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GUEST
ARTICLE
IS THE KING JAMES VERSION
OF THE BIBLE
INFALLIBLE?
Part 1
2
Peter 1:15 - 21
(In this article KJV means the King James Version. NASB means the New American Standard Bible. NIV
stands for the New International Version.)
· Many
people today say the KJV is the perfectly preserved Word
of God in English and is the only Bible for us today.
· If
I can show the KJV has many mistakes, statements that do
not make sense, and verses that slander God, then obviously
it is not perfect.
· Please
understand that I am not attacking the Word of God, I am
pointing out errors in a translation. God's Word is perfect but translations are not. God
inspired the apostles and prophets when they wrote, but there
is not one verse in the Bible that says translations are
inspired.
· The
things I point out will help you better understand your KJV. It
is a very accurate translation in most places. However,
it has a few places where the reader will need help to find
out what God actually said.
1. In Hebrews 9:26 the KJV says, "But now once
in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself." The
end of the world has not come, yet Christ has already appeared. Therefore
this is a false statement. The
New American Standard Bible (NASB) says "but now once
at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested." It
was at the end of the Old Testament ages that Christ appeared,
not at the end of the world. The
KJV mistranslates this Greek word aion as world. The
word means age. The
KJV does this about 40 times. Each
time is a mistake and misleads the reader.
2. The KJV calls the Holy Spirit an "it" in
Romans 8:16, 26. The
NASB corrects this error and says the "Spirit Himself." The
context of the whole Bible shows the Holy Spirit is not an "it." Can
you, dear reader, feel comfortable calling the third person
of the Trinity an "it"?
3. The KJV calls the Holy Spirit, "the Holy Ghost." The
Bible says, "God is a Spirit." (John 4:24). Sometimes
the KJV translates the same word as Ghost and sometimes Spirit.
About 70 times they call the Holy Spirit a "Ghost" and
about 250 times they translated it as "Spirit." An
example is Acts 5:3,9. In verse 3 we read "Ghost" and in verse 9 we read "Spirit." It
is the same word in the Greek. The
NASB always translates the word as "Spirit." God
is a Spirit, not a Ghost.
4. Acts 12:4 in the KJV says Herod was planning "after
Easter" to bring Peter out. The
KJV translates this same Greek word as "Passover" 28
times. This
is the only time they translate this Greek word as "Easter." Either
the translators were wrong 28 times or they are wrong in
Acts 12:4. The NASB translates this Greek word as Passover
all 29 times.
5. In James 5:11 the KJV says, "The Lord is very
pitiful." This
term is old English for God is full of pity. But
still today the KJV says the Lord is "very pitiful." This
is a slander against God which should be updated. The NASB
says, "The Lord is full of compassion."
6. Philippians 4:6 in the KJV says, "Be careful
for nothing." In
every day English today this verse says "be careless
about everything." The NASB correctly translates it, "Be
anxious for nothing."
7. Philippians 3:20 in the KJV says, "Our conversation
is in heaven." Obviously
we are not talking to one another in Heaven. We
are still on the earth. The
NASB correctly says, "Our citizenship is in heaven."
8. In II Thessalonians 2:7 the KJV says, "Only
he who now letteth will let." This
is speaking of the Holy Spirit who hinders the forces of
sin. The English
word "let" once meant "to restrain" but
today it has completely reversed in meaning. The
NASB says, "He who now restrains will do so." This
gives the meaning of what God actually said.
9. In modern English the word "meat" means
the flesh of animals. In
the KJV it means anything to eat. A "meat" offering
is described in Leviticus chapter 2 but the contents contain
no meat at all. In
Leviticus 14:10 the KJV says, "Fine flour for a meat
offering." The
NASB calls it a grain offering. Many
times the KJV uses the word "meat" to refer to
food that has no meat in it whatsoever.
