Someone has written that we cannot compare the English translation of the Bible with the Mandarin translation. It is like comparing apples with oranges! Is this a legitimate statement to make? If it is, then there are some practical implications. For starters, all our bilingual translations have to be thrown away and not sold at the Tabernacle Bookroom. Those who argue that we cannot use the KJV to help us understand the CUV, especially when the Christian knows English and Mandarin, are barking up the wrong tree. It is like telling someone not to read the Bible at all since you do not know Hebrew and Greek! This is foolishness and possibly the ploy of Satan to cause Christians not to read and hence know God's Truth.
The fact that there are all sorts of parallel Bibles means that this is an acceptable way of determining the Word of God and helping the reader to get at the Truth of God's Word, especially if he does not understand Hebrew and Greek. The first "parallel" Bible was printed in 1522 A. D. It was called the Polyglot Bible. "The Old Testament was in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin and the New Testament in Latin and Greek. Erasmus used the Polyglot to revise later editions of his New Testament. Tyndale made use of the Polyglot in his translation on the Old Testament into English which he did not complete because he was martyred in 1534."
When we read the CUV or KJV or any translation, the best is to compare them with the Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT) and the Greek Textus Receptus (TR). The reason is that these are the providentially preserved and inspired words that God Himself preserved down through the ages for all His children. The rejection of these original texts would result in an alignment with the Westcott and Hort's minority texts which were new because they only came into proposition by Westcott and Hort in the 19th Century. Prior to this it has always been the MT and TR used throughout the Christian World from the time of Christ and the Apostles. But in the event that the Christian does not read Hebrew and Greek, then he has to compare with another translation. This translation has to be a more accurate and faithful translation for it to be properly and accurately compared.
Since the KJV is more accurate and faithful than the CUV, it should be the translation that the believer ought to use especially if he understands Mandarin and English. The reasons are based upon the four T's. They are: TEXT; TRANSLATORS; TECHNIQUE OF TRANSLATION; and THEOLOGY.
a) The TEXTS used were the MT and TR. These are the God preserved Texts which are perfect i.e. they are without mistakes. This is the bedrock foundation from which the KJV was anchored upon. The best translators using the wrong text will result in a poor translation. This is the first and most critical step in determining any faithful translation.
b) The TRANSLATORS of the KJB were men of unquestioned fidelity to Holy Scriptures, fully committed to the faithful translation of the Texts without any alteration or manipulation or any private interpretation. They were godly men raised of God by His sovereign will and perfect timing. The King authorized the translation of God's Word when some 100 years earlier anyone who translated the Word of God in England would be burnt at the stake. Tyndale was burnt at the stake in 1536, less than 100 years before the KJV was completed (1611). These were the best godly men with the best mind assembled by God soon after the invention of the printing press to fulfill this enormous task of giving the world a translation of His precious and perfect Word into a language that God alone knows was to become the language of the world! These godly men did not do it for money like many of the modern versions aimed to achieve. The KJV was done to unite a nation under God and God used it to transform the world for Christ!
c) The TECHNIQUE used by the translators of the KJB was the classical "Verbal equivalence" or "Word for Word" method, which ensured an exact and faithful translation free from the corrupting thoughts of modern textual critical men. Dynamic equivalence was the method adopted by the NIV whereby the thought of the biblical writers was translated rather than the words! The KJV translators employed a method that was also called "formal equivalence" whereby the English of the KJV is not Shakespeare's English but Biblical English. Much of the sense of the Hebrew and Greek nuances and words were captured as best as possible without compromising the cadence and grammar and syntax of the English Language. The KJV is not only the most faithful and accurate translation of God's perfect Word but it is also the most readable.
d) The THELOGY in the King James Bible is sound, conservative, God-honouring and free from the leaven of modern thought. The contamination of Textual Criticism that pervaded throughout the modern translations had not crept into the KJV. By God's providential Hand the KJV was completed by men of God before the rise of Textual Criticism which entered Christendom in the late 19th Century.
If one were to reject this proposition then the alternative, and only alternative at that, is to opt for the Westcott and Hort's texts. This would be disastrous as these individuals were unbelievers and spiritual wrecks. The Minority Manuscripts themselves are full of corrections and adulterations.
Is it really a comparison between apples and oranges when one compares the KJV with the CUV of any other translations? Definitely not! It is a most righteous and beneficial comparison especially if one does not read the original languages. Remember the promise of God's perfect Word which says, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32 )." AMEN.