THE BIBLE TRANSLATION ISSUE MADE SIMPLE
The Word of God was never meant to be a museum piece sealed behind ancient glass; it was meant to be heard, received, and lived in the language of real people walking through real life. When Paul wrote his letters, he did not write in a lofty, sacred tongue reserved for scholars—he wrote in the everyday Greek of shopkeepers, sailors, and mothers in the marketplace (see Acts 21:40).
When Jesus taught the crowds, He spoke in the warm, familiar Aramaic of their homes and villages, not in a foreign or ceremonial language (Matthew 27:46). From the very beginning, God’s heart has been to make His truth understandable.
Some today fear that using anything other than the King James Version is somehow disrespectful to Scripture. But the King James translators themselves openly admitted their work was not perfect and would one day need to be revised. And it has—as language always changes, and as our understanding of ancient manuscripts improves.
The King James Version is beautiful, noble, and historic—but it contains translation decisions and textual issues just like any other version. It is no more perfect—and no less valuable—than the trustworthy English Bibles we have today.
What matters most is not the age of the translation but the accuracy of the translation. God does not require us to read in 1611 English to know His heart. Any standard, reputable translation—the New Internatuonal Version, the New King James Version, the English Standard Version, the New American Standard Bible, the New Living Translation and others—will faithfully tell you what God wants you to know. These translations are built on rigorous scholarship, ancient manuscripts, and the same desire the apostles had: to put God’s truth into the language people actually speak.
The issue is simple: God gave His Word to be understood. He meets us where we are—not where our dictionaries were four hundred years ago. The Spirit who inspired Scripture is the same Spirit who delights to illuminate it in clear, living words that reach the mind and stir the heart.
BDD
