Are King James Bible believers "Idolaters"?
Over the years I have talked to literally hundreds of different people about the Bible version issue and whether or not there exists such a thing as a Bible in ANY language that is the complete, inspired and 100% true and inerrant words of the living God.
One of the charges I have repeatedly heard leveled against the King James Bible believer goes something like this: “You guys are idolaters. You are worshiping the King James Bible more than God!”
Allow me to address this charge of idolatry with two main points. First, neither I nor any King James Bible believer I have ever run into worships our Bible. I do not have an altar set up in my home complete with incense and burning candles where I bow down and pray to my King James Bible. I don’t do that, nor does anyone else I know.
I write in my Bible and get it dirty sometimes. I bend the pages and have spilled coffee (or worse) on it. I sometimes toss it in the back of my car or misplace it. I have even had to throw a Bible or two away because it was so worn out, and get a new one. But I can assure you, neither I nor any other Bible believer I know of worships our King James Bible.
I do however believe it is the infallible words of the living God whom I DO worship.
Secondly, what I have found over the years is that the persons who label us King James Bible believers as being “idolaters” without exception are professing Christians who themselves do not believe that ANY Bible in ANY language IS or ever was the complete, infallible and 100% true words of God. Without exception.
They could not show you a copy of what they believe to be the infallible words of God if their life depended on it, and they know it.
Most of them do not want to face the FACT that they simply do not believe in the inerrancy of the Bible - ANY Bible in any language, including “the” Hebrew and Greek. So, in order to feel better about themselves and to attempt to justify their own position of unbelief in the infallibility of the Bible, they accuse the King James Bible believer of Idolatry and say he or she is worshiping the Bible instead of or more than God.
I always ask these people who accuse the KJB believer of “idolatry” these simple, straight forward questions. They are very logical and fundamental questions to ask anyone who professes to be a Christian and is discussing the Bible or quoting its verses in an effort to make some point or teach us something.
The questions go like this: “Do you personally believe that there is such a thing as a Bible in ANY language that is the complete (66 books in a single volume), inspired and 100% true and inerrant words of God? And when other versions or translations differ from your “inerrant Bible” either in the TEXTS or in the meanings, then the other versions are wrong and yours is right? Yes or No?
If Yes, then can you please give us the specific name of this infallible Bible you say you believe in or give us a link to where we can see it for ourselves so we can compare it to the Bible we are using now to see the differences and similarities? If No, then are you willing to be honest enough to admit it? Thank you.
What then happens about 95% of the time is that this person gets very uncomfortable because they know that they really do not believe in an infallible Bible and so they avoid answering the question and they dodge it. They act like they didn’t hear you and keep on posting about some other point or else they try to change the subject. But they won’t answer the questions.
Only about 5% of the people will actually admit that they do not believe that any Bible is the infallible words of God. But they usually do it in a sneaky and subtil way so as to try to give you the impression that they really do. They will generally say something like: “No, I don’t believe that any TRANSLATION is the infallible words of God. They all have mistakes and errors in them. We really can’t fully express nuances of the Hebrew and Greek in English or other languages.”
You see, they are trying to make you think that they actually have an “untranslated” or “original languages” Bible that they DO believe is the complete and inerrant words of God. But they don’t, and once again, they know they don’t. Just ask them to SHOW you this “original language Bible” they profess to believe is the inerrant words of God. They simply won’t and can’t do it.
What you will usually hear from these people whom I call “Bible agnostics” (“a” = not, and “gnostic” = to know) or unbelievers in the infallibility of the Scriptures are typically one or two different statements.
#1. “Only the originals are inspired and inerrant.” Notice they use a present tense verb here - ARE- when they tell us that “only the originals ARE inspired.” They have never seen a single word of these long lost “originals” a day in their lives and most of them couldn’t read them if they had them. So they end up professing a faith in something that they not only have never seen, but that they KNOW does not exist!
#2. “All bibles say pretty much the same things and no doctrines are changed.” This is one of their favorites, but it is completly false and shows just how little they really know about the textual issues involved and what the Bible Babble Buffet versions actually SAY.
To see some concrete examples of how very different textually the various versions are - anywhere from 3000 to 5000 words in the New Testament alone and hundreds of words in the Old Testament - see Part Two of ‘Undeniable Proof the ESV, NIV, NASB etc. are the new Vatican Versions’
ESV,=Catholic Part 2 - Another King James Bible Believer
And there most definitely ARE some fundamental Doctrines of the Faith that have been changed, weakened or even perverted in all the modern versions. Here are several of these changed doctrines you can take a look at -
Perverted Doctrines MVs - Another King James Bible Believer
To summarize - First, those who call us “Bible Thumpers” or even “idolaters” do so out of a need to feel better and superior about themselves and to justify their own unbelief in the infallibility of The Bible - ANY Bible.
And secondly, we King James Bible believers are NOT idolaters, but we worship our Creator God and our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, in both spirit and in truth.
We love the words of God and have a deep reverence for them because we believe this is the attitude and spirit God wants us to have towards His words.
“If a man love me, he will keep my words.” John 14:23
“but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Isaiah 66:2
“for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Psalms 138:2
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16
All of grace, believing The Book - the Authorized King James Holy Bible.
