All of the attempts to impair God's Words throughout all centuries - including our own - could not keep God from preserving them. By an act of Divine Grace, the greatest group of textual scholars ever assembled in history, went to work and produced the finest translation of the Words of God - the Authorized King James Version.

     All of the scholars were expert in from 3 to 15 languages. To a man, these men had a passion for translating books and documents from one language to another; it was a mainstay of their occupation and a satisfying hobby for many of them. Most of them were top ranking professors of Hebrew or Greek at the various universities at: Cambridge, Oxford, King’s College and others. Most all of them were preachers: some regularly, others occasionally.

     This is how the process began.

     After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, King James VI of Scotland (King since 1567) came to England to ascend the throne as King James I of England. King James had mastered Latin, Greek and French by the age of -8- in addition to being schooled later in Italian and Spanish. The man was definitely intelligent. Remember, back then intellectual pursuits did not have the distractions of today's: TV, DVD's, Nintendo, Computer games, CD's and other social pursuits of today.

     So as King James headed for England, leaving his pregnant wife in Scotland (she later joined him): he was intercepted on the way by a delegation of ministers and leaders, most of them Puritans. They presented him with a statement of grievances against the Church of England, which was still loaded with Catholic traditions. With nearly 1,000 signatures attached thereto, it came to be known as: The Millenary Petition.

     King James dispatched a proclamation for a conference to be held in January of 1604, at Hampton Court. This was the largest of the royal palaces containing near 1,000 rooms. At this 3-day conference it was determined to translate a complete English Bible; answering to the true Greek and Hebrew Texts.

     This was because to this time in England's history, English Bibles generally were not translations from the Greek and Hebrew. They were translations from Latin, German or French versions. In other words, they were a translation of a translation and/or the work of one or two individuals usually, except for the Bishop’s Bible.

     So, a diligent search was commissioned: for men who had "taken pains in their private study of the Scriptures" 8, to secure a qualified team of translators. Over 50 of the English kingdoms best and brightest were assembled.

     Just for an example of these men, this is a quick sketch of one of them: John Bois. By the age of -5- his father had taught him to read Hebrew. Then by age -6- he had read the entire O.T. in Hebrew as well as being able to write Hebrew. At age 15, as a student at St. John's College, Cambridge: he was renowned for corresponding with his superiors in Greek. He later mastered all -8- variations of the Greek language. He was so familiar with the Greek N.T. text that he could at any time, turn to any word that it contained. He was one of the most popular Greek professors at Cambridge, with students voluntarily attending his lectures as early as 4 A.M.

     Now compare the above named John Bois with the following statements by Dr. Hort of the Westcott and Hort Revised Greek Text. In 1850, Dr. Hort wrote:

     "But I am so ignorant of the Hebrew and, what is worse, of the Greek text of the N.T., that I have all but discarded them". 4

     Then in 1853, as Dr. Hort began the re-construction of the Greek Text, he wrote:

     "I had no idea till the last few weeks of the importance of texts, having read so little Greek Testament, and dragged on with the villainous Textus Receptus". 4

     As for Dr. Westcott's expertise, he made this statement after having completed the re-construction. He wrote:

     "I cannot speak of the Old Testament with adequate knowledge". 5

     One must have a working knowledge of the O.T. to thoroughly understand the concepts of the N.T.

     Now back to 1604: King James I, had nothing to do directly with the translation itself, other than agreeing to do it. Then his laying out of 15 rules governing the translation and providing the funds for its undertaking. The following paragraph is a summarization of a few of the rules...

     The original 48 men were divided up into 6 companies. Each company had certain books to translate. EACH man had to translate the books his company was responsible for, HIMSELF. Then the company came together to compare and agree on what shall stand. They had a copy of every Ancient Version of every available language (Acts 2:5-11) before them, to help them compare and determine the true Greek Text and context. The same meticulousness was used for the Hebrew Text. As each company finished the books they were responsible for, they would send a copy to each of the other 5 companies. This was for their translations to be critically reviewed by them all. Correspondence of their reviews were sent back and forth among the companies. Thus every verse of the Bible would be fully and thoroughly dealt with by this team concept. First individually, by each member of the company to which it was assigned. Secondly, by that whole company in unison. Thirdly, by the other 5 companies separately. Finally, by the general committee of the translation, which was a group of 12 men, two chosen from each company. By this laborious method, each word was gone over at least 14 times. Finally in the year 1611, the work was complete and printed.

     There have been many since that time, who believed that the completion of the Authorized King James Version, was in accord with the plan of God for English to become the end time universal language. For from this time, for nearly the next 300 years, as the old saying went: "The sun never sat on the British Empire" - as England controlled territories and sent missionaries all around the world.

     The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119. This entire Psalm is a journey into the heart of God, a tribute to the written Words of God which are referred to as: precepts, judgments, commandments, statutes, testimonies, laws, etc. This does make very apparent, that God esteems very highly His Words to us. For additional reference, review Psalm 138: 2 AV.

     There have been several revisions of the Authorized Version: but these were all due to spelling errors, printing errors or changes in how words have been spelled over the years; such as, 'Sonne of God' to 'Son of God'.

     Or, try this familiar verse from a 1638 King James Bible, Proverbs 22: 6 -

     “Traine vp a childe in the way he should goe: and when he is olde, hee will not depart from it”.

