One True Translation?

In my research, I have encountered some groups who claim that the 1611 King James Bible is the only valid Bible translation. I even read a statement on one website that said the 1611 King James is the "exact Words of God". My first reaction to such a statment is, "Does that mean that God speaks 1611 King James english? Wasn't the Bible written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek?" Our God is above all language and nationality and time, and the Gospel message transcends all language and nationality and time. In my opinion, people who focus too much on language are focusing on the wrong thing.

Why do some people insist that the 1611 King James is the only valid Bible translation? Is it because it sounds more authoritative and formal? (What some people apparently foreget, or do not understand,is that in 1611, the KJV was written in the common language of the day.) Is it because it's old, and therefore not corrupt like all modern things? Is it because of tradition? Do some people assume that the older a translation is the more pure it is? If that is the case, why stop at 1611? Why not go back to the Geneva Bible of 1560? Why not go back to Tyndale's New Testament, or the Great Bible? The Geneva was the Bible of the reformers, and it was the Bible the Pilgrims brought to America. In fact, neither the Pilgrims, nor the reformers of the day would have liked the KJV: they would have considered it a corruption of the Geneva Bible, on which it is largely based.

If the 1611 King James is the only valid Bible translation, what does that mean for people who don't read or speak English? Does this mean that they cannot hear God's Word in their language? I am reminded of what a missinary to Russia said in my church, "People ask me what version of the Bible the Russians use. I tell them that they use the Russian version. Then these people ask me which one? The Russian version. There is no King James or NIV in Russian. There is THE Russian version." In other words, there was only one Russian version of the Bible when this missionary spoke in our church. We Enlgish speakers are blessed to have many different versions of the Bible. Many other languages do not have this choice available to them. This blessing also brings with it grave responsibility. We must be careful that the Bible we read is a valid, accurate translation of God's Word.

Today there are a lot of English Bibles, and more are added as time goes by. It's true that there are some really poor Bible translations out there, and there are some that are really good. There was a new translation released recently called the SMS Version. It is intended for mobile phone and messaging services. Here's a quote from Genesis 1:1, "In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth." Hmmm... One tranlation that gets a lot of publicity is the Message. I advise you to steer clear of this one, and steer clear of those who quote, or teach, from it, as It seems to have been written for the liberal preachers and the feel-good easy-believeism of our day.

Right now I'm using the Holman Christian Standard Bible as my main Bible. It was well researched and it is in modern language. The messages of the Bible are not watered-down or distorted. As far asI can tell, and my research shows, it is a good, valid, modern English Bible. I also like the New American Standard, and I use a King James, too. I like the King James, but I am against the idea that it is the only valid Bible translation. I tend to stay away from the NIV, but I don't really have anything against it - I just don't prefer it. I tend to prefer Bibles that are more formal inlanguage. On my PDA I have several versions of the Bible, including: The ASV, Rotherham, Darby (considered by many to be one of the most accurate English translations), MKJV, Douay Rheims, The Literal Version, JPS 1917, Young's Literal Translation, and part of the Geneva Bible. It is handy to have all of these available for comparison.

So what's my message in all of this? Choose your Bible carefully.There are a lot of good Bible translations available to us today. When in doubt, go with a trusted, respected translation of the Bible. And remember Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart."

-Mark -
- Christian Researcher-
-June 5, 2006-

A good resource on the Web for Bible translations is www.Biblegateway.com. They have Bibles in many languages and translations. However, they do not have the Geneva Bible.
TheGeneva can be found at www.genevabible.org/Geneva.html.

Supreme Court 1892

The following is a declaration made by the U.S. Supreme Court in
1892. I wonder what they would say today on the same subject...

mArk

"Our laws and our institutions must neccessarily be based upon the
teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it
should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent, our
civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.
"No purpose of action against religion can be imputed to any
legislation, state or national, because this is a religious people.
This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to
the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation.
There is no dissonance in these declarations. There is a universal
language pervading them all, having one meaning; they affirm and
reaffirm that this is a religious nation. These are not individual
sayings, declarations of private persons: they are organic
utterances; they speak the voice of the entire people.
"The happiness of a people and the good order and preservation of
civil government esentially depend upon piety, religion, and
morality. Religion, morality, and knowledge are necessary to good
government, the preservation of liberty, and the happiness of
mankind."

Statement of Belief

Hello, and welcome to Mere Christianity. I'm going to start things rolling with my statements of faith. Enjoy, and God bless.

mArk

______________________________________

1. God created all that is, life and non-life.
-Genesis 1

2. All people have sinned, and cannot save themselves.
-Romans 3:23, 3:10

3. God chose His children before the foundation of the earth.
- Revelations 13:8, 17:8

4. God knows those who are His, and those who are not.
-Romans 8:28-30, John 10:26-29

5. Jesus is the living Son of God.
- John 8:54-58, John 1:1-5, Phillipians 2:6

6. Jesus came to Earth as a man, died for our sins, and rose again to give us eternal life.
-Romans 6:4-10, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Phillipians 2:6-8

7. Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient for all who believe in Him.
-John 3:16, Romans 10:9-13

8. God knows who will choose Him because He chose them (us) first.
-Romans 8:28-30, Romans 11:7

9. It is only because we were chosen (elected) that we can choose Christ.
-John 1:12, 13, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Timothy 2:10, Titus 1:1,

10. Salvation is only through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
-Acts 4:12, Romans 10:9, 10

11. Jesus' blood paid for our sins in full; removed them as far as the east is from the west.
-Romans 6:10, Hebrews 10:10, Psalm 103:12

12. Jesus is coming again to Earth, visibly, and in the sight of all mankind.
- Phillipians 2:9-11, Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:26, Acts 1:11, Revelation 19:11-16

13. God is sovereign, and He does what He will.
- Job 38-42, Acts 17:22-31

*Note: These Scriputre references are provided as Biblical examples, and are not intended to be all-inclusive. As such, there may be many more references than are stated here.

-Mark-
-Christian Researcher-
-Updated 20 May, 2006