I CAN'T UNDERSTAND
THE KING JAMES BIBLE.
There are many genuine and professing
Christians who use one or more of the 300+ new Bible "Versions"
today. They do this in many cases because they have been brainwashed by several
marketing gurus, each aiming to make money from their own "pet"
versions. Consequently, they say, and believe, that it is impossible to
understand the "archaic Elizabethan English" of this book.
The aim of this paper is to open people's
eyes to the facts.
Not Elizabethan English. If we
read the preface to the King James Bible, we discover that the language used is
not Elizabethan, but the language of the Holy Spirit. The words used by the
translators in the preface are different in many cases than the ones used in
the text.
Having
said that let us look at the primary problem. If I couldn't understand the
Bible, I would deeply ponder my spiritual standing with the author.
Paul
writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit penned these words: "But
the natural men receiveth not the things of the spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned". (1Corinthians 2:14).
Therefore
one of the reasons we cannot understand the word is because we are carnally,
rather than spiritually, minded. The solution to this is to get on our knees
and confess our sins to God. This will restore our spiritual relationship to
our heavenly Father.
Then,
if we approach the King James Bible with a humble heart and inquiring mind, God
will open up his truths to us.
Notwithstanding
the above, God did not mandate us to understand all that is written, but simply
to believe it.
If
we could understand every word in it, it would prove that the Holy
Spirit is no smarter than us therefore, God will keep certain portions obscure
as long as we dwell on earth, but will reveal all that he wants us to know.
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I
know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. "(1Corinthians 13:12).
So
much of the King James Bible is simple enough for a fourth grader to understand
on its own, more can be understood simply by consulting an English dictionary,
but most of all, what we need to know can be understood by faith.
It
is true that the tendency of the world is to dumb down the population, and it
is also true that the meanings of words have been changed (usually in
accordance with the first law of thermodynamics).
Given
that however, we cannot expect God to lower his standards, or change his words
because the world does so.
It
is at this stage now when we must look at the importance of the words of the
Bible.
When
he was on earth the Lord Jesus Christ made a number of references to his words.
In John 14:23 we read: "Jesus
answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my words:
and my father will love him, and we will come unto him to make our abode
with him." (Underlining added). These words, as given in the King
James Bible,
( and only in the King James Bible), are found in around 98% of all the
authorities ( over 5000). Nonetheless modern bible critics think that they have
the right, and the scholarship to change those they don't like or understand.
Was it not Satan who first asked, "yea hath God said"(Genesis 3:1)?
There
are many Christians today who are using these "new versions" in
ignorance, but there are also many who know these truths but are
continuing to dupe their readers. Remember ignorance of the law is no excuse,
and we will all have to answer to the Lord Jesus Christ about our treatment of
His word. We cannot afford to believe what any man tells us. "God
forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written .That thou
mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art
judged.”(Romans 3:4).
My
friend I urge you to examine your heart motives in this matter and that the
Holy Spirit will guide your perception of his book.
With
deep Christian love, Peter Graham.
(By the late PJ Graham.)
