Is the King James Bible too difficult to understand?

ANSWER:

1. THE KJV DOES HAVE SOME ANTIQUATED WORDS AND FORMS OF SPEECH, BUT THERE ARE NOT TOO MANY OF THESE.

The Trinitarian Bible Society publishes a list of 618 antiquated words. It is called Bible Word List. That is not very many, and most of them can be understood by considering the context. There are only about 300 antiquated words in the KJV that are so difficult that you really need a dictionary to understand them.

2. THE OVERALL READING LEVEL OF THE KJV IS NOT VERY HIGH.

The KJV is written on an 8th to 10th grade level. This has been proven from computer analysis made by Dr. Donald Waite. He ran several books of the KJV through the Right Writer program and found that Genesis 1, Exodus 1, and Romans 8 are on the 8th grade level; Romans 1 and Jude are on the 10th grade level; and Romans 3:1-23 is on the 6th grade level.

In the book The Art of Plain Talk (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1946), Dr. Rudolf Flesch analyzed the reading level of various documents and rated them on a scale from Very Easy to Very Difficult. He testified, "The best example of very easy prose (about 20 affixes per 200 words) is the King James Version of the Bible..." Dr. Flesch became famous with the publication of his book Why Johnny Can't Read.

3. THE KJV HAS A SMALL VOCABULARY AND USES SIMPLE WORDS THROUGHOUT. MOST ARE ONLY ONE OR TWO SYLLABLES.

"While Shakespeare used a vocabulary of roughly 37,000 English words, the King James Bible used only 8,000" (John Wesley Sawyer, The Newe Testament by William Tindale, p. 10, quoting BBC TV, "The Story of English," copyright 1986).

4. THE KJV USES SIMPLE WORDS; MOST ARE ONLY ONE OR TWO SYLLABLES.
Consider Psalm 23, for example:

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the
still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for
his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Of the 119 words in this Psalm, only 24 are more than two syllables; 19 of those 24 words are two syllables and only 5 are three syllables.

This Psalm illustrates why the King James Bible is called "peerless among literary masterpieces," "unquestionably the most beautiful book in the world," "the noblest monument of English prose," "incomparably the best English translation in its rhythm," "the touchstone of affective power," "matchless in its literary qualities among all English translations," "the supremely literary English translation," "the touchstone of literary excellence," "stylistically the greatest English Bible translation ever produced." These quotes from various men are from the book The Word of God
in English by Leland Ryken (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2002, pp. 270, 267, 258, 259, 206, 188, 163, 62, 51).

5. ACCURACY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SIMPLICITY IN A BIBLE VERSION.
The most important thing in a Bible translation is not simple language but faithfulness to the original. Dr. Waite made the following excellent comment in a recent edition of his newsletter:

"The Bible is not a first grade primer. It is God's book. It is a book that must be diligently read. It is only by 'searching the Scriptures' that we find what pertains to life and death. It tells of creation, of the mighty universe, of the future or the past, of the Mighty God and His wonders, of the Holy Spirit's ministry among Christians, of the Son of God's great sacrifice for sin, of home in Heaven for the believer, and of a fiery hell for the unsaved. How dare we assume that His Word can be capsulated in a comic book [or a version that reads 'like the morning newspaper']."

Also consider this statement by Leland Ryken, a professor of English at Wheaton College:

"An English Bible translation should strive for maximum readability only within the parameters of accurately expressing what the original actually says, including the difficulty inherent in the original text. The crucial question that should govern translation is what the original authors actually wrote, not our speculations over how they would express themselves
today or how we would express the content of the Bible. The fact that the New Testament was written in koine Greek should not lead translators to translate the Bible in a uniformly colloquial style. Finally, a good translation does not attempt to make the Bible simpler than it was for the original audience" (Leland Ryken, The Word of God in English, pp. 100, 101).

