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Other Christian Denominations and King James Only

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
What follows is a list of denominational groups that hold some form of “King James Only” – see BB “range” HERE. I put it in this forum rather than the “Bible Versions & Translations” forum since it relates particularly to “Other Christian Denomination,” and the BVT forum is limited to Baptists. I find this list of groups interesting for several reasons. First, because many people seem to think “KJVO” is only a fundamentalist Baptist issue. Also, because of the varied nature of the religious groups on this list. This list is composed of Anabaptists and Protestants, Holiness and High church, Presbyterians and Pentecostals, Congregational, Episcopal or Presbyterian church governments, and – last but not least – Arminians and Calvinists. Some of these churches have little in common, and one might often consider another heretical. They range from holding that the King James Version is the best English translation available to believing the King James Bible is inspired, and in many cases approach the issue quite differently. For example, in a few of the hierarchically-governed groups, it seems (while they evidently prefer the KJV above others) to be about providing consistency across the denomination, and keeping down confusion – therefore the KJV is the required Bible for all worship services. Some of the groups I found by searching the internet (and thus provide links), while some others I have paper documents or e-mails that provide their positions.

I would be very interested if you know of other Christian groups (not listed here and other than Baptists) who hold some type of “King James Only” position.
 
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Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
What follows is a list of denominational groups that hold some form of “King James Only” – see BB “range” HERE. I put it in this forum rather than the “Bible Versions & Translations” forum since it relates particularly to “Other Christian Denomination,” and the BVT forum is limited to Baptists. I find this list of groups interesting for several reasons. First, because many people seem to think “KJVO” is only a fundamentalist Baptist issue. Also, because of the varied nature of the religious groups on this list. This list is composed of Anabaptists and Protestants, Holiness and High church, Presbyterians and Pentecostals, Congregational, Episcopal or Presbyterian church governments, and – last but not least – Arminians and Calvinists. Some of these churches have little in common, and one might often consider another heretical. They range from holding that the King James Version is the best English translation available to believing the King James Bible is inspired, and in many cases approach the issue quite differently. For example, in a few of the hierarchically-governed groups, it seems (while they evidently prefer the KJV above others) to be about providing consistency across the denomination, and keeping down confusion – therefore the KJV is the required Bible for all worship services. Some of the groups I found by searching the internet (and thus provide links), while some others I have paper documents or e-mails that provide their positions.

I would be very interested if you know of other Christian groups (not listed here and other than Baptists) who hold some type of “King James Only” position.
Interesting also that Mormons, JW, and word of faith heretics just honor the Kjv as a valid translation!
 

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Interesting also that Mormons, JW, and word of faith heretics just honor the Kjv as a valid translation!
Yes, plenty of heretics use plenty of different translations, including your favorite. However, if by JW you mean Jehovah's Witnesses, they use the New World Translation, and Mormons are not KJVO, or Joseph Smith would not have had to correct it to make his so-called "Inspired Translation". Nevertheless, the point is not whether any of the above groups are orthodox or heretical, but that the history and spread of KJVO is often not understood by its opponents, who want to wrap it up in a nice little package for debating purposes.
 

rlvaughn

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Site Supporter
The Apostolic Christian Church of America makes a very intriguing case. Its roots are Anabaptist and German, going back to the 1830s.

Article 1 of the ACCA Statement of Faith says, “The Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God to man. The New Testament serves as the foundation of the doctrine of the Apostolic Christian Church. The authorized King James version is embraced.” I do not know how far back this wording of the statement goes, but I have a copy of a book that gives their statement of faith as adopted in January of 1982. It goes back at least that far. In Marching to Zion, Perry Klopfenstein writes, “The church has always used the King James Version of the Bible for English language services (p. 463).”

