The King James Version of the Holy Bible

In this particular series we are going to be using the Authorized King James Version (AV) of the Holy Bible for the specific purpose of demonstrating how the governing body of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs), who run the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, have perverted the Word of God in order to keep their adherents in the dark concerning the true nature of God and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The reason why we have chosen to use this version of the Holy Bible is because up until 1950 the AV was basically the official Bible of the JWs. In fact, the Society continued to print and distribute this version even after the publication of their own New World Translation (NWT).

Note, for instance, what The Watchtower, 1 November 1959, p. 672, stated concerning the AV: “Up until 1950 the teachings of Jehovah’s witnesses were based mainly upon the King James Version of the Bible.”

The Society further wrote that,

The early settlers from England who landed in North America brought with them the Geneva Bible. Later, however, the King James Version gained greater acceptance in America. As the British Empire expanded throughout the world, Protestant missionaries spread its use. Since many who translated the Bible into local languages were unfamiliar with Biblical Hebrew and Greek, the King James Version in English became the basis for these local translations.

Today, according to the British Library, “The King James, or Authorised, Version of the Bible remains the most widely published text in the English language.” Some estimates put the number of copies of the King James Version produced in print worldwide at over one billion!…

Although the Bible remains the world’s best seller—and the King James Version is the most popular one—Professor Richard G. Moulton observed: “We have done almost everything that is possible with these Hebrew and Greek writings. . . . We have translated them [and] revised the translations . . . There is yet one thing left to do with the Bible: simply to read it.”

Without question, the King James Version is a literary masterpiece, appreciated and valued for its unparalleled beauty of expression. But what about the importance of its message? The Bible’s inspired writings reveal the lasting remedy for the problems of our critical times. No matter which version or translation you choose to use, Jehovah’s Witnesses will be happy to help you in your study of the Bible. (Awake!, “The King James Version—How It Became Popular,” December 2011, p. 24 http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102011446; bold and underline emphasis mine)

And:

In 1907 a Bible Students Edition of the King James Version was published in the United States of America for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. It included an extensive appendix called the “Berean Bible Teachers’ Manual.” Later, Jehovah’s Witnesses printed the King James Version on their own presses. By 1992 the Witnesses had produced 1,858,368 copies. (Ibid., p. 24; bold and underline emphasis mine)

Now this places the JWs in a predicament since they cannot object to our use of the AV, especially when it contradicts the way the NWT renders a particular verse. After all, to argue that the AV is less than accurate, or not completely reliable, basically means that the Society knowingly used and printed a version that they knew was grossly misleading in the way it rendered specific texts. In fact, due to the “faulty” nature of the AV many people have come to embrace doctrines such as the Trinity, the two natures of Christ (i.e., the Hypostatic Union), the physical, bodily resurrection, ascension and return of Christ, the divine Personhood of the Holy Spirit, salvation by grace through faith alone etc. Therefore, how can the Society be trusted when it willfully published and distributed such a “perversion” of the Holy Bible? Worse still, why would they continue to praise it in the December 2011 edition of their Awake! Magazine, and include it as part of their Online Bible (https://www.jw.org/en/publications/bible/) and Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY  (https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/binav/r1/lp-e), as well as the JW Library App (http://www.jw.org/en/online-help/jw-library/), unless the Society accepts it as an accurate and God-honoring translation?

Thus, the JWs have no choice but to accept the AV as an absolutely faithful rendering of the inspired Scriptures, and therefore cannot reject or object to any passage that we cite from it to establish our point.

With the foregoing in view, we are ready to start the discussion by taking a look at a specific text that the Society uses to deny the Deity of Christ, and show how the AV provides the answer to this supposed denial of Christ’s divinity. So please proceed to the second part in our series (https://islamunmasked.com/2019/02/19/the-jehovahs-witnesses-nightmare-pt-2a/).

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