Or you can read the story here: http://www.mercurynews.com/weird-news/ci_13567852
Nearly four decades ago when I began ministry, I knew about the King James Only movement. My hope was that when that generation died we would be done with them. We aren't. They have multiplied like rabbits--yeah, verily they hath been exceeding prolific in the spread of their view of scripture.
A couple of folk from the church where I pastor ran into some of these King James zealots recently. Thankfully, these devotees of what they call the "Authorized Version" aren't planning a Bible-burning, though I figure they wouldn't do much to talk the North Carolina pastor out of his event. One accusation, among others, is that modern translations like the NIV or NASB somehow downplay the Deity of Christ. Jesus Christ and Who He is are at the core of my faith, so I don't take those accusations lightly.
Here are a couple of good articles, if you want to read further:
- This article does a good job refuting the accusation that translations other than the KJV are substandard in regard to Christology:
http://contenderministries.org/biblestudy/kjodeityofchrist.php - Here is an article understandable to the layman that discusses the Greek manuscripts:
http://www.onenesspentecostal.com/kjvevaluation.htm - Here is an article that begins with a brief statement about why we need an English translation other than the King James and then goes on to do a good job of presenting, in essentially bullet-point format, a brief description of the popular modern translations and paraphrases.
http://www.firstpresb.org/translations.htm - While this article needs to be updated, it is still useful in making a decision as to which Bible translations are dependable and useful:
http://covingtonbiblechurch.org/DevotionalAidsResources/HelpinChoosingaBibleTranslation/tabid/235/Default.aspx
3 comments:
My young, well-read friend Bart often speaks in allusions.
I think his comment refers to a gesture. Here is a picture of the gesture (don't worry, it isn't obscene): http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Image:Picard-no-facepalm.jpg
Obviously, I agree. hm
Yikes. Stories and people like that definitely deserve the facepalm.. or a dramatic eyebrow raise. But I find them a little frightening too. I wonder how much they have in common with people like Brother Jed Smock... or even Fred Phelps and his church.
Unfurtunately, I do a see a similarity. When we in the church espouse intellectually dificient positions like the Bible-burners or horribly cruel practices like Fred Phelps, we undermine our ability to enter the conversation in a constructive way.
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