King James Version literalism stems from childhood familiarity and fear of change.

Evidence

“Some people revere the King James version like they were the precise words of, say, Paul, written in English rather than Greek,” he says, “as opposed to a translation that has been updated as we make advances in the field of translation and scholarship. I think it’s about familiarity and fear. People memorized those specific words when they were children, and now, if those words change, the fear is everything else might be up for grabs.” — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 93

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: A fine illustration for ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ of how doctrinal conservatism freezes old textual forms against revisions.
• DEFINE: Explains why some believers treat one translation as divinely fixed while scholars treat translations as revisable.
• XREF: connects to: Biblical literalism reflects fear of change more than theology — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 93; Religious disembodiment stems from fear of bodily mortality — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core: On the Role of…, 552

Broader Connections

• Biblical literalism reflects fear of change more than theology #corroborates (0.95) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 93
• Religious disembodiment stems from fear of bodily mortality #expands (0.80) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 552