Before continuing, it must be said that we are not "King James only." Among the beliefs held by "King James Version only" supporters are the belief that the King James Version, and only the King James Version, is word-for-word the divinely inspired Word of God, and that no other versions or translations, including the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts are; the belief that there are no textual problems in the King James Version; the belief that all other versions are the work of Satan; that those who use other versions or translations are in danger of hell fire; and the belief that those who disagree with King James Version onlyism are apostate or heretics. Word of His Grace's opinion of the above is that it is cultism, pure and simple.
The reasons we prefer the King James Version are: 1) Its New Testament is based on the Textus Receptus or Received Text (more about this below). 2) It is largely accurate. 3) It is still unmatched in literary beauty and grace. 4) It is the most widely owned English-language Bible.
Most modern translations of the Bible are based on the text that is found in the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament (N) and in the United Bible Society's third edition (U). This text is often referred to as the NU-Text. This text generally represents the Alexandrian or Egyptian type text of a few manuscripts found in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Those who advocate the use of these manuscripts do so because these manuscripts are older than the majority of manuscripts. But because they often disagree with one another and with the majority of manuscripts, Word of His Grace does not consider them reliable. Because of these problems with the NU-Text, English translations based on it contain too many unreliable passages to be considered as trustworthy as those based on either the Textus Receptus or the Majority Text.
The King James Version is translated from the Textus Receptus or Received Text. This text closely resembles the Byzantine/Majority Text. The manuscripts that these texts are based on are more recent than those the NU-Text is based on. But, unlike the Alexandrian manuscripts that have many disagreements, the Byzantine manuscripts agree substantially with one another. This fact, and because they are verified by quotations in the early church fathers and ancient papyri, causes us at Word of His Grace to conclude that the English translations based on the Textus Receptus and Majority Text are the more reliable.
Other English translations that we use that are based on the Textus Receptus and Majority Texts include the New King James Version and Modern King James Version. Both of these are based on the Textus Receptus. They read well, and may be good choices for those who have trouble with the seventeenth-century language of the King James Version. We also use the Literal Version of the Holy Bible translated by Jay P. Green (translated from the Textus Receptus) and the Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament of the Holy Bible translated by Gary F. Zeolla (translated from the Majority Text). Because they are such literal translations, these latter two Bibles do not read well in English, but they are very useful for in-depth Bible study.
The King James Version and the Modern King James Version are normally available in any Bible bookstore. The Literal Translation can be ordered at Christian Literature World. More information and ordering directions for the Analytical-Literal translation can be found at Darkness to Light.
Study Bibles are simply Bibles with book outlines, notes, maps, etc., to help one better understand the Bible. We find it difficult to recommend any of these over any others because 1) we have examined only a small fraction of the plethora of study Bibles available, 2) those we have examined are sometimes helpful and sometimes not, and we suspect that this is true of all of them, and 3) we once heard this advice and suspect it to be wise: "Don't do the majority of your Bible study with someone else's notes staring you in the face and telling you what to believe." In other words, use Bible helps (study Bibles are only one kind of Bible help) to get some background information and when you have a specific question. But otherwise, when you study the Bible, study the Bible, not someone else's ideas about the Bible.
Our advice for buying a study Bible is to go to a Bible bookstore that lets you examine a sample copy of each of the study Bibles it sells. Spend some time looking each one over carefully, not only to be sure that it contains the kind of help you want, but also that it does not espouse a doctrinal slant with which you disagree (such as the Scofield Bible, which teaches dispensationalism). Then make your choice.
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