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“Authorized To Translate”
Categories: GRAB BAGI attend a non-denominational church, and there is a member that states that if you read anything other than the King James Version that you are bringing damnation upon yourself. I have the New King James Version. He says that the new version is adding to and taking away from God’s Word. How should I respond to this?Sincerely,
Too New?
Dear Too New,
The King James version (KJV) was originally published in 1611. It was a translation authorized by King James of England to provide an accurate, modern translation to the masses. For many years, it was the best, precise translation into English. However, to say that the KJV is the only accurate translation, or that it is a sin to use another translation, is going way too far.
Using that logic, we should never read the Bible except from the original Greek and Hebrew! If we are going to get technical, the original Greek and Hebrew are the most precise copies of the Bible out there. Or what if we lived in Germany? Or Russia? Is the KJV the only version that can be used in those countries… even though they don’t speak English?
God divinely inspired every word of the Bible (1 Cor 2:13, 2 Pet 1:21), but each translation is a work of man. The important thing is to make sure that you use a Bible translation that has been written by qualified, unbiased translators. The New King James is an excellent example of high quality translation work. We are also partial to the American Standard and the New American Standard. The KJV is a good translation, but it doesn’t have divine authority above all other translations.
