That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. Philippians 1:10
The Bible is extremely important. From the Bible, we learn how to be eternally saved, and how to live as a Christian. There is absolutely nothing in the world that is more important than the Bible. There is no national treasure that is more valuable than the Bible. Mankind can do without a lot of things, but society will collapse without the Bible. We, as Christians, hold in our hands the most powerful tool in the world. It is the answer to all the world’s questions. There is nothing that Satan hates more than the Bible, and there is nothing we should tenaciously guard as the Bible.
At Faith Baptist Church, we use only the King James Version. There are many good people who use other translations, and they are doing a work for Christ. We do not find fault with them, nor call them heretics. We choose not to use other translations, but we still hold a measure of reverence for them because they do contain the Word of God.
The basic reason we use the KJV goes back to the Greek text, which is the basis of the New Testament. There are two texts—[1] the ‘Received’ text, and [2] the Westcott-Hort text. The Received text gets its name from the fact that it dates back to the 1st century, and was the text ‘received’ by the early church. The Westcott-Hort text gets its name from 2 scholars who developed it 1881. All modern English translations are based on the Westcott-Hort text. The KJV is based on the Received Text.
Since the Bible is of such grave importance, we must be extremely careful when switching from one translation to another. We do not choose a translation simply because it is easier to read. We must be able to intelligently place our confidence in it, because that is where we will learn how to live—and that is very important.
That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. Philippians 1:10