Reading the KJV Bible

The great American statesman Abraham Lincoln, who served as U.S. President during the tumultuous years of American civil war, said, "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book."

Later on, another great American statesman named Theodore Roosevelt, who served as U.S. President when America was emerging as a world power, quipped: "A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education".

Then Ronald Reagan, arguably the greatest American president since World War 2, stated: "Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face."

Because Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan were such ardent believers in the Bible, I recently asked myself: If those wise, learned and clear-thinking statesmen believed deeply in the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, who am I to doubt it?

I doubted the truthfulness of the Bible in the years 2006 and 2007 when I was a diploma student at Starehe Institute. One night in April 2007 as I was having a conversation with some folks at Starehe, I dismissed the Bible as a book of the Jews.

Around that time I uttered that condescending remark about the Bible, I joined a choir of All Saints' Cathedral Nairobi. When it came time to be vetted whether I was fit to sing with the choir on Sundays, one of the committee members interviewing me asked me if I read the Bible. I lied to him that I did. And when he insisted on knowing which version of the Bible I read, I told him that I read the King James Version (KJV), another lie.

Perhaps I lied that I read the KJV Bible to save my face. Or so that I could be allowed to sing with the choir and play the cathedral's majestic organ. What I have wondered was how the KJV Bible came into my mind when one of the committee members insisted on knowing which version of the Bible I read. Maybe it was because it's the most mentioned version.

The committee members must have discerned that I was lying because they didn't permit me to sing with the choir. They had me stay on probation for quite a number of months during which I began warming towards the Bible. Eventually, I came to embrace it as the inerrant Word of God. It is my code of conduct these days.

Over the years, I have managed to read the whole Bible but interestingly, it's not until this month that I read the KJV Bible. Well, I didn't read the whole of it, only the books of Proverbs, Psalms and Matthew (in that order).

Now, the King James Version Bible is so named because it was published under the auspices of King James of England in the year of our Lord 1611. Since it is that old, it is full of such archaic words as "thee", "thou", "thy" and "ye".

Before I began reading the KJV Bible this month, I was a bit apprehensive that it would bore me to death with its archaic language. But wow! I enjoyed reading it so much that I found myself underlining verse after verse which I'd love to read again in the future. Allow me, my beloved reader, to briefly tell you the verses that stuck in my memory.

From the book of Proverbs, the verse that I remember most is Proverbs 4:7 which says, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: And with all thy getting, get understanding." That verse has inspired me to keep growing in wisdom, in knowledge and in understanding.

From the book of Psalms, the verse that I recall most is Psalm 37:5 which says, "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." That verse has encouraged me to believe in God more and keep involving Him in everything I do.

And from the book of Matthew, the verses that I remember most are Matthew 6:14-15 which say, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Those verses from the book of Matthew have reminded me that I need to forgive those who have wronged me just as I need to be forgiven for the many times I have erred. That's all I am saying.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on what I gleaned from the KJV Bible, you might also enjoy another one on "Understanding the Bible" which I wrote about two years ago.