Hi Brothers and Sisters,I am just wondering for those of you that are open air preaching on a consective basis or for others to comment, what version of the bible do you think is best for open air preaching and the proclamation of God's word to this generation? I use KJV as a prefered bible now.
I'm with ya... KJV. Nothing is as clear and in your face as the KJV.Krispy
wen'a street preachin on saturday, read from Jeremiah, was going to modernize what was being said.. take out the thee's and thou's etc..didn't... got half way through the reading before i noticed too.. lolKJV defnintely, think people hear the thee's and thou's and know your reading from the Word of God
Hey Greg, I use the KJV, because that's the version I am reading/ studying myself.In open air preaching I will read throught the passage (in the KJV), then I go back and go through the text verse by verse, keeping within the context of what God is saying/addressing, but I will put it into simple language that the people that come can relate to and understand.I really don't think it's the version that matters, primarily...it's the heart of the person opening their mouth.
In my mind I have the KJV because that is 'my bible' but like others I am ready to paraphrase or even to just state biblical truth. Paul's encounter with the pagans in Athens finds him quoting neither Masoretic text nor Septuagint ;-) but heathen poets.
The Holy Spirit
I take my NASB with me, but when doing open-air, I tend not to preach like I do in a pulpit... as most heathen don't care about what version you are using, nor do they generally care where verses are located. If you say it is in there, they generally believe you. Sometimes I have read passages out loud in length, e.g. the sermon on the mount. But, since NASB is my prefered translation, I use the NASB when reading passages. Fact of the matter is, most Christians have a hard time reading the KJV and comprehending it. Most heathen will have an even harder time understanding it. Perhaps though, they might be more interested in it if they were to walk by and hear somebody speaking KJ english.. then again, they might be turned off. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter. It simply matters if the preacher is being faithful to the message.
Thanks for all the comments, the main reason was my small inkling that felt it would be too hard for people to understand the KJV if read in public. But I do think the trend is that if the text becomes real to me then sharing with others will only be a bi-product of what it has already done in changing my heart. I think it is easy enough as brother Josh said to modify some of the langauge in KJV on the "fly" when preaching open air if that is needed to clarify the verse.
I even modify the language when preaching from the NASB on the fly, and sometimes paraphrase parts that might be a little less important to my audience, and jump around and the like. I feel free to use the "King Jimmy" Version of the Bible. All preachers, even strong KJV only advocates, regularly paraphrase from the Bible when preaching. Even the writers of Scriptures felt free to paraphrase some of the verses they quoted from the OT. As long as the essence of what you are saying is the word of God, and what you say agrees with Scripture, and that you are being faithful to the gospel message, and following the leading of the Spirit, then it really doesn't matter.
beenblake wrote: The Holy SpiritIf you're preaching out of the Bible... then you ARE preaching from the Holy Spirit!Krispy
Greg,If you don't have one you can probably get it for free. It's called the " The Evidence Bible " compiled by - Ray Comfort -It's truly remarkable and used specifically for just that, "witnessing". There are tons of articles relating on how to respond to questions from non believers. Theres also tons of articles on things such as: Information on Islam and how to respond to them for salvation. Information on Mormonism and how to respond to them. Buddhism, Hinduisum, Jehovah Winess, and more. This Bible answer's "Hundreds" of questions in Article's that people ask you and equipt's you with the answer using scripture. It's remarkable, and truly easy to read and understand.One last note that i'll quote from, at the front of Ray Comforts " Evidence Bible"Quote:The text used in this Bible is a "Comfort-able KJV" - a sensatively rivised King James Version, in which archaic words have been simplified to make God's Words more understandable.Scriptural quotations designated Amplified are from the Amplified Bible.End QuoteI called them up awhile back after purchasing a pocket size New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs "Evidence Bible" just to tell them how awesome it was for witnessing and reaching the loss with all thier questions and how to respond, and that i wanted to purchase thier full and complete Bible and to my shock they insisted on sending me the whole and complete "Evidence Bible" free of charge along with a CD and many tracks. I was so stunned. :-?
My apologies for resurrecting an old thread, I was searching in the archives and I had to reply.I am shocked that most of you use the KJV (in open-air preaching). I think it creates such an unneccesary linguistic barrier between the preacher and the lay-man. You must understand language is evolving more and more rapidly everyday. People (lay-men) really dislike the archaicness of the KJV. And my fear is that if that would keep away some people from hearing you out, is it really worth it then to preach with the KJV?The KJV is great, but seriously, 'consider your ways'. You must understand that in America (and in the U.K.), literacy is on the decline. It shows in people's conversations. They would be thrown off balance if they heard the KJV. Think about it, what if your preaching to some poor person who isn't very literate. You're reading from the KJV, say, and he is thrown off. He doesn't understand a word your saying with your thee's and thou's. So he walks away and you lost the chance to reach out to him... just because of something so minute as a translation that is out of date. If you had an updated modern translation, maybe he would have stayed to hear you out.Now, I understand that the modern translations may go easier on what it calls sin. If your worried about that, then just update the modern versions your preaching from.I use the English Standard Version. It's very nice.
