"SPIRITUAL DECEPTION IN THE HIGHEST" An In Depth Study Of: The Authorized King James Bible vs. All Other 'Modern Versions' PART TWO OF TWO by: Jeff Johnson T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S **INTRODUCTORY PAGES** Foreword Footnoting Methodology Preface **PART ONE** Chapter 1: Bible Comparison: A Broad Analysis Chapter 2: Bible Comparison: An Individual Analysis Chapter 3: How Could This Happen? Chapter 4: In The Beginning ... Chapter 5: God's Truth: The Peshitta Bible (150 A.D.) Chapter 6: God's Truth: The Italic Bible (157 A.D.) Chapter 7: Satan's Counterfeit: The Origen-Eusebius Bible Chapter 8: Satan's Counterfeit: Jerome's Latin Bible (380 A.D) Chapter 9: Satan's Persecution Of The True Church Chapter 10: The Dark Ages (476 A.D. - 1453 A.D.) Chapter 11: God's Truth: The Erasmus Bible (1522 A.D.) Chapter 12: God's Truth: Luther's Bible (1522 A.D.) Chapter 13: God's Truth: The Tyndale Bible (1525 A.D.) Chapter 14: The Council Of Trent (1545 A.D.) Chapter 15: The Roman Catholic Church **PART TWO** Chapter 16: The Jesuits Chapter 17: Satan's Counterfeit: The Jesuit Bible Chapter 18: God's Truth: The King James Bible (1611 A.D.) Chapter 19: Modern Bible 'Claims' Chapter 20: Satan's Counterfeits: Sinaiticus and Vaticanus Chapter 21: Satan's Counterfeit: The Westcott and Hort Text Chapter 22: Westcott and Hort Chapter 23: Money Changers In The Temple Chapter 24: God's Preserved Word Chapter 25: New Age Doctrine Chapter 26: Lexicons Chapter 27: The Future? Chapter 28: Conclusions Chapter 29: Parting Comments References C H A P T E R 1 6 T H E J E S U I T S ( "Satan's Plain-Clothesmen" ) In the previous chapter Satan used both Rome and the Roman Catholic 'Church'. In this chapter he will use the 'Jesuits'. "The founder of the Jesuits was a Spaniard, Ignatius Loyola... [S2P232], As to his character, Ignatius "... was known as a youth to be treacherous, brutal, and vindictive" [S1P88]. Later in life, it is said he was "... unruly and conceited ..." [S1P88]. Also, it is this same Ignatius Loyola that: "... the Catholic Church has canonized and made Saint Ignatius" [S2P232]. "Wounded at the siege of Pampeluna (1521 A.D.) so that his military career was over, Ignatius turned his thoughts to spiritual conquests and spiritual glory. Soon afterwards, he wrote a book called: "Spiritual Exercises", which did more than any other document to erect a new papal theocracy and to bring about the establishment of the infallibility of the Pope. In other words, Catholicism since the reformation is a new Catholicism. It is more fanatical and intolerant" [S2P232]. It is said that Ignatius Loyola "... produced an elite force of men, extremely loyal to the Pope, who would set about to undermine Protestantism and 'heresy' throughout the world. Their training would require fourteen years of testing and trials designed to leave them with no will at all. They were to learn to be obedient. Loyola taught that their only desire was to serve the Pope" [S1P88]. "The head of the Jesuits is called the 'Black Pope' and holds the title of General, just as in the military. That they were to be unquestionably loyal to this man and their church is reflected in Loyola's own words, "Let us be convinced that all is well and right when the superior commands it". Also: "... even if God gave you an animal without sense for master, you will not hesitate to obey him, as master and guide, because God ordained it to be so." He further elaborates: "We must see black as white, if the Church says so" [S1P88]. "The Jesuits were to be the Vatican's 'plainclothesmen'. They were founded to be a secret society, a society that was to slide in behind the scenes and capture the positions of leadership" [S1P89]. "Politics are their main field of action, as all the efforts of these 'directors' concentrate on one aim: the SUBMISSION of the world to the papacy, and to attain this the heads must be conquered first" [S1P89]. "The Jesuit priests were not required to dress in the traditional garb of the Roman Catholic priests. In fact their dress was a major part of their disguise" [S1P89]. And "Murder is not above the 'means' which might be necessary to reach the desired 'end'. The General of the Jesuits will forgive any sins which are committed by the members of this Satanic order" [S1P91]. "He [the Jesuit General] also absolves the irregularity issuing, from bigamy, injuries done to others, murder, assassination ... as long as these wicked deeds were not publicly known and this cause a scandal" [S1P91]. "That the Jesuit priests have such liberties as murder is reflected in the following ... quote from Paris' book 'The Secret History Of The Jesuits'" [S1P91]. "Amongst the most criminal jesuitic maxims, there is one which roused public indignation to the highest point and deserves to be examined; it is: ... A monk or priest is allowed to kill those who are ready to slander him or his community ..." [S1P91]. Also, the Jesuits can murder if: "... a Father, yielding to temptation, abuses a woman and she publicizes what has happened, and because of it dishonours him, this same Father can kill her to avoid disgrace!" [S1P91]. These are some of the Jesuits' beliefs. But what about their practice? What have they actually done? "In 1572, the Jesuits, with the help of Prince Henry III were responsible for the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. At this infamous event, which took place on August 15, 1572, the Jesuits murdered the Huguenot (Protestant) leaders gathered in Paris for the wedding of Princess Margaret, a Roman Catholic, and Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot. The murders inspired Roman Catholics to slaughter thousands of Huguenot men, women, and children. Henry of Navarre was not killed but was forced to renounce Protestantism, although his renounciation was insincere, and he remained a Protestant until 1593. The number of victims in this Jesuit conspiracy is estimated to be at least 10,000. In 1589, when Henry III was no longer useful to the Roman Catholic Church, he was assassinated by a monk by the name of Jacques Clement. Clement was called an 'angel' by the Jesuit priest, Camelot. Another Jesuit priest by the name of Guigard, who was eventually hanged, taught his students that Clement did nothing wrong. In fact he voiced regrets that Henry III had not been murdered earlier at the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. He instructed them with lessons such as this: ... Jacques Clement has done a meritorious act inspired by the Holy Spirit. If we can make war against the King then let's do it; if we cannot make war against him, then let's put him to death ... we made a big mistake at the St. Bartholomew; we should have bled the royal vein ..." [S1P91-92]. As bad as that was, "The Jesuit's murderous ways were not yet completed in the history of the French Protestants! When Henry III was murdered, Henry of Navarre a Huguenot [Protestant], came to power. A hope for a Catholic rebellion never materialized, and Henry IV was allowed to reign. In 1592, an attempt was made to assassinate the Protestant king by a man named Barriere. Barriere admitted that he had been INSTRUCTED TO DO SO by a Father Varade, A JESUIT PRIEST. In 1594, another attempt was made by Jean Chatel who had been TAUGHT by Jesuit teachers and had confessed to the Jesuits what he was about to do. It was at that time that Father Guigard, the Jesuit teacher previously mentioned was hanged for his connection with this plot" [S1P92-93]. Six years later, "In 1598, King Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes, granting religious freedom to the Huguenots [Protestants]. They were allowed full civil rights and the right to hold public worship services in towns where they had congregations" [S1P93]. Well "This was the last straw! Henry the IV had to be eliminated! This time the Jesuits would allow for more careful planning. Edmund Paris details the assassination of King Henry IV: ... On the 16th of May, 1610, on the eve of his campaign against Austria, he was murdered by Ravaillac who confessed having been inspired by the writings of Fathers Mariana and Suarez. These two sanctioned the murders of heretic 'tyrants' or those INSUFFICIENTLY DEVOTED to the Papacy's interests. The duke of Epernon, who made the king read a letter while the assassin was lying in wait, was a notorious friend of the Jesuits, and Michelet proved that they knew of this attempt. In fact, Ravaillac had confessed to the Jesuit Father d'Aubigny just before and, when the judges interrogated the priest, he merely replied that God had given him the gift to forget immediately what he heard in the confessional" [S1P93]. Reverend Gipp says: "This is the spirit of our enemy! THIS is the ruthlessness of the Roman Catholic Church against those who will not bow their knee to Rome! Would God use this church to preserve his word? [S1P93-94] Do these two doctrines (Protestantism and Catholicism) have anything in common? Obviously, not! Should Protestants form 'pacts' or 'agreements' with Catholics? I think not. The Protestant and Catholic beliefs are 180 degrees apart. These two belief systems are diametrically opposed to one another and will always be that way. C H A P T E R 1 7 T H E J E S U I T B I B L E ( 1582 A.D. ) ( The Corrupted Minority Text In English ) The previous chapter explored some of the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. We concluded the two doctrines are 180 degrees apart. And we learned that Catholic doctrine is trying to infiltrate God's Bible. At this point in our study of the Bible, God is using: The Greek text of Erasmus (1522 A.D.), the Tyndale English Bible (1525 A.D.), and Luther's German Bible (1525 A.D.). Satan is using the Roman Catholics and the Jesuits. In this chapter there will be ANOTHER attack on God's true Word. T H E S T R U G G L E "Sixty years elapsed from the close of the Council of Trent (1563) to the landing of Pilgrims in America. During those sixty years, England had been changing from a Catholic nation to a Bible-loving people. Since 1525, when Tyndale's Bible appeared, the Scriptures had obtained a wide circulation. As Tyndale foresaw, the influence of the Divine Word had weaned the people away from pomp and ceremony in religion. But this result had not been obtained without years of struggle. Spain at that time was not only the greatest nation in the world, but was also fanatically Catholic. All the new world belonged to Spain, she ruled the seas and dominated Europe. The Spanish sovereign and the Papacy united in their efforts to send into England bands of highly trained Jesuits. By these, plot after plot was hatched to place a Catholic ruler on England's throne" [S2P237-8]. "At the same time, the Jesuits were acting to turn the English people from the Bible, back to Romanism. As a means to this end, they brought forth in English a Bible of their own ... If England could be retained in the Catholic column, Spain and England together would see to it that all America, north and south, would be Catholic. In fact, wherever the English-speaking race extended, Catholicism would reign. If this result were to be thwarted, it was necessary to meet the danger brought about by the Jesuit Version" [S2P238]. "So powerful was the swing toward Protestantism during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and so strong the love for Tyndale's Version, that there was neither place nor Catholic scholarship enough in England to bring forth a Catholic Bible in strength. Priests were in prison for their plotting, and many fled to the Continent. There they founded schools to train English youth and send them back to England as priests. Two of these colleges alone sent over, in a few years, not less than three hundred priests" [S2P238-9]. "The most prominent of these colleges, called seminaries, was at Rheims, France. Here the Jesuits assembled a company of learned scholars. From here they kept the Pope informed of the changes of the situation in England, and from here they directed the movements of Philip II of Spain as he prepared a great fleet to crush England and bring it back to the feet of the Pope" [S2P239]. "The burning desire to give the common people the Holy Word of God was the reason why Tyndale had translated it into English. No such reason impelled the Jesuits at Rheims" [S2P239]. The purpose of the Jesuit New Testament was: "... to do on the inside of England what the great navy of Philip II was to do on the outside. One was to be used as a moral attack, the other as a physical attack - both to reclaim England" [S2P237-9]. We pick up the history of the Bible in 1582: T H E S P I R I T U A L A T T A C K "About 1582 ... the Jesuit Bible was launched to destroy Tyndale's English Version" [S2P233]. "The appearance of the Jesuit New Testament of 1582 produced consternation in England. It was understood at once to be a menace against the new English unity" [S2P239]. "Immediately the scholarship of England was astir. Queen Elizabeth sent forth the call ... to ... undertake the task of answering the objectionable matter contained in the Jesuit Version" [S2P239-240]. Thomas Cartwright undertook the task. "With inescapable logic, he marshalled the facts of his vast learning and leveled blow after blow against this latest and most dangerous product of Catholic theology" [S2P240]. Thus, Cartwright defended the English people against the spiritual attack. But, that was only 1/2 the battle ... T H E P H Y S I C A L A T T A C K "Meanwhile, 136 great Spanish galleons, some armed with 50 canons, were slowly sailing up the English channel to make England Catholic. England had NO SHIPS. Elizabeth asked Parliament for 15 men-of-war - they voted 30. With these, assisted by harbor tugs under Drake, England sailed forth to meet the GREATEST FLEET the world has ever seen. All England teemed with excitement" [S2P240]. Cartwright sent forth the Word of God against Satan's lies. With Drake, a type of 'David' was sent forth against an attacking