King James Bible critics speak in catchphrases

Catchphrases.

When it comes to the King James Bible, there are several catchphrases one can hear uttered over and over again by those critical of the Authorized Version. Personally, I believe these are more excuses than real substance. But nonetheless, since they use them, let us examine them.

The first catchphrase is: “We need a Bible in modern English.”

Whether this is a need or not has never been truly established, but this is what they say. Again, in their dedicatory, King James translators admitted there would be “self-conceited brethren who run their own ways and give liking unto nothing, but what is framed by themselves and hammered on their anvil.”

My first response to this is that if there is a real need, then why all the push for the wrong Greek text? Since the emergence of the Westcott and Hort Greek text in 1881, there was no effort to use the received text for almost the next 100 years. Though the vast majority of Greek texts available today support the received text, the clamor was for age. But in the Psalms we are told, “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.”

Seems like we should at least follow where the hand of God can be found, but that has not been the case. The minority text has been preferred.

My second response is that while in the last 30 years there have been versions that have arisen that give lip service to the majority text (essentially the received text), most notably the New King James Version, there are a number of places where they are obviously following the minority text readings. This, my friends, shows true intentions and, at the very least, true intentions are not about a Bible in modern English, but are about change. Doesn’t this sound familiar?

The second catchphrase is: “I can’t understand it.”

The use of this phrase makes it sound like the King James Bible was written in a foreign language, but it was not. Published in 1611, the King James Bible was translated in Elizabethan English, which represents the English language at its height. While today’s English has deteriorated somewhat in the last 400 years, to claim ignorance is not to give reason for a new version, but for a better education.

The truth is that I cannot speak Spanish. In fact, the truth is that I can only speak English. But I am told that if I were to go to many other countries, they would expect me to learn their languages. This is why Christians send missionaries to language school. Just because I do not know Spanish doesn’t mean I cannot learn it, it just means that I have not had any compelling motivation to learn it up to now. Translated into English and applied to the King James Bible, if you truly cannot understand it, it hasn’t been important enough to you to learn it.

The last catchphrase is: “I don’t like all those thees and thous.”

This excuse is related to the last one with only a minor deviation and is a failure to realize the historical context of the populace itself — largely illiterate. This means that not only could they not read and write, at least not to the level of the educated classes (nobility and religious hierarchy), but likely they did not talk like this, either.

Consider our own culture of those who call themselves Alaskans. There is great variation between the English used from those of the Bush and those of the city. Those with college educations better English than those without, and their English teachers speak a better edition than they. If we look within the church, those with advanced degrees talk and often speak with a greater vocabulary range than those who do not. Is this reason for abandoning a Bible with better English for that which is poorer?

It must be noted here that since the publication of the King James Bible, the literacy rate of the English speaking peoples has actually increased. As the King James Bible has remained the best-selling book of all time, the correlation between it and this literacy increase cannot be ignored. Could it be that a rejection of it in favor of all these “easier to read” Bibles has a correlation as well?

Over the years I have noticed that ease begets complacency. When there are no obstacles to overcome, the atrophy that sets in is of the soul. Our creator has created the human soul to need challenge as much as to walk upright. What the people of the 17th century needed was a book that would lift them up, and they were given the King James Bible. Looks like we need this book today as much as they.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or ron.hamman@gci.net.

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