I did'nt know there was another version. ;-) Well, if Gods word is perfect, and, one verse comes to mind, Psalms 12:6-7, Please read these verses closely. "The WORDS of the Lord are PURE WORDS:" (notice words is plural) this means all his WORDS. RIGHT? "as silver tried in a furnace of earth, PURIFIED seven times.v.7 Thou shalt KEEP them, O Lord, thou shalt PRESERVE THEM" (plural), (NOT the context, NOT the message), but, "THEM from this generation FOREVER". It is my understanding that Elizabethan English is the purest form of English. It is the language of the PURITANS, it is the language of SHAKESPEAR. So, therefore, the thees and thous are as important as the rest of the words, because they are pure. Thee is plural, and thou can either be singular, or plural. This is very important to remember when you study the word. The problem is, were trying to bring the word of God down to mans level, when it's not mans word, it's Gods word. :-D
Honestly, Jordanamo, I don't see your point. Now I'm not an "Open-Air Extraordinaire," but most don't just stand and read scriptures when in the OA. It might happen, but usually you do a lot of Q&A. It may be possible that literacy is on the decline, but literacy has to do with reading/writing, not listening. Even if they do have a small vocabulary, they should be able to understand the message. People (lay-men) really dislike the archaicness of the KJV.That is just a personal opinion. If you are flaming with passion you can quote the KJV or the ESV and people will stop. If your heartless and have no annointing you can read either one and you will flop.
I have a story about literacy that I would like to share with you. My wonderful wifes Grandfather,who was a baptist preacher, could barely read or write when he answered the call to preach. He only had a sixth grade education. He learned to read and write very well through studying the word of God, and could pronounce, and define every word that was in the bible, CORRECTLY. He served as a pastor of a small country church for most of his life. He won the familys in the are to the Lord, and died having a great testimony.
Honestly, Jordanamo, I don't see your point.Looks like you missed it.Now I'm not an "Open-Air Extraordinaire," but most don't just stand and read scriptures when in the OA. It might happen, but usually you do a lot of Q&A.Most do. If your not reading Scriptures, then I don't know how your preaching. Normally preaching in the open-air, from my experience, includes reading some if not a lot of Scriptures. Q&A includes answering with the Scriptures. Thus the translation your using is important.It may be possible that literacy is on the decline, but literacy has to do with reading/writing, not listening. Even if they do have a small vocabulary, they should be able to understand the message.Literacy is reflected in understand and comprehending words. I'm not speaking in literal terms, you should be able to tell that from the context. Again, the KJV is archaic (TO LAY-MEN-- i.e., most people) in the modern-day language of English. It throws them off, and that means God can't get glory just because you like to stick with a 200 year old translation that a lot of people have trouble understanding. I even for one. Even though I like reading it for it's sheer poetic linguistic value, it can be hard to comprehend.
This isn't a personal opinion. It's a completely fair generalization. Use simple logic here. Most lay-men of the public do not understand the KJV as as well as compared to modern versions. If you are flaming with passion you can quote the KJV or the ESV and people will stop. If your heartless and have no annointing you can read either one and you will flop.You must hit the mind if your going to hit the heart. Their both connected. You can't preach in Spanish to an English audience and expect them to understand, when you have English at your hand to use. If you say, "well, its my native language, the Spirit will convict them!".. that's just nonsense. You got English at your hand, so you'd use it. The same with KJV vs. modern versions. It's out of date. People have a hard time with it. You've got versions that are generally more comprehended and understandable to the lay-men than the KJV, so use it.Think of the eternal consequences of just one person not listening to you because you quote from the KJV and it throws them off because they aren't as intelligent as you are and they can't comprehend it.Again, consider your ways!Me: People (lay-men) really dislike the archaicness of the KJV.That is just a personal opinion.
Thee is plural,'Thee" is singular! (and objective If the experts can't get it right...? ;-) If you want to get this right here is something I did a little time ago called Teach Thyselfe Olde Englishe.
Sorry philologos,I got it backwards. Boy, I really have to be careful don't I? :-o :-D
To philologos Very good read. If you know this than why question the KJV?
A fairly detailed answer to this question may be found here. :-)
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