Goliath. Now, which side do you think God was on? T H E O U T C O M E: G O D P R O T E C T S H I S O W N ! Although England was outgunned by every measurable indication (in the physical), history has forever recorded the results: "... the Armada was crushed, and England became a great sea power" [S2P240]. Hallelujah! Praise God! T H E P E R F E C T M A S T E R P I E C E "Flushed with their glorious victory over the Jesuit Bible of 1582, and over the Spanish Armada of 1588, every energy pulsating with certainty and hope, English Protestantism brought forth a perfect masterpiece" [S2P242]. This perfect masterpiece: "... was not taken from the Latin in either the Old or the New Testament, but from the languages in which God originally wrote His Word, namely, from the Hebrew in the Old Testament and from the Greek in the New Testament" [S2P242]. English Protestantism: "... gave to the world what has been considered by hosts of scholars, the greatest version produced in any language, - The King James Bible, called 'The Miracle of English Prose'" [S2P242]. C H A P T E R 1 8 G O D ' S T R U T H: T H E K I N G J A M E S B I B L E ( 1611 A.D. ) T H E M I R A C L E O F E N G L I S H P R O S E ( The Traditional Majority Text In English) T H E B A C K G R O U N D "Just prior to the translation of the King James Bible, England had broken free of the yoke of Rome. Shortly after the Authorized Version was published, England once again started down the road back to Rome. For a brief 'parenthesis' in English history, England was free of Roman influence just long enough to translate and propagate a perfect Bible" [S1P161]. The King James Bible "... was produced during a brief period following the overthrow of Roman authority and prior to the apostasy of the Church of England. It was translated in the era when the still young English language was at its height of purity" [S1P183]. And God foresaw the widespread use of the English language. Notice that: "English is the language of this world. English is taught to Russian pilots, because it is universal. It is learned by Oriental businessmen, because it is universal. It was the first language spoken on the moon" [S1P40]. And, God gave us the BEST English: "The English language in 1611 was in the very best condition ... Each word was broad, simple, and generic. That is to say, words were capable of containing in themselves not only their central thoughts, but also all the different shades of meaning which were attached to that central thought. Since then, words have lost that living, pliable breadth. Vast additions have been made to the English vocabulary during the past 300 years, so that several words are now necessary to convey the same meaning which formerly was conveyed by one" [S2P246-247]. "The English language has degenerated from what it was in 1611 to what it is today. Those claiming to put the Bible in 'modern English' are actually, though possibly not intentionally, trying to force the pure words of God into a degenerated vocabulary of today!" [S1P41]. And so, "Not only was the English language by 1611 in a more opportune condition than it had ever been before or ever would again, but the Hebrew and the Greek likewise had been brought up with the accumulated treasures of their materials to a splendid working point. The age was not distracted by the rush of mechanical and industrial achievements. Moreover linguistic scholarship was at its peak. Men of giant minds, supported by excellent physical health, had possessed in a splendid state of perfection a knowledge of the languages and literature necessary for the ripest Biblical scholarship" [S2P244-245]. T H E C A L L "On July 22, 1604, King James of England announced that he had appointed 54 Hebrew and Greek scholars to produce a Bible, which we know today as the King James, or Authorized Version" [S16P7]. And, it was understood that if 54 scholars were not enough: "... ALL the learned men of the land could be called upon by letter for their judgment" [S2P257]. "The Kings order was carried out with utmost zeal and knowledge in an orderly manner" [S9P1] and "... because of the careful planning the whole project was completed in less than seven years" [S8P64]. T H E M E N O F T H E K I N G J A M E S B I B L E "Without any question there never has been a greater group of scholars gathered together at one time than the ... translators of the King James Version" [S10P5]. "The most qualified of the entire English speaking world were summoned ..." [S9P1]. "They were all eminent scholars, and they all had great reverence for the Word of God, being wholly committed to its inspiration and infallibility ..." [S13P7]. "No one can study the lives of those men who gave us the King James Bible without being impressed with their profound and varied learning" [S2P258]. "Scholar for scholar, the men on the King James translating committee were far greater men of God than Westcott, Hort, or any other new translator. They were not only educated in a powerful, anti-Roman atmosphere, but they looked at the manuscripts which they handled as the Holy Word of God" [S1P182]. "Let me show you a few of the translators of the Authorized Version. JOHN BOIS was able to read the Bible in Hebrew when five years of age! When 14 he was a proficient Greek scholar and for years he spent from 4 o'clock in the morning til eight at night in the Cambridge library studying manuscripts and languages... LANCELOT ANDREWS was the overall chairman, who was fluent in twenty languages, the greatest linguist of his day. He spent five hours a day in prayer and was so respected by the kings that orders were given, whenever Andrews was in court, there was to be no levity, no joking ... JOHN CHEDDERTON, he knew Greek, Hebrew and Latin as well as you and I know English, and better" [S10P5]. T H E O R G A N I Z E D A P P R O A C H "Originally 54 scholars were on the list but deaths and withdrawals reduced it finally to 47" [S8P64]. "These men were organized into six groups which were to meet separately. Two groups met at Cambridge, two at Oxford and two at Westminster. Each group was designated a certain portion of Scripture to translate into the English language" [S16P7]. "Each scholar first made his own translation, then passed it on to be reviewed by each other member of his group. When each section had completed a book of the Bible, it was sent to the other five groups for their independent criticism. In this way each book went thru the hands of the entire body of translators. To guard further against possible errors another committee was formed by selecting two from each of the three companies. Then the entire version came before this select group where all differences of opinion were ironed out. It put the finishing touches upon the work, and in 1611 prepared it for the printers" [S4P102-103]. All of the work was done in the open. T H E M A N U S C R I P T S U S E D B Y T H E K I N G J A M E S T R A N S L A T O R S "... it was ... the principle of the numerical majority of the readings which gave us the ... Textus Receptus" [S13P17]. "Dean Burgon a learned textural critic and collator of Manuscripts, Presbendary Miller, Dr. Scrivener and others, uphold the Textus Receptus because of the immense number of manuscripts which are in agreement with it" [S4P28]. The KJV agrees with the massive amount of witnesses (more than 5,000 Greek manuscripts) and also: "Virtually no [KJV] MSS are known to be copies of any others ..." [S6P57]. Thus, when we say that the majority of the 5,000 witnesses agree with the King James Bible, we are saying that these 5,000 witnesses are 'INDEPENDENT' witnesses. "We can safely conclude from scholars on both sides of the issue that the vast majority of manuscripts agrees with the readings in the King James Version ... [And] Not only does the KJV have a firmer foundation numerically, but also geographically. It comes from numerous localities ..." [S3P479]. Thus, the testimony to the validity of the King James Bible is deep: 5,000 independent witnesses. And, the testimony is wide: these witnesses come from a variety of locations. But what about the corrupted minority of Greek texts? Did the King James translators know about these manuscripts? Did they use them? History documents that: "... the translators of 1611 had available ALL of the variant readings of these manuscripts and rejected them" [S2P254]. Thus, the King James translators knew about the corrupted minority of manuscripts and they rejected this corruption. The KJV translators went on to make a Bible which has been shown to be in agreement with the majority of the Greek texts. To make the King James Bible, the translators selected and used a representative sample of the majority texts. This was easy to do because the majority texts agree with one another. Specifically: "The [KJV] translators drew on the earlier 16th century translations, such as the Bishop's Bible and the Geneva Bible, but especially on Tyndale's translation. His was a very great influence on the Authorised Version - it has been said that some 80% or more of the AV derives from Tyndale. In a sense the AV was the culmination of nearly a century of Bible translation ... it came out of the Reformation which was the greatest revival since the first Christian Pentecost" [S13P8]. As for the Geneva Bible, it: "... was the first English Bible to have verse numbers; the first to use italics for words that were not in the original languages, but necessary for understanding the English; the first to use the Roman type, rather than the Gothic (Old English); and they were small and inexpensive" [S9P2]. The King James Bible followed the example of the Geneva Bible. In other words, in the KJV: "All words which were not found in the Hebrew and Greek Manuscripts, were placed in italics. In this way these men [the KJV translators] made a vast difference between the words given by inspiration of God, and the words originating in the thoughts of men. This is the way it should be" [S4P103]. ( Reader note: 'Modern' versions DO NOT separate God's Words from man's words. Instead the two are mixed together ). "In conclusion, recent scholarship demonstrates that the majority of manuscripts, as seen in the traditional Greek Textus Receptus, and its translation, the King James Version, represent the earliest, broadest (numerically and geographically) and most consistent edition of the New Testament" [S3P503]. T H E R E S U L T S : R A V E R E V I E W S ! What do you get when you start with the true Word of God and then add: the anointing of the Holy Spirit, godly men in excellent health, an optimum work environment, an organized work approach, and a system of quality control though comprehensive peer reviews? You get the following: "The KJV reverberates with eternal familiarity" [S6Pvi]. Of the Bible: Queen Victoria said: "... That book accounts for the supremacy of England", George Washington said: "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible", Patrick Henry boasted: "The bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed" [S9P3]. "Priests, atheists, skeptics, devotees, agnostics, and evangelists, are generally agreed that the Authorized version of the English Bible is the BEST example of English literature that the world HAS EVER SEEN ..." [S2P260]. Ivy league scholars have selected the King James Bible as: "one of the FINEST samples of writing styles IN EXISTENCE" [S3P212]. "... 250 different versions of the Bible were tried in England between 1611 and now, but they ALL FELL FLAT before the majesty of the King James" [S2P253]. "[The King James Bible] was accepted in common use by the people, without coercion, and has been blessed of God as no other book of any language ..." [S9P1]. The KJV: "... has proven itself for almost 400 years, it is the most beautiful, it bears the most fruit, it produces spiritual revival, it is easiest to memorize, its readers are the most zealous to read it often" [S9P2]. "But upon the whole the version of 1611 ... is probably the best version ever made for public use. It is not simply a translation, but a living reproduction of the original scriptures in idiomatic English, by men as reverent and devout as they were learned. It reads like an original work, such as the prophets and apostles might have written in the seventeenth century for English readers. It reveals an easy mastery of the rich resources of the English language, the most cosmopolitan of all modern languages, and blends with singular felicity Saxon force and Latin melody. Even its prose reads like poetry, and sounds like music. It is the first of English classics, and the greatest modern authors have drawn inspiration from this pure well of English undefiled. Its best recommendation is its universal adoption and use ... Next to Christianity itself, the version of 1611 is the greatest boon which a kind Providence has bestowed upon the English race. It carries with it to the ends of the globe all that is truly valuable in our civilization, and gives strength, beauty, and happiness to our domestic, social, and national life" [S6P96]. "The Majority text, it must be remembered, is relatively uniform in its general character with comparatively low amounts of variation between its major representatives. NO ONE HAS YET EXPLAINED how a long, slow process spread out over many centuries as well as over a wide geographical area, and involving a multitude of copyists, who often knew nothing of the state of the text outside of their own monasteries or scriptoria, could achieve this widespread uniformity out of the diversity presented by the earlier forms of text ... an unguided process achieving relative stability and uniformity in the diversified textual, historical, and cultural circumstances in which the New Testament was copied, imposes IMPOSSIBLE strains on the imagination" [S2P34] "Herein lies the greatest weakness of contemporary textual criticism. Denying to the Majority text any claim to represent the actual form of the original text, it is