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The Use of the Authorized Version |
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We sometimes have calls asking what Bible translation we use.
"We use the KJV in all of our teaching and preaching ministries. We believe it to be an accurate translation of the Word of God. Our pastor believes that God has preserved His Word in the Massoritic Hebrew text of the Old Testament and in the majority of Greek manuscripts of the New Testament from which our KJV has been translated."
We do not choose to take issue with any other autonomous church on the issue of translations. However, we at Faith Baptist Church continue to hold the Authorized Version (AV) or King James Version (KJV) in the highest regard for both its beauty and accuracy. While repudiating 'Ruckmanism,' we encourage the reading of the AV both publicly and privately. Consider the following statement from the late 'Prince of Baptist Preachers,' C.H. Spurgeon:
"…it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in Scriptural language … and … your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord. I would quote John Bunyan as an instance of what I mean. Read anything of his, and you will see that it is almost like reading the Bible itself. He had studied our Authorized Version, which will never be bettered, as I judge, till Christ shall come; he had read it till his whole being was saturated with Scripture;… the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his soul is full of the Word of God." (Emphasis Mine)
We're certainly not against the study of the text of the original languages themselves or other translations that shed light on the meaning of Scripture. However, some fundamental Baptist churches are speaking with the unfamiliar words of newer translations. It is naive to think that different standards can be used in various classrooms and pulpits without bringing confusion and division. The departure from a standard translation of the Bible in English will bring geographical and generational disunity to our churches. Call it pragmatic if you will but I will continue to daily read, memorize, study and preach the Authorized Version with hope that "I will come to talk in Scriptural language" and my very spirit will be "flavored with the words of the Lord."
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The Use of the Authorized Version