Three C’s of the KJV

I love the cadence, comfort, and certainty of the old King James Bible.

The words of the King James Bible have a certain rhythmic and melodic quality that we have lost in the “advance” of the English language. This is not just the biased view of King James-Onlyists. This is something known and admitted even by opponents of continued use of the King James Bible. Michael Spotts, Senior Minister of Phoenix United Reformed Church, in “Which Translation Should You Memorize” – where he criticized the King James and advocated memorizing the ESV – nevertheless admitted that “the King James is most memorable” (which he attributed to the “metered speech and punchy, one-syllable words”). Even a New York Times editor praised the King James Bible, writing that it “rings in the ear and lingers in the mind.” There is a beauty of cadence and quality of memorization that is lost in modern English Bibles. This quality also makes it a Bible much better to the listening ear than modern Bibles.

The words of the King James Bible deliver comfort of faithfulness and familiarity. Oh, the raw wounds administered to the grieving when someone reads a bastardized version of Psalm 23 at a funeral! Russell D. Moore, not a friend of the King James for general use, turns to it when in sorrow or trying to comfort someone. He writes, “There’s something about the beauty, the majesty, and the continuity between generations about the KJV that is sorely missed when it is gone. I suppose that’s why I preach and teach from any number of translations, but when I am sorrowful or grieving or comforting a hopeless friend I turn to the same King James Version I memorized verses from in childhood Sword Drills at Woolmarket Baptist Church. I know that I’m reading the same words my grandfather preached from fifty years ago, the same words my great-grandparents would have read through the Depression, and my great-great-great grandparents would have read in the aftermath of Reconstruction.”

The words of the King James Bible have a certainty, a dependable known correctness; it has long been tried and tested. After over 410 years you do not have to worry about these words of truth changing. You do not have to wonder if someone will turn up an error that has never been challenged and answered. In the modern world nothing is certain, nothing is settled. Your Critical Text Greek New Testament will fluctuate and fracture. Your modern English translation will be revisited and revised. The NIV Committee on Bible Translation meets annually to consider what changes to it may or may not be in order. Amidst the changing changes of moving modernity still stands the old King James Bible. It is weathered and beaten. Even many of its fair-weather friends hope for its death. But still it stands. “Of modernity we have more than enough; the Bible needs to be read against modernity’s grain. I’ll stick with the King James.” (Philologos, a prestigious Jewish-language columnist)

I love the cadence, comfort, and certainty of the old King James Bible.

In Memory of Albert Wardin

In July of 2016, I posted 3 tributes for 3 historians. At the time, one of the three was still living, Albert Wardin.

Albert William Wardin Jr. died November 14, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee, at 94 years of age. He was born in Portland, Oregon March 11, 1928, the son of Albert W. Wardin, Sr., and Anna Klemm. He spent a career in religious education at Western Baptist Seminary, Judson Baptist College, and Belmont College. He married Dorothy Lucile Peak in 1969.

Albert W. Wardin was an experienced and important Baptist historian, and a prolific writer in the field. Of all the Baptist historians I knew, he had the best understanding of the different groups of Baptists in the U.S.A, who they were, where they came from, and how they were related. He contributed several books in this field alone, and others in the broader field of Baptist history.

From the 1960s into the 2000s, Wardin produced many articles and books, including:

• A History of Judson Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, 1911-1986 (1986)
• A Sixty-Fifth Anniversary History of the Oregon North American Baptist Association (1961)
• Baptists Around The World: a Comprehensive Handbook (1995)
• Baptist Atlas (1980)
• Baptists in Oregon (1969)
• Belmont Mansion: the Home of Joseph and Adelicia Acklen (1981)
• Conservative Baptists of Oregon: a Twenty-Fifth Anniversary History (1973)
• Evangelical Sectarianism in the Russian Empire and the USSR: a Bibliographic Guide (1995)
• God’s Chosen Path: the Life of H. Franklin Paschall (2001)
• Gottfried F. Alf: Pioneer of the Baptist Movement in Poland (2003)
• On the Edge: Baptists and Other Free Church Evangelicals in Tsarist Russia, 1855-1917 (2013)
• Tennessee Baptists: a Comprehensive History, 1779-1999 (1999)
• The Heritage of the Wardin Family of Oregon (1986)