nevertheless unable to explain its rise, its comparative uniformity, and its dominance in any satisfactory manner. All of these factors CAN be rationally accounted for, however, IF THE MAJORITY TEXT REPRESENTS SIMPLY THE CONTINUOUS TRANSMISSION OF THE ORIGINAL TEXT FROM THE VERY FIRST" [S2P34]. C H A P T E R 1 9 M O D E R N B I B L E ' C L A I M S ' In the last chapter we learned that: "... The KJV reverberates with ETERNAL FAMILIARITY ... Priests, atheists, skeptics, devotees, agnostics, and evangelists, are generally agreed that the Authorized version of the English Bible is the BEST EXAMPLE OF ENGLISH LITERATURE that the world HAS EVER SEEN ... Ivy league scholars have selected the King James Bible as ONE OF THE FINEST SAMPLES OF WRITING STYLES IN EXISTENCE ... The KJV ... has proven itself for almost 400 years, it is the MOST BEAUTIFUL, it BEARS THE MOST FRUIT, it produces SPIRITUAL REVIVAL, it is the EASIEST TO MEMORIZE ... the version of 1611 ... is probably the BEST version EVER MADE ... etc. etc. etc. Now contrast those quotes with sales pitches for 'modern versions': ... the King James Bible is too hard to understand ... its words are archaic ... people don't understand it ... it has thee's and thou's .... today's Christian needs is a 'more readable' version ... etc. etc. These two views are diametrically opposed to one another. Only one of them is true. Either the King James Bible IS the ... BEST EXAMPLE of English literature the world HAS EVER SEEN or it ISN'T. So, should we believe: A) The 'non-financially' compensated comments of the first view? or: B) Should we believe 'salesmen' and 'marketing ads' ? Instead of emotionally (and philosophically) debating this question, let's get the facts. Sales pitches for new, modern, versions contain several 'claims'. In this chapter, we will test them for truth. R E A D A B I L I T Y One persistent advertisement is that new versions are 'easier to read'. If this is true, it is easily verified. The Flesch-Kincaid research company has a formula which measures the grade level of a book. The higher the grade level the more education is required. And, the lower the grade level, the less education is required. The Flesch-Kincaid formula is: Grade level = (.39) times (the average number of words per sentence) + (11.8) times (the average number of syllables per word) minus (15.59) From this formula; fewer syllables per word lowers the grade level and/or shorter sentences lowers the grade level. Both make sense. Now, let's compare some 'modern' versions to the King James Bible. In her excellent book "New Age Bible Versions", on page 196, G.A. Riplinger gives us the Flesch-Kincaid readability results of various 'Bibles'. In her first analysis, she compares the average grade level required to read the first chapter of the first and last books of both the Old and New Testaments. Her chart follows: Name KJV NASB NKJV TEV NIV Of Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Book Level Level Level Level Level ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ Gen. 1 4.4 4.7 5.2 5.1 5.1 Mal. 1 4.6 5.1 4.6 5.4 4.8 Matt. 1 6.7 6.8 10.3 11.8 16.4 Rev. 1 7.5 7.7 7.7 6.4 7.1 Grade Level 5.8 6.1 6.9 7.2 8.4 Average Analytical data confirms that it's the KING JAMES BIBLE that requires the LEAST amount of education, NOT the 'modern versions'. Think about it. God is willing than none should perish (2 Peter 3:9). Now; if you were God, and you wanted everyone to be saved, would you make your Bible hard to understand? Of course not. You would make the message of salvation so simple anyone (and everyone) could understand it. This is what God has done in the Traditional Majority Text (King James Bible). Also, notice that the NEW King James Version IS NOT an improvement over the KJV. The NKJV requires an additional grade level INCREASE in education compared to the KJV. Continuing her analysis, G.A Riplinger says: "To extend the inquiry, one each of the three book-types (Gospel, Pauline epistle, and General epistle) were surveyed. The resulting data confirms the readability of the KJV" [S3P196]. Name KJV TEV NKJV NIV NASB Of Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Book Level Level Level Level Level ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ John 3.6 5.9 3.9 3.6 4.2 1: 1-21 Gal. 8.6 6.7 8.9 9.8 10.4 1:1-21 James 5.7 6.0 6.4 6.5 7.0 1:1-21 Grade Level 6.0 6.2 6.4 6.6 7.2 Average An objective analysis uncovers the truth. 'New versions' are actually HARDER TO READ, not easier. The claim that new versions are easier to read is ANOTHER lie. And who is the father of lies ? "Why is the KJV easier to read? The KJV uses one or two syllable words while the new versions substitute complex multi-syllable words and phrases" [S3P196] For instance: The following is a sample of the hard words used in the NASB vs. the easy words used in the KJV. This sample analysis is also courtesy of G.A. Riplinger [S3P197-208]. NASB vs KJV Hard Easy Word Word Verse (NASB) (KJV) ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Matt. 1:11 deportation carried away Matt. 2:16 environs coasts Matt. 9:18 synagogue-official certain ruler Matt. 11:26 well pleasing good Matt. 14:24 but the boat was was now in the already many midst of the sea stadia away Matt. 14:24 battered tossed Matt. 15:6 invalidated made Matt. 16:27 recompense reward Matt. 25:10 make the purchase buy Matt. 26:59 in order that to they might Matt. 27:27 Praetorium common hall Matt. 27:27 whole Roman cohort band of soldiers Mark 2:21 unshrunk new Mark 15:18 acclaim salute Luke 5:29 reclining at table sat Luke 6:22 ostracize separate you from their company Luke 6:49 collapsed fell Luke 7:2 highly regarded dear Luke 7:32 sang a dirge have mourned Luke 8:31 the abyss the deep John 10:23 portico porch John 16:26 on your behalf for you John 17:4 accomplished finished John 18:1 ravine brook John 19:20 inscription title John 21:7 stripped for work naked Acts 11:24 considerable much people numbers Acts 12:21 rostrum throne Acts 27:18 jettison the cargo lighten the ship Romans 9:29 posterity seed 2 Cor. 11:32 the ethnarch the governor Gal. 1:14 contemporaries equals Phil. 4:9 practice do 1 Thess. 2:17 having been bereft being taken of you from you 1 Thess. 5:1 epochs seasons 1 Thess. 5:14 admonish warn 1 Tim. 1:15 foremost of all chief 1 Tim. 3:3 uncontentious not a brawler 1 Tim. 5:12 previous pledge first faith Titus 1:6 dissipation riot Titus 3:10 factious heretick Heb. 7:2 apportioned gave Heb. 12:1 encumbrance weight Rev. 4:1 standing was Rev. 11:11 who were beholding saw them Rev. 18:2 prison of every... cage bird M E M O R I Z A T I O N O F S C R I P T U R E "The memorization of scripture, which is the 'sword of the Spirit', is a necessary self-defense against sin. Simple sentence structure and single syllable words certainly simplify this task. Satan strives to stop this safeguard against sin, so new versions keep the 'sword' wrapped in a sheath of words" [S3P204]. For example: Syllable Comparison: NASB vs KJV NASB # Of KJV # Of Verse Wording Syllables Wording Syllables ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ Matt. 26:41 Keep watching 6 Watch and pray 3 and praying Matt. 26:59 in order that they 6 to 1 might Matt. 28:5 you are looking 5 seek 1 for Mark 1:34 who he was 3 him 1 Mark 1:41 am willing 3 will 1 Mark 2:7 speak that way? 8 speak blasphemies 4 He is blaspheming Mark 3:3 Rise and come 5 Stand forth 2 forward Mark 13:37 Be on the alert 5 Watch 1 Mark 16:8 astonishment had 7 were amazed 3 gripped them Luke 1:80 continued to grow 5 grew 1 Luke 5:26 seized with 6 amazed 1 astonishment Luke 6:8 what they were 5 their thoughts 2 thinking Luke 7:5 it was he who 4 he hath 2 Luke 7:26 one who is more 4 much more 2 Luke 8:45 Who is the one 7 Who touched me? 3 who touched me? Luke 8:50 Do not be afraid 9 Fear not 2 any longer Luke 10:9 those in it who are 5 the 1 Luke 16:3 am not strong 6 cannot 2 enough to Luke 18:3 Give me legal 12 avenge 2 protection from my opponent Luke 20:37 in the passage 7 at 1 about the John 19:3 And they began to 11 said 1 come up to him and say John 19:3 to give Him blows 7 they smote him 3 in the face Eph. 1:4 with a view to 4 until 1 Rev. 7:15 spread his 8 dwell 1 tabernacle over TOTAL SYLLABLE COUNT : 148 42 ======================= === == After comparing these two columns; it is no wonder G.A. Riplinger says: "The sentence structure of the new versions can only be called a labyrinth" [S3P207]. Reader note: The Word is "The Sword of the Spirit". When G.A. Riplinger says that: "The memorization of scripture is a necessary self-defense against sin" and that: "simple sentence structure and single syllable words ... simplify this task"; I believe she has hit on a very SUBTLE but EXTREMELY important point. The memorization of scripture REQUIRES repetition. And, it requires hearing the SAME words again and again. When each 'modern' version, substitutes different words (so it can 'sell itself' as a 'new' version), it hinders and confuses the memorization of scripture. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, I suspect He DID NOT have scrolls of scripture with him. Nor do I think He fumbled around with which version to quote back to Satan. The only thing Jesus had was the Word, memorized ! Think about it. NKJV vs KJV "Only a multi-million dollar marketing campaign could capture unsuspecting customers for the New King James Version camp. An actual collation of its text proves it MORE DIFFICULT, not 'clearer', as claimed. Second grade students can define ALL of the following sample KJV words, but NONE of their NKJV substitutes" [S3P208]. Hard Easy Word Word Verse (NKJV) (KJV) ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ 2 Cor. 5:2 habitation house Eccl. 2:3 gratify give Is. 28:1,4 verdant fat Deut. 28:50 elderly old Judges 19:29 limb bones Ps. 43:1 Vindicate Judge Rom. 14:13 resolve judge Josh. 22:24 descendants children Acts 17:22 the Areopagus Mars' Hill Ez. 31:4 rivulets little rivers New Test. hades hell 1 Kings 10:28 Keva linen yarn 1 Sam. 13:21 pim file John 18:28 Praetorium judgement hall Rom. 13:1 governing higher powers authorities Gal. 5:4 estranged no effect Is. 2:16 sloops pictures Lam. 5:3 waif fatherless 1 Sam. 10:19 clans thousands Acts 27:17 Syrtis Sands quicksand 2 Cor. 11:5 eminent chiefest Job 2:10 adversity evil 1 Sam. 16:14 distressing evil Jer. 19:3 catastrophe evil 2 Kings 22:16 calamity evil Eccl. 12:1 difficult evil Eccl. 8:5 harmful evil Ezek. 5:16 terrible evil Ezek. 5:17 wild evil 2 Sam. 17:14 disaster evil 1 Kings 17:20 tragedy evil Prov. 16:4 doom evil Jer. 44:17 trouble evil Amos 9:4 harm evil Job 2:10 adversity evil Syllable Comparison: NKJV vs. KJV Not only are the words simpler in the KJV (vs. NKJV) but the syllable count is less, too. For example: NKJV # Of KJV # Of Verse Wording Syllables Wording Syllables ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ 1 Cor. 3:3 behaving like 6 walk as men 3 mere men 2 Cor 11:29 do not burn 8 burn not 2 with indignation Ps. 40:9 I have proclaimed 8 I have preached 3 the good news of 1 Cor 11:10 a symbol of 8 power 2 authority 1 Sam 25:12 on their heels 4 their way 2 TOTAL SYLLABLE COUNT : 34 12 ======================= === === And lastly; let's compare the NIV syllable count to the KJV: Syllable Comparison: NIV vs. KJV NIV # Of KJV # Of Verse Wording Syllables Wording Syllables ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ 1 Cor. 10:7 indulge in 6 rose up to play 4 revelry Lev. 14:2 regulations for 15 law of leprosy 5 infectious skin diseases and mildew Lev. 11:30 skink 1 snail 1 2 Chron. 2:2 conscripted 3 told 1 Rom. 1:28 think it 4 like 1 worthwhile Eph. 4:16 supporting 6 joint 1 ligament Luke 10:35 reimburse 3 repay 2 Luke 11:26 final condition 5 last state 2 TOTAL SYLLABLE COUNT: 43 17 ======================= === === "So the reader will not think 'select' verses are presented, a thorough comparison of one book, Hebrews follows. The NIV's vocabulary evades both young and old alike" [S3P209]. Further Syllable Comparison: NIV vs. KJV NIV # Of KJV # Of Verse Wording Syllables Wording Syllables ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ Heb. 1:2 universe 3 worlds 1 Heb. 1:3 radiance 3 brightness 2 Heb. 1:3 representation 5 image 2 Heb. 1:3 sustaining 3 upholding 3 Heb. 1:3 provided 8 purged 1 purification Heb. 1:4 superior to 5 better than 3 Heb. 2:3 announced 2 spoken 2 Heb. 2:10 exists 2 are 1 Heb. 4:2 combine 2 mixed 1 Heb. 4:15 sympathize 3 be touched 2 Heb. 5:7 his reverent 7 he feared 2 submission Heb. 5:10 designated 4 called 1 Heb. 5:13 not acquainted 4 unskillful 3 Heb. 6:6 subjecting him to 5 put him to 3 Heb. 7:16 indestructible 5 endless 2 Heb. 8:13 obsolete 3 old 1 Heb. 10:26 deliberately 5 wilfully 3 Heb. 10:27 expectation 4 looking for 3 Heb. 11:5 experience death 5 see death 2 Heb. 11:22 exodus 3 departing 3 TOTAL SYLLABLE COUNT: 81 41 ===================== === === F E W E R ' D I F F E R E N T ' W O R D S Not only does the King James use simpler words, but it also uses a shorter vocabulary of 'different' words. In his book "The Majority Text", Theodore Letis points out: "The AV contains only about six thousand words as compared to Shakespeare's fifteen to twenty thousand and Milton's thirteen thousand ..." [S6P87]. U N R E C O G N I Z E D W O R D S What about the King James' words we don't recognize? G.A. Riplinger responds to this question: "The ... words in the KJV, which are unfamiliar, at first glance, to dictionary shy Americans are actually simpler and more accurate than their new substitutes. A 'stomacher' for example (Isa. 3:24) is NOT a belt, as new versions indicate, but a chest ornament. (It seems the only 'simpler' words in new versions are incorrect or from a corrupt Greek text.) New versions not only do not improve the KJV's 'sackbut' (Daniel 3:7), calling it a 'trigon', but in the same sentence change the KJV's simple 'harp' to a 'zither' [S3P210]. T H E E ' S A N D T H O U ' S A second claim is that: 'thee', 'thou', 'thy', and 'thine' are out of date. The 'pitch' is