I believe the King James Bible (KJB) is the inspired words of God because I believe what the word of God says about itself. The Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Tim. 3:16), and that God promised to preserve His pure words forever (Ps. 12:6-7). Therefore, the inspired words of God must be available today. For the English-speaking people, it is the KJB. Someone says, “Prove it.” I don’t need to prove the KJB is the word of God because it has proven itself for 415 years. If it’s not the KJB, where is it? All the modern versions contain errors, make changes that affect doctrine, and diminish the person and work of Jesus Christ in multiple passages (see the evidence in our book, Study Notes on the King James Bible).

Although the word of God was originally written in Hebrew and Greek (a little Aramaic), God never said He would confine His inspired words to those original languages (which can be read by few people today). On the contrary, since it is God’s will to make known His truth to all nations, the preservation of His word must include it being translated into other languages (Rom. 16:25-27). We are told that no translation is perfect and that a translation cannot be inspired, but the Bible doesn’t say that. In fact, it provides many examples of inspired translations (e.g., Rom. 9:17 – Hebrew to Egyptian to Hebrew to Greek to English and yet it is “scripture” and “All scripture is given by inspiration of God”). God knows how to translate so that nothing is lost, and the translation conveys exactly what He wants written.

Critics will scoffingly ask, “Where was the word of God before 1611?” It was available in faithful translations before 1611 (e.g., Old Latin of 150 A.D., Syrian Peshetto of 157 A.D.) but the more important question is where is it today? It is evident that God chose to use English as He did Hebrew and Greek. In this present age in which the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles (Acts 28:28), the inspired words of God are preserved in the language of the Gentile world: more people know English than any other language. God not only chose English, but He chose the purest form of it which is the English of the KJB. It is modern English, but an older and more precise form that is ideal for translating the word of God.

Psalms 12:6-7

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.

Psalm 12 is about WORDS: the corrupt words of men (vv.1-4) vs. the pure words of God (vv.5-8). Since this is the only place in the Bible where it specifically says that God will “preserve” His words (other verses imply it), is it any wonder that it is attacked in the modern versions? For example, the RSV changes “words” to “promises” in verse 6, and “them” to “us” in verse 7. The NIV says, “You, LORD, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked.” The antecedent for “them” in verse 7 is the “words” in verse 6, and not the poor and needy in verse 5.

The purity of God’s words (v.6):

• The issue is the WORDS (Matt. 24:35), not just the general thoughts, content, or doctrine. Do you believe the WORDS of God? Do you have a perfect copy of them that you can hold in your hands?
• God’s words are pure because He is pure (Ps. 119:140; Prov. 30:5-6). That all scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Tim. 3:16) means that although God used men to write the words, all the words of scripture are the living and spiritual words of God (Jn. 6:63). We must have the inspired words of God to grow spiritually (2 Tim. 3:17) and fight the good fight of faith (Eph. 6:17).
• That the words of God are “as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” means they are perfectly pure (seven is God’s number of perfection). The word of God has been tried and proven (Ps. 18:30). The KJB doesn’t contain any leaven of corruption, but the modern versions do (2 Cor. 2:17).

The preservation of God’s words (v.7):

• The inspiration of scripture demands the preservation of scripture. Why would God inspire His word only to let it fade away? God let the original writings perish because they are not needed since He preserves His word. The word of God both “liveth” (inspiration) and “abideth” (preservation) FOR EVER (1 Pet. 1:23). The scripture does not limit inspiration to the original writings (2 Tim. 3:15, Timothy didn’t have the originals but he had the “holy scriptures”) or preservation to the original languages.
• God has used men to write and make copies of the scripture, but the inspiration and preservation of scripture are His work and responsibility. It amazes me how many Christians believe God can speak everything into existence, but He can’t write a book and keep it pure.
• God must preserve His words on earth because that is where they are being attacked (Gen. 3:1; 2 Cor. 2:17). Some claim that the only perfectly preserved Bible is in heaven (Ps. 119:89). The words are not attacked in heaven, nor are there generations in heaven. The purpose of the Bible is to reveal God to man.
• To “preserve” something is to “keep” it the same. We have the words God wants us to have today because He preserves His words.
• God’s pure words will exist forever. He never said they would only be available in the original languages (which most people cannot read). We have a perfect copy of them in English. If God can’t preserve His words, how can we trust Him to preserve us (1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Tim. 4:18)?

