I unashamedly and unequivocally believe that the King James Version is the Word of God for the English-speaking people. 

Twice in Scripture we find:  “Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it”  (Psalm 119:140)  and  “Every word of God is pure:” (Proverbs 30:5). I do not want a Bible that has been tainted, twisted, perverted, paraphrased, muddied, messed with, or mistranslated. I want to be able to read the pure words of God. I believe that time, history, and the usage of correct manuscript texts have irrefutably proven that the King James Version is THE accurate and perfect translation of Scripture into the English language from the original languages the Bible was written in and given through Divine verbal plenary inspiration. (Years ago, I wrote and published a 250-page book entitled “Our Blessed Book” that carefully presents and documents the authentic legitimacy of the King James Version.)

Jesus stood up against Satan and said in Matthew 4:4, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This reveals that the battle for the Bible is real. This fight is not make-believe or something in which we are striving to generate debate and make a “mountain out of a mole hill”. Satan hates God. He hates the Word of God. He hates the people of God. He will use any manipulative and deceitful means necessary behind the scenes as puppet-master to pollute, water-down, or remove God’s Word so that he may gain advantage of churches and Christians. I am convinced of this!

If the Lord says that I must live by every God-breathed word, then it must be God’s design and desire for me to have, hold, and heed an  “every word” Book! I believe the King James Version is that translation for the English language, and I do not believe this out of preference — but out of conviction.

I do not believe that the translators of the King James Version were inspired by the Holy Ghost as the penmen of the Word of God were when it was first given (II Peter 1:21). However, I do believe that it is evident they were anointed by the power of the Holy Ghost in their work to accurately and perfectly translate the inspired Word of God from the original languages into the English language. 

To briefly address this point — it is foolish to think that the Scriptures were “inspired” again a second time when they were translated into the King James Version. Jude 3 teaches us that “the faith ... was ONCE DELIVERED unto the saints.”  ONCE. There is no need for a second delivery or inspiration of Scripture by the Holy Ghost. When God gave His Word through His men thousands of years ago it was completely inspired in that very moment, and the inspiration of the Bible has lived on ever since — never ceasing. God’s Word is God-breathed in this very moment. II Timothy 3:16 reveals — “All scripture IS given by inspiration of God.” The principle of inspiration will always remain etched in the present tense — the Bible is just as freshly inspired and powerfully quick today as when it was first given! What a tremendous blessing! The Word of God “liveth and abideth for ever” (I Peter 1:23). As you hold the Bible in your hand, in your head, and in your heart, you are holding His present-tense inspired Word!

We give God the glory for how He has used His people generation after generation to meticulously preserve the inspired Word of God. 

As the translators of the King James Version used preserved manuscripts of the inspired Word of God, I believe God enabled them and anointed them in this special task to provide the perfect “mirror” in English of what the Bible says in Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. Thankfully, they were not trying to make the Bible a newspaper read. Their desire was to capture in English the majesty and beauty of Scripture as it was originally penned — this was how high and pure their thought was of God and His Word!

I believe that the King James Version is  the inspired, preserved, infallible, and perfect Word of God for the English-speaking people. You may not agree with me on this position, but this has always been the stance I’ve taken ever since I was a child. I have willingly submitted myself under the authority of the King James Version (read Psalm 119:33-40), and this is the only English version that I will ever use — because I firmly believe it’s the only English Bible we should use. I reverence it. I love it. I read it. I memorize it. I preach it. I point my children to it, and we read our family devotions from it. There is no other English translation in our home. It is our Bible. It is our everything. Period.

I have consistently sought to take this position with the right disposition (in the love of Christ and with grace toward others who may not believe as I do) . . . .  But please know that my reverence for the King James Version will always supersede any respect for a man or ministry on the warpath to discredit or alter the King James Version in any way. Because of love and because of reverence for God’s Word, I will earnestly contend for God’s Word. Don’t  mess with my Bible! I will NOT stand with those who are diametrically opposed to the King James Version, those who are set to subtly undermine it and destroy it, or those who seek to publicly diminish or downplay its credibility and proactively want to influence others to abandon it. NO SIR. I will not hold your hand!

