The King James New Testament, alone of all the English translations, is based on the Greek text known as the Textus Receptus, which is the Greek New Testament used during the spiritual awakenings of the Reformation period. Before the invention of printing, of course, the Scriptures were transmitted by hand copying and circulation. The generally acknowledged and accepted manuscripts were, of course, widely used and so wore out fairly quickly and had to be continuously recopied on fresh papers or parchments.

Great numbers were always current, however, and there was thus a continual self-checking process going on, securing the text against any significant accumulation of copyists’ errors. It was from this source that the Greek New Testament known as the Textus Receptus (“Received Text”) was compiled. The great majority of the surviving manuscripts agree with this so-called “Byzantine” text, as preserved through the early centuries of Christianity by the Greek-speaking churches themselves.

When a manuscript was prepared, which either through carelessness or deliberate intent, contained significant errors or alterations, it naturally would tend to be discarded when its character was discovered. Unless it was deliberately discarded, however, it would tend to survive longer than others, for the very reason that it was not being used. This is probably the case with the so-called Sinaitic and Vatican manuscripts, also known as Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus / Codices B and Aleph, which were discovered in the 19th Century and which were older than any of the still-preserved manuscripts of the Received Text. It was assumed that because the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus manuscripts were older than the manuscripts of the Byzantine text, they are therefore better and more accurate. This is not so! Though the manuscripts were older and appeared in better shape, it was because they were not used because of the many errors found in them!

Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus are both of dubious origin. It has been speculated by some scholars that one or both were produced by Eusebius of Caesarea on orders of Emperor Constantine. If this is true, then these manuscripts are linked to Eusibus’s teacher Origen of Alexandria, both known for interpreting Scripture allegorically as opposed to literally. Scholars have designated these manuscripts as Alexandrian, linking them with Alexandria, Egypt, the region responsible for early heresies such as Gnosticism and Arianism (the doctrine of the denial of the Trinity). Both are dated in the mid to late fourth century.

These manuscripts contain an amazing number of obvious and careless mistakes and probably even some deliberate alterations. Nevertheless, because of their antiquity, they were accepted by the scholars Westcott, Hort, Nestle and others as the basis for their Greek New Testaments, which were published in the 19th Century and which have in turn served as the basis for all the subsequent modern English translations!!! In other words, if you read any translation of the Bible in modern English, you are reading a translation based on a corrupt manuscript!

Thus there is good reason to believe that the King James Version is still the most accurate and reliable translation we have. In view of the other considerations noted above, there is certainly as yet no good reason to replace it with some ephemeral modern translation.

More reasons why the KJV is superior to all modern English translations

1. It had the most spiritual translators, real believing translators, and therefore the most spiritual and correct translation.
2. It’s the best known, the most widespread, and the most recognizable.–And if you quote it, most people will recognize it and know you’re quoting them the Bible.
3. It has been time-tested for nearly 400 years, and if you accept what it says and obey it, it works!
4. It was written at the time the English language was spoken and used in its most perfect form.
5. The English of the King James Version isn’t nearly as hard to follow as its critics say. In fact, it is in general written in a much simpler vocabulary, with a higher percentage of one and two-syllable words, than almost any of the modern translations. The King James Version, in fact, is almost universally acknowledged as the greatest of all masterpieces of English literature.
6. It is no longer copyrighted, meaning anybody can reprint it, copy it, or publish it and they don’t have to pay a copyright fee.
7. The King James Version was not just the work of one man, but the work of a very large conference of the best men of God in England, and every problem was worked out by God’s inspiration and the majority opinion.
8. The translators decided not to add footnotes and explanatory notes, preferring to let the Word speak for itself.

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