that these words were spoken in 1611, are archaic, and need to be eliminated. Let's examine this claim. In his book 'The King James Version Defended', Edward F. Hills gives us some interesting insight into these words. On page 218, he says: "... the English of the King James Version is not the English of the 17th century ... It is Biblical English, which was not used on ordinary occasions even by the translators who produced the King James Version. As H. Wheeler Robinson (1940) pointed out, one need only compare the preface written by the translators with the text of their translation to feel the difference in style ... The King James Version ... owes its merit, not to 17th century English - which was very different - but to its faithful translation of the original. Its style is that of the Hebrew and the New Testament Greek. Even in their use of thee and thou the translators were not following 17th century English usage but biblical usage, for at the time these translators were doing their work these singular forms had already been replaced by the plural you in polite conversation" [S12P218]. In his book 'The Old Is Better', Alfred E. Levell also comments on the need for thee's and thou's. On page 31, he says: "Why did the AV translators not adopt the up to date English of their time? For one reason ... accuracy of translation! Whenever the Hebrew and Greek texts use the singular of the pronoun, so does the AV; and whenever those texts use the plural, so does the AV ... There is a distinct loss of accuracy in translation if 'You' is used for singular as well as the plural: it becomes an ambiguous word ... Thus in Luke 22:31-32 the Lord says to Peter "Satan hath desired to have you, to sift you as wheat," "you" here referring to Peter and the other disciples; "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not," "thee" and "thy" referring to Peter only. Such shades in meaning are completely lost when 'you' is used throughout" [S13P31]. The words: 'thee', 'thou', 'thy' and 'thine' are clearly needed. The Holy Spirit picked these words for a reason: It is to distinguish the 'singular you' from the 'plural you' for the purpose of clarity. Praise God! Objective, analytical, data shows new versions are NOT EASIER to read, they are HARDER. Also, new versions are wordier, have more syllables per word, and use harder words. The words God chose, for His Traditional Majority Text, are simpler. And, like the use of 'thee', 'thou', 'thy' and 'thine'; each word was chosen for a reason. We may or may not understand each word, but it is there for a purpose; just like you and I are here for a purpose. Lately; Bible publishers are trying to tell Christians the King James Bible is 'hard to understand'. Their 'claim' is that we need to buy a 'new version'. Well, if the King James Bible is 'hard to understand', then this is a very, very, RECENT phenomenon. Our grandparents were able to read the King James! And, how would Bible publishers explain this supposed problem with King James 'readability' when we are actually MORE EDUCATED than our grandparents? No; their claim does not make sense. Something else is wrong. T H E T R U E P R O B L E M The truth is that the King James Bible is NOT the problem. "The real gap is one of distance between God and man, not a lapse between us and Father Time ... The spiritual chasm is so vast that even those close to Jesus could not understand him. He was NOT speaking archaic Aramaic to Mary and Joseph yet, "they understood NOT the saying which he spake unto them". Obsolete words were NOT the obstacle when he asked Peter, "Are ye also yet WITHOUT understanding?" [S3P635]. Something to think about. C H A P T E R 2 0 S A T A N ' S C O U N T E R F E I T S : T H E S I N A I T I C U S A N D V A T I C A N U S T E X T S ( Corrupted Minority Texts In Greek ) "In our day there are reputed to be about 110 so-called translations of the Bible or New Testament in the English language alone ... Of those 110 versions only the King James Version (Authorized) is translated from the Received Text (Textus Receptus). All the others, even though no two of them agree with each other, were translated from another source. That other source is the Misters Westcott and Hort Text" [S14P3-4]. Jasper James Ray 'echoes' the same report. He says all modern Bibles since 1611 are: "... for the most part, in agreement with the Greek Text of Westcott and Hort" [S4P29]. So, where did the Greek Text of Westcott and Hort come from? "The Greek text of Westcott and Hort is ... from a very limited and select number of manuscripts" [S4P27]. "The Westcott and Hort Greek New Testament was primarily based on the Vaticanus (B) and Sinaiticus (Aleph) manuscripts of the fourth century, both of which originated from the Alexandrian School" [S1P9]. In this chapter we discuss the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus manuscripts. The reader should note that 'Vaticanus' is sometimes called 'Codex Vaticanus'. The word 'Codex' means the manuscript is in 'book' form, verses a scroll. Vaticanus is also called 'B'. Sinaiticus is also referred to as 'Codex Sinaiticus'. Again the word Codex meaning this manuscript is also in 'book' form, verses scroll. Sometimes Sinaiticus is also called 'Aleph'. In summary: "The text of Westcott and Hort is practically the text of Aleph and B" [S2P136]. i.e. Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. V A T I C A N U S Vaticanus: " ... was written on fine vellum (tanned animal skins) and remains in excellent condition. It was found in the Vatican Library in 1481 A.D." [S5P60] In spite of being in excellent condition: "This Codex omits portions of Scripture vital to Christian doctrine. Vaticanus omits Genesis 1:1 - Genesis 46:28, Psalms 106 - 138, Matthew 16:2,3; Romans 16:24; the Pauline Pastorial Epistles; Revelation; and everything in Hebrews after 9:14" [S1P72]. "These parts were probably left out on purpose" [S5P60]. "Moreover having been found in the Vatican library, the suspicion was all the more compounded. We must recall that the Renaissance was lifting the great curtain hiding medieval superstition and forged documents, allowing the light to shine in ..." [S6P135]. "According to authorities the date of its writing is placed within the years 325 A.D. to 350 A.D." [S4P20]. "Vaticanus, though intact physically, is found to be of very poor literary quality. Dr. Martin declares, 'B' exhibits numerous places where the scribe has written the same word or phrase twice in succession" [S1P72]. "Besides all that - in the gospels alone it leaves out 237 words, 452 clauses and 748 whole sentences, which hundreds of later copies agree together as having the SAME words in the SAME places, the SAME clauses in the SAME places and the SAME sentences in the SAME places" [S5P60]. "It seems suspicious indeed that a MSS possessed by the Roman Catholic Church omits the portion of the book of Hebrews which exposes the 'mass' as totally useless. (Please read Hebrews 10:10-12). The 'mass' in conjunction with the false doctrine of purgatory go hand in hand to form a perpetual money making machine for Rome. Without one or the other the Roman Catholic Church would go broke!" [S1P72]. G.A Riplinger adds the following about Vaticanus (i.e. 'B'): "The use of recent technology such as the vidicon camera, which creates a digital form of faint writing, recording it on magnetic tape and reproducing it by an electro-optical process, reveals that B has been altered by at least two hands, one being as late as the twelfth century ... A few passages ... remain to show the original appearance of the first hand. The corrector omitted [things] he believed to be incorrect" [S3P551]. "B agrees with the Textus Receptus only about 50% of the time. It differs from the Majority Greek in nearly 8,000 places, amounting to about one change per verse. It omits several thousand key words from the Gospels, nearly 1,000 complete sentences, and 500 clauses. It adds approximately 500 words, substitutes or modifies nearly 2,000 and transposes word order in about 2,000 places. It has nearly 600 readings THAT DO NOT OCCUR IN ANY OTHER MANUSCRIPT ..." [S3P551]. And: "Linguistic scholars have observed that B is reminiscent of classical and Platonic Greek, NOT the Koine [common] Greek of the New Testament ..." [S3P551]. "Protestant theologians question its lack of use by anyone for 1300 years-then its sudden 'discovery' in the Vatican in 1481" [S3P552]. "Its [i.e. Vaticanus'] immediate use to suppress the Reformation and its subsequent release in 1582 as the Jesuit-Rheims Bible are logical, considering the manuscripts omission of anti-Catholic sections and books (ie Hebrews 9:14 and Revelation etc.)" [S3P552]. Also, Vaticanus: "... agrees essentially with Origen's Hexapla, omitting the deity of Christ frequently ..." [S3P552]. In summary, history records that: "... Vaticanus was available to the King James translators but they didn't use it because they knew it was unreliable" [S5P60]. S I N A I T I C U S "The Sinaiticus is a manuscript that was found in 1844 in a trash pile in St. Catherine's Monastery near Mt. Sinai, by a man named Mr. Tichendorf" [S5P61]. "The date of its writing is placed at around 340 A.D. ..." [S4P20]. "The Sinaiticus is extremely unreliable, proven by examining the manuscript itself. John Burgon spent years examining every available manuscript of the New Testament" [S5P61]. He writes about Sinaiticus: "On many occasions 10, 20, 30, 40 words are dropped through very carelessness. Letters, words or even whole sentences are frequently written twice over, or begun and immediately cancelled; while ... a clause is omitted because it happens to end in the same words as the clause proceeding, [this] occurs no less than 115 times in the New Testament" [S5P61]. "On nearly every page of the manuscript there are corrections and revisions done by TEN different people" [S5P61]. Dr. Scrivener agrees with John Burgon. Dr. Scrivener says (of Codex Sinaiticus): "... it is clear that this document was corrected by ten different scribes at different periods". He tells of "the occurrence of so many different styles of handwriting, apparently due to penmen removed from each other by centuries, which deform by their corrections every page of this venerable looking document" [S2P307-308]. And Dr. M. Reynolds tells us: "Tischendorf, the discoverer of the Sinaiticus manuscript noted at least 12,000 changes which had been made ... by OTHERS than the original copyist" [S17P3]. G.A. Riplinger cites some 'advanced' analysis of Sinaiticus: "[With] more recent detailed scrutiny of the manuscript ... by the use of [the] ultra-violet lamp, Milne and Skeat discovered that the original reading in the manuscript was erased ... [in places]" [S3P552]. In Sinaiticus: "There are about 9,000 changes from ... the Majority ... Text, amounting to one difference in every verse. It omits some 4,000 words from the Gospels, adds 1,000, repositions 2,000 and alters another 1,000. It has approximately 1,500 readings that DO NOT APPEAR IN ANY OTHER MANUSCRIPT ..." [S3P552-553]. "Philip Mauro was a brilliant lawyer who was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court in April 1892. He wrote a book called 'Which Version' in the early 1900's" [S5P61]. He writes concerning Sinaiticus ... "From these facts, therefore, we deduce: ... the impurity of the Codex Sinaiticus, in every part of it, was fully recognized by those who were best acquainted with it, and ... it was finally cast aside as WORTHLESS for any practical purpose" [S5P61]. S I N A I T I C U S A N D V A T I C A N U S Since the Vaticanus originated between 325 A.D. and 350 A.D; and since the Sinaiticus originated about 340 A.D. : "Several textural authorities believe that the Sinaitic and Vatican manuscripts are two extant copies of the 50 Greek manuscripts copied for Constantine by Eusebius in 331 A.D." [S4P19]. One of those authorities is Dr. Herman C. Hoskier. He says: "My thesis is then that B (Vaticanus) and Aleph (Sinaiticus) ... are Egyptian revisions current between A.D. 200-400 and abandoned between 500 and 1881, merely revived in our day ..." [S3P550]. Do you remember in an earlier chapter we talked about Constantine? We said that, on the surface, he put on the 'robe' of Christianity. But, behind the scenes, he had Eusebius prepare 50 corrupt Bibles from the heretical teachings of Origin. It's possible that we have 2 copies of Satan's corrupted minority Greek texts resurfacing again from the year 331 A.D. Westcott and Hort then use these 2 corrupt texts to produce their own corrupt Greek text. K E Y E V E N T S Let's summarize some key events in the history of the corrupted minority text: - Satan's lies in the Garden of Eden ( about 4,000 B.C. ) - Origin's 'Hexapla' Bible ( 200 A.D. ) - Eusebius' 50 Bibles for Constantine ( 331 A.D.) - Jerome's Latin Bible ( 380 A.D. ) - Jesuit Bible ( 1582 A.D. ) and now, add to that: - Vaticanus ( 1481 A.D. ) - Sinaiticus ( 1844 A.D. ) Now, whether or not Vaticanus and Sinaiticus are actually two of Eusebius' 50 Bibles is not fully proven (at this time). It is, however, consistent, with the facts. Since these two texts are forerunners of 'modern' versions; the key question is: What is contained in these manuscripts? A N A N A L Y S I S O F : S I N A I T I C U S A N D V A T I C A N U S "The Vaticanus and Sinaiticus both leave out the last 12 verses of Mark, concerning the resurrection of Christ. But, there is not one other manuscript ... that leave out this passage" [S5P62]. "Aleph and B differ from one another IN THREE THOUSAND PLACES in the Gospels alone - not including differences in spelling" [S6P43]. Of Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, John Burgon says: "It is in fact easier to find two consecutive verses in which these two MSS. differ the one from the other, than two consecutive verses in which they entirely agree" [S15P16]. G.A. Riplinger points out that: "Neither Aleph nor B ends with the book of Revelation. Vaticanus (B) completely eliminates Revelation, thereby disobeying God's command 'not to take away from the words of this book'. Sinaiticus (Aleph) adds two books after Revelation ... These two books: The Shepherd of Hermas and The Epistle of Barnabas, spell out in detail the New Age scenario, including commands to do the things God specifically forbids, such as: 1) Take 'the name' of the beast 2) Give 'up to the beast' 3) Form a one world government 4) Kill those not receiving his 'name' 5) Worship female virgins 6) Receive 'another spirit' 7) Seek power 8) Believe that God is immanent in his creation, as a pantheistic, monistic Hindu God 9) Avoid marriage, permit fornication 10) Abstain from fasting 11) Subscribe to the New Age Race Root Theory 12) Be saved by being baptized and keeping the 'twelve' mandates of the Antichrist [S3P557]. "Long ago Burgon and Miller (1896) pointed out the heretical trait in Aleph and B, and their observations have never been refuted" [S8P77]. "Burgon's position remains absolutely unshaken ... He maintains that Aleph and B had been tampered with and revised and proved it in his "Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text"" [S2P141]. "Many scholars today disagree with Westcott and Hort, noting the poor character of these minority manuscripts. Moody Vice President, Alfred Martin, calls Aleph and B 'depraved'. Dean John Burgon writes: 'I have convinced myself by laborious collation that they are the most corrupt of all. They are depositories of the largest amount of fabricated and intentional perversions of the truth which are discoverable in any copies of the word of God. They exhibit a fabricated text...