Our Doctrine

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

KJV Churches Doctrinal Stance

You may have noticed that the Site is called “KJV Churches.”  We picked that mainly for two reasons: first of all, people want to find “KJV Churches” and it helps with SEO (search engine optimization, connecting people with the content they’re looking for).  Secondly, we, the administration, are steadfastly King James Bible only believers.  We make no apology for taking a hard and fast stand that God gave His words through inspiration and preserved them in the English language in the King James Bible.  As such, not only is another English version of the Bible unnecessary, but it is destined to failure, both as a result of modern textual criticism and modernistic humanism, regardless of the textual basis of the project.

However, our goal is to catalog every independent Baptist church in the world, as well as every King James Only church or congregation.  So, in order to be listed in this database, your church needs to meet at least one of these two simple criteria:

  • Be an independent Baptist church (not affiliated with a convention), OR
  • Take a firm stance on the King James Bible as the only correct English Bible

If your church or assembly meets either of these criteria, then this directory is for you, and we sincerely desire your participation.  We reserve the right to refuse admission to any church that doesn’t meet basic doctrinal requirements (trinity, salvation by grace through faith, manifestations of “sign gifts”, etc.).  Further, we reserve the right to expand our included categories as we see fit, including but not limited to other Baptist organizations that do not fit the normal definition of “independent.”

Why does “KJV Churches” have non-KJV churches listed?

That’s a question we get frequently, and it’s understandable.  With a name like “KJV Churches,” one would initially assume that the only churches listed on such a site would be “KJV Churches.”  Unfortunately, the reality is a lot more complicated than that.

The first problem is that “KJV-only” means different things to different people.  Some churches take an aggressive stance that makes them “more KJV-only” than other churches.  For example, many churches would never ascribe “inspiration” to the KJV itself, insisting that it’s only “preserved,” yet would bristle at the idea that someone would consider them “less KJV-only” than another church that takes a more aggressive stance (for example, that the KJV itself represents inspiration).   So, instead of trying to find a hard and fast identifier (or mailing a huge questionnaire to every church that wants a listing), we just made things simpler and try to accurately indicate what each church believes based on their publicly-available information.

The second and probably more practical reason is simple: if people know that your church is (or isn’t) a KJV-only church, they’ll be able to make their decisions more easily.  A solidly KJV-only church isn’t likely to be visited by an individual who sincerely doesn’t believe the KJV to be the only English Bible, and a KJV believer isn’t going to visit a non-KJV church if that information is available to him.  That helps the non-KJV churches not have visitors that mistakenly assume they’re KJV-only, and it helps church seekers not assume that a church has simply not yet been listed on our site and it turns out that they’re not KJV.

We’re sorry that we can’t make everyone happy or cater to the minutiae of every believer out there.  We are simply trying to create the most accurate, comprehensive, and useful independent Baptist and KJV Bible-believing church database in the world. Please help us out, for everyone’s benefit.  Ultimately, however, we do not remove listings simply because churches don’t want to be associated with the website.  Please don’t waste our time or yours sending takedown requests as they will be ignored.

KJV Churches Bible Positions and what they mean

On the page to add a church or edit an existing listing, there are a few different options to choose from when it comes to the Bible “issue”.  He we will list those options and explain what they mean.  Our methods are far from infallible, but based on the best information we can find, these are the positions that we assign to churches.

  • Not KJV – largely self-explanatory; does not use the KJV.
  • KJV Position Undeclared – these churches typically have a Statement of Faith but have a generic, noncommittal Bible section which doesn’t indicate specifically what they believe.
  • No SOF – these churches do not have a Statement of Faith available.  Often this is because they do not have a website, or their website does not include a declaration of faith. 
  • Use KJV – these churches state that they “Use the KJV” but sometimes they will use other versions as well.  This is a rather weak position, and churches should make things more clear.
  • KJV Preferred – these churches use the KJV but also use other versions.  This position is typical of churches that straddle the fence between taking a firm stance on the Bible and not wanting to seem “uneducated” or “fanatical” about the Bible.
  • KJV – generic position for those churches that don’t share a lot of information about their exact stance.  As a rule, they are KJV only.
  • KJV Preserved – these churches declare that they believe the King James Bible to be the means of God’s preservation of His words in English. 
  • KJV Inspired – this is the strongest stance, that God directly guided the King James translators to produce a perfect English Bible in the King James Version.  This is the unapologetic stance of the KJV Churches administrator. 
  • Other Language – we created this option for churches in languages other than English, where typically the “Bible issue” is a much less pressing matter.  Many languages do not have good Bibles, or a Bible at all, and therefore the “issue” is getting the word of God in their language in the first place, not arguing about which Bible is the right one. 

 

While we cannot make everyone happy, these distinctions create enough variety where any church can fit in, without creating an unnecessarily long list of specifications.  Ultimately, the information is presented to be used by the discerning believer in searching for a church to visit, attend, or join.  Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.