Will Kinney
Return to Articles - KJB Articles - Another King James Bible Believer
Over the years I have talked to literally hundreds of different people about the Bible version issue and whether or not there exists such a thing as a Bible in ANY language that is the complete, inspired and 100% true and inerrant words of the living God.
One of the charges I have repeatedly heard leveled against the King James Bible believer goes something like this: “You guys are idolaters. You are worshiping the King James Bible more than God!”
Allow me to address this charge of idolatry with two main points. First, neither I nor any King James Bible believer I have ever run into worships our Bible. I do not have an altar set up in my home complete with incense and burning candles where I bow down and pray to my King James Bible. I don’t do that, nor does anyone else I know.
I write in my Bible and get it dirty sometimes. I bend the pages and have spilled coffee (or worse) on it. I sometimes toss it in the back of my car or misplace it. I have even had to throw a Bible or two away because it was so worn out, and get a new one. But I can assure you, neither I nor any other Bible believer I know of worships our King James Bible.
I do however believe it is the infallible words of the living God whom I DO worship.
Secondly, what I have found over the years is that the persons who label us King James Bible believers as being “idolaters” without exception are professing Christians who themselves do not believe that ANY Bible in ANY language IS or ever was the complete, infallible and 100% true words of God. Without exception.
They could not show you a copy of what they believe to be the infallible words of God if their life depended on it, and they know it.
Most of them do not want to face the FACT that they simply do not believe in the inerrancy of the Bible - ANY Bible in any language, including “the” Hebrew and Greek. So, in order to feel better about themselves and to attempt to justify their own position of unbelief in the infallibility of the Bible, they accuse the King James Bible believer of Idolatry and say he or she is worshiping the Bible instead of or more than God.
I always ask these people who accuse the KJB believer of “idolatry” these simple, straight forward questions. They are very logical and fundamental questions to ask anyone who professes to be a Christian and is discussing the Bible or quoting its verses in an effort to make some point or teach us something.
The questions go like this: “Do you personally believe that there is such a thing as a Bible in ANY language that is the complete (66 books in a single volume), inspired and 100% true and inerrant words of God? And when other versions or translations differ from your “inerrant Bible” either in the TEXTS or in the meanings, then the other versions are wrong and yours is right? Yes or No?
If Yes, then can you please give us the specific name of this infallible Bible you say you believe in or give us a link to where we can see it for ourselves so we can compare it to the Bible we are using now to see the differences and similarities? If No, then are you willing to be honest enough to admit it? Thank you.
What then happens about 95% of the time is that this person gets very uncomfortable because they know that they really do not believe in an infallible Bible and so they avoid answering the question and they dodge it. They act like they didn’t hear you and keep on posting about some other point or else they try to change the subject. But they won’t answer the questions.
Only about 5% of the people will actually admit that they do not believe that any Bible is the infallible words of God. But they usually do it in a sneaky and subtil way so as to try to give you the impression that they really do. They will generally say something like: “No, I don’t believe that any TRANSLATION is the infallible words of God. They all have mistakes and errors in them. We really can’t fully express nuances of the Hebrew and Greek in English or other languages.”
You see, they are trying to make you think that they actually have an “untranslated” or “original languages” Bible that they DO believe is the complete and inerrant words of God. But they don’t, and once again, they know they don’t. Just ask them to SHOW you this “original language Bible” they profess to believe is the inerrant words of God. They simply won’t and can’t do it.
What you will usually hear from these people whom I call “Bible agnostics” (“a” = not, and “gnostic” = to know) or unbelievers in the infallibility of the Scriptures are typically one or two different statements.
#1. “Only the originals are inspired and inerrant.” Notice they use a present tense verb here - ARE- when they tell us that “only the originals ARE inspired.” They have never seen a single word of these long lost “originals” a day in their lives and most of them couldn’t read them if they had them. So they end up professing a faith in something that they not only have never seen, but that they KNOW does not exist!
#2. “All bibles say pretty much the same things and no doctrines are changed.” This is one of their favorites, but it is completly false and shows just how little they really know about the textual issues involved and what the Bible Babble Buffet versions actually SAY.
To see some concrete examples of how very different textually the various versions are - anywhere from 3000 to 5000 words in the New Testament alone and hundreds of words in the Old Testament - see Part Two of ‘Undeniable Proof the ESV, NIV, NASB etc. are the new Vatican Versions’
ESV,=Catholic Part 2 - Another King James Bible Believer
And there most definitely ARE some fundamental Doctrines of the Faith that have been changed, weakened or even perverted in all the modern versions. Here are several of these changed doctrines you can take a look at -
Perverted Doctrines MVs - Another King James Bible Believer
To summarize - First, those who call us “Bible Thumpers” or even “idolaters” do so out of a need to feel better and superior about themselves and to justify their own unbelief in the infallibility of The Bible - ANY Bible.
And secondly, we King James Bible believers are NOT idolaters, but we worship our Creator God and our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, in both spirit and in truth.
We love the words of God and have a deep reverence for them because we believe this is the attitude and spirit God wants us to have towards His words.
“If a man love me, he will keep my words.” John 14:23
“but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Isaiah 66:2
“for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Psalms 138:2
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16
All of grace, believing The Book - the Authorized King James Holy Bible.
Will Kinney
Return to Articles - KJB Articles - Another King James Bible Believer