[and are] shamefully mutilated'" [S3P546]. Of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus we can say that: "The longer we ponder the evidence ... the more obvious it becomes that the texts ... were the handiwork of heretics who for some reason were reluctant to acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God" [S8P77]. C H A P T E R 2 1 S A T A N ' S C O U N T E R F E I T T H E W E S T C O T T A N D H O R T T E X T (1881 A.D.) ( The Corrupted Minority Text In Greek ) In the last chapter, we learned 'Codex Vaticanus' and 'Codex Sinaiticus' are two manuscripts from the corrupted minority of Greek texts. 'Vaticanus' was found in the Vatican library. 'Sinaiticus' was found in a Mt. Sinai trash can. We also know these 2 manuscripts form the basis for the Westcott and Hort Greek text. And, the corrupt Westcott and Hort Greek text forms the basis for 'modern' versions of the Bible. In this chapter Westcott and Hort use the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus manuscripts to make their 'own' Greek text. This they submit to a Bible translation committee. The result will be the "English Revised Version of 1881". Later on, other 'modern versions' will follow the W&H text. We pick up the history of the Bible, in England, in 1870. T H E B A C K G R O U N D "In 1870, the Convention of the Church of England commissioned a revision of the Authorized Version" [S1P162]. A revision committee was assembled. The Revision Committee was instructed: "... NOT to deal with the underlying Greek text of the Authorized Version. They were instructed to do as follows: (1) to introduce AS FEW alterations as possible into the text of the King James Bible, and (2) to limit ... the expression of any alterations TO THE LANGUAGE of the Authorized Version" [S1P163]. "Westcott and Hort had other plans. They had edited the corrupt Vatican and Sinaitic manuscripts ... and produced their own Greek text. Wisely they had never published it" [S1P163]. "Westcott and Hort had been working together on their text since 1853; in 1870 they printed a tentative edition for private distribution only. This they circulated under pledge of secrecy within the company of New Testament revisers, of which they were members (of which came the Revised Version of 1881). It soon became evident that the New Testament committee was NOT going to be content merely to revise the Authorized Version, but was determined to revise the UNDERLYING Greek text radically" [S2P153-154]. In November of 1870, Westcott said: "In a few minutes I go with Lightfoot to Westminster. More will come of these meetings, I think, than simply a revised version" [S1P162-163]. Hort to Westcott: "This may sound like cowardice-I have a craving that our text should be cast upon the world before we deal with matters likely to brand us with suspicion" [S3P407-408] Westcott to Hort: "... strike blindly ... much evil would result from a public discussion" [S3P408]. A U N I T A R I A N A T C O M M U N I O N ? "When the company of New Testament revisers (for the Revised Version) were ready to begin their work, a communion service was held in Westminster Abbey. A Unitarian member of the committee partook along with the others. There was serious criticism of this ... The upper house of the Convocation of Canterbury passed a resolution that NO person who denied the deity of Christ should take part in the work" [S2P156]. "Westcott expressed his loyalty to apostasy when he threatened to quit if the Convocation were successful in ejecting Smith [the Unitarian] from the Committee. 'I never felt more clear as to my duty. If the Company accepts the dictation of the Convocation, my work must end. I see no escape from the conclusion'" [S1P165]. Westcott and Hort found an ally for their plan to abolish the Traditional Majority Text, when Dr. Vance Smith, a Christ denying, Unitarian preacher, was seated on the committee. As to the Unitarian, Dr. Hort said: "It is, I think, difficult to measure the weight of the acceptance won before the hand for the Revision by the single fact of our welcoming a Unitarian" [S1P165]. D R. S M I T H What were some of Dr. Smith's beliefs? Dr. Smith called the belief in Christ's 2nd coming 'erroneous'. He said: "This idea of the Second Coming ought now to be passed by as a merely TEMPORARY incident of early Christian belief. Like many another ERROR, it has answered its TRANSITORY PURPOSE in the providential plan, and may well, at length, be left to rest in peace" [S1P165]. T H E R E V I S E D V E R S I O N C O M M I T T E E Dr. Vance Smith was NOT the only problem within the translation committee. The following quote summarizes the members in general: "The reputations of the committee members were so tainted that Queen Elizabeth and her chaplain ... refused to give it official sanction ... Half the Church of England declined involvement, as did the American branch ..." [S3P435]. Also: "Others ... left after seeing the SINISTER character of the 'New' Greek text" [S3P435]. When comparing the scholars of his day to those of the King James committee: Bishop Ellicott, the CHAIRMAN of the Revised Version Committee, said: "We have certainly NOT YET ACQUIRED sufficient critical judgment for any Body of Revisors to undertake such a work as this" [S3P435]. (Please note: "Advocates of modern versions assume that they are the product of scholarship far superior to that of the translators of the King James Version of 1611, but this assumption is not supported by the facts" [S2P13]). It was said that Bishop Ellicott was the committee chairman. Actually, the FIRST chairman was Bishop Wilberforce. One meeting, was enough for him. He wrote to a friend: "What can be done in this most miserable business?" [S2P291] "Unable to bear the situation, he absented himself and never took part in the proceedings ... One factor had disturbed him considerably - the presence of Dr. G. Vance Smith, the Unitarian ..." [S2P291]. B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S When the King James Bible was translated from Hebrew/Greek into English each scholar first made his own translation. His work was passed on to other scholars within his own section for review. This work was then passed on to other sections for their review. Lastly, the work went to a final committee to iron out differences. All the work was done in the open. The work of Westcott and Hort was VERY different: "The Old Testament committee met together SECRETLY as one body for ten years. The New Testament committee also met together SECRETLY for ten years. All was done in secret" [S4P103-104]. "This arrangement left the committee at the mercy of a determined triumvirate to lead the weak and to dominate the rest. All reports indicate that an iron rule of silence was imposed upon these revisers during all that time. The public was kept in suspense all the long, weary ten years. And ONLY after elaborate plans had been laid to throw the Revised Version all at once upon the market to effect a tremendous sale, did the world know what had gone on" [S2P257-258]. This same tactic, of buying sight unseen, was used to 'sell' the RSV Bible on September 30th, 1952. We know that: "Pastors had no opportunity to review the new Bible, yet they were asked to open their churches for a tremendous advertising campaign" [S4P104]. T H E T R A N S L A T I O N B E G I N S Once the corrupted Old Testament and corrupted New Testament were ready, Reverend Gipp tells us how Westcott and Hort manipulated the English translation: "Since the Committee had been instructed not to deal with matters of the Greek text, and the Westcott and Hort text had not been published, it was necessary for the two Cambridge Catholics to submit it little by little to the committee" [S1P163]. Jasper James Ray also confirms the same report: "The unpublished new Greek Text of Westcott and Hort, upon which they had been working for 20 years was, portion by portion, secretly committed into the hands of the Revision Committee" [S4P104]. "Had it been published earlier, it [the Westcott and Hort text] assuredly would have been exposed as corrupt and unfit for translation into English" [S1P163]. Once the corrupted text was submitted ... "The Revisers of 1881 followed the guidance of ... Westcott and Hort who were CONSTANTLY at their elbows ..." [S4P25]. "The committee of the Revised Version was dominated and practically controlled by Westcott and Hort ..." [S2P106]. There were; however, some committee members who actually OPPOSED Westcott and Hort. We learn that: "The MINORITY in the committee was represented principally by Dr. Scrivener, probably the FOREMOST scholar of the day in manuscripts of the Greek New Testament and the history of the Text. If we may believe the words of Chairman Ellicott, the countless divisions in the committee over the Greek Text 'was often a kind of critical DUEL between Dr. Hort and Dr. Scrivener'" [S2P291]. But, most committee members were 'duped' by Westcott and Hort ... "Westcott and Hort were so successful at their secret task of subtly guiding the decision of the Revision Committee that many Committee members did not suspect they had been used by the Cambridge duo ..." [S1P166-167]. T H E R E S U L T S O F W E S T C O T T A N D H O R T Estimates differ as to the EXACT number of changes which were made to the underlying Greek New Testament. For instance: "Scrivener counted the number of changes in the underlying Greek text of the Revised Version as 5,788" [S2P154]. Jasper James Ray says "... the Greek text of Westcott and Hort contains 5,337 changes from the Greek Textus Receptus" [S4P27]. David Otis Fuller believes that: "The Revisers ... made 36,000 changes in the English ... and nearly 6,000 changes in the Greek Text' [S2P298]. Whether or not the underlying Greek text was changed in '5,337' or '5,788' or 'nearly 6,000' places, the text is SIGNIFICANTLY different. So different in fact that J.J. Ray points out: "The Revision of 1881, the American Standard Version of 1901 and the Revised Standard Version Bibles are IN NO TRUE SENSE a revision of the King James of 1611. If they were they would follow the same Greek text ..." [S16P5]. Of his text Westcott himself said: "The value of the revision is most clearly seen when the student considers together a considerable group of passages, which bear upon some article of faith. The ACCUMULATION OF SMALL DETAILS then produces the FULL EFFECT" [S4P26]. "Dr. Ellicott ... declared that they had made between eight and nine changes in every five verses, and in about every ten verses three of these were made for critical purposes" [S4P26]. Lest anyone think the changes to the Greek text are minor; Hort himself says: "It is quite impossible to judge the value of what appears to be trifling alterations merely by reading them one after another. Taken together, they have often IMPORTANT bearings which FEW would think of at first ..." [S3P432]. Dr. Vance, the Unitarian on the committee, said of the W&H text: "It has been ... said that the changes of translation ... are of little importance from a doctrinal point of view ... Any such statement is CONTRARY to the facts" [S3P432]. Scholars reviewed the W&H text and concluded that: "... they have given us a DIFFERENT Bible constructed upon a DIFFERENT foundation" [S4P30]. E.W Colwell, a preeminent textual scholar said of the W&H text: "The text ... is not reconstructed it is constructed; it is an ARTIFICIAL entity that NEVER EXISTED" [S3P433]. The Westcott and Hort text: "... deviated the FURTHEST possible from the Received Text", "a VIOLENT RECOIL from the Traditional Greek Text", "the most vicious Recension of the original Greek IN EXISTENCE", "seriously mutilated and otherwise grossly depraved ...", and "the passages in dispute are of GREAT IMPORTANCE" [S3P432]. John Burgon said of the W&H text: "... the Greek Text which they have INVENTED proves to be hopelessly depraved ... The underlying Greek is a MANUFACTURED article throughout ... The New Greek Text was FULL OF ERRORS from beginning to end ... " [S3P433]. John Burgon said to Westcott and Hort: "It was no part of your instructions to INVENT a new Greek Text, or indeed to MEDDLE with the original Greek at all ... By your OWN confession - you and your colleges knew yourselves to be INCOMPETENT. Shame on [those] most incompetent men who ... occupied themselves ... with FALSIFYING the inspired