Common questions from the James White school...

Just out of curiosity, what was the inspired translation prior to the 1611 King James Version? Was there one? If so, had all inspired translations fallen out of existence by the time the KJV was translated? Was there ever an inspired translation in nearly 1600 years prior to the KJV? Was the KJV the FIRST inspired translation? If there was an inspired translation(s) prior to the 1611 KJV, would someone be reading an inspired version of the Bible if they read from one of those inspired (pre-KJV) translations today? Do people who speak other languages have inspired versions in their languages as well, or do they have to learn English before they can really read the Bible? What or who let you know that the KJV is THE inspired version versus other translations? Why did you settle on the KJV?

Regards,

In Christ,

D. P.

Any translation based on the traditional text (i.e. any translation that doesn't, just for instance, delete and change the Word of God based on the demands of man and the world and the devil) will be a good, useful translation if it is faithful to the Word of God in terms of accuracy.

Prior to the AV 1611 there were several English Bibles that were translated from the traditional text and were good translations. They were based on Tyndale's inspired efforts and led up to and culminated in the AV (Tyndale who gave his life for the cause of the Word of God, unlike Westcott and Hort who merely joined a few spiritualist societies and joked up their atheism to the in crowd of their day). After the AV 1611 there have been exactly zero (NKJV's deceptions aside). Why? Obviously Christians and pseudo Christians didn't think there needed to be any. Until the 19th century when things had been softened up enough that the liberals and atheists became brazen enough to spring the corrupt manuscripts on the world. The devil's had his victory - ongoing because the corruption is ongong - ever since. And the vanity and pride in Christians following along with the devil's plan keep them from admitting they've been duped by the devil. In some cases they are consciously doing the work of the devil.

Remember that the Reformation itself was bringing light to a world that had been submerged for centuries in Romanist darkness. Part of this bringing of light - the main part - was the making of the Word of God available to the world. You ask what was the inspired translation (etc.) prior to the AV 1611: start where you like, the first efforts to translate the traditional text into the vernacular. That process for English speaking Christians culminated in the AV 1611.

This question you ask is directly from the James White school: "Do people who speak other languages have inspired versions in their languages as well, or do they have to learn English before they can really read the Bible?" They have the traditional text to translate from just as English speaking Christians have. All the great Reformation era Bibles were translations from the traditional text. Many of them hold positions in the literature and history of the language of their respective nations similar to what the AV 1611 (King James Version) holds in the history and literature of the English language. The Holy Spirit plays a role in this. No doubt.

"What or who let you know that the KJV is THE inspired version versus other translations? Why did you settle on the KJV?" Hmm. How do I know Jesus is God? The Spirit gives ability to know Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and gives discernment. And it is at this point that I'm really just going to have to disabuse you of the main tenet of the James White school of anti-KJVism you are expressing here: it is about the manuscripts. If you can't handle the language of the King James Version, fine. But when you turn to an easier-reading version the problem is, due to the work of the devil in the 19th century and his followers ever since, you are turning to a version that is based on corrupt manuscripts. You are not reading a Bible translated from the traditional text. You're reading a version the devil wants you to read. A mutilated, corrupt version. You're reading a version the Vatican wants you to read as well.

The Holy Spirit gives God's own the ability to hear the voice of the Shepherd. We know the true from the false. God sees to it that the true, the whole and pure Word of God, will always exist until the return of the King, but God doesn't say the whole and pure Word of God will be the most numerous in terms of versions and availability. In fact, God says there will be a famine in the end time, and not a famine for food, but a famine for the Word of God. And it will increase. We are seeing this play out. But God's own know the whole and pure Word of God exists in the traditional text and any good and accurate translation made from it, and the King James Version, for English speaking peoples, happens to be not only translated from the traditional text but is the culmination, the crown, of that line of inspired English translation of the Word of God. It's a rather remarkable gift from God to His people; and compared to the versions (perversions) - NIV, TNIV, NLT, NASB, ESV, et al. - based on the corrupt manuscripts, the AV 1611 is like a sword and a shield handed down directly from the Temple of God in heaven itself...