If you have been in church for any length of time, you have probably met someone who insists that the King James Bible is the only true Word of God. To them, if you are not using the King James Version (KJV), then you are either deceived, unfaithful, or even flirting with heresy. This belief is called King James-Onlyism (KJVO).
At first glance, it sounds zealous. After all, who would not want to protect God’s Word from corruption? The problem is that King James-Onlyism does not hold up under serious biblical, historical, or logical examination. It takes a good translation and turns it into an idol.
The King James Bible is a beautiful and trustworthy translation, and it has been used mightily by God for over 400 years. But it was never meant to be treated as if it were the one and only, final form of God’s Word in English. When we test KJVO claims against Scripture and history, the cracks show quickly. Let’s walk through the main reasons why King James-Onlyism is wrong.
1. God’s Word Wasn’t Written in English
The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The Old Testament comes primarily from Hebrew, with a few portions in Aramaic. The New Testament was written entirely in Greek. English did not even exist when God inspired the Scriptures through the prophets and apostles.
This matters because it forces us to recognize that any English Bible, no matter how good, is a translation. God’s inspired and inerrant Word applies to the original writings, not to a 17th-century English rendering. When someone claims the KJV alone is the one perfect Bible, they are replacing the original languages of Scripture with a translation. That is not biblical.
It also ignores the reality that millions of Christians worldwide thrive spiritually without ever reading a word of the KJV or knowing English. Believers in Spain read the Reina-Valera, German Christians use the Lutherbibel, Hindi speakers rely on faithful Hindi Bibles, French believers read the Louis Segond, and millions of Chinese Christians read Mandarin translations. These brothers and sisters grow in Christ, plant churches, and endure persecution with the same confidence in God’s Word that English speakers have. The Spirit of God works powerfully through faithful translations across languages, proving that no single English version holds exclusive claim to God’s truth.
“The issue is not whether we have the Word of God. We do. The question is whether we will allow the Word of God to speak with its own voice, in its own context, or whether we will replace it with a tradition about a particular English translation.”
James White
The danger is clear: when we elevate one translation above the God-breathed originals, we move into the realm of human tradition instead of divine authority.
2. The KJV Has Changed Over Time
Most people who hold a strict KJVO view do not actually read the 1611 edition of the KJV. If they opened it, they would struggle to get through even a single page. The spelling is archaic, the typography is unfamiliar, and the language contains words that have shifted in meaning.
What people really read today is the 1769 Blayney revision or later editions that have modernized spelling, punctuation, and some word choices. Thousands of small changes have been made over the centuries. So when someone says, “The KJV is perfect,” the obvious question is: which KJV? The 1611? The 1629? The 1762? The 1769?
“Objections to the readability of the KJV are not beside the point. They are the point. We must ask whether its difficulties now outweigh the benefits of retaining it.”
Mark Ward, author of Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible
3. The Apostles Themselves Used Translations
The writers of the New Testament did not always quote the Old Testament directly from Hebrew. They often used the Septuagint (LXX), a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that existed in their day. For example, Hebrews 10:5 quotes Psalm 40:6 using Septuagint wording rather than the Masoretic Hebrew form.
This shows the inspired apostles were not afraid of translation. God’s Word does not lose its authority when faithfully translated. If the apostles could quote a translation, God’s people today are not bound to one English translation from 1611.
“KJV Onlyism often begins with the conclusion that the KJV must be the Word of God in a unique way, and then reinterprets historical evidence to support that conclusion.”
Reformed Reader
4. It Confuses the Gospel With Loyalty to One English Translation
Scripture teaches that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The Bible never adds conditions like “you must use this translation” in order to be saved. Yet some King James-Onlyists drift into that error, making allegiance to the KJV part of the gospel itself.
To be clear, not everyone who prefers the KJV goes this far. Many simply love the translation and believe it is the most faithful. But a number of outspoken voices within the KJVO camp have turned it into a salvation issue.
For instance, Steven Anderson — pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church and founder of the New Independent Fundamental Baptist movement — preached a sermon bluntly titled “Pastors Who Preach the NIV Aren’t Saved!” (April 10, 2010) [Source: IMDb listing] The claim is straightforward: anyone using modern translations is unsaved.
Anderson later made even stronger statements during his 2014 exchange with Dr. James White. Reviewers recall that he suggested those who claim the NIV is the Word of God are “probably not saved,” and even implied that those who cannot grasp the older English of the KJV are “probably not saved.” The full conversation is available for review: [Watch the full interview] | [Summary commentary]
The problem is obvious. If salvation hinges on a particular translation, then we have added a human tradition to the gospel. The apostles proclaimed Christ in Greek, Aramaic, and other local tongues around the Roman world. They never required believers to adopt one sacred translation before they could be forgiven and born again.
James White has pointed out that this kind of thinking denies the gospel of grace. Our confidence in Scripture does not rise or fall with one English edition. No essential Christian doctrine is lost or changed when comparing faithful translations. Once you declare that someone must hold the King James to be saved, you have crossed the line into another gospel.
Elevating the KJV from a trustworthy translation to a test of salvation undermines the good news. It shifts the focus from Christ crucified and risen to a man-made litmus test about Bible editions.
5. The Church Thrived Long Before 1611
For the first 1,600 years of church history, there was no King James Bible. Yet the gospel advanced, churches were planted, missionaries carried the good news across continents, and countless believers were saved and discipled.