The church services were almost exclusively in the German language until World War I. Being a “non-resistant” church, they allowed members to serve in the military in non-combatant functions. Following their conscientious objection to bearing arms to kill and speaking the German language brought them i to suspicion with many Americans – and they quickly decided to move to English language worship. Klopfenstein says the decision was quickly and easily made, though it took the course of several years to have full effect – because most of their ministers did not speak English!
Anyway, I thought it quite interesting that this church of German language background wound up in the English “King James Only” camp. (However, I think we should not understand this in the same way that Ruckman or Hyles was King James Only.)
 

SGO

Well-Known Member
Some but not all Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) churches as exemplified by this church's statement:

We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible. The Bible is the inerrant, infallible and complete revelation of God and is therefore, the sole authority for all faith and practice. The Bible is indestructible and forever settled in Heaven. God has preserved His words for all generations in the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Textus Receptus. The King James Version of the Bible is the preserved Word of God for the English language and is the translation used for this church.

Our Beliefs — Freedom Baptist Church
 

SGO

Well-Known Member
The First Church of Christ, Scientist (FCCS; also known as Christian Science) uses the KJV; it’s posted on their website[4] and they sell printed copies [5] (I went to a reading room a few years ago and saw a few editions on sale). There is a debate within the FCCS on the use of the KJV. The Mary Baker Eddy Library claims that Eddy (the founder of the FCCS) didn’t mandate the use of the KJV in the church; there are others in the FCCS that believe she wanted the KJV used. Their views are on the CS and the King James Bible website.

The "Two by Twos" (sometimes known as the Cooneyites) is a group that started in Ireland[7] . They use the KJV; in fact the KJV is the only publication of any sort that they use!

Both of the paragraphs above taken from:
Which Christian denomination, if any, supports the 1611 KJV Bible? - Quora
 

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
The Apostolic Christian Church of America makes a very intriguing case. Its roots are Anabaptist and German, going back to the 1830s.

Article 1 of the ACCA Statement of Faith says, “The Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God to man. The New Testament serves as the foundation of the doctrine of the Apostolic Christian Church. The authorized King James version is embraced.” I do not know how far back this wording of the statement goes, but I have a copy of a book that gives their statement of faith as adopted in January of 1982. It goes back at least that far. In Marching to Zion, Perry Klopfenstein writes, “The church has always used the King James Version of the Bible for English language services (p. 463).”

The church services were almost exclusively in the German language until World War I. Being a “non-resistant” church, they allowed members to serve in the military in non-combatant functions. Following their conscientious objection to bearing arms to kill and speaking the German language brought them i to suspicion with many Americans – and they quickly decided to move to English language worship. Klopfenstein says the decision was quickly and easily made, though it took the course of several years to have full effect – because most of their ministers did not speak English!
Anyway, I thought it quite interesting that this church of German language background wound up in the English “King James Only” camp. (However, I think we should not understand this in the same way that Ruckman or Hyles was King James Only.)
They are not Apostolic as in Oneness churches, are they?
 

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Some but not all Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) churches as exemplified by this church's statement:

We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible. The Bible is the inerrant, infallible and complete revelation of God and is therefore, the sole authority for all faith and practice. The Bible is indestructible and forever settled in Heaven. God has preserved His words for all generations in the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Textus Receptus. The King James Version of the Bible is the preserved Word of God for the English language and is the translation used for this church.

Our Beliefs — Freedom Baptist Church
Yes, that seems to be saying KJVO!
 

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
The First Church of Christ, Scientist (FCCS; also known as Christian Science) uses the KJV; it’s posted on their website[4] and they sell printed copies [5] (I went to a reading room a few years ago and saw a few editions on sale). There is a debate within the FCCS on the use of the KJV. The Mary Baker Eddy Library claims that Eddy (the founder of the FCCS) didn’t mandate the use of the KJV in the church; there are others in the FCCS that believe she wanted the KJV used. Their views are on the CS and the King James Bible website.

The "Two by Twos" (sometimes known as the Cooneyites) is a group that started in Ireland[7] . They use the KJV; in fact the KJV is the only publication of any sort that they use!

