Originally posted by Julie
Ok, thanks owen_rocks.
Sheesh, I think you guys can stop the "Bible verses duel", that doesn't do anyone any service.
Also, that site is full of inflammatory language and insults towards non-KJV believers.
The pages you are providing are the usual KJV-onlyist tripe. His "4 points" are nonsense, and the claim that no one has ever discussed those 4 points is a flat-out lie, I've seen discussions of all of those (maybe not specifically directed at this person, but discussions nonetheless) on other pages.
Also, the whole thing is a straw man and a false dichotomy. It's not KJV vs. the original greek, it's KJV vs. newer translations. If you know greek, you can check the greek if you're unsure about the specifics of a passage.
So let's look at the four points:
1. You can read it and memorize it (the AV).
You cannot do so with the "originals."
If you learn Greek you certainly can memorize and read the originals. And of course you can memorize passages from the NRSV or NIV or NAB. And finally, why is memorizing verses so important? Isn't it much better to understand what the meaning of the teaching is rather than the word-for-word phrase? You can do that with any translation, including the KJV.
2. It has been responsible for more than ten times as many
people being saved as all the "original autographs" combined.
This is irrelevant. Bibles do not save people. There is also no way to prove this -- where do we get statistics on how many people were saved using Greek and Hebrew bibles?
3. It is in the universal language of the end-time,
whereas Greek has been stone dead for seventeen centuries.
4. It has space separations between words and sentences,
which the "originals" did not
This is why we use translations, like the NRSV. The KJV is an outdated translation, however.
I don't know of anyone who recommends that you only read the original texts. The usual recommendation is to read a modern translation but refer to the Greek or Hebrew original for clarification if needed.
-Chris