Why is the King James Bible superior to all the modern versions (1881-present) of the Bible? First, let’s establish that God has actually preserved every word of scripture, as he promised in the Bible. There are many verses where God promised to preserve his word for us throughout all generations. Matthew 24:35 says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away.” Isaiah 59:21 says, “My words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord from henceforth and forever.” Psalm 12:6-7 says, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” 1Peter 1:23 says, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” Also, see Psalm 119:89, Isaiah 30:8, Isaiah 40:8 and John 17:8.
Even though the original manuscripts no longer exist, we can be confident that God did not just abandon his word to men, and therefore is corrupted today. The Old Testament was written from 4000 to 400 years before the New Testament, so we know that the New Testament writers only had copies of scripture to rely on then. Yet through the inspiration of God, Paul wrote in 2Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” If this is true, then God also knew how to preserve his words through many copies, so they would be available, intact, to every generation. When we read the Bible, we see that God has always preserved a faithful people for himself (although not the Jews in general). When Elijah felt he was the last remaining faithful person to God, God replied, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hast not kissed him.” (1Kings 19:18, Romans 11:4) Even as God has preserved his people, so he preserved his word and kept his promises.
Now that we know God gave his word for every generation, where did he preserve them? There are really only two possibilities. Either God used the Essenes, the Catholic church, and the various denominations that branched off the Catholic church, or he used the faithful, who despite severe persecution, managed to preserve copies of scripture, all amazingly similar to one another?
Let’s first look at the persecuted faithful church. Rome began persecuting Christians under Nero, and continued the persecution under Emperor Constantine. The true believers who would not allow paganism to infiltrate the Christian faith, fled to the mountains, taking their scriptures with them. They found areas where they could live and worship in relative peace for hundreds of years, and included the Waldenses, Lollards, and other small groups. Their Bibles closely match the King James, and include the Old Latin Bibles and the Old Syriac Bibles. The oldest copies of these Bibles date from 157 AD. In addition, there are scriptures available from the persecuted church in Alexandria, Egypt, where the modern versions have their root. We also have many manuscripts that date from as early as 200AD in Greek, Latin, and Syrian, from Europe, northern Africa, and Asia Minor that support the readings in the King James Bible. In fact, over 95% of all manuscripts archeologists have discovered are very similar to the King James Bible. This is generally known as the Antioch line of manuscripts.
In contrast, The Catholic church, which used to forbid Bible reading by the common people, turned to Eusebius at Origen’s Alexandrian school to produce 50 Bibles in Greek. Of these 50 copies, we know that tow remain today. We call them Codex Vaticanus, or Codex B and Codex Sinaiticus, or Codex Aleph. Both of these appear to be translations of the Hexapla by Origen, a heretic who believed in the divinity of men. Neither Codex B or Codex Aleph agree with each other, or with the handful of other existing manuscripts relied upon by the new versions. The texts the new versions use as their sources make up less than 5% of all extant manuscripts, and were produced by the persecuting church in order to keep them under their control and lead people away from God. This is called the Alexandrian line of manuscripts.
Which group sounds like the word of God, preserved for every generation?
The King James Bible is based on the Antioch line. The King James is further supported by most of the 86,000 scriptural quotes by the early church fathers. An excellent example is found in 1John 5:7, which all the new versions either delete or indicate doubt about. It reads, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” Cyprian quoted in in 250 AD saying, “The LORD says ‘I and the Father are one’ and likewise it is written of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ‘And these three are one.’” (SOURCE-Don C. Hewey,Complete List of New Testament Manuscripts That Verify 1 John 5:7, 1John57.com) There are in fact many citations and manuscripts that support the inclusion of this verse in the Bible. Since many of the manuscripts are of latter history, the new version editors determined that this verse was added later to the scriptures and sometimes claim that there is no early evidence for it. However, it should be noted that the entire chapter of 1John 5 is missing from the early manuscripts.
