King James Bible

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THE KING JAMES BIBLE By: Evelyn C. Pointer

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Our church is founded on the principles and beliefs found in the bible. Though there are many translations and versions of the bible, both ancient and mourned, we believe in the King James Version of the bible, including the Apocrypha. We use the King James Version of the bible in all of our services and in our private use.

We believe that God has the power to preserve his word for us, and that he used King James as an instrument to ensure that his word was available for his children.

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INTRODUCTION

THE WORD The bible is God’s word. Without his word we have no truth, (Psalms 119: 142). It is from his word that we come to know God, who he is and how to obey him. For he said, “Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of a book it is written of me,” (Psalms 40: 7). And also he says in Isaiah 34: 16, “Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read.” The bible is the book of the Lord. The bible was written by holy men, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is sacred, holy and pure. The men who wrote the bible died, God’s word did not pass away.

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“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away,” (Matthew 24: 35). In fact, the bible has been translated and read throughout history, to all people in every language. Jesus told his apostles that they would be a witness to him to the uttermost part of the earth, yet they died many years before this continent was ever discovered. God’s word remained true, it was their testimony that even today bears witness to the wonderful works of Jesus and the premise of his salvation, (Acts 1: 8).

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The bible is our guide book, it teaches us the way of salvation. We are required to read and study it in order to understand the truth, (2 Timothy 2: 15). The children of Israel were instructed to write out the law, to keep it close to them, to study it daily, to teach it to their children, (Deuteronomy 6: 4-9). Not only did the children of Israel teach the law, but Jesus himself who is our greatest example, though he knew all of the words, picked up the bible and read from it, teaching the people in the synagogue, (Luke 4: 16-19).

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PRESERVING THE WORD Since the bible is God’s word, which is compared to light, and it is from his law we are judged and saved, it was necessary that God’s word be preserved for his children. Whenever an invading army came into Israel they would burn the books of the law in order to establish their own government and religion. Many of the prophets would take the holy books and hide them in caves in order to preserve the word. Often these prophets themselves were martyred.

Moses wrote the first five books in the bible, which is called “the law.”

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During the time of Esdras, these books had been burnt and God filled Esdras with the Holy Spirit and he wrote again these books because it was vital that they be preserved (2 Esdras in the Apocrypha 14: 19-22). This did not end the bible’s rocky history.

Throughout the ages, it has been debated, doubted, disbelieved, cast aside, and even burnt, yet it remains the today the most published book of all time. Many people do not believe the truth could be preserved, they say that man wrote the bible and make themselves wise in their own eyes by “proving” that it is not true.

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BIBLE & CONTROVERSY

POWER OF GOD But God is all powerful. For he created us in all of our distinctiveness, and the wonders of our minds and bodies that the wisest man cannot fully understand. A mighty God that created this great earth full of so many secrets that it cannot be found out or the sun, moon and stars. A God that can do all this certainly has the power to influence men- small insignificant men, nations in fact!... all for the good of his children. “For the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof,” (I Corinthians 10: 26, Daniel 4: 34-35).

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Even Nebuchadnezzar came to learn that it was God who ruled among men and did as he willed, and that the inhabitants of the earth are nothing compared to him. It is God that lifts men up and God also who takes them down.

Did he not say of Cyrus “he is my Shepherd and shall perform my pleasure...,�(Isaiah 44: 28).

God is powerful enough to preserve his word.

A LOOK AT HISTORY w re

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What is the history of the bible? Why do we maintain that the King James Version is the word of truth, when there are many other more modern versions of the bible today? To understand this we must look at the history of the translation of the bible to the English language. The part of the bible that we call the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew with some small parts found in Aramaic. These were Jews who lived in Egypt, in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy II. Ptolemy II was Greek, not Egyptian. Greeks loved all knowledge.

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Ptolemy II owned a large, fine library and he wanted the best of all books in his library. He wanted the bible to be translated to Greek so he could have a copy in his library. In 250 BC, Ptolemy II appointed seventy-two elders of Israel who were brought to Alexandria, to translate the book of the law (the five books of Moses). This bible is called the Septuagint (for “seventy�) because of the seventy two translators. By 132 BC, the rest of the books of the Old Testament including the Apocrypha had been translated to Greek.

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A LOOK AT HISTORY

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There is evidence that the books of the law had also been translated into Syriac and Aramaic because the Jews who had been brought to other nations during their captivity were no longer able to speak or read Hebrew.

TIME OF CHRIST During the time of Christ, Greek was the official language, and the New Testament was written in Greek. As mentioned before, the bible as a book was written and read from in the synagogue. Christ also, and his apostles quoted from the “the law” and the “prophets.”

These quotations came from the Septuagint that included the books of the Apocrypha. The books of the gospel were written down as a true witness and testimony to Christ’s birth, teachings, death and resurrection.

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We must remember there were different religious sects in Israel during that time like the Pharisees, people who doubted and denied what had actually happened.

