KJV1611-Only

In my journey within and studies of “King James Onlyism” I do not recall that I ever noticed that there is subgroup who advocates using only the 1611 edition of the King James Bible. Perhaps I had my head in the sand, or just was not paying close attention. Or, perhaps this group is relatively new.

This difference requires some explanation, since many, if not most, KJV defenders often make references to using the KJV 1611. This group, however, is KJVO/1611-Only. By that I mean that they advocate the actual use of the King James Bible as printed in 1611. I am not familiar enough to know that they advocate only the black-letter type (I don’t think so), but they advocate no changes in words, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, etc. For example, they include this disclaimer on the home page of their website, King James Bible 1611.

“If you find typographical errors on this website in the quotes from the 1611 AKJB, it is because this platform mistakenly auto-corrects, not recognizing Elizabethan spellings.”

The primary leaders of this group appear to be Reginald Jacob Block and John Doerr, of whom I know almost nothing. Brief bios appear on their site HERE. On the website, the advertisement for the book Authorized, the Real 1611 King James Bible (Reginald Jacob Block, John Doerr, 2019) states:

“Most Christians are unaware that the Bible called the KJV is not faithful to the Bible that King James authorized. In fact, the KJV is a product of the 1700s, and at best a revision of the real 1611 King James Bible. This book explains the differences.”

Block has a February 11, 2020 video – Authorized, the Real 1611 King James Bible – in which he discusses two of his books (Authorized, the Real 1611 King James Bible and Bible Corruption, Everything Matters). This provides some further insight into this viewpoint. At one point he mentions “the Bible that came off the press in 1611,” which is possibly the best expression clarifying what they are advocating. He also distinguishes his Bible as the “1611 AKJV” versus the “KJV” as the 1769 Blayney revision.

With advocating the 1611 printing of the King James Bible comes the inclusion of the Apocrypha. This subgroup believes that Bibles should contain the Apocrypha, but they distinguish it from the inspired canon.

“The 66 books (Old and New Testaments) of the 1611 Authorized King James Bible are perfect and correct…In their wisdom, the 47 translators placed the Apocrypha between the Old and New Testaments that we might understand the false doctrines of Mystery Babylon from which the church was delivered during the Reformation. It is not part of the canon of scripture and was never intended as such.”

For those unfamiliar with 1611 King James Bible orthography, see a scan of the 1611 Bible HERE.

Reg Block has at least four books on the Bible versions issue.

• Authorized, the Real 1611 King James Bible, Reginald Jacob Block, John Doerr, Seattle, WA: The Book Patch, 2019
• Bible Corruption, Everything Matters: Comparing NABRE, KJV, NKJV & NIV to the 1611 AKJB, Reginald Jacob Block, Seattle, WA: The Book Patch, 2019
• Is Your Bible The Word of God? Examine the Witnesses, Reginald Jacob Block, Seattle, WA: The Book Patch, 2022
• Modern Bible Translation Problems, Volumes I-VI (Series), Reginald Jacob Block, Seattle, WA: The Book Patch, 2016, 2023

I am not endorsing this position, but post merely as a matter of information. It is good to be aware of differing positions of advocacy of the King James Bible. Those who say “AV 1611” and such like may only mean they are KJV-Only (support and use a descendant edition of the Bible first printed in 1611), or they may mean they only use “the Bible that came off the press in 1611.”