Expert: Cooper P. Abrams III - 12/7/2010

Question
I am living with some guys this year and we have been having a bible study every
thursday night.  They are independent baptists and they say that the King James
Version is the only correct version of the bible, and they think it is wrong I read a
different version.  Is this right and if so, why?

Answer
Hi Eric,
  Thank you for your question.  Lots of people are asking the same question.  I am happy to be able to give you an honest answer.

   The question is do you want to read a translation of the Greek texts translated from corrupt ancient New Testament texts (Alexandrian or Eastern or Minority text) consisting of three manuscripts and several partial texts or from a Greek text representing close to 6000 manuscripts  (Byzantine or Majority or Western text) ?      

  Further would you rather read a text that translates the Greek text to English words (word for word) with the same definition which is called formal equivalency.   Or would you rather  read a New Testament that was translated using dynamic equivalency.   Dynamic equivalency (as applied to the translation of the Bible)  is a term used to describe what a translator does when instead of translating directly a word from Greek into English, he instead uses a word or term that “he thinks” (thought for thought) is equivalent  to the Greek word.

      I have written an article title “How we got the Bible.”   It is posted on my web site at http://bible-truth.org/Howwegot.html .  The article is indexed with links to it sections.    One section deals with   “Are the Oldest Manuscripts the "Best," "Most Reliable" or "Most Trustworthy?" (http://bible-truth.org/howwegot.html#010b)   If you begin reading there you see what the problem is with the modern translations and why the King James Bible is our accurate and reliable English translation.

    Here are some links to material you might like to read on the subject.

  http://av1611.com/kjbp/articles/waite-fourfold1.html  THE FOUR-FOLD SUPERIORITY OF THE KING JAMES VERSION, By Dr. D.A. Waite

  http://bible-truth.org/NIVtest.html  NIV Bible Test - Twenty five questions - Fill in the blanks from the verses in the NIV.

        Bible Truth KJV Defense page - http://bible-truth.org/KjvDefensePage.html

       I hope this helps and explains why your friends prefer using the King James Bible.  If you have further questions or comments please write.
Cooper Abrams
http://bible-truth.org