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I have always been interested in relegion and have beleived in god. Recently i have went from the king james version to studying diffrent books like the book of Enoch and the Dead Sea scrolls. My Question is how accurately has the King James version been translated and do you think certain books have been left out of the bible do to conterversy? Sorry bye the way if the spelling is horrible its like 12:00 at night and im so sleepy I dont feel like doing a spell check lol, sincerly A very curious individual - Chrissy

One thing you need to understand about books like 1 Enoch is that they were never considered scripture. It was religious reading. It would be akin to reading a book from the Left Behind series. It is not accepted as scripture. Neither Jews nor the early church every considered them in this way.

Some books like 1 Enoch became popular because of the Apocalyptic themes that deal with the overthrow of wicked oppressive powers and the establishment of the rule of God. That would have been popular through all the periods of oppression. However, just like the Left Behind series today, they were never considered scripture.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain biblical manuscripts as well as commentaries and other religious literature that were never considered as scripture.

There have not been any books left out of scripture due to controversy despite the wild claims of some. No reputable scholar, whether a believer or not, affirms that books have been "left out" of the Bible. The earliest canons (lists) of Biblical books date to as early as the second century, and they contain the books of scripture that we have today. I would recommend two books, "The Canon of Scripture" by F.F. Bruce, if you would like to get a more in depth treatment on this topic. For a short overview, look up "Canon" in a Bible Dictionary.

The King James Version is not a bad translation. It has a few difficulties, such as the translation of the word "Easter" instead of "Passover" in Acts 12:4. The King James translation relied on later manuscripts as well as the vulgate, instead of the oldest manuscripts as most modern translations do. If you are doing to do any serious study, I would recommend you use multiple translations. The translation I would recommend would be the New American Standard. It leans toward being more literal, yet is still readable.

John Telgren
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Leavenworth, KS 66048
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