Both of the paragraphs above taken from:
Which Christian denomination, if any, supports the 1611 KJV Bible? - Quora
The Kjv is the only Bible version that most of the cults will use, its just they do not see it as being "correctly translated fully"
 

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Another denomination I have found that requires the use of the KJV in worship is the Laestadian Lutheran Church. They are probably near to moving this goalpost, though. In or around 2017 they appointed a committee “to evaluate English Bible translations seeking to identify one or two translations to recommend as reference and study tools to help us better understand the King James Bible’s 17th century English and to assist in foreign mission fields.” Even at that, it appears they will maintain the KJV as their pulpit Bible.
 

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
The First Church of Christ, Scientist (FCCS; also known as Christian Science) uses the KJV; it’s posted on their website[4] and they sell printed copies [5] (I went to a reading room a few years ago and saw a few editions on sale). There is a debate within the FCCS on the use of the KJV. The Mary Baker Eddy Library claims that Eddy (the founder of the FCCS) didn’t mandate the use of the KJV in the church; there are others in the FCCS that believe she wanted the KJV used.
I noticed the KJV mentioned in newspaper articles about Christian Science Reading Rooms, but it never was explicit whether they had a theological attachment to it.
Their views are on the CS and the King James Bible website.
This link does not work for me. Could you check on it? Thanks.
The "Two by Twos" (sometimes known as the Cooneyites) is a group that started in Ireland[7] . They use the KJV; in fact the KJV is the only publication of any sort that they use!
Interesting.
 

SGO

Well-Known Member
I noticed the KJV mentioned in newspaper articles about Christian Science Reading Rooms, but it never was explicit whether they had a theological attachment to it. This link does not work for me. Could you check on it? Thanks. Interesting.

It's an old post with no saved version available from the link.


another:

Christian Science Bible Lessons and the King James Version - The Christian Science Journal
Christian Science Bible Lessons and the King James Version

From The Christian Science Board of Directors

From the June 2005 issue of The Christian Science Journal

FROM TIME TO TIME, readers of the weekly Christian Science Bible Lessons and attendees at Christian Science services ask about the use of the King James Version of the Bible in the Lessons. We wanted to share with you the kinds of questions they've asked lately, along with the historical context that has come to light as we've researched questions like the following ones:

1. Mary Baker Eddy quoted from the King James Bible almost exclusively in her writings, including the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures—but did she ever study, or quote from, modern Bible translations?

Mrs. Eddy clearly loved the King James Bible and preferred it above all other Bible translations available to her. She urged at least one of her copy editors assisting on Science and Health to conform the Bible quotes to the King James text.1 "I like the old, better than the new, in some respects,—in a majority of instances, I will say," she wrote in 1901 to Rev. William P. McKenzie, then a Trustee of The Christian Science Publishing Society.2

Yet Mrs. Eddy not only owned, but studied, a number of versions of the English Bible, including contemporary ones like Rotherham's Emphasized Version, the Revised Version of the King James Bible, Ferrar Fenton's The Holy Bible in Modern English, the Twentieth Century New Testament, the American Standard Version, Weymouth's The New Testament in Modern Speech, and Moulton's The Modern Reader's Bible. And she made notes in the pages of many of these Bibles.
 

SGO

Well-Known Member
But look at the vintage CS logo/seal at the top of every page, quoting Matt. 10:8

"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons"

Not KJB !

From the CS Journal:
"Yet Mrs. Eddy not only owned, but studied, a number of versions of the English Bible, including contemporary ones like Rotherham's Emphasized Version, the Revised Version of the King James Bible, Ferrar Fenton's The Holy Bible in Modern English, the Twentieth Century New Testament, the American Standard Version, Weymouth's The New Testament in Modern Speech, and Moulton's The Modern Reader's Bible. And she made notes in the pages of many of these Bibles."

KJB when it was convenient.
 
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