Greek Text ... Who will venture to predict the amount of MISCHIEF which must follow if the 'New' Greek Text ... should become used" [S3P433]. Immortal words indeed: "... Who will venture to predict the amount of mischief which must follow if the 'New' Greek Text ... should become used". The W&H corrupted Greek Text is now in more than 110+ 'modern' versions. "... all Greek texts produced since 1611, which are in agreement with Westcott and Hort are founded upon the same quicksands ... Since Westcott and Hort's text is corrupt, all in agreement with it are corrupt also" [S4P29]. T H E P U B L I C R E S P O N S E When the 'New' Greek Text was finally brought into the open and published, there was a public outcry from conservative and moderate Christians. In Hort's own words: "... the abuse we are receiving ... The crisis is a very grave one and we ought ... to resist the Moderates in their attempts to carry out the demands of a noisy public opinion" [S3P436]. M A S S D E C E P T I O N And so the foundation for a 'mass deception' had been laid by Satan through his use of Westcott and Hort. In summary; we can trace 'modern corruptions' back to the 1881 English Revised Version Of Westcott and Hort: "All modern translations, such as the New American Standard Version, are linked to the Revised Standard Version of 1952, which is a revision of the American Standard Version of 1901, which was originally marketed as the American Revised Version -- an American creation growing from the English Revised Version of 1881" [S1P197]. C H A P T E R 2 2 W E S T C O T T A N D H O R T We have studied the work of Westcott and Hort. It's time to look at these men, personally. H O R T Our study of Hort starts with his mother. As to his mother, Hort said in his biography: "Her religious feelings were deep and warm ... [H]is mother was ... an adherent of the Evangelical school and she was to a certain degree hampered by it ... She was unable to enter into his theological views which to her generation seemed a desertion of the ancient way; thus pathetically enough, there came to be a barrier between mother and son ... [Concerning] her point of view, ... he ... had to recognize that the point of view was different. SHE STUDIED AND KNEW HER BIBLE WELL" [S3P627]. Hort's mother also tried to 'evangelize' him. For instance, his mother wrote to him pleading that Hort would not miss: "... the many mansions of our Heavenly Father's House ..." [S3P627]. She went on to say to him: "... and my darling, Now happy it will be if we all meet there; no one missing of all our household" [S3P627]. Through Hort's own biography we see that his mother was an Evangelical and she 'evangelized' her son. So, if Hort was saved, why did his mother try to save him? Or, put another way; if Hort was a Christian, why would he need saving? The answer to this question is also in Hort's biography. In it he states he: "outgrew the Evangelical teaching which he came to regard as sectarian ... fanaticism ... perverted" [S3P627]. Apparently, Hort was not saved. As to his views about secular topics, we know that: Hort did not think much of Abraham Lincoln. Of Lincoln, Hort said: "I cannot see that he has shown any special virtues or statesmanlike capacities" [S1P128]. Hort said he had: "... a deep HATRED of democracy in all forms" [S3P419]. Hort WAS interested in communism. He said: "I have pretty much made up my mind to devote my three or four years up here to the study of this subject of Communism" [S1P129]. Hort did not like America. To him America was: "a STANDING MENACE to the whole civilization" [S3P418]. As to Hort's views on 'spiritual' topics, we know that: Hort did not believe in the authority of the Bible. While mocking an Evangelical, Hort is quoted as saying: "[There are] SERIOUS differences between us on the subject of authority, and ESPECIALLY on the AUTHORITY of the bible" [S3P627-8]. Hort called God's Traditional Majority Text that: "... vile Textus Receptus ..." [S10P7]. According to Hort, Hell is not a place. Hort said Hell was: "figurative" [S3P296]. Hort did not believe in Eden. His quote follows: "I am inclined to think NO SUCH STATE as 'Eden' ... EVER EXISTED ..." [S2P280]. Hort did not believe in Christ's atonement for sins: "Certainly NOTHING can be more unscriptural than ... Christ's bearing our sins to His death; ... that is ... an almost UNIVERSAL HERESY" [S10P7]. Hort did not believe that people were saved by being 'born again'. Hort believed people were saved by water baptism; he stated: "Baptism assures us that we are children of God, members of Christ and His body, and heirs of the heavenly kingdom" [S1P126]. Unfortunately, this belief may have cost his own son's soul. In the following quote, Hort is talking to his son and assuring him that he was saved by water baptism as a baby. Hort tells his son: "You were ... born of Christian parents ... While yet as an infant you were claimed for God by being made in Baptism an UNCONSCIOUS member of His Church ..." [S1P126]. Hort was not Protestant, but was in reality, Catholic. He says: "... the pure Romish view seems to me nearer ... the truth than the Evangelical" [S1P126]. Hort believed his salvation was at least partially dependent on 'the sacraments'. Hort: "We dare not forsake the sacraments or God will forsake us" [S2P280]. Hort was involved in Mariolotry (worshipping Mary). Hort said: "I have been persuaded for years that Mary-worship and Jesus-worship have very much in common ..." [S10P7]. Hort was NOT competent in Greek. He said: "I had no idea ... of the importance of texts having read SO LITTLE GREEK ..." [S10P7]. Hort also began looking into the occult. In his words: "Westcott, Gorham, C. B. Scott, Benson, Bradshaw, Luard and I have started a society for the investigation of ghosts, and all supernatural appearances, ... being all disposed to believe that such things really exist ... Our own temporary name is the Ghostly Guild" [S10P7]. And, although Hort did not like evangelistic Christians, calling them 'unsound' and 'perverted'; Hort was evangelistic when it came to recruiting for his Ghostly Guild club. Hort said to a friend: "I sent you two ghostly papers; you can have more if you want them; but I find they go very fast and the 750 copies which we printed go by no means far enough" [S3P406]. And lastly, Hort was deceived by Darwin. He said: "Have you read Darwin? ... in spite of difficulties, I am inclined to think it unanswerable ..." [S10P7]. W E S T C O T T As to Westcott, we know that: Westcott rejected the Bible as infallible: "... I too must DISCLAIM ... infallibility ... the more I learn, the more ... fresh doubts come ... I REJECT the word infallibility ..."[S1P139]. Westcott did not believe the first 3 chapters of Genesis. He said: "NO ONE now, I suppose, holds that the first three chapters of Genesis ... give a LITERAL history ..." [S2P280]. Westcott was NOT concerned about Hell. Westcott said Hell is: "not the place of punishment of the guilty" [S3P296]. Westcott did not believe in Jesus' miracles; of them, he said: "I never read an account of a miracle, but I seem instinctively to feel its IMPROBABILITY ..." [S1P132]. Westcott believed that Jesus' second coming was spiritual and not physical; he said: "I hold very strongly that the Fall of Jerusalem was the coming which ... fulfilled the Lord's words ..." [S1P132]. Of heaven, Westcott said: "... heaven is a state, not a place ..." [S1P133]. "As a Cambridge undergraduate, Westcott organized a club and chose for its name 'Hermes'. The designation is derived from 'the god of magic ... and occult wisdom, the conductor of Souls to Hades, ... Lord of Death ... cunning and trickery". [S3P400]. Who does 'Hermes' refer to? Luciferian H.P. Blavatsky identifies Hermes as Satan: "Satan or Hermes are all one ... He is called the dragon ... the serpent ..." [S3P400]. We also know that Westcott took part in "... prayers for the dead" [S1P142]. And Westcott's son Arthur recalls his father's: "tradition of reading Goblin stories at Christmas" [S3P424]. (Reader note: Webster defines Goblin as "an ugly, grotesque, evil, malignant being or spirit" [S3P424]). And lastly; it was Westcott who was selected to write the section on Origen in the "Dictionary of 'Christian' Biography" [S3P528]. W E S T C O T T A N D H O R T It's interesting to note that: "All corrupt Bible scholars, from Augustine to Hort, believed in religious evolution ... [But] To teach that the new 'bibles' are progressive improvement is to slander God, for it implies that the Holy Spirit ... has better material to work with in the twentieth century than He had in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries" [S11P120]. "... its time to turn away from the teaching that Westcott and Hort were two born again, Bible believing scholars. They were not" [S1P220]. Dr. Ralph I. Yarnell says: "As far as I have been able to discover, both men [Westcott and Hort] were liberals and by no means Fundamentalists, IF they were saved AT ALL ..." [S14P3] It is obvious that Westcott and Hort did not believe the Bible. And, as Jakob Van Bruggen points out, this is a big problem: "Whether one believes the Bible or not will affect the way a person translates some passages" [S6P105]. David Otis Fuller states the same point in different words: Westcott and Hort's conclusions "... must always be open to suspicion if ... [they do not] ... accept the Bible as the very Word of God" [S2P157]. Or put another way: "A Bible believing Christian can NEVER be content to follow the leadership of those who do not recognize the Bible as the verbally inspired Word of God" [S2P172]. And, to Westcott and Hort's use of a minority of CORRUPT manuscripts as the FOUNDATION for their Greek New Testament, Burgon said: "They ... invent ... theories because ... a few against the many requires ingenuity ... for its support" [S2P91]. Knowing what we now know about Westcott and Hort, we must ask: Was their 'new' Greek Text an effort to establish a 'new' text? Or, was it actually an effort to abolish an old one? Were their efforts REALLY for 'greater accuracy'? Or, was this an excuse to replace the Textus Receptus? C H A P T E R 2 3 M O N E Y C H A N G E R S I N T H E T E M P L E In this chapter we discuss the 'marketing' of new versions. Our first topic: The characteristics of a 'false prophet'. T H E F A L S E P R O P H E T "... all the versions ... in the last one hundred years immediately compared themselves to one version; a version written three hundred years ago ..." [S11P126]. "... every new Bible is introduced as being 'better' than the Authorized Version. It may also be noted that every false prophet is introduced as better than Jesus Christ. Mohammed had supposedly come to finish the work which Christ began. Charles Manson claimed that he was Jesus Christ. Sun Nyung Moon claims to have to finished the job which Jesus Christ failed to finish. Jim Jones claimed to be Jesus Christ. The Beatles claimed to be more popular than Jesus Christ" [S1P173]. "Notice that Jim Jones did not claim to be Mohammed. Notice that Moon did not claim to be the replacement for Buddha. All the false prophets attack Jesus Christ. Notice the Good News for Modern Man does not claim to be better than the American Standard Version, but it does claim to be better than the Authorized Version. Notice also that the New International Version does not claim to be better than the American Standard Version; it claims to be better than the Authorized Version. A false prophet can always be recognized, because he attacks the true prophet" [S1P173-4]. Our next topic, in the marketing of new versions, is 'marketing fanfare'. M A R K E T I N G F A N F A R E All the 'new versions' are promoted with great fanfare and expensive advertising budgets. Whereas: "... the Authorized Version is the only Bible ever released WITHOUT fanfare" [S1P215]. Why are expensive advertising budgets justified? Because new versions are financially copyrighted ! F I N A N C I A L C O P Y R I G H T S 'Modern' versions are financially copyrighted. Why is this? "God has only one Bible. All the other versions ... are not Bibles, but books of men" [S7P13]. 'Modern versions' are copyrighted because they are the product of men's efforts, not God's. Contrast this to the text of the King James Bible. The KJV text can be copied, reproduced, quoted etc. etc. without any intervention by man. Peter Ruckman points out: "The AV has no financial copyright. It has the Crown Copyright, which only applies to Bible publishers in the United Kingdom, and this copyright DOES NOT demand money from anyone who wishes to quote, cite, reproduce, or print any passage from it" [S11P20]. Barry Burton says the: "Thomas Nelson Co. has a copyright notice in the front of ... King James Bibles that they print. It makes it APPEAR that they have the copyright to the King James Bible. HOWEVER ... if you call the Thomas Nelson Company, they will tell you that they do not have a copyright on the King James text (the Bible itself). What they have copyrighted are the notes and the layout" [S5P80]. P R O P H E S Y F U L F I L L E D Publishers of 'modern Bibles' are the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Apostle Paul. Remember how Paul said: "We are not the MANY which corrupt the word of God ..." (2 Co. 2:17). Paul also said: "Professing themselves to be WISE, they became FOOLS" (Romans 1:22) ... "Who CHANGED the TRUTH of God into a LIE ..." (Romans 1:25). "When men change the Word of God, they invariably are WORSHIPPING THEMSELVES ... no matter how sincere they may be, they are setting themselves up as knowing better than God and able to correct God" [S14P3]. And the Apostle Paul was concerned for those being misled. To the Galatians he said: "I marvel that ye are SO SOON REMOVED from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another Gospel: Which is NOT ANOTHER; but there be SOME that trouble you, and would PERVERT the gospel of Christ" (Galatians 1:6-7). Therefore we are told: "... [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" (Ephesians 4:14). In 2nd Peter 2:1-2 we are told: "... there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be FALSE TEACHERS among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that brought them, and bring upon themselves SWIFT destruction. And MANY shall follow their pernicious ways ...". "How sad it is that while the Bible warns us of false teachers, so few present-day preachers and evangelists give any warning to our people" [S7P14]. T H E M A N Y W H I C H C O R R U P T Who are the "... MANY which corrupt the word of God ..."