Also, the Apostles knew that “wolves� would come into the church to preach another gospel and deceive the people.

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RAVENING WOLVES

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After Rome destroyed Jerusalem, slaughtering countless Jews and selling others as slaves, and after the Apostles and all of the true leaders of the church had died, “wolves” did indeed come in and take over the church. The Gentiles did not want to be associated with the hated Jews; neither did they want to continue to be persecuted by the Romans. The church leaders changed the doctrine, a little here, a little there to make it more palatable to the pagan people. They got rid of the “Jewish” Sabbath and the “Jewish” holy days and set about to establish their own doctrine church.

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RAVENING WOLVES

THE LATIN TRANSLATION tin

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By 405 AD, a Latin translation of the entire bible, including the Apocrypha, was made. The Latin translation (called the Vulgate) remained the official translation of the bible until the Reformation.

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The Roman Catholic Church became the Holy Roman Empire. Many bloody wars and crusades were fought in the name of the church. It wielded great power and controlled the nations with an iron fist. Though it did spread forward the name of Christ, it kept the world, at the same time, in absolute darkness. It was actually against the law for anyone to own a bible. If you broke this law you could be imprisoned, your proper seized and given to the church, you could be questioned (or even tortured) by the Inquisitions and maybe even put to death.

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ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

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BIBLE INACCESSIBLE Of course, the common people couldn’t own a bible! First of all, there was no printing press yet, so each bible had to be hand written like it was in biblical times (scribes) which made it very valuable and rare. The common people were too poor to own such a rare and valuable book. Also, the common people could not read or write, and even if they could read or write in their native language, they certainly could not read Latin! It was illegal for the bible to be read in any of the churches in any other language except Latin.

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So the common people did not know what the Catholic Priest was saying when reading the bible. In fact, many of the Catholic Priests themselves could not read or translate Latin well; they had to believe what others told them the scriptures meant. The Catholic Church felt it was more important for the people to listen to the priest and to obey the church, than to understand the bible and to obey God. The Catholic Church was rich, extremely powerful, cruel and utterly corrupt. This is what led to the Reformation.

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CATHOLIC PRIESTS

MARTIN LUTHER Martin Luther was a German Monk and professor of theology who finally grasped the concept of justification by faith (as opposed to justification by money paid to the church for building St. Peters). He wrote that every Christian who feels true repentance has a right of full remission from guilt without letters of pardon ( you had to pay money to get these letters of pardon from the church). In October 1517, he nailed a thesis about this on the door of his Catholic Church.

Martin Luther sparked the beginning of the Reformation. In 1522, Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German.

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There were other educated and enlightened men who believed that the scriptures belonged to the people.

They believed that each person should be able to hear the scriptures in their native language and to study the bible. They also believed that Christ, not the Pope, was the head of the church, and that the body of the church was not just the clergy but the entire congregation. These teachings were called “heresies� and many people had their land and property seized and given to the church. They were also imprisoned and put to death for preaching and writing their beliefs and for translating the bible.

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John Wycliff, and English Reformer, believed that every man had the right to examine the bible for himself. He translated an English version of the bible in 1384. It was a translation from the Latin, not from the original language. The printing press had not been invented yet, so the bible was not available to the common people.

William Tyndale lived during the Protestant Reformation during the time of King Henry VIII. Henry VIII was the king of England who severed all ties of the Church of England to the Roman Catholic Church because he wanted to annul his marriage to his first wife and marry Ann Boleyn.

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JOHN WYCLIFF

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In 1534, Henry VIII declared himself head of the Church. He persecuted the Catholics but refused to allow any changes in the doctrine of the church. William Tyndale was one of the men who was martyred. He was imprisoned while living in Belgium, not so much for his translation of the bible but also for his other works that refuted some of the Catholic doctrine.

They strangled then burned him.

During Tyndale’s time, the printing press had been invented in Germany and one of the first books to be produced was the bible.

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HENRY VIII

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JOHN ROGERS

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Miles Coverdale by the permission of King Henry VIII, translated the entire bible, including the Apocrypha into English on October 4, 1535. In 1537, John Rogers using the pen name Thomas Matthew, published the Matthew’s bible. It included a concordance, a dictionary, many notes and criticisms of the Catholic Church.

King Henry VIII made a decree that the bible be taught by the curates in English and openly placed in every church. Rogers was another martyr.

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After the death of King Henry, when his daughter Mary ascended the throne (Mary was a staunch Catholic), Rogers was imprisoned and burned at the stake. There were two complete bibles in English, circulated and read in the churches. Coverdale’s bible and Matthew’s bible. It was decided for consistency that it would be best to have one translation. The “Great Bible” was a translation made by Coverdale based on Matthew’s bible. It was 16 1/2 x 11 inches in size and was intended to be “three” bible to replace the other two.

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There were two bibles that immediately proceeded the King James Version of the bible. One was the Geneva Bible. Many Protestants fled from England in Queen Mary’s fanatical reign of terror. Most of the early English translations of the bible were burned under Queen Mary’s rule. Some of the Protestants went to Geneva, Switzerland where they produced a new bible translation into English. People liked the Geneva bible, it was small enough to handle a lot of marginal notes and interpretations of verses.

