Why we Shouldn't Use the King James 2

Part two of three posts on why using the King James Bible, particularly for evangelism, is a bad idea for Christians.

According to Fee and Stuart, who write books on proper interpretation of the Bible used in Bible Colleges to teach students about how to interpret the Bible well the King James Version (and the New King James Bible) are the two least favoured by Bible Scholars.

In the secular world the KJV is the least accurate and reliable English translation of the Scriptures. In my time in university it was regularly ridiculed by those writing the readings that were assigned. The King James Bible does not stand up, in any sense of the word, to scrutiny.
Fee and Stuart, talking about the key thing to studying the Bible is to start with a good translation (or learn Greek and Hebrew) include this paragraph on the King James and New King James which I will quote in it's entirety:
"The KJV for a long time was the most widely used translation in the world; it is also a classic expression of the English language. Indeed, it coined phrases that will forever be embedded in our language ("coals of fire," "the skin of my teeth," "tongues of fire,"). However, for the New Testament, the only Greek text available to the 1611 translators was based on late manuscripts, which had accumulated the mistakes of over a thousand years of copying. Few of these mistakes- and we must note that there are many of them- make any difference to us doctrinally, but they often do make a difference in the meaning of certain specific texts. Recognising the English of the KJV was no longer a living language- and thoroughly dissatisfied with its modern revision (RSV/NRSV)- it was decided by some to "update" the KJV by ridding it of its "archaic" way of speaking. But in doing so, the NKJV revisers eliminated the best feature of the KJV (its marvelous expression of the English language) and kept the worst (its flawed text).
This is why for study you should use almost any modern translation rather than the KJV or the NKJV."

I have also heard it said that it is to be used because it is the only Authorised Version of the Bible leading the KJV to sometimes be called the AV but see the first of these blogs to discover who Authorised the KJV Bible and you will quickly wonder why people think he is a good person to look to for spiritual decisions and how scripture should be translated.