Many King James Only people are accused of being a cult, or being Bible worshippers. These accusations are shot at me regularly, as they are at most outspoken KJV believers.
First off, most of us don't come to KJV only on a whim, or off the word of some other person. We research it, and make the informed decision ourselves. When I got saved, the man who led me to the Lord told me to only read the King James Bible, and that the other versions weren't worth the trouble. I didn't know why he said that, but I decided that my first time through the Bible was going to be in the King James Version.
After I read the KJV Bible for the first time, I planned to read the Living Bible next, after that the NIV, and then perhaps the NKJV. I loved the KJV. It was beautiful to read. It had a rhythm to it, and the words just flowed. When I tried to read the other Bible versions, I felt talked down to, like it was assumed I was some imbecile who couldn't understand what God was saying, so I had to instead read what man thought God was saying. Remember, at this point, I had still not heard any other reasons why the KJV is the best; I just noticed that the newer versions seemed - watered down.
Further, I noticed that many of the verses in the King James Bible can have levels of application in my life, while in the newer versions, the levels were often diminished, to just one or two. I couldn't stand the Living Bible or the NIV, so I stopped reading those, and just went back to the KJV. I read 3/4 of the NKJV, and couldn't stand it any longer, and stopped. I read the whole New Testament in some hip, contemporary translation that has all but now disappeared. While that wasn’t as bad, it was still - bad.
One day, I turned on the TV, and was flipping through the channels, and came upon a show that was within five minutes of ending. It was on one of the Christian stations. What caught my attention, was that the man was saying that the only Bible worth reading is the KJV. He then rattled off a list of Scriptures that are MISSING from the new Bible versions, but are in the KJV. I tried to recall as many as those verses as I can, and looked them up in a NIV, and compared them to my KJV. SHOCKING.
There are over sixty-three thousand words missing from the NIV, with that number varying a bit in other new translations. I started researching why the KJV had more words. I learned that the words missing from the new translations were usually very important words. For example:
"And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!" -Mark 10:24 KJV
"The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!" -Mark 10:24 NIV
If you were leading your children in a Bible study, and using a NIV, you could scare the poor souls, and discourage them. According to the NIV, the children are told it is hard to enter the kingdom of God, but according to the (correct) KJV, it's only hard for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.
This is one example of many. Another - John 3:16, take a look:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." King James Version
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." New International Version
The Greek word that translates to the English "begotten" is in EVERY ancient manuscript of the Bible. It was even in the corrupt manuscripts that the NIV was translated from. Yet, most new Bible versions skip that word, and don't translate it. Perhaps this is for mammon, since each new Bible translation has to be significantly different, or they can't get a copyright.
By removing the word "begotten," a serious contradiction occurs. In the Old Testament, angels were called "sons of God." But the NIV John 3:16 says Jesus is the one and only Son of God - CONTRADICTION. The New Testament tells us that born again Christians have become Sons of God via adoption, and therefore all born again Christians are "sons of God." Whoops, in the NIV that is a contradiction, because the NIV's John 3:16 says that Jesus is the "one and only Son of God." The distinciton is missing from most new Bible versions - the word "begotten." Jesus is the only BEGOTTEN Son of God, while angels are created sons of God, and saved Christians are adopted sons of God.
Friends, I am not even close to scratching the surface on this issue. It's insane. If I don't slow down, I'm going to end up writing a book here, and I have stuff to do, so I gotta start wrapping this up. Below are study resources, where you can see the fact that the KJV is the inerrant Word of God for yourself. If you haven't researched this, you owe it God, to yourself and your children to do so - don't you want to know the truth?
Free Study Resources:
My article - King James Only
Free book - Fighting Back
Free book - The Answer Book
Free book - An Understandable History of the Bible
NIV, NASB et al. Tract Excerpts from New Age Bible Versions
The above is a starting point for research.
Why the Bible is not my Idol
1) I do not worship it. I revere it as the Word of God, and it is my joy to read it and study it every day, because it teaches me more about God my Father whom I DO worship.
2) It's not the most important thing ever to me, but it tells me about what's most important to me - God.
3) It's the word of God, so why wouldn't I deem it important? It's the most important thing to read in the universe.
Why I Have so Many Bibles
I try to do the Great Commission. Wherever I am, that's the mission field. When I get the honor to lead someone to Christ, I like to be able to give them a Bible, but I want to give them a GOOD one. This is one of the reasons I spend time looking into different Bibles and study Bibles. I don't always have a lot of Bibles, because I give Bibles away. Not only do I give Bibles to new converts, but I also give some good study Bibles away to friends who are looking for new Bibles.
Further, I keep several study Bibles for my personal studies. I use Scripture to interpret Scripture. When I get that "aha" moment, and I learn something new from the Scriptures, I like to read study notes from Godly men of the past, and see if their notes came to the same conclusion as I did. Believe me, if the world weren't so biblically ignorant, I wouldn't have to "dialogue" with men's written study notes so much. I could just discuss it with other Bible reading, Bible believing Christians.
Unfortunately, I only know a few people who actually read the Bible regularly. Sad, sad, sad.
Usually, when I bring up topics of things I've recently learned from the Bible, the person I'm talking to just gives me a blank look, and says "I haven’t read the Bible through, yet."
If you've been a Christian for over a year, and haven't read the Bible all the way through at least once - shame on you. Certainly, there are exceptions, but I'm talking about the average person who has easy access to the Scriptures, and who has no handicaps.
Christians and the Bible vs. Catholics and Mary
Someone asked me what the difference between a Christian's revering the Bible, and the Roman Catholic's "relationship" with Mary is. This could be an article within itself, but I'll try to keep the answer brief. Here, I will just touch upon three main points:
1) Without the Bible, Christians wouldn't know what Christians are. We read the Bible for proper doctrine. God gave us His written word, so that we don't have to get it through some earthly priest, who is fallible, errant, and a fellow sinner.
1) Roman Catholic priests take an oath that they will never interpret the Bible differently than early (and may I also add corrupted) writings say. The problem with this, is that early writers disagreed with each other. This is therefore "remedied" via their pope.
2) I do not pray to the Bible.
2) Roman Catholics pray to Mary. There are prayers to Mary for faithful Papists to pray at the Vatican website, and this is taught in their catechism.
3) The Bible is not an idol, for it is not a likeness of a living thing. It is a book. The Bible is also not an idol in my heart, because I do not love it more than God. I read the Bible because I love God, and He wrote it for me to read.
3) Romanists have idols of Mary and saints. You can find prayers and pictures of them bowing to and praying to them, all over the internet and in many historical books.
Someone else also asked me why I think a Bible translated in the 1600s is superior to those translated today. In answer to that question, I refer you to my article linked ealier in this post, along with the other linked resources. If you are truly seeking, then you'll likely find your KJB questions answered at one or more of those resources.
In Conclusion
The Enemy will stop at nothing to try to get us not to read the Bible, even stuping so low as to accuse us of something so absurd as "bible worship." No, the Bible is not my idol. I know what idol worship is, because the Bible tells me what it is, and warns me against it over and over and over again. I read and study the truth, and it is setting me free.