The KJB is associated with the number SEVEN. In 1604 King James authorized the translation of the word of God into English, and it was published seven years later in 1611. Through a system of checks and balances, the text of the KJB went through fourteen examinations before being published. There were fourteen rules of translation that the translators of the KJB worked under. The fourteenth rule named the English translations to be used “when they agree better with the text than the Bishop’s Bible are the Tyndale Bible, Matthew Bible, Coverdale Bible, Whitchurch Bible (also known as the Great Bible, printed by Whitchurch), and the Geneva Bible.” Therefore, the KJB is the seventh and final translation of the word of God from the Received Text into English.

Critics of this view say that David didn’t have the KJB in mind when he wrote Psalm 12. Maybe not, but I believe God did. The writers of scripture didn’t always understand the full meaning and application of what they wrote. Critics also point out that there were more than 6 English Bibles before the KJB. The Wycliffe Bible (1380) and the corrupt Catholic Rheims Bible (1582) are not included in the list because they were not translated from the Textus Receptus.

John Wycliffe produced the first English translation (in middle English) before the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in 1450. He translated from the Latin because that was what he had to work with at the time. He had the right desire (to get God’s word in the language of the common people) but the wrong text. The Roman Catholic Church hated Wycliffe so much that they dug up his bones 41 years after his death to burn them, along with his books and Bibles, and throw the ashes in the River Swift.

The 6 editions of the English Bible leading up to the KJB were good translations, but they were part of a refining process that produced the perfect translation of God’s word into English in 1611.

1. The Tyndale NT (1526)

William Tyndale (1494-1536) was the sole translator of the first printed English New Testament. It was the first to be translated from the Greek, completed in modern English, and printed on the printing press. This year marks the 500th anniversary of his NT being published. Tyndale was influenced by Erasmus, who translated the first printed Greek text in 1516. Tyndale had to do his work while on the run due to the persecution of the Roman Catholic Church. Forbidden to work in England, he translated and printed the NT and half the OT between 1525 and 1535 in Germany and the low countries. Much of Tyndale’s work eventually found its way to the KJB. His work also had a major impact in the English language.

We should be thankful for the men like Tyndale who were willing to pay the ultimate price to make His word available to the common man. Many of the men who worked to publish God’s word in English went through the furnace of affliction (Isa. 48:10).

A few of my favorite Tyndale quotes:

• “I perceived how that it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue.”
• “I defy the Pope and all his laws. If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives the plough to know more of the scriptures than you do.”
• “I call God to record against the day we shall appear before our Lord Jesus, that I never altered one syllable of God’s word against my conscience, nor would do this day, if all that is in earth, whether it be honor, pleasure, or riches, might be given me.”

Tyndale’s pocket-sized Bible translations were smuggled into England, and then ruthlessly sought out by the Catholic Church, confiscated, and destroyed. Tyndale was betrayed by a friend, arrested, and imprisoned for over 500 days in horrible conditions. He wrote, “My overcoat is worn out; my shirts also are worn out. And I ask to be allowed to have a lamp in the evening; it is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark.”

In 1536 Tyndale was tried for heresy and treason, in a ridiculously unfair trial, and convicted. Some of his “heresies” included:

• He maintains that faith alone justifies.
• He denies that there is any purgatory.
• He affirms that neither the Virgin nor the Saints pray for us in their own person.
• He asserts that neither the Virgin nor the Saints should be invoked by us.

