Is the Fight for the KJB Necessary?

By Gary Freeman

A writer who was despairing over the debate concerning Bible versions recently wrote, `Precious energies and talents must be wasted on petty quarrels between soldiers who ought to be giving their best efforts to fight the real enemies of biblical Christianity.’ Is this correct thinking? We believe fellow soldiers ought to debate an issue when it involves the integrity and reliability of the most important piece of weaponry with which we intend to fight the enemy. How can we say nothing to our fellow soldiers when someone has tampered with our artillery. How do we intend to win the battle when we go into the fight with our main weapon taken away and replaced with a faulty, unreliable substitute?

The fight for the King James Bible Version (KJV) is necessary. We who are holding the line for the KJV only are being called the culprits. One pastor said, `Certainly the KJV controversy rages on by those who would make it a test of fellowship.’ Another writes, `One of the heartbreaks faced by any fellowship comes when some movement comes along and polarizes and then splits the group. It may be over Bible versions, personal squabbles or wrongs suffered. The issue is not doctrinal since there is always essential agreement among fundamental brethren in that regard.’

We are amazed how the group who brought in the new modern versions into our churches and fellowships now want to blame us who desire to stay with the KJV as being the dividers, polarizers, splitters and controversial ones. If these `fellow soldiers’ want to bring in `Bibles’ that leave out [or question] Mk. 16:9-20; Jn. 7:53-8:11; Ac. 8:37; Ro. 8:1b; and that delete `through His blood’ inCol. 1:14; `God’ in 1 Ti. 3:16; Trinity passage in 1 Jn. 5:7,8; “by Himself purged our sins’ in He. 1:3; `washed us from our sins’ in Re. 1:5; the word `yet’ in Jn. 7:8 (this word being dropped from new versions makes our Saviour a liar); then they should not cry foul, unfair, unloving, or divisive when we squabble over which Bible will be the Word of God in the Battlefield.

The offenders, dividers, squabblers and polarizers are those who want to bring new modern versions into fundamentalism. We believe, contrary to the previous quote, that this is a doctrinal issue. We believe that God has preserved the Words He inspired. We believe it to be found in the Greek Textus Receptus through the Antiochan text line in languages other than English, and in English in our KJV. Then it is reported that (as of Oct 2018) the KJV was translated into 683 other languages- with the KJV New Testament into an additional 1,534 languages and Bible portions or stories into another 1,133 languages. Our intention is not to be divisive but so that we as fellow soldiers can go into battle against our enemies saying, `Thus saith the Lord,’ rather than, `Yea, hath God said?’