King James Only movement


The King James Only movement asserts that the King James Version of the Bible is superior to all other English translations of the Bible. Adherents of the King James Only movement, largely members of evangelical, conservative holiness movement, traditional High Church Anglican, and Baptist churches, believe that the KJV is the greatest English translation ever produced, needing no further improvements, and they also believe that all other English translations which were produced after the KJV are corrupt.
These assertions are generally based upon a preference for the Byzantine text-type or the Textus Receptus and a distrust of the Alexandrian text-type or the critical texts of Nestle-Aland, and Westcott-Hort, on which the majority of twentieth- and twenty-first-century translations are based.

Variations

has divided the King James Only movement into five main classifications:
These classifications are not mutually exclusive, nor are they a comprehensive summary describing those who prefer the KJV. Douglas Wilson, for instance, argues that the KJV is superior because of its manuscript tradition, its translational philosophy, and its ecclesiastical authority, having been created by the church and authorized for use in the church.
Although not expressly "King James Only", The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recommends the Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Version of the Bible.

History

, a Seventh-day Adventist missionary, theology professor and college president, wrote Our Authorized Bible Vindicated in which he asserted that some of the new versions of the Bible came from manuscripts with corruptions introduced into the Septuagint by Origen and manuscripts with deletions and changes from corrupted Alexandrian text. He criticized Westcott and Hort, believing they intentionally rejected the use of the Textus Receptus and made changes to the text used in translation using their revised Greek text based mainly on the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus.
Gail Riplinger has also addressed the issue of differences in current editions of the King James Bible in some detail. A lengthy critical review of her book New Age Bible Versions, originally published in Cornerstone magazine in 1994, authored by Bob and Gretchen Passantino of Answers in Action, described the book as "erroneous, sensationalistic, misrepresentative, inaccurate, and logically indefensible".
Jack Chick, a fundamentalist Christian who was best known for his comic tracts, advocated a King James Only position. His comic Sabotage portrayed a Christian whose faith was shipwrecked by the rejection of the King James Version as the Word of God, only to be rescued by another character's defense of the King James Version.
Joey Faust, a Baptist pastor and researcher, is the author of The Word: God Will Keep It: The 400 Year History of the King James Bible Only Movement which documents a number of KJV Only proponents throughout history.
The 2015 Manual of the Bible Missionary Church, a Methodist denomination in the conservative holiness movement, states: "We wholeheartedly endorse the use of the Authorized Version of the Bible as the final authority in our English-speaking churches and schools. We also go on record as being opposed to the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, The Living Bible, the New English Translation of the Bible, the Reader's Digest Condensed Version, the New International Version and the public use of other modern versions."

Textus Receptus vs Alexandrian Text

B.G. Wilkinson of Washington Missionary College writes in his book Truth Triumphant:
John William Burgon opposed what he called the "two irresponsible scholars of the University of Cambridge" and their revised Greek Text.
Herman C. Hoskier:
J. H. Greenlee of Asbury Theological Seminary:
D. A. Carson:
Wilbur N. Pickering:

Prominent KJV Only promoters