After 11 months of privation and starvation, he was brought out of prison and tied to the center post in the castle courtyard in Vilvorde, Belgium. He was given the choice of “kindness” because he was a clergyman. Kindness meant that the executioner would strangle the victim with a cord prior to lighting the wood for the heretical burning. On October 6, 1536, he was strangled to death with a cord from behind the post and his body burned at the stake. He was only 42 years old. Given once last chance to recant before he was executed, he prayed and then cried out, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.” God answered that prayer.

2. The Coverdale Bible (1535)

The Coverdale Bible was named after Tyndale’s former proofreader Myles Coverdale who produced the first complete printed English Bible. His work was based on Tyndale’s New Testament and Pentateuch, with the remaining Old Testament books translated primarily from Luther’s German translation of 1534. The Roman Catholic Church tried unsuccessfully to silence Coverdale. King Henry VIII, who started the Anglican Church because of a dispute with the Pope, officially sanctioned the second edition in 1537.

One of my favorite quotes on Bible study comes from the preface to the Coverdale Bible – “It shall greatly help thee to understand Scripture, if thou mark, not only what is spoken or written, but of whom, and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances, considering what goeth before and what followeth after.”

3. The Matthew’s Bible (1537)

John Rogers (using the pseudonym of Thomas Matthews) continued Tyndale’s work while Tyndale was imprisoned. Queen Mary sought to burn every Protestant that would not recant and submit to the Roman Church. Rogers was burned first because he was the closest to Tyndale. Over 300 Protestant scholars (and others) in England were burnt at the stake during Bloody Mary’s short reign of 4 years.

4. The Great Bible (1539)

Named the Great Bible because of its size (16 ½ inches by 11 inches), it was a revision of the Matthew’s Bible that didn’t include the marginal notes of John Rogers. King Henry authorized the printing of 20,000 copies of this Bible for distribution to every church in England. It was the first Bible officially authorized for public use in England’s churches.

5. The Geneva Bible (1560)

Theodore Beza, John Knox, William Whittingham, and Miles Coverdale labored 6 years in Geneva, Switzerland to produce the Geneva Bible during the darkest hours of the Protestant Reformation. It was the first Bible to feature numbered verses and italics. It was a good translation, but not perfect (e.g., the Apocrypha in the text of scripture, half of 1 Jn. 2:23 omitted; “of God” omitted in 1 Jn. 3:16). It also contained a lot of Calvinistic commentary. The Geneva Bible came to America with John Smith in 1607, and later with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower.

6. The Bishops’ Bible (1568)

Upon the death of Bloody Mary in 1558, Elizabeth I, a Protestant, became the new queen of England. She commissioned the bishops of the Church of England to produce an English Bible for the churches and people of England printed on English soil. In many ways this Bible was a revision of the Great Bible, which was a revision of the Matthew’s Bible, which was largely based on the work of Tyndale. The changes instituted in this edition were mostly cosmetic, including pictures and thicker paper. The Geneva Bible remained the people’s Bible until the rise of the KJB.

7. The King James Bible (1611)

When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, she was succeeded by her cousin, King James (already the king of Scotland). The Puritans vowed to remove the remnants of Roman Catholicism from the Church of England. Dr. John Reynolds, president of Corpus Christi College at Oxford, suggested to King James that a translation be produced that the common people could read and understand. About a thousand ministers sent a petition to the king requesting the same thing. It was finally agreed that a new translation, absolutely true to the Greek text, would made that would not include any commentary in the margins. In 1604, a group of 54 of the best scholars in England were chosen to begin a new translation into English. In 1611 their work (down to 47 translators) was completed and published. It became known as the Authorized Version.

The translators were brilliant men, but they produced a Bible beyond their capability because God used them to give us His inspired and preserved words in English (Job 32:8).

How thankful we should be for the men who sacrificed to give the common man a pure Bible in English. Most of all, how thankful we should be to God for using those men and superintending the process to ensure we have exactly what He wants us to have in the KJB. There are many stories that could be told of how Satan used the Roman Catholic Church to attack the process of preserving the scripture in English, but God overruled. The KJB is a great example of God’s intervention in this present dispensation.

Let’s not take the KJB for granted, and may God help us to stand for it in these last days of apostasy!