Christ. They remained totally separated from Rome. These churches
remained true to God, and held His word near and dear to their
hearts. They were known by different names, but they were the
churches of God. And they held the Word of God. Notice these records
I have found:
The earliest record we have is from Syrian Churches
who had been organized from the church in Antioch had a translation
of the New Testament that came from the Received Text in AD 150. This
version was called the Peshitta Version. (Peshitta is a word that
means common in Syria.)
Another early translation comes before
the churches in the Alps were given the name of the Waldenses. In the
year AD 157, the Italic Chuch (as it was called) translated the New
Testament from the Received Text.
The Gothic Version was
translated from the Received Text for the Germanic tribes in central
Europe in AD 350.
I
refuse to believe that God preserved His Word in the pope's library
and a monestary in Mt. Sinai where it was hidden for hundreds of
years! NO, God's Word was being used by His churches. And HE
preserved it so that we have HIS WORD in the King James Version of the
Bible!
3. If “King James
Only” defines one who believes modern
textual criticism is heresy, call me “King James Only.”
There are two types of textual critism: one is based
on
belief following the usage of the New Testament churches through the
previous centuries. There is nothing wrong with that. However the
modern critics of the Bible use a different method. Their criticism
is based in rationalism in modern scientific textual criticism
totally apart from faith..
Hebrews
11:1, 6
The "original" Scriptures do NOT exist! Yet
that is not a problem for God's people. In
fact a lot of things we believe in are very similar. We cannot go to
Jerusalem to see the first church there to make sure we are exactly
like them in faith and practice. We cannot go back to Adam to see if
he was our ancestor. We cannot go back to the original signed copies
of the New Testament. We simply have faith that these things are
true!
Without
faith it is impossible to please God. I believe that those folks who
attack the credibility of God's Word are not pleasing God. I
believe that if a man cannot be sure (in and through faith) that he
is preaching the Word of God then that man needs to sit down and let
someone else preach!
Genesis
3:1
What
do we have? Is it the Word of God? Or does it contain the Word? Is
it full of truth or errors? If we do not have the true Word of God
then how can we be sure of anything? Textual criticism in the modern
sense is a great invention of the Devil! Brethren, God called me to
be a Bible teacher and a Bible preacher, but not a Bible critic!
4. If “King James
Only” defines one who does not believe
in “correcting” the Bible then call me “King James
Only.”
Psalm 138:2
This
is one thing that bothers me worse than anything else. People who
will “correct” the Bible. They will place Strong's
Concordance, various lexicons, dictionaries, etc above the Word of
God! Listen, it is good to own these study helps to assist in the
understanding of the Word, but we ought to never use them to correct
the Bible. God has placed His Word (the Bible) above His own name!
Acts
17:11
A
modern version of this when speaking of many folks would say
something like this, “they searched the concordances and
lexicons daily to see if these things were so.” Brethren, let
the Scriptures speak for themselves!
5.
If “King James Only” defines one who has no problem
standing up and proclaiming the King James Bible as the Word of God,
then by all means call me “King James Only.”
II
Timothy 4:2
If the true Word of God is only to be found in the
“original” copies, then the world does not have the
Bible. These folks who will preach from one side of their mouth and
say they ought to obey this passage and then from the other side of
their mouth say the KJV is full of errors ought to truthful with
people. They ought to say, “we have part of God's Word."
Of course, the question comes – if one part is wrong then what about the other parts?
Some
folks claim the words church
and baptize were purposely
transliterated by the King James translators in order to hide the
true meaning of the words, but I find this to be a bit “far
fetched.” The word "church" and “baptize”
were used in the Geneva, and other earlier English translations. No
form of twisting Scripture can get a universal church teaching from the
Bible and baptism cannot be made to mean
anything other than immersion. The New Testament made a Baptist
out of me and it will make a Baptist out of anyone who will read the
Scriptures in their proper context!
Acts 12:4
I have heard more than one critic of the King
James Bible say that Easter is
a mistake in our Bible and this was purposely placed here to make sure
that the Bible contains a teaching for Easter. I disagree with
that. There
is evidence to suggest that the Aglo-Saxons used the word
Passover and Easter interchangeably. Argue that if you want, but
the fact remains, there is not a commandment to observe the pagan
holiday of Easter nor do we have an example of Christ or his
followers celebrating it. There is not an easter egg hunt or a
bunny hopping down the bunny trail. In this
passage, it is being
observed by the pagan King Herod not by any Christian. By
the way, Tyndale (1534) and Coverdale both used the word Easter there also. The 1557 version of the Geneva Bible also used the word "Easter" in this passage.
It did not originate with KJV.
I
agree with the Pulpit Commentary when it says, “We must guard
against such narrow, mechanical views of inspiration as would confine
it to the Hebrew and Greek words in which it was written, so that one
who reads a good translation would not have ‘the words of the
Lord.’”
6. If “King James
Only” defines one who is not concerned
about trying to find a replacement to the KJV then by all means call
me “King James Only.” The King James Version is ALL we
need!
I believe that the King James Bible may very well be
updated someday, but I do not believe this ought to be our focus at
this time period. It is a solid translation with beautiful language
that is not so hard to read as what Satan would have folks to
believe.
7.
If “King James Only” defines one who has no use for
modern translations then call me “King James Only.”
I
will indeed make it a point of fellowship if a church or pastor
decided to use a different translation. Whether or not that church
is a church still, that is God's business. I can't remove a
candlestick anymore than anyone else can, but I certainly can draw
lines in fellowship and modern translations are something that I make
a test of fellowship!
The fact is, by example, the Lord's churches have
proven to be "King James only" by their example. Many
translations have come out and yet I know of no church who uses
anything but the King James version. It was the version of the
Baptist Examiner. It has been the version of the writers of the
Berea Baptist Banner. It was the version I heard preached from at
every Bible Conference I have ever attended. The newer versions
have been rejected by the Lord's churches!
FROM THE NEGATIVE
If “King James Only” defines one who believes the preserved Word of God is available only in English, I am not “King James Only.”
If “King James Only” defines one who believes
that a person can only be saved through the King James Bible, I am not “King James Only.”
If “King James Only” is one who believes the translators were inspired of God, then I am not “King James Only.”
If “King James Only” is one who believes the King James is somehow superior than the original writings, then I am not “King James Only.” (Note: I will say this however, if you were to set a copy of the original writings - if they existed - along side a KJV Bible ans ask me which I prefer, I would definitely choose the King James. Why? Because the original writings were not written in a language I can understand!)
CONCLUSION
Psalm 68:11
God's Word has been preserved. We have it today in
the King James
Version. That is all I need to preach from, read from, study in, and
rejoice in! Why should I settle for anything else?