6. PREVIOUS GENERATIONS EDUCATED THE PEOPLE UP TO THE BIBLE, AND THAT IS WHAT WE SHOULD DO TODAY.

"Instead of lowering the Bible to a lowest common denominator, why should we not educate people to rise to the level required to experience the Bible in its full richness and exaltation? Instead of expecting the least from Bible readers, we should expect the most from them. The greatness of the Bible requires the best, not the least. ... The most difficult of modern English translations -- the King James -- is used most by segments of our society that are relatively uneducated as defined by formal education. ...
research has shown repeatedly that people are capable of rising to surprising and even amazing abilities to read and master a subject that is important to them. ... Previous generations did not find the King James Bible, with its theological heaviness, beyond their comprehension. Nor do readers and congregations who continue to use the King James translation find it incomprehensible. Neither of my parents finished grade school, and they learned to understand the King James Bible from their reading of it and the preaching they heard based on it. We do not need to assume a
theologically inept readership for the Bible. Furthermore, if modern readers are less adept at theology than they can and should be, it is the task of the church to educate them, not to give them Bible translations that will permanently deprive them of the theological content that is really present in the Bible." (Leland Ryken, The Word of God in English, pp. 107, 109)

7. THERE ARE MANY TOOLS AVAILABLE TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE KJV.

Following are a few of these:
The Bible Word List from the Trinitarian Bible Society.

The Concise King James Bible Dictionary, available from Way of Life Literature.

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.

The Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity.

The Defined King James Bible available from Bible for Today, 800 Park Ave., Collingswood, NJ 08108.

"If you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of Mine: and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. . . . If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." John 8.31, 32, 38

"DUSTY BIBLES LEAD TO DIRTY LIVES"

All the following verses are the evangelist's choice of the top 50 verses for memorizing: (Two verses together are considered one.) Every believer should know these verses by heart.

Gen. 3:15, Lev. 17:11, Joshua 24:15, 1 Sam.16:7, Job 19:25-27, Ps.9:17, 40:2,3, 51:4, 139:23,24; Prov. 3:5,6, 14:12; Isa. 1:18, 9:6, 26:3, 40:31, 45:22, 53:5, 55:8,9; 11, 59:2, 64:6; Jer. 13:23; Ezek. 3:18;
Matt. 10:28, 11:28-30; Mk. 8:36; Jn. 1:12, 1:29, 3:3, 3:16, 14:6, 15:13; Acts 4:12, 16:30b,31; Rom. 3:23, 5:12, 6:23, 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:8,9; Ph. 1:6; 1 Tim. 1:15, 2:5; 2 Tim. 2:15; Tit. 3:5; Heb. 9:22, 1 Pet. 5:8; 2 Pet. 1:20,21, 3:8; 1 Jn. 1:9; Rev. 3:20

EVANGELICAL DILEMMA

By William MacDonald

There is a CURIOUS PROBLEM today in the evangelical world---one that poses sobering questions for the church and for the individual believer. The PROBLEM in brief is this: a great army of personal soul-winners has been mobilized to reach the populace for Christ. They are EARNEST, ZEALOUS, ENTHUSIASTIC and PERSUASIVE. To their credit it must be said, that they are on the job. And it is one of the phenomena of our times, that they rack up an astounding number of conversions. Everything so far seems to be on the plus side.

But the PROBLEM is this: The CONVERSIONS DO NOT STICK. The fruit does not remain. Six months later there is nothing to be seen for all the aggressive evangelism. The capsule technique of soul winning has produced stillbirths (ie FALSE PROFESSIONS).

What lies at the back of all this MALPRACTICE in bringing souls to birth? Strangely enough, it begins with the valid determination to preach the PURE gospel of the grace of God. We want to keep the message SIMPLE – uncluttered by any suggestion that man can ever earn or deserve eternal life. Justification by faith alone, apart from the deeds of the law. Therefore the message is “ONLY BELIEVE>”

From there we reduce the message to a CONCISE FORMULA. For instance, the evangelical process is cut down to a few basic questions, and answers, as follows:

“Do you BELIEVE you are a sinner?”

“Yes”

“Do you BELIEVE Christ died for sinners?”

“Yes”

“Will you RECEIVE him as your saviour?”

“Yes”

“Then you ARE SAVED!”

“I am?”

“Yes, the Bible says you ARE SAVED.”

At first blush the method and the message might seem above criticism. But on closer study we are forced to have second thoughts and to conclude that – we have OVERSIMPLIFIED the gospel.