In recent days, there has been an alarming rise in articles, podcasts, and online videos (many under the guise of humility and transparency) from those who once embraced only the King James Version and even from some who still claim to use it.... However, they are now questioning the credibility of the King James Version by casting doubt upon its readability and validity of use in a “modern” age.  Some are even calling for independent Baptists to completely abandon it! THIS IS ALL VERY DANGEROUS AND DISTURBING.

HERE IS WHAT I HAVE OBSERVED:

1.)  Oftentimes, no Scripture is quoted or used to justify any of these new positions (or I Corinthians 14:9—11 is slapped down as “proof”, but the context of this passage is about speaking in “tongues” . . . a completely different language). I say to the critics of the King James Version — please don’t tell us you’ve been burdened about this new position for some time now and then not share with us what SCRIPTURE God used in your life to get you to change your position in the first place! This is  pragmatism at its finest. Our approach to all things should be “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105). Ephesians 5:8 & 10 instruct us: “walk as children of light: Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” We are to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (I Thessalonians 5:21). We should approach this issue (and ANY issue) by Scriptural principle and not with human reasoning or justification.

2.)  They are making fraudulent claims that the King James Version cannot be understood anymore and that there needs to be a movement to “revise”  the wording of the King James Version. This is the same ol’ same ol’ call to “dumb down” God’s Word (which He exalts above His own name!) to meet the “standard” of culture’s English. Instead of stooping the Bible to the people, we should be raising the people to the Bible! This is  REVERENCE and the application of  EDUCATION. The Bible commands us to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15). It did not say, “Read to shew thyself approved”, but “STUDY”!  In my opinion, a re-wording of the King James Version advocates laziness, shallowness, and a “watering down” of God’s Word that will remove the excellence of translation we have so wondrously received.

Some have misused William Tyndale’s famous quote (“If God spare my life ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough, shall know more of the scriptures than thou dost!”) as justification for this need. THIS MUST BE CORRECTED. The truth is — William Tyndale's burden was to make the Bible available in English so that everyone could have access to it and read it, regardless of their social class . . . Tyndale was NOT trying to produce a Bible that could be read by everyone in “their” English. He wanted to get an English Bible in the hands of the plowboy — not get a Bible into the language nuance of that plowboy. If you study history, there was a literacy REVIVAL after Tyndale’s Bible was released because people wanted to learn to read it. God actually used Tyndale through his translation to tutor poets, playwrights, politicians, pastors, and people in the sounds and senses of the English language. Tyndale’s translation ELEVATED the education level of the people. It would not only reform and shape the future of England, but also the English language itself.

To the critics of the King James Version who are arguing that the present-day “plowboy” can’t understand the King James Version — your argument is not valid as much as you are trying to convince us that it is. There are more helps, tools, resources, and commentaries at our disposal today than ever before. The problem is not the translation — the problem is the level of education. It is time to bring people up to the standard of the King James Version.

But let’s follow the critic’s logic for a moment — let’s say we agree with them that we ought to re-word the King James Version and update the vernacular . . . . Which “plowboy” dialect do we use? What is our standard for that? England? Scotland? Chicago, Illinois? Charleston, West Virginia? Baton Rouge, Louisiana? New York City? Uganda? The Philippines? WHERE? What local nuance are we going to use?

Dr. Phil Stringer summarized this argument perfectly while writing on behalf of the King James Bible Research Council: “Having a Bible that is easy to understand is not a godly goal. We are never encouraged to such an idea in the Scripture. Spiritual growth comes from diligent study. We need an accurate Bible not an easy one. That is why we have preachers and teachers. The cry that everything must be easy is the cry of our day, but it is the opposite of spiritual growth. Much of the Bible is ‘meat’ and requires diligent study. We must have a Bible that is the words that God gave accurately translated into English. Growing believers must be willing to study and learn if they wish to grow.”

For consistencies’ sake, the “readability” argument should be applied to ALL English Bibles, not just the King James Version, because they ALL have words in them that need to be defined (It’s truly shocking how some of the mainstream modern translations are just as “hard” to read as the King James Version!). Just because someone might be unfamiliar with the definition of a word does not mean that we should replace or rewrite the word. It is not my place (OR YOURS) to rewrite it!

