Do you feel the KJV is the most accurate version of the Bible? If so, why? If not, why not?

Question

I have used mostly the KJV all my life and only recently started comparing versions. I was amazed at the difference some verses have in the total thought, not just little words here and there. Also, some versions leave out entire texts. That is scary if you have your belief system in God's Word. I do have comfort that God promises to preserve His Word forever. (Psalm 12:6,7) But, we need to know which Bible is the most accurate to know Him the best do we not? If I wanted to know about someone wouldn't I find out the most by a authentic biography and not just some story with a few accurate facts and some fiction?

Answer 1

I use the KJV as newer versions have left out total verses, and also left out or changed words. Here are just a few verses that have been omitted in the newer versions.
Revelation 1:11 I am the Alpha and Omega
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one.
Acts 4:24 Thou art God
Matthew 8:29 Jesus
Romans 11:6 But if it be of works t hen it is no more grace
Acts 8:37 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
1 John 5:13 and that ye may bleieve on the name of the Son of God.
These are just a few of the omitted verses, they seem to try to do away with who Christ was.
In Revelation it says that anyone that takes away from or adds to this book of Phropecy God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book. So why would you want to use a Bible that has done these things?

Answer 2

It's all the Bible. Versions are trivial. As long as it IS 'THE BIBLE', then why do we let small verse differentiations get to us, and split up whole churches? As long as the messages, the Gospel, and what Christians live by is in there, it doesn't matter. Some verses were added to the KJV, (e.g. the "for yours be the kingdom, power and glory for ever and ever amen" part of the Lord's Prayer), some were taken away in the NIV and TNIV (e.g. some verses in Romans), but it is all the Bible, it is all God's word, and His messages are still in there. Biblical scholars and theologists are very careful not to take away or add any dead important stuff. No WAY do I believe in ONLY the Old Testament, or the Mormon Bible, and I being a Protestant don't ever read the Catholic Bible, etc...But the Christian Bibles are the Christian Bibles, regardless of version. Why can't Christians, who are after all supposed to be united in Jesus, just get along and not let trivial differences split them up? So should it matter? The Bible is the Bible, and I believe that the KJV, however poetic and beautiful the language is, that it is difficult to understand and REALLY absorb, especially if you're a young child. But it's all right:) Bye! xxxxx

Answer 3

The obvious answer is to learn Greek for the New Testament and Hebrew for the Old Testament. Much subtelty can be lost in translation and not understanding the historical and social context of the verses. Even then finding an undisputed and uncorrupted version is tricky:
"Any version of the Bible, that does not agree with the Greek Textus Receptus, from which the King James Bible was translated in 1611, is certainly to be founded upon corrupted manuscripts. Origen, being a textual critic, is supposed to have corrected numerous portions of the sacred manuscripts. Evidence to the contrary shows he changed them to agree with his own human philosophy of mystical and allegorical ideas. Thus, through deceptive scholarship of this kind, certain manuscripts became corrupt. Evidently from this source our modern revised version Bibles and paraphrases have come. Origen taught the Lord Jesus Christ is a created being who did not have eternal existence as God."
It is important to realize -- and most people who have not learned a second language wouldn't know -- that there is no such thing as a one-to-one correspondence between languages. You cannot have a word for word translation that is at all readable, because the word order is different, the nature of the grammar is different and even the sense of a word may cover a wider or smaller range than the corresponding English word.
For instance, the word "house" in Hebrew can mean "immediate family" or "a royal dynasty" besides the equivalent English idea of a building where a person dwells. Therefore to have an accurate English translation you cannot simply translate the Hebrew word with "house"; you need to translate it according to which of the possible meanings is intended.
Idioms, likewise, do not translate across directly: for instance the English phrase "I'm sick and tired of apple pie" if translated literally could give a reader in another language the false impression that the individual in question is sleepy and ready to throw up.

Answer 4

KJV is a terrible translation. Some of the words used in the KJV have become obsolete or have taken up different meanings. For example in Genesis when it talks about the sons of god and the daughters of men having kids together, it should read the angels and the women having kids together. I've asked religious leaders about that verse a lot and they all say they were angels and not dieties. But the implication is that they're dieties in the KJV. There are a whole bunch of passages like that. While some other texts may be lacking, so is KJV. My suggestion is keep looking until you find one that keeps all the texts and doesn't use obsolete or otherwise confusing English.

Answer 5

You know, that's the funny thing about God, is that ... well, the biographers on him, are human, and can easily get things wrong. Religion is one of those hard things that each person needs to figure out for themselves. The different versions usually have different tones, because they're set up for different religions. I personally like the New American Bible. It's a Catholic Bible, so, i has a bunch of extra books that protestant bibles don't, - but, aside from that, it's easy to read, (no thee and thy often found in KJV).
Also, I think that, because Bibles have been translated and re-translated and re-translated so many times (often by people who are not at all credible) there are problems. So, likely the most accurate version of the "Old Testament" would be found in ancient Hebrew... and, the "New Testament" would be ... maybe in Latin? Or Hebrew, or Aramaik?

Answer 6

The KJV was originally translated in 1611 and has been updated since. The version you read today is not the exact same as when it was first translated. Personally for me, I like reading other versions. I get tripped up in the old English. With that said...I like to keep around other translations for comparson.

God protects His word. I think and believe the other translations (NLT - New Living Translation, NKJV - New King James Version, NCV - New Century Version, NIV - New International Version) all have the Spirit of God and His original Word from the original manuscripts. ((There are additional translations not mentioned here that are great for studying God's Word as well.))

There only one translation that I know of that wasn't taken from the original manuscripts and would stay away from (The New World Translation).

God's Word will not come back void. Any that seek Him in earnest, will find Him. They only need to look in the Holy Bible.

Answer 7

It's been revised and rewritten so many times down through the ages that the only true version is one done in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and other languages of the far distant past. In other words, an original parchment or papyrus copy which may reside in a museum somewhere. Every time someone copied it, they would put their own little slant on it and make it just a little different than the original. Probably the closest thing we have in circulation today to an original is the Jewish Torah....and its probably flawed as well.

Answer 8

i trusted the kjv of the bible for most of my life. until i picked up the NIV and compared the two. missing verses, whole paragraphs gone. The catholics also have More books in their bible canon than protestents. And then when protestants came out with the NEW KJV it makes you wonder what was wrong with the "OLD" version. ? The jehova witnesses and the Mormons both have their own "updated" versions. and sometimes I think the Mormon version has better translations and interpretations than what most protestants have. I also think over time both the catholic church and the protestant kjv have altered text to transform their Interpretations into "what best fits" their own theology.

Answer 9

There are positive and not so positive aspects of any translation. I recommend you pick up two or three different translations and compare the texts. When I do this I pray before reading that the Holy Spirit guide me and bring me understanding.

The further back you go the better you will come to the original. Unfortunately, few people read Greek or Hebrew. Also finding an original text is not as easy as it sounds.

The message is not lost and God will guide when you read with an open heart.

God bless,
Michael

Answer 10

A lot of people are coming around to the thought that the kjv is not the most accurate version. in the ancient greek text, there are so many ways to interpret the phrasing of the text. for example when Abraham takes Issac up to sacrifice him to GOD i believe the kjv refers to him as "the boy" and this is important because he was acually a young man capable of stopping his father easily from killing him, but not stopping GOD's will of testing Abrahams faith.