Reformed theology and KJV-Onlyism

The relationship between Reformed theology and KJV-Onlyism reveals an important tension: while some Reformed scholars have championed the King James Version, Reformed theology itself fundamentally contradicts the KJV-Only position.

Edward F. Hills represents a more scholarly approach to KJV advocacy, avoiding the inflammatory rhetoric typical of the movement while grounding his arguments in what he calls the “logic of faith”—the conviction that God’s providence preserved the Textus Receptus underlying the KJV.[1] However, Hills notably refused to grant divine inspiration to the King James Version itself, instead arguing that God’s preservation of the New Testament text was providential rather than miraculous, with scribes and believers guided but not inspired.[1]

This distinction matters theologically. Reformed doctrine emphasizes that inspiration belongs exclusively to the original autographs—the texts the biblical authors actually wrote—not to subsequent copies or translations. Hills began with the conclusion that the Textus Receptus was God-preserved and used this assumption throughout his argument, raising charges of circularity.[1] This reasoning departs from classical Reformed methodology, which grounds textual authority in the originals and uses rigorous textual criticism to approximate them.

Interestingly, one modern scholar critical of KJV-Onlyism actually praises the KJV itself as establishing “a good tradition worth maintaining—a tradition of basically literal Bible translation that nonetheless self-consciously refuses the ideal of perfect consistency,” describing it as “a pleasing-but-not-perfect blend of ‘formal’ and ‘functional’ translation.”[2] This suggests Reformed churches can value the KJV’s translation philosophy without embracing KJV-Only doctrine.

The core incompatibility remains: Reformed theology cannot grant the KJV the authority that belongs only to the originals.

[1] James R. White, The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust Modern Translations? (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2009), 130–131.
[2] Mark Ward, “Word Nerd: Language and the Bible,” Bible Study Magazine (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press; Faithlife, 2021), 14:1:64.