|
M any people believe that the new Bible Versions that are constantly coming out are just updated words making the meaning of words and phrases clearer or easier to understand. Upon taking a closer look at this controversial subject, we find this is not the whole truth.
The facts I am going to give you are not meant to divide or dispute with anyone, but to share in love with other Christian brothers and sisters what I have learned while studying this extremely important subject. My prayer is that the Lord will open our eyes and ears to the truth.
The Authorized Version
or King James Version (KJV) says in Psalm 138:2b, "
for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name".
In Psalm 12:6-7; God promises to preserve His word forever.
"The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried
in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them,
O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation
forever". If God promised to preserve His word forever
than we must have it. "To whom also he shewed himself
alive after his passion by many infallible proofs,
being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining
to the kingdom of God:"(Acts 1:3) The word infallible
means incapable of ever being changed! Read
the following interesting statement made by Bible scholar Thomas
Holland;
"Here something needs to be stated about the words inerrant and infallible. In his book, The Battle For The Bible, Dr. Harold Lindsell states these two words are interchangeable and basically teach the Bible is without error (Lindsell, p. 27). There is, however, a slight difference to which the student of manuscript evidence should be aware of. While they are synonyms for each other, there is a variance. The word inerrant means without error. That is to say the Bible has no error; it is truth without any mixture of error. This is the fundamental belief among evangelical Christians, as pointed to by Lindsell, and applies to the original autographs, the writers being inspired by the Holy Ghost. Infallible carries the meaning further. Webster defines it as, 'incapable of error.' Therefore, infallibility would mean the Scriptures were not only given without error, but are incapable of becoming errant. That is to say, they are incorruptible (1 Pet.1:23). And, if they are truly infallible (incorruptible), then the Church of God has always had these inerrant words and still possesses them today; without the fallibility of human error interjected into their content". (1)
The scriptures are incapable
of ever becoming in error! "Forever, O LORD, thy
word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89)
and "Thy word is true from the beginning:
and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever
(Psalm 119:160). These scriptures make it perfectly
clear that God's Word will endure forever! This is exciting and
encouraging, because we can be positively sure that
we have the word of God in its complete purity.
Jesus Himself confronted the Devil and showed us the key to overcoming him in Luke 4:4; "Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word of God". God cannot lie (Titus 1:2) so we need to take this verse seriously. If we are to live by every word of God then we must have a book that is His every word. Every single word of God is so important that He has even magnified it above His name! But which Bible version can we trust to have the infallible words of God in it? The popular modern versions such as the New International Version (NIV) and The New American Standard (NAS) and most other modern versions completely omit the words of Jesus "but by every word of God" from Luke 4:4. Why is it that in these new versions, those words of Jesus were not important enough to keep?
When we compare the Greek manuscripts underlying the NIV, NAS and other modern versions to the Greek manuscripts of the time-honored and trustworthy King James Version (KJV), we find that there are over 5,600 changes. (2) It is done so subtly that very few ever realize it. Whole verses and sentences are completely deleted! Important words like "Lord", "Jesus", "Christ", "blood", "repent", "hell" are omitted many times! When we take a close look at the changes that are made in the new versions, vital doctrinal truths about the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, salvation, the resurrection, the second coming of Christ, heaven and hell and others have been omitted or changed in many places. It would almost seem that these important truths were taken out to deliberately weaken certain doctrines.
There are 17 verses that are in the KJV, but are completely omitted from new Bible versions. Some versions may have brackets around them or footnotes that cast doubt. Let's look at the following verses that deal with salvation.
"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost" (Matthew 18:11). This verse is a clear Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ came to save the lost.
"And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (Acts 8:37). By removing the previous verse, the eunuch's confession of faith in the Son of God is gone, he is saved by baptism instead of faith in Jesus. This is false doctrine!
The following omitted verse is a commandment and must be obeyed by Christians. "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses" (Mark 11:26).
The clearest verse on the Trinity is also omitted: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" (I John 5:7).
In Matthew 17:21 Jesus shares the truth about how to cast out devils - "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting". This is a very important lesson on spiritual warfare but is conveniently removed in new Bible versions! Prayer is also omitted in Mark 12:33, and fasting in Mark 9:29, Acts 10:30, and 1 Corinthians 7:5.