I say to the critics of the King James Version — Sirs, the burden of proof is on your end. You are saying that we need to change our position . . . .  Then you need to prove that unequivocally — and the proof simply is not there in the volume of articles, podcasts, books, and videos you have produced. The number of words you want to change/update is less than .26% of the entire King James Version — this is absolutely not a valid reason to exchange the King James Version for a lesser, watered-down translation of the Word of God. What you are clamoring for is an exaggeration and HARDLY a compelling argument to revise or retire the King James Version. 

I am not “wildly-out-of-control” on this issue. I believe that each of you need to be asked: “Why are you attacking the King James Version? Why don’t you go out and pick one of the 900+ English translations available today and leave the King James Version alone?” Feel free to use any of the other translations out there that claim to be an updated, modernized, easier-to-read revision of the King James Version — such as The King James II by Jay Green, 21^st Century King James Version, The American KJV (1999), The Restored KJV, The Updated KJV (2000), New King James Version, MEV, KJV 2016, KJVER, SKJV, etc. STOP ASSAULTING MY BIBLE.

Your desire to re-word the King James Version leaves the door WIDE OPEN for textual criticism and sets a pattern/precedent to change it again and again and again. Furthermore, to those of you who advocate this “rewording” of the King James Version, it reveals that you do not consider or believe the King James Version to be the perfect Word of God, and I’m bothered by that. What voices are you listening to? Who is influencing you? “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” (Romans 16:17-18).

3.)  Many of the critics of the King James Version weaponize what the translators wrote in the preface of the King James Version to justify their position. In the preface, the translators acknowledge that the King James Version might not be perfect — and that other translations might come thereafter. I do not shy away from this; I’m actually glad the translators said it! Why? What they wrote reveals their true heart — one of great humility. Think of how arrogant, haughty, condescending, spiteful, and wicked these men would be to consider their work flawless and to condemn anyone who would seek to further refine the Bible in the English language!

Throughout the Preface they expressed their total dependence on God for this undertaking — their need for Heaven’s wisdom and help to ensure faithfulness in their task — and acknowledged the sacred responsibility upon them to accurately translate the Scriptures. This was no light or flippant thing! They declared, “And in what sort did these assemble? In the trust of their own knowledge, or of their sharpness of wit, or deepness of judgment, as it were in the arm of flesh? At no hand. They trusted in Him that hath the key of David, opening and no man shutting; they prayed to the Lord . . . ‘O let thy Scriptures be my pure delight; let me not be deceived in them, neither let me deceive by them.’” They transparently revealed their motive for this work — “Truly we never thought from the beginning, that we should need to make a new Translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one...but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principal good one — that hath been our endeavor, that our mark.”

To the best of their ability through prayerful attentiveness and careful reliance upon the Lord, they labored in excellence to produce a literal English translation from the correct Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. And I believe with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, they did it.

History and time have proven that NO TRANSLATION since the King James Version has been an “improved”, “more refined”, or “better” English translation of Scripture. Every translation since the King James Version has been a downgrade — using corrupted manuscripts for translation, removing Bible doctrine, and de-beautifying the elevated vernacular of Scripture. No thank you! I’m not interested! (Furthermore, I do not believe you can possibly purify something that is already pure!) Some of us don’t want a paraphrasing or some general watered-down context of Scripture. We want an accurate translation in the English language as it was given in the original languages, and those of us who have embraced the King James Version as the Word of God for the English-speaking people believe that IT IS JUST THAT — the very Word of God in our language. 

4.)  The critics who change from the King James Version and are trying to convince us that we should do the same cannot definitively tell us WHICH English translation they embrace and believe to be the Word of God for the English-speaking people. They lack conviction of and commitment to an “every word” book. This is a huge RED FLAG. (Matthew 7:20 — “by their fruits ye shall know them.” Watch out for this crowd no matter how suave, "spiritual”, or sound they may appear!)

