It's The Christians vs the Christians ---- Again

           Halloween certainly has its fans.  The Halloween Crazies are ready to embrace the event wholeheartedly as part of a lifestyle, while millions of other Americans happily join in the celebration of the Halloween funfest. Then there are the wacky Christians.  I'm not talking about all Christians, but the wacky Christians who are not just against Halloween, but against a who slew of stuff.

           I had not heard this story previously, but I ran across it yesterday as I was looking at the website for InkyGirl .  Apparently some pastor in Canton, North Carolina --Pastor Marc Grizzard of Amazing Grace Baptist Church -- believes along with his congregation that the King James Version of the Holy Bible is the only acceptable version.  They are organizing a book burning on October 31, Halloween ( insert blood-curdling scream here).  So are they burning Harry Potter books, pornography, or books that are against Christianity?  No they are burning Bibles. Any Bible that is not the King James Version will be fuel for the fire.  Also welcome are any of the evil books by those so-called Christians like Billy Graham, Rick Warren, James Dobson, and any other of those icons of those who falsely call themselves Christians. I'm sure Harry Potter will be gladly accepted as fire fodder as will any CD's, DVD,'s or any other tool of the devil.

         The Amazing Grace Baptist Church currently has fourteen members.  With the publicity about the upcoming stunt I'm sure people all over Western North Carolina will be flocking to this church to join up.  Luddites everywhere can rejoice!  This is not the only church that believes that the KJV is the only acceptable translation of the Bible, but this is the first one that I have heard of that would have a public Bible burning event. Personally, I don't see the value of an event such as this other than publicity and I'm not sure this kind of publicity is what a church needs.

          Now as far the KJV goes, I was raised on it and I've been reading it for years. The language at times is beautiful and for some passages like the Psalms I might prefer the KJV.  However, much of the language is also archaic.  I mean, I haven't referred to cattle as kine since--well never.  The updated translations have been helpful in reaching readers who have difficulty in comprehending the older English style. When I'm reading the KJV, I will often refer to a modern Bible  translation or a dictionary. I do think we should be discerning about the translations we use, but I really don't think any of the mainstream translations come directly from Satan himself.

           Authors of Christian books, are providing information as they interpret it.  Some of this information may be theologically wayward, but for the student of theology it can be helpful to be aware of these points of view.  Christian apologists must "put on the whole armor of God" and to do so they must be able to recognize evil or incorrect theology in order to effectively defend their views.  To say that a theologically correct Christian author should be shunned because that author has used a translation other than the KJV at some time is absurd.  With this type of thinking, why aren't  we burning every single book out there excepting the Bible versions sects like Amazing Grace Church deem acceptable.  Shades of Nazi Germany! Been there, done that.

         For everyone who is interested in this event at Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, NC; the fun starts at 7 pm on October 31.  There will be great preaching and singing.  They will be serving Bar-b-Que Chicken, fried chicken, and all the sides. Praise the Lord and pass the potato salad!

         Now moving back to that InkyGirl site.  She also had something else there that I was unfamiliar with, but looks it could be a valuable writing exercise. There is a site called One Word which is a one minute exercise for those whose like to write or just want to improve their writing skills. Check it out.