So THIS is what liberty feels like...

Today I took a step I'd been wanting to take for a few years now, but could never bring myself to it. For those who have been under the brainwashing of radical fundamentalism and have come out of it, you'll know what I'm talking about.

I went and bought a new Bible.

Yeah, I know. You're thinking, "what's the big deal with this dude going and buying a new Bible? Is he THAT neurotic?" Rest easy, my dear friends. I'm not neurotic, nor am I paranoid, or any other diagnosis. My wife says I'm crazy, but hey -- after 19 years of marriage, that's to be expected!

No, it was a big step for me because it marked the end of one entrenched "doctrine", that of KJV-onlyism. I am no longer a KJV-only preacher! You see, that is one of those doctrines of man that somehow wound up getting incorporated into IFB doctrine over the years. It is strongly (or weakly, should I say) built upon the verses found in Psalm 12:6-7 that says...

The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.
You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

Psalms 12:6-7 (NKJV)

Yes, you read it right. My verses are posted in the New King James Version (NKJV).

Folks, all these verses say is that God's words are pure, and that God has promised us to preserve them. That's all, nothing else. He didn't say He would preserve them in the KJV only. I don't read that in my KJV Bibles (of which I have 30+ of), not one of them. I don't read that in my NKJV Bible that is laying open in front of me right now, and I don't read that in any translation or paraphrase that is currently on the market today.

You know what that tells me? It tells me that God didn't promise what man thinks He promised! Go to your local Christian bookstore. Walk down the KJV aisle. Guess what? That is God's preserved Word. Walk down the NKJV aisle. Guess what? That is God's preserved Word too. Walk down the NASB aisle. Guess what? You got it! Preserved! Walk down the NIV aisle. Yeah, even it is preserved!

This whole thing stems from one thing -- ignorance. I'll confess. I still like the KJV. I really do. However, what has been lost in this whole quagmire of fundamentalism is the fact that all of these versions are simply translations of men. I'll raise the ire (and blood pressure) of my brethren (and you still ARE my brethren despite how you act), and go one further -- I could take a Roman Catholic bible and lead a person to Christ. Now, I'm not giving you a ringing endorsement of Catholicism here, but I am giving you a taste of your own ignorance here.

It is time to wake up, quit majoring on the minors, and start doing the work of the Lord while there is still yet time.

Oh. Before I forget, I purchased a Scofield Study Bible III in the NKJV. Yeah boys, I am liberated from yet one more hobby-horse of fundamentalism!!!