Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 11/6/2011

Question
which english bible is the most accurate ? and which one do you use?

Answer
Hi Lala,

Thank you for this great question.  When deciding which English translation to use, you must not only consider which is the most accurate translation, but which translation comes from reliable Greek and Hebrew Texts.

First of all we must understand that GOd has promised to preserve every word of scriptures... even though they were copied over and over through centuries.

Psalm 12:6–7 (AV)
6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

With that said there is a family of copies coming from Alexandria Egypt known as the critical text.  This is very old, but evidence points to the fact that it was corrupted by some heritics back in the 2nd century.  The two main texts from this family contradict each other 3000 times in the gospels alone.

There is a family of text copies coming from Antioch Syria.  These are not nearly as old but they make up 99% of all existing original language manuscripts. These 5000+ copies all speak as one voice with no contradictions.  Since God has promised to preserve His word somewhere... we know it cannot be in the critical text with all the corruption and contradiction but it is in what we call the Received Text from Antioch.

Having said all that... the only modern English translation coming exclusively from the Received Text is the King James Version.  It is for that reason that I only recommend the King James Bible for English speaking people.  I hope that this helps you.

In Christ
Pastor Don