KJO fading?

[ByTheSpirit]

Is the King James Only movement fading?

It has been a long while since I have encountered a person of this stance. Even those that used to be such have since accepted other more modern translations.

Thoughts?

 

[Solomons Porch]

Is the King James Only movement fading?

It has been a long while since I have encountered a person of this stance. Even those that used to be such have since accepted other more modern translations.

Thoughts?

It seems that it is, but no matter what translation I do read, I always go back and compare to the original KJV.

 

[Strathos]

Well I know someone who is very adamant about this position and still sticks to it, and he posts on these very forums.

Although personally I've never understood the idea. The KJV was a decent translation for its time but saying that it somehow overrides the original Hebrew texts? How does that make any sense?

 

[ByTheSpirit]

I just thought it weird that I haven't seen too many of the sticklers of the doctrine in some time.

I grew up KJO, and still do reference it from time to time, but have almost completely rid myself of that family of translations. Although it is very difficult to beat the KJV rendering of the Psalms.

My favorite/preferred now is the ESV which is VERY close in style to the KJV but much easier to read and based on better manuscripts

 

[ByTheSpirit]

Well I know someone who is very adamant about this position and still sticks to it, and he posts on these very forums.

Although personally I've never understood the idea. The KJV was a decent translation for its time but saying that it somehow overrides the original Hebrew texts? How does that make any sense?

My church growing up actually taught the KJV was the standard of any bible during any time. Even though it didn't exist obviously until 1611. It just never made sense to me but like a good soldier of the church I agreed with it.

After a while when I asked if the KJV was so perfect then why did it have so many revisions and such to which I was promptly told the revisions were even evil and the original was all that mattered, even though their very Bibles were of the revised kind.

 

[Pilgrim]

Between the pages of a well-worn Bible is a blessed place to be...

 

[bekkilyn]

I just thought it weird that I haven't seen too many of the sticklers of the doctrine in some time.

I grew up KJO, and still do reference it from time to time, but have almost completely rid myself of that family of translations. Although it is very difficult to beat the KJV rendering of the Psalms.

My favorite/preferred now is the ESV which is VERY close in style to the KJV but much easier to read and based on better manuscripts

I'm nowhere near being KJO and have a whole assortment of different translations, but when it comes to Psalms, I'm in full agreement with you!

 

[HereIStand]

Well, if the KJV was good enough for Paul and Silas, then it's good enough for me. Seriously though, the church and school (Independent Baptist) that I was raised in became KJO as newer versions -- New King James, NIV -- became more widely used. They weren't always that way though.

There are still King James only churches out there. Some may be King James preferred (where other versions are okay for private study) but only the King James is used in church.

I enjoy the Old Testament in the King James, probably because it's what I grew up with. But I've read more of the NIV and ESV. In putting together devotionals for church, I've seen the value of using a variety of different translations, especially for the New Testament. The NRSV or another version might bring out a nuance that another translation obscures.

 

[1watchman]

Yes, the modern world is turning from Scripture to have all of Christianity sounding the way they like it. The KJV in the Old Scofield Edition is my faithful study Bible, as I have often said, for many reasons I have often explained; and I appreciate that edition qualifies statements in the margins & footnotes and corrects the few errors that were made, without changing any of the original texts.
I cross reference with some of men's versions to see the variations, and I have been satisfied with what we have received in KJV over 300-400 years ---more studies than any of the various modern ideas being promoted.

If one would be interested in a thorough analysis of the value of KJV, they can write me and I will gladly share it, but I don't like to have it attacked, so I will refrain from posting it here. Read the Bible daily and pray much for God's teaching!

 

[Recorder Player]

I don't know what is happening with the movement but I read the AV more than any other translation of which I own many.

 

[pescador]

I'm concerned that the KJVO crowd is so adamant about a single translation that other versions are rejected and/or condemned. I have two thoughts about this viewpoint...

The first is that the work of many scholars who have devoted their lives to bible translation, using the most complete collection of manuscripts ever known, a greater understanding of the times and culture in which the "books" were written, and a greater understanding of the source languages than ever before, is rejected. It defies common sense and logic. It is critical to understand a) that the KJV is a translation of the source languages and b) that the KJV is not a literal, word-for-word translation.

The second thought is that KJVO devotees somehow equate the feeling they get from reading the beautiful prose and poetry with a religious experience. It is very difficult to not be affected by the beautiful language of the 17th Century, much as one is moved by classical music and Shakespeare, but that is an emotional experience only and not a substitute for understanding God's word.

I am happy that KJVO adherents are becoming less of a factor in the modern body of Christ. It is totally wrong to worship a single translation instead of God, and to give it more importance than Jesus Christ. In him I live and move and have my being!

 

[Phil 1:21]

Although it is very difficult to beat the KJV rendering of the Psalms.

To me the KJV may as well be written in German, and I don't speak German. That being said, Psalm 23 sounds a little flat in the NIV.

 

[1watchman]

Alright! Go in peace.

 

[pescador]

To me the KLV may as well be written in German, and I don't speak German. That being said, Psalm 23 sounds a little flat in the NIV.

Have you considered that the original Psalm 23 may originally have been written "a little flat"? The art of good translation is to convey the style and meaning of the source document, not to embellish it.

 

[ByTheSpirit]

So just the other day, I had someone attack me and call me a satanist for not reading the KJV. All while proclaiming the love of God.

This is the lunacy that I am talking about. Figures I run into a hardcore KJO just days after posting this.

 

[Phil 1:21]

So just the other day, I had someone attack me and call me a satanist for not reading the KJV. All while proclaiming the love of God.

This is the lunacy that I am talking about. Figures I run into a hardcore KJO just days after posting this.

That reminds me of a story Alistair Begg once told about a woman who took him to task for not using the KJV (he preaches from the NIV). After a brief retort, the woman shot back with, "Well, if the KJV was good enough for Saint Paul then it's good enough for me!" and stormed off.

 

[ByTheSpirit]

That reminds me of a story Alistair Begg once told about a woman who took him to task for not using the KJV (he preaches from the NIV). After a brief retort, the woman shot back with, "Well, if the KJV was good enough for Saint Paul then it's good enough for me!" and stormed off.

I want to laugh at such ignorance but it is incredibly sad. And if such people are so fooled by an easy thing to dismiss what other more serious ideas have they been lulled into?

 

[Phil 1:21]

I want to laugh at such ignorance but it is incredibly sad. And if such people are so fooled by an easy thing to dismiss what other more serious ideas have they been lulled into?

I agree. At first you laugh, and then you realize it's not really funny.

 

[SnowyMacie]

Is the King James Only movement fading?

It has been a long while since I have encountered a person of this stance. Even those that used to be such have since accepted other more modern translations.

Thoughts?

I don't know, it's possible, but I've never really had enough exposure to it before coming on CF to really have a good long-term comparison. I do think there are less KJVOs around CF that there used to be, but that could just be that I'm not as around the theology section anymore.

 

[bekkilyn]

This is the lunacy that I am talking about. Figures I run into a hardcore KJO just days after posting this.

There's another thread floating around CF currently too where someone is making some sort of KJV claims, and I thought of you here when I read it.

I don't think I've ever come across anyone who was rabidly pro-KJVO in "real life". If I have, it wasn't a topic that ever came up, and none of the churches I've been to have been KJVO.

Of course now like you, I'll probably run right smack into someone tomorrow!