Bob Jones, Jr.
October 19, 1911—November 12, 1997

Besides the terrible compromise and apostasy which we see around us, there are a number of movements which pose a threat to Bible believing Christianity in our day. They are tangents which will carry a man away from serving the Lord as he ought.

Religiously, I think perhaps the silliest idea abroad—and one which is calculated to divide the people of God—is the idea that there is some sort of special inspiration attached to the Authorized Version of Scripture commonly called in America "The King James Version." Many of us, including this writer, believe that the King James Version is by far the loveliest translation of the Scripture in the English language. We believe it is a remarkable translation.

There are today many false translations and paraphrases of the Scripture which those who love the Bible must oppose, but to say that this one translation has about it inspiration which is not found anywhere else is just plain silly. Moreover, it is a heresy because it implies that God did not completely inspire the original manuscripts and therefore in 1611 He had to add inspiration.

When the revelation was given to an apostle, he wrote under the influence of the Spirit of God who declares that His Word is "forever settled in heaven." It was settled in 1611, but it has been settled both before and since and shall be settled forever.

To embrace this "King James only" heresy is, in a very definite sense, a blasphemy. It makes God a respecter of persons. Luther’s translation of Scripture brought the Bible in the common tongue to the people of Germany. Yet it did more than that. It shaped and formed the modern German language itself—a language that had not existed except in the dialects of the various states which made up the Holy Roman Empire. As a matter of fact, the King James translation contains whole portions of earlier translations of the Bible in English. Much of the language comes from Tyndale and Wycliffe and was accepted by the good men who were gathered to undertake this 1611 translation because they felt they could not improve upon it. To be consistent the "King James Only" people must hold that the portions from earlier English translations became inspired only when they were incorporated into the 1611 version.

When I read the King James Version, the only version that I use either in my study or in my preaching, I do not hesitate to change a word to make it more understandable to a modern congregation. In 1611 the word "prevent" meant "to go before." Today it means "to hinder and to keep something from being done"; therefore, when I read 1 Thessalonians 4:15, I do not say "prevent" but "precede": "We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep."

I did that once down in Australia, and a man who was a relatively new convert rebuked me, saying, "You have no right to do that, because the Bible says ‘one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.’ " I said to the man, "Well, tell me, was that a jot or a tittle I changed?" He had no idea what either a jot or a tittle was.

I went on to point out to this brother that the 1611 translators could not have made an English translation and preserved jots and tittles, because they are a part of the Hebrew language. You eliminate them when you translate the Hebrew into the English language. What the Scripture is saying here is that not the smallest part of God’s Word shall be unfulfilled.

I am sure good men have been taken in by this "King James only" heresy, but I do not believe they are logical men. I think that this heresy, like all heresies, will divide the saints, deceive men, and lead men astray.

We may disagree as to which of the Greek texts are the closest to the original and which should be used in translating the Bible from the Greek and Hebrew. We may not agree as to which is the most accurate and best English translation, but to impute special inspiration to some particular translation in any language is the height of folly and a denial of the complete inspiration of the original. To say, as one of the advocates of this heresy has declared, "I check the Hebrew and the Greek by the King James Version," makes him look as ridiculous as he is mean, and no man has ever shown a meaner spirit in his dealings with his brethren! than the man who said this [Reference to Peter Ruckman–aal].

Jones, Bob Jr., Cornbread and Caviar. 1985, Greenville: SC, Bob Jones University Press, pp. 179-181

Used with permission of Bob Jones III - May 20, 1998; 11:00 am

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This Page Last Updated: 12/09/98 A. Allison Lewis aalewis@christianbeliefs.org