What makes KJV English so "good"? Because it's old? Because it was written at a key formative time in the history of the English language? Because it has been used for 400 years? Because it is in a Bible that has been used for 400 years? Because the confession uses it? Because it "sounds" Biblical? Because it doesn't have the perceived pitfalls of today's English?

None of these are good reasons to keep KJV English when it no longer can be understood by the everyday person.

My kids aren't stupid, and they don't suffer because of a poor education system. I pastor in a more affluent church and many of these kids go to private schools. And unlike the States, Canadian public schools are actually quite good. The problem is not their English skills (though, there are also many kids whose first language is not English). The problem is that they have been trained and speak in an English of a different time and and place.

I can read Hebrew, Greek, French, and Korean, I have an undergraduate degree in the Arts (Religion and Theology, minor in History) and I am in a Thesis based Master's degree. I have quite a firm and learned background in languages and English. But even after all this I still have difficulty reading the KJV! So how much more will those who are younger than me (24) and don't have any real training in languages or theological/biblical studies have difficulty with the English of the KJV?

You can rant and rave all you want about how depraved society is and how pathetic the English language has become, but that doesn't change the fact that society is depraved and the English language has changed. There is no going back.

Should Spanish people read translations done in the 17th century? Chinese people? Russians? How utterly meaningless does a translation have to be before it is acknowledged that it needs to be updated?

* Ken, I would argue that the English of the KJV is not any better than the English of today, just different. Thus, literacy will not be improved by reading a Bible that uses different English than the English used today. Rather, literacy will be improved by reading a Bible that uses the best form of contemporary English.

If the NT had been written in Classical Greek instead of Koine Greek, it would have made very little sense, or at least it would have been made more difficult to a majority of people. And yet, all the same arguments that are being used to support KJV English could have been used back in NT times to support a Classical Greek NT. Rather, the NT writers saw the necessity of writing the most important of documents in the common everyday language of the people, not the language of the Golden Age of Greece.

__________________
Mark Maney
Kwanglim Korean Methodist Church - 1689'er Baptist Pastor (read profile for more info)
Master of Theological Studies emphasis Biblical Studies
Trinity Western University, ACTS Seminaries
Surrey, BC. (Vancouver), Canada