Updating the KJV - Why It Should But Probably Won't Happen

From an appreciation of the King James Bible by Kevin Bauder, an anti-KJV-Only, an author of a book against KJVOnlyism. I agree with everything he said except his appreciation of the modern versions. Perhaps he's right that most of them have something to contribute but until the Alexandrian texts are no longer regarded as "the earliest and the best" I can't agree. However, since I do agree with most of what he says, it's really amazing that I keep being called a KJVO myself, even recently a "Ruckmanite" of all things. I've never read a word of Ruckman (seen him quoted quite enough, thanks) and I've posted against Riplinger in this blog. Good grief.

Anyway, this is a nice statement, pretty much exactly what I've said many times myself about the KJV still needing the revision it didn't get in 1881, both how it should be done and that it won't be, and how the proliferation of translations is bad for the church:

In the case of truly obsolete language, the King James Version can and should be updated. It has been before. It can be again. The work should be undertaken with reverence, not merely for the content of what is revealed, but for the locutions of the King James Version itself. No more should be changed than is really necessary. The people who would perform this task would place all readers of English in their debt.

It will never happen. The New King James Version fails by making changes that are unnecessary and sometimes banal. It is the worst of all possible worlds. No other translation, however, is likely to do better. The problem is that a version incorporating only necessary changes could never obtain an exclusive copyright. No publisher could hold exclusive rights to it. With no large sums to be made from a gentle revision, the printing houses will distribute and the pious will receive only a continuing stream of translations du jour.

Therein lies the real problem with the proliferation of modern translations. Few of them are objectionable in their own right. Most of them contribute something, and most are worthy of being consulted by readers who cannot understand the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. In the multiplication of translations, however, today’s Christians have lost significant intelligibility in sharing the Scriptures with one another.

...How many Christians appreciate the irony that most new versions include the word Standard in their title? The fact is that the English language has only ever had one standard version, and that is the King James. Beginning with the publication of the New American Standard Bible, the English-speaking evangelical world has lost any semblance of, and probably any hope for, biblical standardization. How could anyone not see this as an evil?

...In sum, a good version of the Bible will be accurate, but it will not oversimplify. It will choose elevated language because it aims to shape feeling as well as thinking. It should be widely used and readily shared. It must leave the reader with the impression that the book wasn’t just written yesterday. It ought to be just a bit archaic.

In my opinion, the King James Version is the only translation of Holy Scripture into English that meets these criteria. It is not just a good version, it is a great one. It is both a great translation and a great work of literature. For me, the use of the King James Version is not simply a matter of nostalgia or sentimentality. It is unsurpassed for use in the corporate church setting, and it is as good as any for private devotional reading.

I like that -- "It ought to be just a bit archaic."
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SOLVING THE PROBLEM (Getting the money problem out of it): There should be a coalition of Bible-believing churches that can agree on the desirability of a minimal updating/revision of the KJV, who get together and appoint a large committee of the best scholars to do the work of revision, who must all meet spiritual standards as well, and the project should be inaugurated and sustained by prayer and financed by donors. It could perhaps be done roughly according to the pattern of the KJV translators.

Their Bible wouldn't belong to anyone, anyone would be able to publish their own edition of it, but that could only be good for the Church at large even if not financially rewarding for those who did the work. Yet donors could pay them for their work and pay for the costs of publication. Isn't that how the Church is supposed to operate anyway?

They'd have the job of meticulously comparing ALL the versions ever made in arriving at every single change to be made to the KJV. Changes to the Textus Receptus as needed could be part of the project too, but NO Alexandrians allowed. Unlike the revisers of 1881 they'd be required to make USEFUL notes in the margins and keep careful notes of their work, for instance concerning disputes and how they resolved --or were unable to resolve --them. Etc. etc. etc.