This reveals that they doubt God in His omnipotent power to be able to provide for us (and any people group) an “every word” Book in our language. It exposes that they are unwilling to submit themselves under the authority of one Bible. This will hinder them and any Christian or preacher from being fully effective for Christ in “holding forth the word of life” “in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation”(Philippines 2:15-16) if they don’t even know for certain which “word” to hold forth! They want their lives in an atmosphere that is not bound to one Bible as their sole authority for faith and practice. They want a “flexible” authority, and this allows human authority to be their final authority. This is extremely dangerous because it elevates man to a place equal with God, and it gives him the power to select (“pick and choose”) what he deems to be accurate and what isn’t. (“The KJV is good here, but the ESV says it better there. The KJV sounds confusing in this passage, but I like how the NIV or NASB words it better in their versions.”) This is spiritual humanism. It’s a flesh-gratifying snare that makes an individual feel good by being in control and having the ultimate say . . . .  THIS IS WRONG.

To the critics — if you do not believe that the King James Version is the Word of God for the English-speaking people, then what ONE BIBLE do you believe is? What ONE BIBLE will you use? What ONE BIBLE will you submit yourself under? I challenge you to figure this out and stick to that one Bible with your dying breath! In the meantime, knock off your “cunning craftiness, whereby [you] lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14). You have already showed your true colors. Stop with your attempts to recruit preacher boys and a younger generation in joining your pied piper call to make your abandoning of the King James Version more palatable.

5.)  These positions the critics are taking violate the Biblical principle to “strengthen the things which remain” (Revelation 3:2). God’s Word exhorts: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;” (II Timothy 3:14). Scripture NEVER ADVOCATES taking a WEAKER or LOOSER POSITION!

Friends, we need to “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding”(Proverbs 23:23). Don’t give in to the active ploys attempting to erode or eliminate the perfectly translated Word of God in the English language. There needs to be a generation who will not cower, cave in, or compromise. “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (I Corinthians 16:13).

It is not the work of God to cast doubt upon the Word of God. Since the beginning of time this has been one of the main tactics of Satan! He asked Eve in the Garden: “Yea, hath God said?” (Genesis 3:1). This is exactly what the critics of the King James Version are doing, and I trust that you can readily discern this. Please don’t fall for it! (Genesis 3:1-5 reveals that Satan shrewdly demanded to converse [Eve didn’t approach him . . . he approached her!], was diligent to question, and determined to contradict before He declared a complete lie. WOW!) To the younger generation reading this, BE CAREFUL of the voices you are listening to and who is influencing you.

To the critics: those of us who believe that the King James Version is the inspired, preserved, infallible, and perfect Word of God for the English-speaking people are not going anywhere. Some of you think you have been “enlightened” and are actively praying that somehow God will help us to see as you do. What you call antiquated and outdated, we call relevant and right. What you call blindness, we call open-eyed submission. What you call arrogance in clinging to one translation, we call commitment to the Word of God. Stop messing with our Bible!

We do not hate you — we hurt for you. We are burdened that you have turned (or are in the process of turning) your back on the King James Version. We hate the doubt and division you are fomenting. We have not changed our position; you are the ones who have changed and have rejected the heritage of how you were raised. This is grieving to us and makes us weep. We are sincerely praying for YOU.

My closing statement is this: I will ever cling to the King James Version and hold it high in love and reverence. I thank God that I have an “every word” Book! My friend, I encourage you to grab ahold of your King James Bible right now and in prayer passionately commit or re-commit your life to it. Never waver from His Word no matter what the “noise” from the critics and scoffers may be!

“Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.” (Psalm 119:111-112)

The day after I finished writing this article (November 1, 2024), the Lord brought to my attention what Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones had to say in his day about the King James Version during a sermon he delivered at the National Bible Rally in the Royal Albert Hall, London, on October 24, 1961.

When I read it, I was BLOWN AWAY at the uncanny parallel to what the Lord lead me to write in this concise and Scriptural rebuttal and what Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones was anointed to preach over 60 years ago. The only thing I could say with widened eyes was: “WOW.”

What you are about to read Dr. Jones state did not in any way influence or alter any portion of this rebuttal after I read it. I know that you, dear reader, must choose for yourself if what I am telling you is fact or a tactic of manipulation . . . but my wife, my pastor, and God are my witnesses in this matter! I am ready to stand and give an account in eternity for this, and I most gladly will do so because it is true.

