KJV vs NIV?

KJV is awesome and beautiful, yet it is just another Version just the same. It is called the King James VERSION after all.

I am not sure with todays advancements in technology that we can actually say with 100% certainty that it is the best translation. From what I know Greek and Hebrew can't be translated verbatim. There are many different meanings for each word and context is essential to discernment.

I would go with the one that's the easiest for you to read. That is what you are going to get the most out of.

God will do the rest. People forget that aspect of it. God can take any translation and move you deeply. He is that awesome.

The argument, as Chris presented it, is that other version have removed or added verses to the original English version. However, this has a few problems.

1. The KJV wasn't the original English version. That claim belongs to the Douay-Rheims version.

2. The KJV was translated from manuscripts made in the middle ages, which were at the time the earliest known manuscripts, but they are not any longer, and the older ones disagree with the newer ones.

3. The argument assumes that the KJV is the right one so that any verses not in the KJV, but in other versions are deemed additions and any verse in the KJV, but not in others are deemed subtractions. They are assuming that the KJV is the right version to prove the other versions wrong! Compare them with the ancient manuscripts, and you'll find that it's the KJV that has done most of the adding and subtracting.

4. The KJV, until just over a century ago, had as a part of the scriptures, the apocrypha in it. To call it "unchanged" is to ignore that 7 whole books have been removed.

The NIV is vastly superior, but it's still not a great version.

Its not that you should only read KJV - King James version

Its is the most direct translation from the Greek and Aramaic. Probably Hebrew too.

It Contains the meaning of the original words in its True Essence and Purity and Holiness and Reverence.

But modern day English is far more simpler than that, Thats why the other versions so modern man can understand it easily. But its always recommended to use the KJV along with you as a Study Bible for Reference.

Good Day, God Bless!!

Both have issues.

Chris is incorrect when he says that the KJV is "100% accurate" it is not.

He is correct, however, when he cites the shortcomings of the Nearly Inspired Version (NIV).

The KJV and the NIV are translated from two different bodies of texts. The KJV was translated from the Byzantine body of manuscripts from which the "Majority Text" was compiled, and the NIV was translated from the "Alexandrian" manuscripts (an inferior and incomplete group of documents).

The best English translations are the Tyndale and the Geneva. The Tyndale is incomplete due to the persecution and ultimate execution of William Tyndale before he had a chance to translate the entire Tanach (Old Testament).

The Geneva is a sound tranlation of the more reliable (and abundant) Byzantine texts, but the olde English is challenging to say the least. Words are spelled very differently, there is no "j" at all. "u"s and "v"s are switched around and often the letter "s" is replaced with a stylized letter resembling an "f".

The King James Version was commissioned by King James to favor the Church of England and was made the official Bible of the realm. It has numerous issues. The Greek word "dikaioma" is translated: ordinance, judgment, righteousness and justification. Now how the heck can the same word mean all those different things? Quite simply it can't. It should be translated "righeous nature" or "righteous character", but the KJV translators fumbled the ball.

In the KJV the word translated "green" throughout the Septuigint and everywhere else in the New Testament is translated "Pale" in a crucial passage of prophecy where the color is critically important. Just another example.

Yes, the KJV is anything but perfect, but it's pretty good. At least it's based on a good body of ancient manuscripts whereas the NIV is translated from the worst.

There are people that believe that the KJV is better, however, the KJV was established by one of the Kings in England. I personally use the NIV, because it is easier for me to understand. The King James Version has a great deal of Thou's and Thee's and Thine's. It has a great deal of the Old English wording. I personally know a great deal of people from my church that prefer using either the NIV, or the NKJV. In fact in our Awana group on Sunday Nights our kids use the NKJV. I don't think it is wrong either way and I don't think that you would be wrong in choosing one version over the other. When I do indepth studying, I use more that one bible version. I not only use the KJV, I also use the NKJV, the NIV, the RSV, the NAS, and the NRSV. If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

There isn't a Biblical reference, since the Bible doesn't reference itself as KJV, NIV, or your standard motel Gideon's.

On the basic level, the reason why most people like the KJV and claim to prefer it is because it "sounds" better--the language is older, Elizabethan-esque English, and it makes it sound more regal and official. In any case, any translation is going to lose something in the translation--it's the general gist of the meaning that's important, not the nitty-gritty down-to-the-bone "this word denotes THAT connotation" crap that people get up in arms about--that defeats the purpose. The Bible's meant as a guide; only an uber-fundamentalist is foolhardy enough to take every single word, period, and apostrophe in the KJV and interpret it to be the literal word of God straight from the big man's mouth. That insistence on literalism goes against what the Bible's supposed to teach and is the reason why there are thousands and thousands of disparate little denominations within Protestantism today, and more being born all the time.

God doesn't tell us which translation we have to use. If it matters for our Christianity what translation of the Bible we use, then it's not really true that we are saved by grace, through faith and not by works so that no man can boast (ephesians 2)

The translation a person should use depends on the person. Different people understand different translations better. I for one find the KJV bogged down with "thees" and "thous". I find it less accessible than say the NIV or the New Living translation or even the most modern yet, The Message. But which Bible you use has nothing to do with your Christianity. It has to do with how YOU personally can connect with God.

Many will say the KJV has mistakes in it. Well in 1611 they did not have standerize spelling so the spelled words the way they sounded. Like Son, back then they spelled it sone, and sonee. So when the dictionary came out they started changing the words in the KJV which brought about the revised version of it. People will say he was a sex pervert. Well there is no known writtings that ever came out back in that time to prove this thought. Today's writers bring this out but with no proof.

NIV has left out words like God, Son of God, Blood, Hell, Jesus and plus they have left out full verses. I think Acts 8:37 is not in NIV. They say NIV is easier to read, well I want to know whats hard to read about those words I posted.

KJV- Was tested and tried and found to be true. People like Nero, and King Henry 8 I think it was killed many Christians over having the Tyndale Bible, the KJ Bible. Tyndale was our first printed bible which was out in 1526. These bibles and lets not forget the others that were printed as well, were supposed to be destroyed, but they never was. Our KJV comes also from the Tyndale as well. So why would a simple bible be worth getting killed over, because it was God's word.

I wouldn't say KJV is the most accurate translation but I like it very much. Somehow, most of the symbolism I've figured out in the bible came to me when I was reading the KJV. I don't know, it must be something about the way they word things. But I like NIV, too. But my favorite is the NAS, preferably the Ryrie Study Bible.

I doubt you'll find Biblical reference to support one particular translation. Personally, I work out of a NKJV study Bible, and read for pleasure out of the Amplified and NIV. Just my preference.

Blessings.