? Who are the people on 'new version' translating committees? Reverend Gipp researched the committee membership of the Revised Standard Version. The following are his findings about some of the RSV members and their beliefs: R S V C O M M I T T E E M E M B E R S H I P Edgar Goodspeed: "Goodspeed called Genesis the product of an 'Oriental' story teller at his best" [S1P198]. "Goodspeed did not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ" [S1P197]. "Goodspeed said Jesus' youth was probably one of the dawning and increasing dissatisfaction with the prevalent form of the Jewish religion in Nazareth and in his own home. HE DID NOT IN THOSE EARLY YEARS SEE WHAT HE COULD DO ABOUT IT ..." [S1P197-8]. Julius Brewer: Julius Brewer, said: "The dates and figures found in the first five books of the Bible turn out to be altogether unreliable" [S1P198-9]. Henry Cadbury: Henry Cadbury believed Jesus Christ was a man who TOLD STORIES: "He was given to OVERSTATEMENTS, in his case, not a personal idiosyncrasy, but a characteristic of the Oriental world" [S1P199]. Walter Bowie: Walter Bowie believed the Old Testament was LEGEND, not fact. He says in reference to Abraham: "The story of Abraham comes down from the ancient times; and how much of it is FACT and how much of it is LEGEND, NO ONE can positively tell" [S1P199]. Of Jacob wrestling with the Angel, Bowie says: "The man of whom these words were written (Genesis 32:31) belongs to a time so long ago that it is UNCERTAIN whether it records HISTORY or LEGEND" [S1P199]. Walter Bowie did not believe in the miracle of the burning bush: "One day he (Moses) had a vision. In the shimmering heat of the desert, beneath the blaze of that Eastern sun, he saw a bush that SEEMED to be on fire, and the bush was not consumed" [S1P199]. Clarence Craig: Clarence Craig denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ: "It is to be remembered that there were no eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Jesus. No canonical gospel PRESUMED to describe Jesus emerging from the tomb. The mere fact that the tomb was found empty was CAPABLE OF MANY EXPLANATIONS. THE VERY LAST ONE THAT WOULD BE CREDIBLE TO A MODERN MAN WOULD BE THE EXPLANATION OF A PHYSICAL RESURRECTION OF THE BODY" [S1P200]. Craig also believed that Christ's second coming was spiritual, not physical: "In other words, the coming of Christ is TO THE HEARTS of those who love him. IT IS NOT HOPE FOR SOME FUTURE TIME, but a present reality of faith" [S1P200]. Craig said God is NOT able to preserve His Word. "If God wrote His revelation in an inerrant book, He certainly FAILED to provide any means by which this could be passed on without contamination ..." [S1P200]. Frederick Grant: Against scripture, Frederick Grant (like Westcott and Hort) prayed for the dead: "... CEASE NOT TO PRAY, for they are living still, in this world or the other, and still have need of prayers" [S1P200]. Willard Sperry: Willard Sperry disliked the Gospel of John: "SOME of these sayings, it is true, come from the fourth Gospel (John), AND WE DO NOT PRESS THAT GOSPEL FOR TOO GREAT VERBAL ACCURACY IN ITS RECORD OF THE SAYINGS OF JESUS" [S1P201]. William Irwin: William Irwin thought Jewish prophets inflated the God of the Bible: "The prophets were forced by the disasters that befell to do some hard painful thinking. THEY WERE FORCED BY THE HISTORY OF THEIR OWN TIMES TO REVISE THEIR MESSAGES AGAIN AND AGAIN IN ORDER TO KEEP UP WITH THE PROGRESS OF THE AGE. THE ASSYRIANS AND THE BABYLONIANS FORCED THEM TO REVISE THEIR CONCEPTION OF YAHWEH FROM TIME TO TIME UNTIL THEY FINALLY MADE HIM GOD OF THE UNIVERSE" [S1P201]. Fleming James: Fleming James said of Moses' writing the first five books of the Bible: "The idea has been shown by scholars to be UNTENABLE on many grounds" [S1P201]. Fleming also doubted the miracle of the Red Sea crossing: "What really happened at the Red Sea WE CAN NO LONGER REALLY KNOW ... THE SAME MAY BE SAID OF THE PLAGUES" [S1P202]. Concerning Elijah in 2 Kings 1:10, Fleming said: "The narrative of calling down fire from heaven upon soldiers sent to arrest him is PLAINLY LEGENDARY" [S1P202]. Millar Burrows: Millar Burrows summarized the true convictions of the RSV revisors in his quote: "We CANNOT take the Bible as a whole and in every part as stating with divine authority what we must believe and do" [S1P202-3]. O T H E R R E V I S I O N C O M M I T T E E S But, what about other 'new' versions and their revision committee memberships. Reverend Gipp researched this and found: "... secrecy surrounding translations such as the New American Standard Version and the New International Version. The Lockman Foundation has elected to remain anonymous" [S1P196]. Reverend Gipp goes on to say: "This is, of course, the safest method, as it prevents investigative eyes from uncovering truths ..." [S1P196]. G.A Riplinger also researched new version translating committees. She says: "The NASB committee list remained a closely guarded secret for over 30 years, lest conservative Christians catch a glimpse of the liberal membership" [S3P491]. Of one NASB committee member G.A. Riplinger adds that: "Dr. Frank Logsdon has renounced his participation. At numerous speaking engagements he denounced his part in what he now perceives to be a heretical version" [S3P491]. "I may be in trouble with God" because of it, he confesses [S3P491]. As to the NIV committee, Reverend Gipp says: "The translating committee of the New International Version is ... nameless" [S1P196]. Of this 'nameless' NIV committee, Reverend Gipp concludes: "We are assured of their 'scholarship' although words without proof, ring of a snake oil salesman in the days of the Old West" [S1P196]. Q U O T E S F R O M N E W V E R S I O N E D I T O R S A N D / O R D I R E C T O R S Although groups (like the Lockman Foundation) try to keep their translating committee memberships a secret; information eventually leaks out. For instance; some 'new version' editors have written books and/or articles about their work. This, of course, exposes their participation. From these published works we can gain insight into their beliefs. In this short section we will document the beliefs of some new version editors and/or directors. Quotes from: Professor C.H. Dodd Director of Translation For the New English Bible: "The old dogmatic view of the Bible therefore, is not only open to attack from the standpoint of science and historical criticism, BUT IF TAKEN SERIOUSLY it BECOMES A DANGER to religion and public morals." (The Bible is a danger?) [S5P68]. "God is the author, NOT of the Bible BUT of the life in which the authors of the Bible partake, and of which they tell in such IMPERFECT HUMAN WORDS as they could command." (God did not write the Bible?) [S5P68]. "The most downright claims to infallibility are made by the apocalypist, as for example in the New Testament Revelation (see 22:6, 16, 18-19) a book which some of the wisest thinkers of the early Church wished to exclude from the canon, and which as a whole, is SUB-CHRISTIAN in tone and outlook." (Revelation is sub-Christian?) [S5P69]. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son - The expression evidently ANTHROPOMORPHIC. It is a MYTHOLOGICAL way of saying that in Christ God gives of His own Being ..." (John 3:16 is a myth?) [S5P69]. "MOSES HAS LEFT US NO WRITINGS, and we know little of him with certainty." [S5P69] ( Reader note: Professor Dodd really missed this one. Apparently he has not STUDIED the Bible. Up to the time of the writing of the 2nd book of the Bible [Exodus], in Exodus 24:4 it says: "Moses wrote ALL the words of the LORD ...". Many scholars believe Moses then went on to write, not only the first two books, but the FIRST 5 BOOKS of the Bible ). "For indeed the bare idea of vicarious expiation (substitutionary atonement) is NOT WHOLLY RATIONAL ..." [S5P69]. ( Jesus' dying for our sins is not rational? ) Quotes from: Edwin Palmer Coordinator Of: 'All The Work On The NIV Bible' "[T]his [his NIV Bible] shows the GREAT ERROR that is so prevalent today in some orthodox Protestant circles, namely that regeneration depends upon faith ... and that in order to be born again a man must first accept Jesus as his Savior ..." [S3P231]. "... that Christ loved the whole world equally and gave himself up for the world is WRONG" [S3P231]. "[There are] few clear and decisive texts that declare Jesus is God" [S3P305]. "The committee DID NOT FEEL BOUND TO THE HEBREW TEXT ..." [S3P292]. A P O S T A S Y A N D S I N Peter Ruckman has noticed a couple of common threads in 'new versions' and in their translating committees. He says: "You cannot uncover an apostasy without discussing SIN. You cannot fix the blame for apostasy without talking about SIN, and the surest proof of this is the fact that the word [sin] is never mentioned in one single preface by any revision committee since 1611. The AV translators used the word [sin] in their dedicatory ..." [S11P123]. Peter Ruckman also noticed another common thread. He says: "There hasn't been ONE man on any revision committee since 1880 who was a strong evangelistic preacher against SIN: not one man" [S11P123]. T H E C H O I C E O F B I B L E The "... Christian makes perhaps no more crucial decision than choosing a Bible" [S6Pv]. Yet: "The average Christian is not aware of what is taking place. History contrasts the sacrificial lives of the early English translators to the cavalier life styles: the zeal of the martyrs for the glory of God, against the modern popularity and profit motivated efforts to replace the Word of God in English" [S9P13]. Even Christian ministers are NOT aware of what is taking place: "The mass of Christian ministers today ... don't know what they have in their hand, and if they have an AV ... they strongly doubt that they have anything more than a 'poor' translation of the 'original' ..." [S11P12]. "The Church ... has abdicated her role as guardian of the Bible and has turned such responsibility over to HIRELINGS who market various, conflicting translations to the confusion and dis-array of the Church" [S6Pii]. Therefore, "... the Bible publishing industry ... now determine[s] the texts of scripture" [S6Pii]. But: "If you have two books that both claim to be the Word of God and they contradict each other you must draw one of two conclusions. Either one of them is the word of God and the other is not, or, neither of them is the Word of God" [S14P7]. Therefore we find "... sincere believers are in a state of bewildering confusion today, because of the multiplicity of Bible versions ... They CANNOT ALL be the Word of God" [S4P92]. The truth is that "Satan has from the beginning ... done everything ... to destroy, belittle, and malign the Word of God. Today he is using a new tactic, that of ... multiplicity of Bible versions 'so called' ..." [S14P22]. Thus, the Church's worst threat is not external, it is internal: "... the plunder of God's people will be an INSIDE JOB as 'thieves enter in among you' (Acts 20:30) [S3P393]. As Christians, let us REJECT these 'new' versions which "... ignore the over 5000 Greek MSS ..." [S3P475]. T H E F A T E O F S O M E ' N E W V E R S I O N ' E D I T O R S God says: "Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words ..." (Jeremiah 23:30). And God also says: "... If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (Revelation 22:18b) "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 22:19). So, what happened to those who have changed God's words? "A surprising number of new version editors have permanently lost their ability to speak ..." [S3P2]. For instance: The Living Bible; Ken Taylor editor: In July 1972, Time magazine recorded that: "Mysteriously half way through the paraphrase Taylor lost his voice and still speaks in a hoarse whisper" [S3P447] (Please note: The introduction to the Catholic Edition of Taylor's Bible warns: "[T]his translation CANNOT BE USED AS A BASIS for Doctrinal or traditional disputes ... People from various Doctrinal traditions may ... be CHAGRINED at the particular translations found within this volume" [S3P447] ). American Standard Version; Philip Schaff: Early warnings came to Schaff in 1854: "... his voice so affected that he could not speak in public so as to be heard". Then in 1892: "... the power of articulate speech GONE" [S3P447]. 