     Not till the 18th Century did the spelling of English words begin to stabilize. Samuel Johnson in England finally achieved this stabilization in 1755. Then Noah Webster published the first dictionary in the United States in 1828. There was also the switching of type styles (fonts) from Gothic to Roman. But, through all of this: the Text itself has never changed.

     It is also true that the King James translators did translate the Apocrypha, doing so as historical books and… because the King required it to be translated. But to insure there be no misunderstanding, they listed -7- reasons why they were to be rejected as scripture and as uninspired by God. On the other hand these men had been translating historical documents from one language to another most of their lives.

     As an aid, it is helpful to know that in the KJV: thee, thy, thou, thine, and thyself, the ' T ' makes them singular; always referring to one person. Also: ye, you, your, yours, and yourselves, the ' Y ' makes them plural; always referring to more than one person. This also helped to make the translation more precise.

     Let us now turn our attention to the, New International Version. As previously stated, the editors of this version list that they used parts of different texts to piece together their Old Testament. For the New Testament they used the Nestle/Aland editions, mostly.

     The NIV and the other modern versions of the Bible "translate" by using what is called 'dynamic equivalence'. Basically this means that the editor can take whatever license they desire. It is actually not a translation technique, but an interpretation technique. A good description for 'dynamic equivalence' would be: 'sophisticated paraphrase'. The 'Living Versions' would then be: 'unsophisticated paraphrases'. Instead of sticking to Gods Words (translation), they add in their own biases and write it the way they want it to read (interpretation). To mean what they (whosoever they, happens to be) want it to mean. Which is why words are omitted, added or changed. If this faulty technique were to be used in a language class in High School or College, the teacher would give the paper a low grade because 'dynamic equivalence' does not render an ACCURATE LITERAL translation.

     Why is this done? Many refuse to submit to the final authority of Scripture. Their attempt is to transfer final authority over to their own opinions and prejudices, then call it scholarship. They want to enthrone the intellect of man as final authority. Then man feels in control of his own destiny, rather than God. Many a religious scholar will work overtime at undermining the authority of his or her two major rivals: the written Word and the Living Word; then exalting their own human reasoning as the means of reaching philosophical and theological truth.

         It is the duty of the translators of God's Words, to provide for the reader God's Words. No matter what language it is being translated into. Otherwise they should call their book by another name. This method of interpretive translation: a blending of man's biases with God's Words, then publishing them all together, as if they were all God's - God is not at all pleased.

         If the truth is altered many times in Scripture: even though one here or there might not be noticeable, the accumulation of the whole of these will most definitely have an effect.

     Satan is the author of confusion. Once he gets you to forsake a standard, he has you adrift in a sea of doubts. It's not a secret that the cults recruit a substantial percentage of their membership from the ranks of professing Born-Again people. This tragedy frequently can be traced to the vast array of footnotes and references casting doubt on God's Words, in the bible they're trying to study. As they are dazed and confused a Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, etc. rings their doorbell; soon after the usual wrangling, the fledgling student goes down for the count. Then they are later seen thumbing through a New World Translation, the Book of Mormon, etc.

     One way Satan motivates man to do his corrupt deeds, is by material gain:

     The following article appeared in the Wall Street Journal, November 16, 1978:

     Grand Rapids, Mich. - Zondervan Corp. believes it has struck a new vein of gold in an ancient and well-mined lode: the Bible. Accordingly it told analysts here, it raised its already gleaming sales and earning forecasts.

     Zondervan, a publisher of religious books and music, has been blessed with a 30-year exclusive contract to publish the New International Version of the Bible, translated and edited by the New York International Bible Society...

     The executive prophesied that sales of the Bible would rise in 1979 and 1980, then remain on a 'high plateau' because 'the sales pattern for a well-accepted version of the Bible tends to continue years longer than other best-selling books'.

     Then this advertisement on the back cover of Moody Monthly, June 1982:

     "A $1 million ad campaign - scheduled to be launched this summer - will make the New King James Version the ideal gift for holidays and other special occasions".

     The New King James Version is very deceptive, in that it keeps the familiar verses basically intact but then goes about corrupting the rest of the verses, using the Alexandrian texts.

     As long as there is financial gain in it, publishers will push new translations. Nowadays 'Christian' publishers promote the modern versions because each new version opens up a profitable market. Increasingly, these same publishers will not publish a book unless scripture quotations from their modern versions are used.

     These are the types of people Jesus ran out of the Temple for making it: "A house of merchandise".

        Bottom Line - Can one hold up the NIV, or any other modern version for that matter, and say it is the Words of God in English? When one uses the modern versions, you cannot be certain that in every verse, sentence or word, that they accurately translate the Hebrew and Greek words God has given us. Instead they have man's words all mixed in throughout, leading toward the New Age.

     The translators of the Authorized Version (KJV) used a word-for-word method of translation. They, through pain-staking effort, were trying to make the words in English, precisely equal to the words in the Hebrew and the Greek. Also, when translating from one language to another, occasionally a word needs to be added to complete the sense of a sentence. When the King James translators needed to do this, they indicated the words in Italic type. This crystal clear honesty and integrity is absent in the modern versions. Therefore, the Authorized King James Version is the only translation that completely and accurately, reflects in English: the original Hebrew and Greek Texts.

     Again, as God promised through King David...

God certainly has the power, and we most certainly have His Word!

-- by Ed Elkins

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