10. The word "corn" is used in the KJV 101
times. It never
once means corn, as we know it today. It
refers to any kind of grain. Genesis
42:1-3,5; Matthew 12:1 are examples. Remember
it was the American Indians who gave us corn or "maize." The
white man knew nothing about corn until after the discovery
of America. Therefore,
the original Bible writers could not have been referring
to "corn" but rather to "grain."
11. Revelation 22:14 teaches salvation by works in
the KJV. It
says, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that
they may have right to the tree of life." This
is a verse taken from the Latin Vulgate and inserted by Erasmus
because he did not have a complete Greek manuscript of the
book of Revelation. The
KJV translators continued this error. There
is no Greek manuscript in existence that has the KJV reading. The
NASB says, "Blessed are they who have washed their robes,
that they may have right to the tree of life."
12. The KJV says, "The love of money is the root
of all evil," (I Timothy 6:10). This statement is certainly
false. Adam
and Eve did not sin for the love of money. Satan's
fall was because of pride, not love of money. The
adulterer and the fornicator do not do it for money, neither
does the rapist. What
God actually said was that money can be a root of all sorts
of evil. People will do any kind of sin for money. The
NASB says, "The love of money is a root of all sorts
of evil."
13. In Acts 5:30 the KJV says, "The God of our
fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree." This verse says that they killed Jesus and then hung his corpse
on a tree. Of
course this contradicts all of the Gospel accounts. The NASB
says, "Whom you put to death by hanging on a tree." It
is easy to see which is right. The
KJV makes the same mistake again in Acts 10:39, "Slew
and hung on a tree."
14. In James 3:2, the KJV says we offend everybody. "In
many things we offend all." The
NASB says, "For we all stumble in many ways." I
can agree with the NASB but not with the KJV.
15. In Acts 9:7 when Paul was converted, it says in
the KJV the men "stood speechless hearing a voice, but
seeing no man." In
Acts 22:9 it says, "They heard not the voice of him
that spake with me." Of
course these verses make the Bible contradict itself. The
NASB says, "Did not understand the voice of the one
who spoke with me." The
actual meaning of these verses is that the men heard but
did not understand. The
KJV makes the Bible contradict itself. The NASB does not.
16. In Acts 19:2 the KJV says, "Have ye received
the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" Much
false doctrine has been built on this verse. The
NASB says, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you
believed?" This
translation is more accurate. It
is more in line with the other Scripture teaching. The
Bible clearly teaches you receive the Holy Spirit when you
believe, not at some subsequent time. Ephesians
1:13 tells us, "having believed you were sealed."
17. In Song of Solomon 2:12 the KJV says, the "turtle" was
singing. The
NASB says the "turtle-dove." We
all know that turtles do not sing but turtledoves do.
18. The KJV uses the word "charity" for
love. This is
confusing because charity today means giving to the poor
or needy. In
I Corinthians 13:3 the KJV says, "And though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body
to be burned, and have not charity." Actually
giving to the poor is charity, so the statement is a paradox. The NASB uses the word love, which makes more sense.
19. The KJV uses the word conversation about 20 times,
but it never means "people talking to one another" as
we use the word today. I
Peter 3:1-2 is a good example of the confusion this brings
to the modern reader. Here
the Bible is telling the wife with an unsaved husband not
to talk to win her husband but to win him by her actions,
her spirit and her obedience. However,
the KJV tells her to win him by her conversation; just the
opposite of what God actually said. The
NASB says the wife is to win the unsaved husband with her "behavior."
20. In Genesis 8:1 the KJV, speaking of the flood
waters of Noah, says the "waters asswaged." I
do not believe you will find this word in any dictionary. The
NASB says, "the waters subsided." I
can understand the NASB but I am not sure about the KJV.
CONCLUSION
The KJV is a good translation. It
is accurate in most places, but if you know about the mistranslations
and obsolete words, it will help you to understand what God
actually said in the Hebrew and Greek.
There is no valid reason to reject
the other good English translations we have today. In
many places they can be a great help.
Robert A. Joyner
http://www.kjvonly.org/robert/joyner_kjv%20of%
20the%20bible%20infallible_1_pr.html
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