-By Warner Todd Huston
I believe that Christianity is the single best influence on mankind. It is responsible for Western civilization’s flourishing, it is responsible for the heights of freedom and liberty that untold billions of humans have enjoyed and will enjoy in the future. Certainly the bedrock of that success is the Christian Bible.
So, don’t go calling me a religion hater or a Christian basher. There. That is said.
Now, the story is that a “pastor” in North Carolina is having a book burning event for his fool followers and one of the books he is burning is any copy of the Bible that isn’t the King James version. Why burn any version of the Bible that isn’t a King James version? Why, donthca know it’s because the King James version is the only real Bible, the only one that God ordained… at least according to this ill-educated hick it is, anyway.
All the other editions of the Bible are heretical as far as Marc Grizzard is concerned. All the other editions are “satanic” and are “perversions” of God’s word, says this towering ignoramus.
I believe the King James version is God’s preserved, inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God… for English-speaking people.
Does this nitwit have any clue when the King James version was created? It was begun in 1604 in post-Elizabethian England as the reign of James the First began.
Let’s review… Jesus died somewhere around 33 AD. He was crucified by a Roman official named Pontius Pilate, the Prefect of Judea. Yes, that death occurred in the Middle East. And yes the Roman Empire was still around.
The King James Bible was created in 1604 (hundreds and hundreds of years later, by the way) in a country called England which hadn’t even been dreamed of when Christ died. The Roman Empire was basically long gone by that time.
So, HOW in God’s name can the King James Bible be the sole word of God if it was written by a people that didn’t speak Jesus’ language, were separated by hundreds and hundreds of years, and in a country that didn’t even exist during Jesus’ time?
Now, there is no possible way that one can say that the King James Bible could possibly be the direct word of God. No way at all. I certainly have nothing against this version of the Bible, it was the version I grew up with, of course. But it is just plain stupid to say this Bible and only this Bible is the “word of God” when the original writers of the various parts of the Bible didn’t speak an English language that didn’t exist in their day. It is an idiotic premise to imagine that the KJ Bible is the direct word of God.
Any half trained scholar of the Bible era can see numerous errors in translation in the King James version. The technical problems with the KJ Bible aren’t monstrous, nor entirely discounting, but they are there nonetheless. There are errors. And errors means it isn’t the “inerrant” word of God.
In fact, the Bible has been rewritten so many times that there is no “official” version anymore — if there ever was one. There is no existing version of the Bible that is the original word of God. Christians cannot hold the Bible as the actual word of God and can only assume it to be the inspired works containing “inerrant” sentiment, prescient parables, and God’s guiding philosophy. But it is not the actual word of God.
Read the King James exclusively if you like. But only a halfwit would say that the King James is the actual word of God when the words Jesus spoke were so far removed in time, place, history and language that the King James Bible was conceived in.
Are all versions of the Bible equal, are they all the same? Clearly not. I am not arguing that the KJ version is no good, nor am I arguing that any others are superior. I am merely saying that the KJ Bible simply cannot be the actual works of God. Related, yes. Inspired, certainly. Important, surely. Historically significant, undeniably. But the actual word of God? No way.
This North Carolina “pastor” is an uneducated charlatan. I feel sorry for the people he is misleading.
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.
He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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Let me make an educated comment concerning this article posted. I come from pastoral background with the following degrees BA MA MDiv and can comment accordingly from the scholarly background required for earning those degrees. The problem with the KJV is that the translation was done before current or previous manuscripts had been unearthed/recovered on various digs. To say that the KJV is the “authorized version” is to merely accept the authorization claimed at the time by King James and 70 scholars rushed into translation from the time of what manuscripts were available. The KJV is a good translation of scripture and the NKJV is actually far better than the previous, due to the acceptance of the newer manuscripts. However, I must comment on the inerrancy issue because the Word of God is without error concerning what is written in translation of scripture concerning those issues effecting behavior, sin, principles, etc. The only error has been in minor areas affecting grammer in the New Testament but the Old Testament is letter by letter copied correctly, due to the very strictness of Jewish requirements for copies made, the Dead Sea Scrolls is but an example of such matters. I personally spent extensive time in language studies of both Hebrew and Greek as required for the masters work I earned and even spoke to individuals concerning the Dead Sea Scrolls at Hebrew University in Cincinnati OH about one manuscript faxcimile of the Manuel of Discipline. I accept the inerrancy of Scripture even more today, due to the previous studies required for my degrees, than before. I learned first hand the translating process of Hebrew and Greek, learning both languages. It was 4 years of Greek study and 3 years of Hebrew study from my BA to the MDiv process complete.
As for this NC preacher … I have seen this same dead-issue-uneducated-debate for years over the KJV and yet have seen any scholarly acceptance of God speaking KJV as the “authorized” version of the Scriptures.
Thanks for the oportunity to comment.