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This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.

Criticism

The Church insists on using the Authorized ("King James") Version as its official Bible, even though more modern translations are easier to read, are more accurate, and include more recent manuscript discoveries.

Source(s) of the criticism

Anti-Mormon books or web sites where the criticism originated

Response

Responses could include:

• No original manuscript of the New Testament has been found, so critics cannot prove that other versions or translations are correct.
• Some modern translations are affected by the beliefs of the translators, who render certain passages differently depending on their theological biases. One example is Ezekiel 37:16 which some translators(such in the NIV)translated the scripture adding the words "of wood".
• Using the early manuscripts and discoveries is no good to prove that a Bible version is more accurate.John 7:53-John 8:1-11is not in the earliest manuscripts, but the text is considered as restored. A large number of early manuscripts and discoveries (like the rediscovered Gnostic Gospel of Judas) are in error. Even early manuscripts such as Codex Sinaiticus came from "copies of copies So in conclusion it cannot be intellectually disprove that inspired KJV translators restored some text the way they are suppose to be read(due to that there is multiple ways of translating a text).
• We continue to use the KJV because of its linguistic similarity to the Book of Mormon and other LDS scriptures. (This needs evidence.)
• Most of the Book of Mormon was translated in the English of the KJV Bible
• There is nothing preventing Latter-day Saints from using other Bible translations in their personal study of the scriptures.

Conclusion

A summary of the argument against the criticism.

Further reading

FAIR web site

• Links to articles on the FAIR web site; Topical Guide entries go first

External links

• Links to external web pages

Printed material

• Printed resources whose text is not available online