Dr. Wardin was a very gracious and helpful teacher who shared his knowledge with those who were interested. Beginning in the mid-1980s we corresponded by mail (the old-fashioned “snail mail”) and talked on the phone, as he tried to lead me along to understanding the taxonomy of the Baptists in the United States. I owe most of what I know about the subject to him.

Romans 13:7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due...

3 tributes for 3 historians

Romans 13:7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due...honour to whom honour.

Two important mentors of mine were Louis F. Asher and J. W. Griffith, both of whom were once my pastors. Brother Asher baptized me and Brother Griffith was my pastor when I surrendered to preach, was licensed and ordained. They were both historians and seminary professors who did much to nurture my predisposition toward things historical.

Three men that did not know me were also extremely gracious and helpful to me when I reached out to them. Their helping me was of no personal benefit to them. Much of this occurred prior to the days of easy internet communication and contact. I want to pay tribute to them here.

Claude Howard Dorgan:
Howard Dorgan worked for many years at Appalachian State University. High Country Press called him "an all-around gentleman and scholar". His specialty was communications, but he is probably best remembered for his research and books on religion in Appalachia. He advised me on what he knew and put me in contact with a variety of Baptist associations in Appalachia, as well as giving me info about earlier religious research he had done. Some of his books include Giving Glory to God in Appalachia: Worship Practices of Six Baptist Subdenominations, In the Hands of a Happy God: The "No-Hellers" of Central Appalachia and The Old Regular Baptists of Central Appalachia: Brothers and Sisters in Hope.

Robert Granville Gardner:
I believe when I first contacted Dr. Gardner he was at Shorter College, but more people may associate him with Mercer University and the Georgia Baptist Historical Society. He helped me in more ways that I can mention here. One of the most significant was helping with my understanding of black Primitive Baptist associations. Some of the books by Robert G. Gardner are A Decade of Debate and Division: Georgia Baptists and the Formation of the Southern Baptist Convention, A History of the Georgia Baptist Association, 1784-1984, Baptists of Early America: a Statistical History, 1639-1790, Cherokees and Baptists in Georgia, and   On the Hill: the Story of Shorter College.

Albert W. Wardin, Jr.: 
Dr. Wardin served many years as Professor of History at Belmont University. In my opinion his greatest contribution is in the field of Baptist taxonomy, issuing three books on the topic, Baptist Atlas, Baptists Around the World and The Twelve Tribes of Baptists in the USA: a Historical and Statistical Analysis. I began to understand the Baptist diversity and grouping in America through reading Baptist Atlas and corresponding with Dr. Wardin. Other of his books include Baptists in Oregon, Gottfried F. Alf: Pioneer of the Baptist Movement in Poland and Tennessee Baptists: a Comprehensive History.

One thing all three of them had in common was also helping me collect Baptist minute books -- either sending me books or putting me in contact with local Baptist association officers. Chester Raymond Young of Cumberland College was also extremely helpful in this endeavor, as we swapped our duplicate copies of minute books.

T. J. Denson’s Sacred Harp song Odem urges us to give the roses while a person is alive to appreciate them. Drs. Dorgan and Gardner have already passed to their reward. I hope they understood how much I appreciated their help. Dr. Wardin still lives to hear my words of praise, which are many.

Wonderful things of men are said,
When they have passed away;
Flowers adorn the narrow bed
Over the lifeless clay.

Give me the roses while I live,
Something to cheer me on,
Useless the flowers you may give,
After the soul is gone.

Life is the time for words of praise
Hands clasp with friendly smile,
Blessings to cheer a pilgrim’s days,
Are always well worthwhile.