I believe the inclusion of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ bold message to his generation is a “word fitly spoken” that I pray will resonate within your heart some of the sentiments that I have already prayerfully drawn out:

“I suppose that the most popular of all the proposals at the present moment is to have a new translation of the Bible . . . . The argument is that people are not reading the Bible any longer because they do not understand its language — particularly the archaic terms. And so we are told the one thing that is necessary is to have a translation that Tom, Dick, and Harry will understand, and I began to feel about six months ago that we had almost reached the stage in which the Authorized Version was being dismissed — thrown into the limbo of things forgotten, no longer of any value. Need I apologize for saying a word in favour of the Authorized Version in this gathering? Well, whatever you may think, I am going to do it without any apology.

“There is a very grave danger in much of the argument that is being presented today for these new translations. There is a danger, I say, of our surrendering something that is vital and essential. Look at it like this. Take this argument that the modern man does not understand such terms as ‘justification,’ ‘sanctification,’ and so on. I want to ask a question: When did the ordinary man ever understand those terms? Consider the coalminers to whom John Wesley and George Whitefield used to preach in the eighteenth century. Did they understand them? They had not even been to a day school, an elementary school. They could not read, they could not write. Yet these were the terms which they heard, and the Authorized Version was the version used. The common people have never understood these terms. 

“However, I want to add something to this. We must be very careful in using such an argument against the Authorized Version, for the reason that the very nature and character of the truth which the Bible presents to us is such that it is extremely difficult to put into words at all. We are not describing an animal or a machine; we are concerned here with something which is spiritual, something which does not belong to this world at all, and which, as the apostle Paul in writing to the Corinthians reminds us, ‘the princes of this world’ do not know. Human wisdom is of no value here; it is a spiritual truth; it is something that is altogether different. This is truth about God primarily, and because of that it is a mystery. There is a glory attached to it, there is a wonder, and something which is amazing. The Apostle Paul, who probably understood it better than most, looking at its contents, stands back and says, ‘Great is the mystery of godliness’ (I Timothy 3:16).

“Yet we are told, ‘It must be put in such simple terms and language that anybody taking it up and reading it is going to understand all about it.’ My friends, this is nothing but sheer nonsense! What we must do is to educate the masses of the people up to the Bible, not bring the Bible down to their level. One of the greatest troubles in life today is that everything is being brought down to the same level; everything is cheapened. The common man is made the standard of authority; he decides everything, and everything has to be brought down to him. You are getting it on television and in your newspapers; everywhere standards are coming down and down. Are we to do that with the Word of God? I say, NO! What has happened in the past has been this: an ignorant, an illiterate people in this country and in foreign countries, coming into salvation, have been educated up to the Book and have begun to understand it, to glory in it, and to praise God for it. I am here to say that we need to do the same at this present time. What we need is, therefore, NOT to replace the Authorized Version with a different edition of the Bible. We need rather to reach and train people up to the standard and the language, the dignity and the glory of the old Authorized Version.

“Very well, my friends, let me say a word for the old book, the old Authorized Version. It was translated by fifty-four men, every one of them a great scholar, and published in 1611.

“These translators were all men who believed that the Bible is the infallible Word of God and they submitted to it as the final authority. You have never had that in any other version. Here, and here alone, you have a body of men who were absolutely committed to it, who gave themselves to it, and who did not want to correct or sit in judgment on it — whose only concern and desire was to translate and interpret it for the masses of the people.

“In view of all this, my argument is that the answer does not lie in producing new translations; they are coming out almost every year, but are they truly aiding the situation? No, and for this reason: men no longer read the Bible not because they cannot understand its language, but because they do not believe in it. They do not believe in God; they do not want it. Their problem is not one of language and of terminology; it is the state of the heart. Therefore what do we do about it? It seems to me THERE IS ONLY ONE THING TO DO — the thing that has always been done in the past . . . . We must preach it  [The King James Version] and our preaching must be WHOLLY BASED UPON ITS AUTHORITY!”

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Caleb Garraway

Evangelist / Author

Caleb Garraway travels in full-time evangelism a majority of each year with his wife Katie and their children. With hearts that burn for Heaven-sent revival, the Lord has blessed their ministries to globally reach scores of millions with the Gospel through preaching, the printed word, and film. Their ministries offer numerous Christ-honoring resources (music albums, documentaries, and books) for the church, family, and home.  The Garraways have been blessed with five children that all use the King James Version. They make their home in Washington, IA, and are based out of Marion Avenue Baptist Church.