The torments of Hell are omitted in two out of three places in the book of Mark. "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:44,46).
Check and see if the rest
of these seventeen verses are missing from your Bible if you have
anything other than a King James (Matthew 23:14, Mark 7:16, 15:28,
Luke 17:36, 23:17, John 5:4, Acts 15:34, 24:7, 28:29, and Romans
16:24). If you have a Bible with footnotes at these verses, they
cast doubt on their validity and make the verses debatable.
Not only are verses taken out, but also important Christian doctrines.
1 Timothy 3:16 says "God
was manifest in the flesh," In the new versions "God"
is replaced with the word "He". This is the clearest
verse in the Bible that Jesus was God Himself. By putting the
word "He" in the place of "God" it does not
tell us who Jesus truly was.
Exactly one third of the Lord's Prayer is taken out of Luke 11:2-4:
"And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil" (Luke 11:2-32) (KJV)
compare to:
"He said to them,
"When you pray, say: "'Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive
us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation" (Luke 11:2-4) (NIV).
Who says Jesus teaching on prayer was not important enough? Let God be true but every man a liar! These are only a few of the thousands of changes. God warned us how dangerous it is to mess with His Word:
"If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Revelation 22:18b+19).
The first attack on God's word happened around six thousand years ago in the Garden of Eden. The serpent deceived Eve by first casting doubt on God's word, "Yea, hath God said" (Genesis 3:1). Then by denying it, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4). Compare this to what God said; "thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17). By adding the word "not", the serpent deceived Eve, which led to the fall of the human race!
Also in Genesis 3:1 the
serpent subtly takes the word "LORD" away from the word
"God". The scriptures in Gen. 2:4 through 3:24 refer
to "God" as the "LORD God" every time except
when the serpent is deceptively speaking with Eve. This way he
subtlety takes authority and holiness away from God's name.
Today new versions also take "Lord" away from "Jesus Christ" many times over! I wouldn't dare take away from the name that is above all names! (Philippians 2:9-11) |
Let's compare the KJV with the NIV at 1 John 4:3 on how to test for an antichrist spirit.
"And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God" (KJV).
compare to:
"but every spirit
that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God" (NIV).
These new versions are doing the very thing that the King James says is not of God - they are not confessing that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh! Just because it says it in the verse before gives no one the right to take it out in verse 3. Heed the warning; "and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (KJV).
Would you be upset or offended if someone took your Bible and crossed out words, sentences, and even whole verses? Since every word of God is so important, you would be missing many words and verses that a Christian needs to have and know so they can walk and be strong in the faith. If this happened to your bible I would hope that every Christian would be upset about this and would wonder what God has really said in back of the black marker. The Bible says; "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (1 Tim 4:16). We are to take heed so we will not be deceived. This is what the New Bible Versions have done. They have deceived many Christians by taken away words, phrases and whole verses from the bread of life!
We must come to realize that there is only one Bible that is the true Word of God and that we can trust, because God is not the author of confusion. It all boils down to this: Either someone added words and phrases to the KJV, or someone deleted words and phrases from the New Versions. God's Word does not "evolve" or change over time, like some might have us believe. Who, then, is responsible for these differences? Would Satan actually desire to exalt the deity of Christ and the Word of God, like we have seen in the King James, or would he rather take away or steal the Word, as we have just seen in the new versions? This alone should clearly demonstrate which Bible is the Word of God.
We can only stay strong in our Christian walk with the true Word of God. How could a warrior fight against an enemy with a dull sword? In the same way how does a Christian defend the Trinity with a NIV Bible? |
I end with a quote from William Schnoebelen, a deliverance minister:
"The fact that, in our many experiences, when you simply open it (the King James Bible), demons begin to tremble". (3)
|
Notes and Bibliography:
1). Thomas Holland, Manuscript Evidence,
LESSON ONE: A Biblical Starting Point
2). Rev. D.A. Waite, "Defending the
King James Bible, The Bible For Today Press, Collingswood,
New Jersey, 1998, p. xii.
3). William and Sharon Schnoebelen,
Blood on the Doorposts, Chick Publications, Chino, CA,
1994, p. 213
|
(c) Copyright 2000 Fill The
Void Ministries. This article may be copied for personal use or
reproduced to give to others. Article must be kept in original
format and may not be sold for profit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|