As a lover of the King James Bible, I am astounded at how many people respond with condemnation to any positive reference regarding this translation.
On the one hand I get it. There is that angst we all feel that is a reaction to some of the vitriolic King James Onlyists. I myself, even as an outspoken advocate of the KJV, have been called a “Bible denier” and many other similar epithets by these sorts of KJVOists. Then there is this guy.
But I am not one of “those guys”.
Over the last decade, a number of Reformed young men have begun moving over to the King James Version as their primary text for a number of reasons. Today it is becoming a tsunami. If you are missing this massive wave back to the Bible of the English Reformation among confessional, Reformed Christians you’ll soon see it because it is only picking up speed.
The thing is, this move to the King James Version among Reformed evangelicals is not a move to King James Onlyism. It is the rare exception where any of these guys are not also consulting modern translations and even referencing them where they think they have better captured the sense of the text than the KJV. Is there a concern among them with many aspects of the modern Bible movement? Yes. Does this mean they believe modern versions can never do anything right? No.
This has been the spirit of what I will call The Reformed KJV Resurgence. That said, the way many people respond to us is astounding. Simply going into a large Christian group on Facebook and saying, “I really like the KJV”, often leads to a flame war. I’ve had a number of people mention this to me over the last few weeks. Even going out of our way to qualify that we are NOT King James Onlyists and giving credit where credit is due to translations like the NASB and the ESV (also popular among the confessionally Reformed) doesn’t appear to douse the flames.
What we are seeing is the adoring little brother of King James Onlyism. This spirit can rightly be called Modern-Version Onlyism (MVOism). MOVism shares these things in common with KJVOism.
- An immediate negative response to the advocacy (of any sort) of the KJV. [just as KJVists respond negatively to any positive statement about another version]
- An implicit trust in modern textual scholarship and translational methodology. While I often see MVOists attempting to engage in the scholarship, it is very rare to come across someone engaging in a flame war over the KJV who has even a rudimentary understanding that undergirds their favored translation though they will speak as if they are an expert.
[just as KJVists implicitly trust in every decision in translation made by the KJV translation committee] - A stubborn refusal to even attempt to understand where men in The Reformed KJV Resurgence are coming from or truly study the issues for themselves. [just as KJVOists label those they disagree with as “Bible deniers” and other such accusations when the truth is there are many people who make use of the modern versions who have a high view of Scripture AND many KJVOists don’t appear interested in really studying out the issues either but will go to the mat on the subject]
- An exaggerated position regarding the problems (real and imagined) inherent with the KJV. [just as KJOists exaggerate the problems with modern versions]
- A tendency to divisive behavior over this issue. (just as…ok, you get it 😉 )
- Conflating The Reformed KJV Resurgence with KJOism whether directly or indirectly. (just as KJOists slander and mischaracterize where many of their believing opponents are coming from]
I could go on and I could even expand the list to include how liberal “Christians” jump on the MVOism bandwagon because they absolutely hate the orthodoxy of the KJV on matters such as feminism and gender issues, the LGBTQ??? crowd, ‘patriarchal language’ and some key Christian doctrines. I’ll leave it here though because I’m addressing this problem from within the actual believing community. Yes, I count many of these Modern-Version Onlyists to be my brothers in Christ.
That said, it’s very bizarre behavior and I’m even seeing it from some very prominent teachers.
However, as an advocate of The Reformed KJV Resurgence, I am seeing a positive aspect to this. I have received quite a bit of correspondence from people who have been awakened to look into this subject BECAUSE of the irrationality of MVOism they are seeing online. They suspect there is something going on—on a spiritual level—and are beginning to suspect there may be something here worth looking into.
Modern-Version Onlyism is quickly becoming one of the chief means fueling The Reformed KJV Resurgence. How ironic 🙂
Excellent article. I’m seeing this too. It seems like a lot of the backlash is an over-response the KJV-O attacks. I get so many attacks from them that it makes me want to read a different translation even though the KJV has been my primary translation since the early 80’s. KJV-O’s do more harm than good and they don’t even see it.
Bro this is bullseye!!! As a young pastor that struggles in these areas I find myself always going back to the KJV.
Do you have a link for the tsunami stats?
That blog you linked…Oh wow
Thanks Rev. Truelove. I had an officer from a conservative Reformed denomination visit a few Lord’s Days ago (in the interests of your article, he was an older man). He asked after the service what translation I was reading from. When I told him it was the King James Version, (AV) he said without hesitating, “You know that this version was translated from the Latin, right?” When I explained to him that the original title page in 1611 said “Newly translated from the original tongues” he paused for a few moments, then said, “are you sure?”. I affirmed this to be true. Apparently he had never heard it before.
Rev. Truelove,
Just recently discovered your blog and I have enjoyed it. I preached from the KJV while a youth pastor, but I preach from the NASB now. I get the overreaction some feel due to KJVonlyism (I was raised in a KJVO church, though I wasn’t saved until I was 25). Just curious where you are seeing this trend? I am in Indiana and I’ve not noticed it here.
I’m seeing this trend online and in much of the correspondence I am getting from pastors and other individuals. This resurgence has also, in part, fueled unprecedented sales of certain Bibles like the TBS Westminster and Schuyler (evangelicalbibles.com) reports their KJV Canterbury released last year is its best selling Bible of all time.
To date there have not been any formal studies but others who are seeing this feel free to chime in here.
Thank you for this article. I am a pastor with Village Missions. My job was threatened simply for preaching from the KJV. Thank you for taking a stand for us. I do believe that you are absolutely correct that there is a growing movement in the Reformed movement back to the KJV. Thanks for the great work.
Excellent post, brother. I’ve just discovered your blog, and I’m thankfulf or what you’ve written on this matter. I’ve recently moved back to reading the KJV for my personal reading, and I feel weird if I even share a verse on Social Media for fear someone might think I’ve become KJV-O (I *have* recently quit caring and started doing it though.)
I grew up w/ the KJV, (not in a KJV-O way, just an older pastor who never saw the need to switch), and I love it.
I also agree that we need a stable text. I remember as a child and youth, the pastor would pause sometimes and ask the congregation to say the next word with him (for emphasis). He could do that because he had confidence they had the same word as he did. You can’t do that now. There is a plethora of translations in our pews. While I appreciate (and use) many of the modern translations, I long for that stability and unity in worship.
I am sure there are some nasty KJO people out there but I attribute that to a heart issue not to the position. But what I have witnessed & experienced on the Alexandrian/ MVO side is a condescending and mocking spirit towards the Traditional Texts and especially the KJV. I was trained to favor the Critical Text versions, but I transitioned back to the KJV over time. Those of us that are TR/Majority/Confessional Text or KJO need to realize we have more in common than differences. Believing in the purity of Scripture throughout the ages is an Apostolic doctrine we can all hold to & is essential to preserving Sola Scriptura. I am encouraged that my Reformed brothers are returning to the KJV and Traditional Texts.