Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you, 2nd Corinthians 13:3.
I am a member of the King James Bible Debate which is a group on Facebook. I am an occasional contributor but often I have learned from the well grounded and excellent students of the bible who frequent that group. As the title suggests, not everyone who frequents the site believes in the inerrancy of the King James Bible. Recently, a reader used a big colored box to pose the following question:
What proof is there of the KJV being the only correct translation?
That has always been the question in any time period. How do I know the truth? The answer is always the same. There were many people speaking in the name of Jesus Christ during the times of the apostles. Not all of them spoke the truth. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, Philippians 3:18. How was anyone to tell who was right? The Apostle Paul's answer to those who sought proof of whether or not Christ spoke through him was to test the power (our opening verse 2nd Corinthians 13:3).
One of the first things that any group of people had to decide when this divisive person showed up in a synagogue was whether or not they were merely hearing the opinions of a man, or hearing the truth of God. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe, 1st Thessalonians 2:13.
I'm sure that armchair philosophers and errantly educated theologians of today are sure that they themselves (had they lived back then) would have instantly known whether or not the Apostle Paul spoke the truth. Their track record in the 21st century speaks otherwise. Most of them would have counseled that we should listen to all of the sources. They would have judged the various speakers on how easily they could be understood by specific target audiences.
How did people know whether or not Jesus Christ was for real? How did they know? How did they decide? Jesus said; It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life, John 6:63. When officers were sent by the rulers to arrest Jesus Christ, some officers chose not to. Did they decide because of his lineage? Did they weigh whether the scholars had unearthed enough proofs? Or, did something else guide them? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man, John 7:46. They weighed his words.
The proof of a King James Bible is a King James Bible. Because it is the word of God, it will have the exact same amount of authority and power as any piece of paper ever handwritten by the Apostle Paul or one of his scribes. The words of a King James Bible are just as much spirit and life as the words that came out of the mouth of Jesus Christ. Other versions my contain brief excerpts that have similar words, but the reader is forced to parse through chapter after chapter with little assurance, little power, and little life. Those of us who use the King James Bible, who live by it, and who worship God in accordance with its precepts, do so because of its power and work in our lives as we read and study it. Day by day, year by year, it proves itself in our inward parts. It speaks to us as only God can.
Are there any other proofs? Yes, but if you approach it through those other proofs you will miss its true proof. When I was an evolutionist, I thought that it would be impossible for me to ever believe in creation without blindfolding a portion of my intellect. When the word of God convinced me of creation, I discovered a world of science and proofs that should satisfy any open minded person. The proofs of evolution took their true shape in my mind. They turned out to be contrived, out of context and contradictory to observation.
My bookshelf is overflowing with well written and well researched histories of the bible, studies of manuscripts, opinions of language experts, and well reasoned arguments supporting the proposition that God has spoken to us for the last 400 plus years through the King James Bible. They are proofs for the few who care to look. Yet, few are those who when they approach the subject through that portal will be convinced. It is the wrong portal. The correct portal is the King James Bible itself. It can be proved by intellectual exercise and has been over and over. Yet, no one will ever be settled there.
The scholars of Jesus Christ's day chose the wrong criteria with which to judge. The majority of those who heard the Apostle Paul, or Peter, or James, or whoever, made the wrong decision. They did not let those words work in them. They judged them in accordance with whatever flavor of judgment they preferred.
If you want proof of a King James Bible, let it prove itself to you. Set a regimen of reading it. If possible, attend a church that uses it and believes it. Take note of the work it does in your heart and soul. Use that intellect of yours and work out what certain verses are saying when they are written in a style unusual to you. You will find a power that is not in other versions. You will find that your heart is searched as you have never noticed before. Therein is the true proof of a King James Bible.