Holding forth the Word of Life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ

Philippians 2:16


Trinity Reformed Baptist Church

Topeka, Kansas    66614

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Why We Use the Authorized King James Version of 1611


In my personal library, I have a copy of a book entitled, Things That Are Different Are Not the Same, by Dr. Mickey P. Carter. This title has always caught my attention and continues to ring in my mind in the preparation for this new sermon series. Not all modern translations of the Bible are the same because of the many differences found among them. Therefore, they are not all equal. One purpose of this new series is to expose those differences among some of the more popular English translations compared to the Authorized Version of 1611, known to all as the King James Bible.

Walk into any Christian bookstore and you will find a plethora of different “Bibles” for sale. These "copyrighted productions" bring a handsome source of profit to the publishing houses which have NOW become the self-appointed “custodians” of God’s Word!

In this new series dealing with the translation debate, we take the position that the most superior and most accurate translation of the scriptures ever produced in English remains the beloved Authorized Version of 1611.

This sermon series is meant to provide an overview of terms relative to the debate, and reasons why we hold to the KJV, and is an introduction to the video series:

* The Leaven in Fundamentalism
* The Bible…The Text Is the Issue
* The Bible Preserved…from Satan’s Attack

The sermon series will be followed by several hours of video presentations made at Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida, presented by Dr. Dell Johnson—research theologian, Dr. Theodore Letis—textual historian, and Dr. J. Michael Bates. These videos are copyrighted in 1996--1998. The videos will greatly amplify my own lessons on this topic. We do not think these videos are still in print. (However, we did discover that the first two are actually available to view on YouTube.) The titles possibly may be available in a secondary (used) market place such as www.eBay.com or www.Amazon.com .

I would highly recommend that you obtain a copy of a new DVD on this topic entitled, “A Lamp in the Dark—the Untold History of the Bible (The Persecuted Church and the Word of God)”. It is available from Southwest Radio Ministries. More information at: www.swrc.com (This is not meant to be an endorsement of this particular ministry.)

Furthermore, if you pick up any revised English translation produced since the British edition, the Revised Standard Version, you will find verses or whole passages of Scripture either questioned or totally removed with supposed “scholarly” explanations about why God didn’t say what He meant, or He didn’t mean what He said. For instance:


 The story of Jesus forgiving the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) is either removed, placed in brackets, or assigned an academic footnote questioning its validity.


Then you have the disputed ending of Mark’s Gospel, with many “scholars” contending that verses 9-20 were added to the chapter’s “true” ending by an over-zealous scribe. But, who made man the final judge of what God said or did not say?


An excellent Trinitarian passage, I John 5:7, is removed, perhaps to suit the Unitarian translator who sat on the Revised Standard revision committee of Drs. Wescott and Hort in the 1880’s.


Then you have the bold, but clear profession of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:37, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” In many modern English translations, it is either questioned, placed in brackets, or simply removed because it makes salvation to be too simple. This removal exposes the hidden fact that many of these changes to God’s Word came from a corrupt Roman Catholic line of texts based on the Greek manuscripts: Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, and Siniaticus. By the way, the Greek manuscript “Siniaticus” was discovered atop Mount Sinai in a waste basket destined to be burnt to keep the monks in the monastery warm! (Even the monks knew of the supposed “academic” value of this corrupted copy of God’s Word!)

Another great resource we would recommend is a book by Jack McElroy entitled Bible Version Secrets Exposed.  

I hope you will enjoy this series and may it inspire you to pick up the Authorized Version of 1611 and truly be transformed by the words of the true and living God!
Please note that the Authorized King James Version of 1611 (not the study notes of a copyrighted edition) looks like a Bible--with no deletions, no footnotes, no brackets or anything of that nature causing major distractions. The KJV is a Bible that you can fully trust and believe in, and it will not leave doubt in your mind like other versions will. The KJV is the "Word of the living God" without question!
--Pastor Bob Spagnuolo

"Thy Word is very pure: therefore Thy servant loveth it."
Psalms 119:140.

Please read:
“Where The Bible Versions Began”
This is a very enlightening article we found on the Internet.
Important Note:  Many handouts were given out in class throughout these lessons, for .pdf files of these, please see the Study Aids Resources page.

Code    Sermon Title (Scripture Text)
Part One--Terms and Definitions
KJV01   Opening Comments (Prov. 30:5-6)
KJV02   Inspiration [1] (II Tim. 3:13-17)
KJV03   Inspiration [2] (II Tim. 3:13-17)
KJV04   Manuscripts (Prov. 2:1-6)
KJV05   Translations (Dan. 6:5-9, 25-31)
KJV06   Review & Traditional versus Critical Text (II Peter 1:12-21)
KJV07   Infallibility & Inerrancy (Rev. 19:1-10)
KJV08   Verbal, Plenary Inspiration [1] (Rev. 1:1-3)
KJV09   Verbal, Plenary Inspiration [2] (Jer. 1:4-10)
KJV10   Divine Preservation [1] (II Kings 22:1-13)
KJV11   Divine Preservation [2] (Isa. 25:1)
KJV12   Conclusion to Part One (Jer. 36)
Part Two
KJV13   The NIV--Popular, But Corrupt--1 (Deut. 4:1-2, Prov. 30:5-6, Rev. 22:18-19)
KJV14   The NIV--Popular, But Corrupt--2 (I John 4:1-6)
KJV15   The Religious Elite versus the Bible Believer (John 9:24-34)
KJV16   Commentary on BattleCry J/F 2019 “Why Would God Bother?” (Mark 16:9-20, I John 5:7) (8 min.)
KJV31   Was King James a Homosexual? (Jude 1:7; Gen. 19:1-7)

Part Three – 2020 “The Year of the Bible”
KJV17   Year of the Bible–1 Introduction–1 (Neh. 9:1-8)
KJV18   Year of the Bible–2 Introduction–2 (Neh. 8:1-8)
KJV19   Year of the Bible–3 God’s Book, the Holy Bible (Ps. 68:11, Joshua 1:5-9)
KJV20   Year of the Bible–4 The Word Heard & Preserved (Neh. 9:1-5, Psalm 119:15-16)
KJV21   Year of the Bible–5A Are Copies & Translations Inspired?-1 (II Tim. 4:9-13)
KJV22   Year of the Bible–5B Are Copies & Translations Inspired?-2 (II Tim. 3:13-17)
KJV23   Year of the Bible–6 Word, Words and More Words (Matt. 4:1-11)
KJV24   Year of the Bible–7 Words Spoken (Psalm 68:1-11)
KJV25   Year of the Bible–8 Divine Technique–1 Old Testament (Job 23:12, Ps. 119:103, Jer. 15:16)
KJV26   Year of the Bible–9 The Bible’s Own Witness (II Samuel 23:2-3, I Kings 22:13-14)
KJV27   Year of the Bible–10 Are We Ashamed of Christ or His Word–1 (I Kings 22:1-16)
KJV28   Year of the Bible–11 Are We Ashamed of Christ or His Word–2 (Mark 8:38)
KJV29   Year of the Bible–12-A Does Character Matter?–Holy & Faithful Men Chosen (II Tim. 2:1-2, II Peter 1:15-21)
KJV30   Year of the Bible–12-B Does Character Matter?–Vain and Foolish Men Rejected (Prov. 30:5-6)

Cross Reference to sermons in other series  that touch on this topic:
ACTS236   The Centrality of the Word of God–1 (Acts 17:10-11)
ACTS237   The Centrality of the Word of God–2 (II Tim. 3:14-17)
PWC09   Ascension of Christ–1 Introduction (Mark 16:14-20) [veracity of this passage & Luke 24:51-52]