I realized something recently. There are denominations and ministers still around today who refuse to move on to modern translations of the Bible. They stand on the King James or some other ancient translation as the only source for uncompromised truth. They preach that saints should only read older translations because the newer ones are tainted and twisted and inaccurate...
First of all, this just isn't true. All Bible translations come (in one way or another) from a running greek manuscript that is based on over 5000 ancient manuscripts and copies we have of the scriptures... And there is NO perfect English translation. They all -- including the King James -- have their minimal flaws and faults , as there is alot of debate on HOW to translate certain ancient language phrases into modern language, and such debate will continue as long as we have sincere Christians roaming the earth.
Also, different translations have different aims. Some are word-for-word literal translations (like Young's literal), some are thought-for-thought translations (like the message Bible), and some are in between the two (the rest).
Therefore, to say that the NIV or the KJV is the only translation that is truly inspired by the Holy Ghost is both ignorant and presumptuous.
I was brought up in such an atmosphere. We scoffed at the NIV as the "nearly inspired version" and avoided it at all costs... looking back I kind of laugh at this kind of denominational control tactic that I so easily bought into... and I am sorry for it... how many people over the years did I turn away from the basic doctrine of common sense by promoting my unwarranted denominational biases?
Anyway, I realized recently that telling people that the King James version is the only accurate one, is much like the Catholic priests of the middle ages keeping the scriptures in Latin, a language which no one but the elite educated classes understood. The uneducated masses (the majority of the population) could not read the Bible for themselves, so for centuries the people were in spiritual darkness and were deceived by the priests during the dark ages...
It may seem simple, but here's my point: the uneducated masses of our day can't understand the King James anymore! It's almost like latin to us now -- the vocabulary is almost 400 years old!
If you met a poor hungry soul on the street, and were witnessing to him of the love of God for him, and handed him a King James Bible, he would crack it open and say, "Huh?" He wouldn't understand half of what it was saying and it may cost him his soul... but hand that same guy an NLT, and he would be enthralled with your offer after opening it and would read and understand to the saving of his soul.
The devil wants to keep people from understanding the plain word of God.
We are helping his cause if we refuse to find and promote accurate, modern translations that the everyday joe can read and understand -- that they may be saved.
First of all, this just isn't true. All Bible translations come (in one way or another) from a running greek manuscript that is based on over 5000 ancient manuscripts and copies we have of the scriptures... And there is NO perfect English translation. They all -- including the King James -- have their minimal flaws and faults , as there is alot of debate on HOW to translate certain ancient language phrases into modern language, and such debate will continue as long as we have sincere Christians roaming the earth.
Also, different translations have different aims. Some are word-for-word literal translations (like Young's literal), some are thought-for-thought translations (like the message Bible), and some are in between the two (the rest).
Therefore, to say that the NIV or the KJV is the only translation that is truly inspired by the Holy Ghost is both ignorant and presumptuous.
I was brought up in such an atmosphere. We scoffed at the NIV as the "nearly inspired version" and avoided it at all costs... looking back I kind of laugh at this kind of denominational control tactic that I so easily bought into... and I am sorry for it... how many people over the years did I turn away from the basic doctrine of common sense by promoting my unwarranted denominational biases?
Anyway, I realized recently that telling people that the King James version is the only accurate one, is much like the Catholic priests of the middle ages keeping the scriptures in Latin, a language which no one but the elite educated classes understood. The uneducated masses (the majority of the population) could not read the Bible for themselves, so for centuries the people were in spiritual darkness and were deceived by the priests during the dark ages...
It may seem simple, but here's my point: the uneducated masses of our day can't understand the King James anymore! It's almost like latin to us now -- the vocabulary is almost 400 years old!
If you met a poor hungry soul on the street, and were witnessing to him of the love of God for him, and handed him a King James Bible, he would crack it open and say, "Huh?" He wouldn't understand half of what it was saying and it may cost him his soul... but hand that same guy an NLT, and he would be enthralled with your offer after opening it and would read and understand to the saving of his soul.
The devil wants to keep people from understanding the plain word of God.
We are helping his cause if we refuse to find and promote accurate, modern translations that the everyday joe can read and understand -- that they may be saved.
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