Preface – Appreciating the King James Version
The
most read English Bible is the King James Version, with 55% of the readers,
compared to a fraction of that for the latest New International Version and
many others in the modern category – the English Standard Version and the New
Revised Standard Version.[1]
The percentages dwindle after the first three modern attempts, and there are so
many more versions. The KJV has much to commend it, not only for its use of the
Majority Text but also for its deliberately grand and eloquent style. If some
complain that the KJV reads too much like Shakespeare, others respond that the
modern versions sound too much like television cartoons. Even worse, all the
modern “scientific” texts are at war against the Majority Text and against each
other, because they remove and corrupt so many passages, diluting and changing
the actual message of God’s Word. Nevertheless, the Lutheran synods (ELCA,
LCMS, WELS, ELS, CLC, ELDONA) and all other mainline denominations reject the
KJV for their colleges and seminaries, printed readings, and official
proclamations. Beyond that opposition, agreement is absent.
[1] Christianity
Today, March, 2014, quoted a survey giving 55% to the KJV, only 19% to the
NIV, single digits for the New RSV, etc. Single digits still add up to a lot of
Bibles.
