Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. (Titus 1:9)
1. Where was the word of God before 1611?
I have heard this smart alleck question many times! The simple answer is, "I don’t care, this is 2016, where is the word of God today!" The critics not knowing where the perfect word of God is TODAY is a much bigger problem than us knowing where it was before 1611!
I know the words of God were available to man in the Antiochian manuscripts before 1611 because God promised they would be (Ps. 12:6-7), but that doesn't mean they were always available in one volume. People who have a problem with that should consider the following facts:
1. There was no written scripture for about the first 2500 years of human history
2. For about the next 1500 years there was not a complete Bible
3. God waited 4,000 years to send the Word of God, Jesus Christ, into the world
Who are we to question how God does things? He sent the incarnate Word of God into the world when the "fullness of time was come" and He sent the inspired word of God in the universal language of the world when the "fullness of the time was come” - after the invention of the printing press, when people were becoming more and more literate, and English rose to be the most understood language in the world. By the way, there were good English translations before the KJB but they were not perfect like the KJB has proven itself to be for more than 400 years.
2. King James was a.... The translators were....
One of the most common attacks against the KJB is the personal and doctrinal flaws of the king that authorized its translation and of the translators themselves. They claim the KJB is just an archaic 17th century Anglican translation. How could imperfect men produce a perfect Bible? The answer is that they didn’t, God did through them. Isn’t that what He did with the original writings? Did Moses and Paul have any flaws? I am sure much of the personal attacks on King James is just slander but his personal character has nothing to do with the perfection of the Bible he authorized. I am sure the translators had some doctrinal errors. All men, no matter how brilliant, are fallible.
The unbelieving Jews attacked Christ by pointing out His humble human family (Matt. 13:54-58). How could the Son of God be the son of a carpenter and have brothers and sisters? They stumbled over His humanity. He was not the Son of Joseph but the Son of God because He was born of a virgin. Christ was “MADE of a woman” (Gal. 4:4, modern versions say “born” but all are born of a woman!) in the LIKENESS of sinful flesh but He was the sinless Son of God! Study the lives of those listed in the genealogy of Christ (Matt. 1:1-17) and see if you can find any flaws. He was of the seed of Abraham and Abraham was a liar. He came through the tribe of Judah. Read about how Judah had Pharez and Zarah of Tamar in Gen. 38. She was his daughter in law who disguised herself as a harlot to conceive seed of him because her husband died before she had children. Christ was of the seed of David and yet David committed adultery and murder! What about Solomon and all of his pagan wives and concubines? Rahab the harlot is listed in His genealogy! Yet, He is the sinless Son of God untainted by a corrupt family tree and the KJB is pure Bible untainted by the men God used to translate and publish it.
3. A translation cannot be inspired
Most believe that only the original writings of scripture were inspired. The quick way to answer this question is with a question (see my post, Is the King James Bible Inspired for more details). That is how Christ often answered His critics. Ask them, “Did the word of God teach you that or men?” There are many examples of inspired translations in the Bible (such as Rom. 9:17, spoken in Hebrew and Egyptian, translated in Greek and English and yet called "scripture"). God has no problems with languages, He is fluent in them all! He made sure we have exactly what He wants us to have in the English language, nothing was lost in translation. The translators were not inspired in the sense of receiving new revelation (the Bible is a complete revelation) but they were inspired in the sense of God giving them understanding (Job 32:8) to produce a perfect English translation of the holy scriptures. Paul said that Timothy knew the holy scriptures from a child (2 Tim. 3:15) and then said "All scripture IS GIVEN by inspiration of God (v.16). Timothy's family did not have the originals but they had inspired scripture!
There are three translations referred to in the Bible and in each case the translation is performed by God and is therefore better than the original:
1) Translating the kingdom from Saul to David (2 Sam. 3:10)
2) Translating believers from power of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son (Col. 1:13)
3) Translating Enoch from earth to heaven (Heb. 11:5)
The originals were never collated in one volume and they no longer exist. Even if we had them we could not read them. The KJB is superior to the originals because we have all 66 books in our language and we can read it!
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