I’m Done with KJV-Onlyism Dec. 31, 2024

I am reminded of my own journey with KJVO, where I realized after a while that almost all of the arguments for KJVO arose from a fundamental misunderstanding of how books used to be made and preserved, proceeded to a series of ad hominem and guilt by association fallacies, and finally concluded that to accept KJVO requires one to accept so many basic logical fallacies, that those who take part in KJVO churches are going to suffer a degradation of their thinking which is going to disrupt critical doctrines and eventually the Gospel itself. This is a big reason why KJVO churches tend to be aberrant culturally and ecclesiastically; their logic is just not there.

It is, in my view, nearly as detrimental to the understanding of the Gospel as liberal theology. I read and love the KJV, but it isn't the only translation out there.

We typically affirm that God's revelation in general--and Scriptures in particular--are, with respect to His purposes: necessary, authoritative, sufficient, and clear. (It's ironic that we use the word "perspicuous," which isn't very clear to most people anymore!)

KJVO says that the Scriptures as God has given them to us are not sufficient, that God would have to preserve a particular version and sufficiently and clearly demarcate that version for us, with the implied "or else," that if God had not done that, we would not be able to rely on them.

And yes, as Bert and Mark argue, that can lead to a really facile handling of Scripture.

In my locus in evangelicalism, KJVO is just not something I have to deal with anymore. I remember in high school first learning about it when I attended a music camp at PCC. I was flabbergasted that anyone thought that way. I remember returning home and mentioning it to a teacher who was a BJU grad, and he brought me up to speed on the debate. Nowadays, I'm more likely to deal with neighborhood people who may think that their dreams are authoritative!