The early church fathers read Scripture in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and other languages. Augustine, Athanasius, and Chrysostom never held a KJV. The Reformers did not have it either. To claim the KJV is the only true Bible suggests that God’s people were left without His Word for over a millennium and a half. That is contrary to God’s providence.
6. Faithful Translations Exist Today
Other faithful translations exist. Versions such as the ESV, NASB, CSB, and NKJV are rooted in the same inspired Word of God. They benefit from advances in our understanding of ancient languages and, in some cases, from earlier and more reliable manuscript evidence than the KJV translators had in 1611.
It is not accurate to say that modern translations are corrupt. God has preserved His Word across languages and centuries. When you open a faithful translation, you are hearing the voice of God in your own tongue.
“The NKJV follows the Textus Receptus in the New Testament. That textual basis is less weighty than the earliest critical text witnesses used in many modern translations.”
Wayne Grudem
7. The Myth of “Missing Verses”
One of the most common claims you will hear from KJVO advocates is that modern Bibles have removed verses. If you compare the KJV with newer translations, you may notice that verses like Matthew 17:21, Mark 16:9-20, or John 7:53-8:11 are handled differently, sometimes bracketed or footnoted, and in some printings the verse number is skipped.
The accusation is that modern translators cut out Scripture. That is not true. No verses have been removed. The difference lies in the manuscript evidence available to translators.
When the KJV was produced, its translators had access to a limited set of later Greek manuscripts. Later discoveries gave scholars access to much earlier and more reliable manuscripts, some within a couple of centuries of the apostles. In several of these earlier witnesses, certain verses are absent or phrased differently. Modern translations are transparent about this. They footnote the variation or explain it in the margins so that readers can see the data.
If your Bible seems to skip a verse, translators are being honest. They are showing that the earliest manuscripts do not contain that sentence or phrase and are inviting you to see how God has preserved His Word across history.
“Modern translations are not conspiring to remove God’s Word. They are reflecting the best manuscript evidence we possess. Claims to the contrary misrepresent both history and the work of faithful Christian scholarship.”
James White
Rather than weakening our confidence, this should strengthen it. We can trace God’s preservation of Scripture across thousands of manuscripts and see that no Christian doctrine is lost or changed by these textual questions. The deity of Christ, His saving work, and salvation by grace are taught clearly in every faithful translation.
8. KJVO Misuses the Doctrine of Preservation
Psalm 119:89 declares, “Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” These verses teach that God’s Word is enduring and indestructible. They do not promise preservation in only one English translation.
Preservation means the substance of God’s truth is always available to His people. It does not mean one human edition is perfect in every jot and tittle. KJVO arguments often conflate inspiration and preservation, but Scripture does not make their claim.
9. It Creates Division in the Body of Christ
Paul urges believers to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). KJVO movements often do the opposite. Instead of uniting around the gospel, they divide Christians over which English Bible is acceptable.
Pastors have refused fellowship with other pastors because they use the ESV. Missionaries have been criticized for using local-language Bibles. Believers are told they are in sin for reading anything but the KJV. That is not the unity Christ prayed for in John 17. It is sectarianism disguised as zeal.
“Multiple English Bible translations are a benefit, not a threat. We should regard the work of careful translators across traditions as a gift, not as a cause for tribal division.”
KJBHistory.com
10. Even the KJV Translators Would Disagree
The KJV translators themselves would oppose modern KJVO thinking. In their preface to the 1611 edition, “The Translators to the Reader,” they admitted that translation is never perfect and that multiple good translations can exist side by side.
“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.”
They saw their work as one translation among many, a helpful tool, not the final and flawless Word of God.
11. It Can Lead to Pride and Error
Perhaps the most dangerous fruit of KJVO is pride. Instead of making believers more humble and grateful for God’s Word, it can produce arrogance. Some say, “We are the only ones with the true Bible. Everyone else is deceived.” That mindset is not from the Spirit of Christ.
“King James Onlyism is not a position based on sound scholarship, but on tradition. In the end it denies the church the freedom to hear God’s Word in her own language.” James White
When you elevate one translation to the level of inspiration, you close yourself off to the richness of God’s Word as He has preserved it across languages and centuries. You also risk dividing Christ’s body and placing tradition on the throne where only Christ belongs.
Honoring the KJV Without Idolizing It
The King James Bible deserves honor. It is majestic, faithful, and has been used by God to bring many to Christ. The cadences of its English shaped Christian preaching and hymn writing for generations and generations. It remains a powerful and beloved translation.
But it is not the only faithful Bible. Treating it as such moves from appreciation to idolatry. The true test of faithfulness is not whether you use a 1611 translation but whether you believe, obey, and proclaim the God-breathed Scriptures in whatever faithful translation you hold.
The Real Issue
In the end, the question is not which English Bible you use. The question is whether you are submitting to the God who speaks through His Word. Is Christ Lord in your life, and is His Word, in any faithful translation, shaping your heart, mind, and actions?
King James-Onlyism confuses loyalty to a translation with loyalty to the truth. The KJV is a gift of God’s providence, but it is not God’s final standard. Only the inspired Word, in the languages He gave it, has that authority.
So read your KJV with gratitude if you love it. Do not look down on the brother who reads the ESV, the NASB, or the NKJV. God has given His Word to His people in many languages. It remains living and active (Hebrews 4:12), sharper than any sword, no matter the translation.
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