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GENEVA BIBLE

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QUEEN ELIZABETH I

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The Geneva bible was completed by the time of Queen Elizabeth I reigned, and when she reigned it was able to be circulated in England. It was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth and was cherished by the Puritans. The Geneva bible was also affordable by the common man. The other bible was the Bishop’s bible that was translated by the English Clergy. They did not like the Geneva Bible because they had not been involved in its translation.

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KING JAMES

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King James ascended the throne after the death of Elizabeth. King James was a Protestant. He believed in the divine right of Kings, that the King’s right was hereditary, and that the King was responsible to God and not his subjects. He was considered the Defender of the Faith, and Head of the state church. He was against the Catholics who believed that the Pope was the head of the church. He was also against the Puritans who believed that Christ was the head of the church.

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On the day that James ascended the throne, the Puritans presented a list of grievances that they had against the Church of England. A conference was called to hear and determine the Puritans’ complaints. The Puritans failed. One thing, however, was accomplished. King James agreed to do a new translation of the bible because he did not like the Geneva bible full of its Puritan ideas in all of its annotations. The king appointed a committee of fifty-four scholars to do the translation. Specific rules were set to guide the committee.

KING JAMES BIBLE The King James version was to be translated from the original Hebrew and Greek language. They used the other available bibles to assist with the translation. The completed translation included the Apocrypha. The committee was divided into six companies. Three companies translated the Old Testament. Two companies translated the New Testament and one company translated the Apocrypha. When any one person completed his portion of translation, it would first be reviewed by the rest of his company and finally the entire committee before it was accepted.

KING JAMES BIBLE They were not to place within it any notes or interpretations. The King James Version was not to have in it any man’s particular religious beliefs or interpretations, but was to be a true translation. In 1611, the Authorized King James version of the bible was printed. This bible differed from all of the others proceeding it in these points: It was not the work of a single individual, but was done by a large committee.

It was translated directly from the original Hebrew and Greek languages and was not a translation of a translation.

It was not filled with the varying interpretations of the individual but had very few reference notes.

KING JAMES VERSION BIBLE The King James Version was revised in 1613, 1629, 1638, 1653, 1657, 1762 and finally in 1769 in order to modernize spelling, punctuation and correct printing errors. It is the 1769 version that is known today. The King James Version of the bible is the bile that stood the test of time.

As God’s word stands, so too has stood this bible for almost 400 years, far longer than any version before and after it. Some modern versions rather than modernizing spelling, have attempted to change whole words to what they assume is the modern equivalents in meaning.

THE BIBLE Some of these word changes can change the meaning of the scripture. For example, I read in the newspaper how a minister interpreted the Ten Commandments. He said the modern words should read “You will,” rather than “Thou shalt.” Which he further explained it to mean that when Christ came and changed you, that at that time “you will” have no other God, “you will” not steal or commit adultery. In other words, the commandment was not a command, it only spoke of future events. Some other versions of the bible, like the Living Bible and the NIV Bible (which is rapidly gaining in popularity) actually paraphrases the scriptures which often changes the entire meaning. The Bible that has stood until these latter days when the Lord would reveal the truth again to his children is the bible that we adhere to. We do not believe that God gave interpretation of truth to the Catholics or her Protestant daughters. We do not look to their interpretations to determine what we believe in the bible, therefore, bibles that change words, sentences and phrases we hold to be suspect and contaminated. Even their supposed biblical scholars all criticized the different version of the bible holding up some as good and others as illiterate, inaccurate, and poorly translated.

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Though King James was not a holy man, yet it is obvious that the Spirit of God worked through him and through the other men who jeopardized their lives and were even martyred to translate the bible. It would take up too much time and space to examine each new version of the bible that paraphrases it and changes words and meanings. These bibles were written based on the particular beliefs of the individuals writing them. What are modern truths and beliefs is not the same as what is actual truth and belief. For example, there is a bible that has taken away all gender references to God. God is no longer a “He.” Being a “He” is no longer politically correct. There is even a “bible” written in comic book form with pictures.

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THE BIBLE

CONCLUSION Let us continue in the way that we have been taught and directed. If we don’t understand a word we can easily use a dictionary. If we don’t understand a scripture we must wait upon the Holy Spirit who enlightens us and who is our teacher and our interpreter. The bible, meaning the King James Version, of the bible, is such a standard that the things that are clear and easily understood like the Ten commandments need no further translation, and the things that are obscure like the prophecies, are left to the interpretation of the Holy Spirit. We cannot read the bible like a common book. The bible was written through the spirit and is also understood through the Spirit.

SPECIAL THANKS

This class was developed by: Evelyn C. Pointer

QUESTIONS? For questions regarding this presentation please contact us via email at info@householdofisrael.org or by phone at 219.949.9308.