The Dangerous Cult of King James Onlyism
Introduction
These days it seems that people will attach themselves to anything that gives their life meaning. In this case, any cause they can belong to.
I can understand the need or the desire to feel wanted and included. However, sometimes this can lead to bad consequences. Joining the King James Only (KJVO) cult can be one of them.
I will do my best to explain why KJVO is a cult and why it is toxic to Christianity.
Definition of a Cult
Cults have the following characteristics,
according to Bethune-Cookman
University.
- Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving
- Seeking inappropriate loyalty to their leaders
- Dishonoring the family unit
- Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
- No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
- No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
- Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies, and persecutions.
- There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
- Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
- The group/leader is always right.
- The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.
How the KJVO Movement is a Cult
So, based on the above 11 points:
- The KJVO penalizes members who hold a differing opinion by alienating them and claiming they aren't "true Christians" or "true believers," etc. At various churches, usually Independent Baptist but not always, you get alienated because people don't invite you to participate or to go to lunch after service. They will gossip about you "believing the lie" (i.e. using any translation other than KJV or believing the KJV isn't the sole real translateion, etc.). They will actively teach people to not have anything to do with other Christians who are not also KJVO.
- KJVO members will be quick to point to "heros" with websites and YouTube channels who "champion the cause of righteousness" (i.e. are KJVO). They will automatically say that any accusation levied against their informal leaders is unbecoming of a Christian, which usually leads to alienation under #1.
- KJVO members will recommend that, for example, children who are not KJVO should be disowned. Or at least get close to it with accusations levied on even their own children who are not KJVO, "you're not a Christian," etc. The adherence to KJV is placed above children in importance.
- No one in KJVO is accountable to anyone. They prefer this, seeking primarily Independent Baptist as their denomination. They are accountable to no one. No one is going to convince them to stop spreading their lies. No one can tell them to refrain or to change.
- KJVO members are very quick to react negatively to logical criticism of the KJV translation. You can point to a very clear mistranslation or at least many places where it's not as clear and they will insist that the KJV is the only correct translation even when confronted with a Strong's Concordance.
- KJVO do not really have a collective budget, so this condition is not really met, but they do seek denominations where they are not held accountable.
- KJVO members don't just hold to the KJV over any other translation. They resist testing their assumptions. They usually refuse to read another translation or, instead, will just dismiss the other translation out of hand because it's not KJV. They very often persecute anyone who is not KJVO.
- KJVO members tend to accuse everyone who is not also KJV-only of not being good Christians, being right, being truthful, being godly, etc., when they object to the teachings of KJVO.
- KJVO members tend to teach others they can never be good enough, so this condition is only partially met. Once you use only the KJV, in the KJVO person's eyes, you are basically always better than everyone else.
- KJVO members refuse to see how they can be wrong. The group as a whole is tight knit and highly resistant to change. The group generally believes itself to be right and rigidly so.
- KJVO members act exclusively as if they alone are right and that the truth is only found in their KJVO beliefs. The only way to be validated is to use only the KJV. No other translation is allowed.
You can see how the KJVO movement meets the criteria of a cult.
How KJVO is Wrong: the King James Examined
The KJV is far from perfect. There are several places one can find errors.
- The translators wrote a very good preface to the original in which they explained that they are not infallible. The KJVO cult tends to teach people that God Himself translated the KJV into English. Or even saying that the Bible was always English.
- Genesis 1:1 "the heaven". The Hebrew word is plural. link
- Genesis 12:6 "the plain". The Hebrew word is "terebinth tree". link