The FIRST FATAL FLAW --- is the missing emphasis on REPENTANCE. There can be NO true conversion without CONVICTION OF SIN. It is one thing to agree that I am a sinner; it is quite another thing to experience the convicting ministry of the HOLY SPIRIT in my life. Unless I have a Spirit-wrought consciousness of my utterly LOST CONDITION, I can never exercise saving faith. It is useless to tell unconvicted sinners to believe on Jesus---that message is only for those who KNOW they are lost. We sugar-coat the gospel when we de-emphasize man’s lost condition. With that kind of watered-down message people receive the Word with joy instead of deep contrition. They do not have deep roots, and though they might endure for a while, they soon give up all profession when persecution or trouble comes (Matthew 13 v 21). We have forgotten that the message is REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD as well as FAITH IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

A SECOND SERIOUS OMISSION --- is a missing emphasis on the LORDSHIP OF CHRIST. A light, jovial mental assent that Jesus is Saviour misses the point. Jesus is FIRST LORD, then Saviour. The New Testament always places His LORDSHIP before His Saviourhood. Do we present the full implications of His LORDSHIP to the people? HE ALWAYS DID.

A THIRD DEFECT in our message is our tendency to keep the terms of DISCIPLESHIP hidden until a decision has been made for Jesus. Our Lord never did this. The message He preached included the CROSS as well as the CROWN. “HE never hid His scars to win disciples.” He revealed the worst along with the best, then told His listeners to COUNT THE COST. We popularize the message and promise fun.

THE RESULT OF ALL THIS is that we have people believing without knowing what they believe. In many cases they have NO DOCTRINAL BASIS for their decision. They do not know the IMPLICATIONS of commitment to Christ. They have never experienced the mysterious, miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.

And of course we have others who are TALKED INTO A PROFESSION because of the slick salesmanship techniques of the soul-winner. Or some who want to please the affable. Personable young man with the winning smile. And some who only want to get id of this religious interloper who intruded on their privacy. Satan laughs when their conversions are announced on earth.

I WOULD LIKE TO RAISE SEVERAL QUESTIONS that might lead us to some changes in our STRATEGY of evangelism.

The FIRST QUESTION: Can we generally expect people to make an intelligent commitment to Christ, the first time they hear the gospel? Certainly, there is the exceptional case where a person has already been prepared by the Holy Spirit. But generally speaking, the process involves sowing the seed, watering it, then sometime later reaping the harvest. In our mania for instant conversion, we have forgotten that conception, gestation, and birth do not occur on the same day.

The SECOND QUESTION: Can capsule presentation of the gospel really do justice to so great a message? As one who has written several gospel tracts, I confess to a certain sense of misgiving in even attempting to condense the good news into four small pages. Would we not be wiser to give people the full presentation as it is found in the gospels, or in the New Testament?

The THIRD QUESTION: Is all this pressure for decisions really Scriptural? Where in the New Testament were people ever pressured into making a profession? We justify our practise by saying that if only one out of ten is genuine, it is worth it. But what about the other nine---DISILLUSIONED, BITTER, perhaps DECEIVED enroute to Hell by a FALSE PROFESSION?

The FOURTH QUESTION: Is all this boasting about conversions really accurate? You’ve met the of the man who solemnly tells you of ten people he contacted that day and all of them were saved. A young doctor testified that every he goes to a new city, he looks in the phone book for people with his last name. Then he calls them one by one and leads them through the 4 steps to salvation. Amazingly enough, every one of them opens the door of his heart to Jesus. I don’t want to doubt the honesty of people like this, but am I wrong in thinking that they are extremely naïve? WHERE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE SAVED? They cannot be found.

In CONCLUSION: What it all means is that we should SERIOUSLY RE-EXAMINE our streamlined CAPSULE EVANGELISM. We should be willing to spend time preaching the gospel, laying a SOLID FOUNDATION doctrinally for faith to rest on. We should stress the NECESSITY -FOR REPENTANCE – a complete about-face with regard to sin. We should stress the FULL IMPLICATIONS of the LORDSHIP OF CHRIST and the CONDITIONS of TRUE DISCPLESHIP. We should explain what belief really involves. We should be willing to wait for the Holy Spirit produce genuine conviction of sin. Then we should be ready to lead the person to saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

If we do this, we’ll have less astronomical figures of so-called conversions, but more genuine cases of spiritual rebirth.

[Reprinted from “HELP and FOOD” Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune NJ]