Is the King James Version the Only Legitimate Version of the Bible?

There has been much controversy about which Bible version(s) should be considered “Legitimate”. Enemies of the faith love to point out that Christians can’t even seem to agree about which version(s) can be trusted. Believers vary widely, with some expressing very logical and well reasoned conclusions, others seeming to be guided mostly by tradition or emotion.

Many people and congregations claim the only legitimate version of the Bible is the King James Version, but is this correct? With the wide variety of versions of the Bible out there, are all other versions not to be trusted?

The Trouble of Language

Let’s begin with the extreme case. If the King James Version is absolutely the ONLY one that’s legitimate, folks who don’t speak any English are without God’s Word! What good would a Romans or Esther Bible study be to someone if they did not understand the language? Should we demand that speakers of other languages first learn “Old English” before they can read a Bible? Realistically, if we WERE to demand that the Bible be studied in the original language(s), they WOULD NOT be studying in “Old English”.

In fact, scholars agree that the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is a composite, written over a period of some 2,000 years – yet “authored” by one God, as He revealed His truth to men who were led by His Holy Spirit. Since cultural change DOES occur, and since those authors were actually scattered in both time and location, there were actually several languages involved. Generally, the Old Testament was composed partly in Hebrew and partly in Aramaic. In Jesus’ day, Hebrew and Aramaic were spoken, but most New Testament scriptures were recorded in Greek.

God, Himself, Was the First Translator

You might say that God, Himself initiated the translation of the Bible into various languages. Acts 2 reports a remarkable event which occurred approximately 7 weeks after the Resurrection. During a worship / prayer meeting of the original “Church”, there was a supernatural manifestation which sounded like a mighty windstorm. Then visible manifestations, appearing something like flames of fire appeared and seemed to settle on each of the gathered believers.

The sound and visible manifestations were so great that a crowd came running from all directions. Luke (a physician, author of both the Gospel of Luke and Acts) reports that at the time, there were devout Jews from many different nations in Jerusalem, and they were included in the gathered crowd. To their amazement, the believers were enabled to “preach the gospel” in the languages of the gathered multitude. “Each one heard them speaking in his own language, telling of the wonderful things that God had done.” Luke reports that about three thousand converts were added to the church that day!

God’s Word Spread

As a result of this amazing, supernatural phenomenon, Christians scattered throughout the known world – and wherever believers went, they needed access to God’s word. Probably one of the first translations was produced by / for Coptic Christians, in northern Africa. We can see the value of people having access to scriptures that they can clearly understand – but we will assume that most of our readers speak English, so we’ll focus now on that subject.

Where Did the KJV Come From?

The King James Version of the Holy Bible (KJV) was initiated under the guidance of King James I, who called a special conference in 1603 for the specified reason of bring peace / agreement within the church. Out of that meeting, the need for a reliable and consistent Bible, available to “the people” was recognized, and work began a few years later, with actual publication beginning in 1611. Much of the New Testament text was virtually identical to the earlier “Plowman’s Bible, which had been published by William Tyndale nearly a century earlier.

The KJV is generally acclaimed as an excellent rendering of the original languages. It is the most popular and widely read version of the Bible in the English language – so why should we need anything else?

Things Change…People Change…Languages Change

By the 20th century, it was widely conceded that while God’s truth had not changed, the English language HAD. To illustrate such a change, consider 1 Thessalonians 4:15. The author is writing about the return of the Lord, at which time He is to “receive His own”. The KJV renders the verse,

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.”- 1 Thessalonians 4:15

What will a 21st century English speaker who is not familiar with KJV language make of that? Specifically, what is the meaning of “prevent”?

In the NET Bible®, that section of scripture is rendered,

“... we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep.” - 1 Thessalonians 4:15

Surely you can see that modern folks who haven’t “grown up” in medieval England or a church that uses the KJV need a version of the Bible which they can correctly understand. There’s nothing WRONG with the KJV. It remains a valuable resource for those of us who understand it – but the evolution of our language has rendered it confusing to modern folks who lack a Christian background. If we are to reach them for the Lord, we must do so – as on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) – “in their own language”.

So which version is best? Unfortunately, that topic is much too broad to discuss in this article, but sufficed to say that any version that both true to original text and accessible to the reader is a legitimate version of the Bible and could be used for your personal study.