'New Greek Text'; Tregelles: S.P. Tragelles was the author of a 'New Greek Text'. This text influenced Westcott and Hort. Of Tragelles, it was written that he was: "scarcely able to speak audibly" [S3P448]. Westcott and Hort Greek Text; Westcott: Westcott's own biographer stated, in 1858, that Westcott: "... was quite inaudible". Then by 1870: "His voice reached few and was understood by fewer" [S3P448]. The New Testament in Modern English; J.B. Phillips J.B. Phillips says (in his own autobiography): "I was still doing a fair measure of speaking in schools and churches until the late summer of 1961. And then quite suddenly my speaking, writing and communication powers stopped. I was not in panic but I was certainly ALARMED, and when a few weeks rest brought no improvement I cancelled all speaking engagements for the rest of the year" [S3P448]. Lastly; "Insanity marked another prominent new version editor whose commitments to mental institutions served as bookends to a life fraught with derangement and hallucinosis" [S3P2]. In summary: "Modern translators of the Bible are true successors of Jehoikim, the King of Jerusalem, whose mutilation of Scripture is given in Jeremiah 36:22-23" [S7P2]. (Note how Jehoikim died. It is found in Jeremiah 22:18-19). W H A T A R E T H E R E S U L T S ? "What have all these versions done for our Lord and for His Church? Are more people reading and practicing the Bible? Are more souls being saved? Is there less confusion regarding the inspiration of the Scriptures since they appeared on the scene? You know as well as I do that modern versions have brought confusion and compromise ..." [S7P10]. These 'corrupted versions', which dis-agree among themselves, have made it virtually impossible for the congregation to follow along with their pastor during the reading of scripture. And 'new versions' do not contain the same words in our traditional gospel songs. Thus, hymnals and 'new versions' do not agree, either! A R E M O R E C O M I N G ? At this juncture, a good question would be: Is the latest 'version', that is on the market today, the last one which will be sold to the Christian public? The NIV translators give us the answer: "[T]he work of translation is NEVER wholly finished" [S3P583]. Therefore, if we can believe these translators, the Bible industry PLANS to remain in apostasy. How sad. R O A D T O R I C H E S "... it is fair to say that the entire American Bible publishing industry is travelling this road to riches [through the] use of CONTINUOUS revisionism of their various COPYRIGHTED editions of the Word" [S6P19]. "In short, the road to profits in the free enterprise system is CHANGE. While this law is valid for business in general it is absolutely INIMICAL to the timeless ... Christian faith" [S6P21]. Since the English Revised Version of 1881 "... the flood gates have been opened and we are now deluged with many different ... Greek New Testaments ... mutilated in bewildering confusion" [S2P178]. T H E G R E A T B A T T L E "When we receive the Traditional New Testament as the true text, then we see the history of the New Testament text as a GREAT BATTLE between Christ and Satan. Always Satan has been corrupting and mutilating the true text. Always Christ has been preserving it through the guidance of His all-governing providence. And this battle is going on right now. As Bible-believing Christians therefore we follow every detail of this long conflict with intense interest and gladly volunteer to fight this good fight of faith with all our might in our own day and age" [S8P53]. C H A P T E R 2 4 G O D ' S P R E S E R V E D W O R D The foreword to the NASB Bible says that ONLY the originals were inspired. It says: "The New American Standard Bible has been produced with the conviction that the words of scripture AS ORIGINALLY PENNED in the Hebrew and Greek were inspired by God" [S5P76]. Today it is taught that: "... God wrote the originals perfectly, but that there is NO perfect translation. Yet, there is NO scripture that teaches any such thing! [S1P170]. We are told that God CAN NOT use Holy men to translate His Word (from the Traditional Majority Text) into the various world languages. Yet, if God used Holy men to write His originals, why can't He use Holy men to translate his Word? Something is wrong, here. The logic, in what we're being told, does not make sense. So, in this chapter, let's examine what God said about His Word. W H A T G O D S A I D A B O U T H I S W O R D "FOREVER, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." (Psalm 119:89) " ... thou hast magnified thy word above ALL thy name." (Psalm 138:2) "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 for ever." (Psalm 12:6-7) "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words SHALL NOT pass away." (Luke 21:33) "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God SHALL STAND FOR EVER." (Isaiah 40:8) " ... the scripture CANNOT be broken;" (John 10:35) And, lest any of us think that God cannot accomplish His promises; God has already anticipated our doubts. He says: "Behold, I [am] the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27). I N S P I R E D A N D P R E S E R V E D Contrary to what we're being told, God says that his word is WITH us and is PRESERVED forever. Reverend Gipp agrees and points out: " ... the Bible is a spiritual book which God exerted supernatural force to conceive, and it is reasonable to assume that He could exert the same supernatural force to PRESERVE it" [S1P49]. Edward Hills comments: "... why would God infallibly inspire these original manuscripts if He did not intend to PRESERVE their texts by His special providence down through the ages?" [S8P55]. "... if the providential PRESERVATION of the Scriptures is not important, why is the infallible INSPIRATION of the original Scriptures important? [S12P225]. "Every argument for inerrant, infallible INSPIRATION applies also for inerrant, infallible PRESERVATION. It is the same God!" [S1P170]. "If the doctrine of the Divine inspiration of the Old and New Testament scriptures is true doctrine, the doctrine of the providential preservation of the scriptures MUST also be a true doctrine. It must be that down through the centuries God has exercised a special providential control over the copying of the scriptures ... so that trustworthy representatives of the original text have been available to God's people in every age" [S6P192-3]. "There exists NO reason for supposing that the divine agent who ... gave to mankind the scriptures ... straightway abdicated his office, took no further care of his work, [and] abandoned these precious writings to their fate" [S2P124]. Or put another way: "Are we to simply believe that, for a millenium and a half, the New Testament languished textually until it was providentially rescued in the last century by two random discoveries: in a Vatican archive and in a Mount Sinai wastebasket ...? [S6Pvii]. " ... if God has not preserved His words ... then he has done something which He has never done before. He has wasted His time!" [S1P21]. No dear reader, God has not wasted His time. He has, in fact, preserved his Words. For instance: "A.W. Pink ... wrote that the indestructibility of the Bible is proof that the Author is Divine... A very small percentage of books survive more than twenty years, a yet smaller percent last a hundred years, and only an INSIGNIFICANT fraction ... have lived a thousand years" [S7P1]. "As Dean Burgon (1883) pointed out, the history of the New Testament text is the history of a conflict between God and Satan. Soon after the New Testament books were written Satan corrupted their texts by means of heretics and misguided critics whom he had raised up. These assaults, however, on the integrity of the Word were repulsed by the providence of God, who guided true believers to reject these false teachings and to preserve the True Text in the majority of the Greek New Testament manuscripts [S12P231]. So, we know God HAS preserved His Word. W H I C H B I B L E ? Therefore, the question before us today is this: Which of the two Bible 'types' is the true Word of God ? "The fact that there is ONE God plainly tells us that there can only be ONE correct reading concerning any discrepancy between these two groups" [S1P48]. "... the whole controversy may be reduced to the following narrow issue: Does ... Scripture dwell with the VAST multitude of copies ... concerning which nothing is more remarkable than the MARVELOUS AGREEMENT which subsists between them? Or is it ... with a very LITTLE handful of manuscripts, which at once differ from the great bulk of witnesses, and ... also amongst themselves" [S2P124-5]. "It is certainly much more reasonable to believe ... that the true New Testament text has been preserved in the vast majority of the New Testament manuscripts than to suppose with Westcott and Hort that the true text is ... found in ... codex B, now securely locked up in the library of the Pope ..." [S2P103]. "Number is the most ordinary ingredient of weight. If ten witnesses are called into court and nine give the same account while one contradicts the other nine, which will be accepted? [S2P125]. And if 10 witnesses are good, how much more valuable is the testimony of 5,000? C H A P T E R 2 5 N E W A G E D O C T R I N E In the Word, it says: "... we are not the MANY which corrupt the Word of God". The Bible tells us that MANY people are trying to corrupt the Word of God. In previous chapters we have seen SOME of the heresy which has crept into these 'modern' versions of the Bible. We have seen the denial of the deity of Jesus, the removal of Jesus' blood as the atonement for our sins, we have seen Catholic doctrine, etc. etc. In this chapter we will look at another category of corruption included in 'modern' versions: It is 'New Age Doctrine'. Q U E S T I O N S F O R N E W A G E R S In this section we will pose several questions to 'New Agers'. We will then analyze their response(s) and check for the presence of 'New Age' doctrine in 'new versions' of the Bible. Question #1 For New Agers: Who is God? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "WE ARE ALL 100% divine" - Maharishi [S3P184]. "ALL MEN are innate divinity" - Annie Besant [S3P184]. "The knowingness of OUR divinity is the highest intelligence ... YOU are divine. But YOU must continually remember YOUR Divinity ... we had all forgotten we were EACH Divine" - Shirley MacLaine [S3P184]. "We need a World Religion ... based on DIVINE ESSENCE IN EACH PERSON. Peace can only come when we recognize THE DIVINITY IN EACH PERSON" - Lola Davis [S3P184]. The first 'New Age' belief is that MAN is divine, i.e. God. Now let's see if that corrupt doctrine is in 'new versions'. Scripture Scripture Reading Scripture Reading Verse ( NASB ) KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Psalm 8:5 Yet Thou hast made him For thou hast made him a little lower than GOD a little lower than the ANGELS "New versions fall back into ... a belief in the divinity of man" [S3P184]. Not only do some 'new versions' place man up with God, but these 'new versions' also change God from the personage of the Trinity to a 'nature' or 'divine nature'. In other words, 'new versions' lower God. For example: Scripture Scripture Reading Scripture Reading Verse ( NASB, NIV ) KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Romans 1:20 divine nature Godhead Question #2 For New Agers: Are devils real? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "[T]he Church is wrong with calling them Devils ... [T]he word demon however, as in the case of Socrates, and in the spirit of the meaning given to it by the whole of antiquity, stand[s] for the Guardian Spirit or Angel not a Devil of Satanic descent as Theology would have it ... Demons is a very loose word to use as it applies to ... minor Gods; ... there are no devils" - Luciferian, Mme. Blavatsky [S3P218-9]. A second 'New Age' belief is that there are no such things as 'devils'. Let's look at some 'new versions' to check for this error. Scripture Scripture Reading Scripture Reading Verse ( NASB, NIV, RSV, NKJV ) KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Deut. 32:17 demons devils Psalm 106:37 demons devils Matt. 8:16 demons devils Matt. 8:31 demons devils Matt. 9:34 demons devils Matt. 10:8 demons devils Matt. 12:24 demons devils Indeed, new versions ignore the existence of devils. New versions change 'devils' to 'demons'. Question #3 For New Agers: Are Christians Slaves or Servants of Christ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First off; let's define those terms. Per Webster's dictionary: Servant: "... one who exerts himself for the benefit of another master ... as a public servant, an official of the government". [S3P221] Slave: "... a person HELD in bondage, a thrall. One who has LOST CONTROL of himself, freedom of action. A drudge." [S3P221]. Per Webster, there is a big difference between servants and slaves. Servants work because they WANT TO. Servants have RETAINED their freedom. Slaves work because they HAVE TO. Slaves have LOST their freedom. So how do New Agers see Christians? "The New Agers see ... Christ's Church as: '... bigoted and cruel to all who do not choose to be it's SLAVES'" [S3P223]. "New Age leaders say Adam was a 'SLAVE' before he ate from the Tree of Life. He was then 'emancipated' just like Lucifer, who '... preferred free will to passive slavery'. Another New Age author writes: '[D]ogmas have made weaklings and SLAVES of men ... Justification by faith and vicarious atonement were taught as Gospel truth and man became a greater SLAVE than before'" [S3P223]. Thus, New Agers see Christians as 'slaves' of Christ. Now, let's see if this 'New Age' belief is in some 'modern' versions. (The following table is from [S3P224-225]). Scripture Scripture Reading Scripture Reading Verse ( NASB, NIV, RSV, NKJV ) KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mark 10:44 slave servant 1 Co. 7:21 slave servant 1 Co. 7:22 slave servant Eph. 6:8 slaves servants Sure enough, 'New Age Doctrine' can be added to our list of errors contained in 'new versions'. Question #4 For New Agers: Who does 'Christ' refer to? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Roy Livesey: author and publisher of the New Age Bulletin, in England, says: "Christ, however doesn't refer to the Lord Jesus Christ but to the World Teacher" [S3P322]. Thus, New Agers change Jesus Christ (the Master) to just a "teacher". Let's see if 'new versions' do the same. ( The following table is from [S3P323] ). Scripture Scripture Reading Scripture Reading Verse ( NASB, NIV, etc. etc.) KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Matt. 8:19 Teacher Master Matt. 17:24 teacher master Matt. 23:8 Teacher Master Mark 4:38 Teacher Master Mark 5:35 Teacher Master Mark 13:1 Teacher Master Mark 14:14 Teacher Master Luke 3:12 Teacher Master Luke 8:49 Teacher Master Luke 11:45 Teacher Master Luke 12:13 Teacher Master Luke 18:18 Teacher Master Luke 19:39 Teacher Master Luke 20:21 Teacher Master Luke 20:39 Teacher Master Luke 21:7 Teacher Master Luke 22:11 Teacher Master John 4:31 Rabbi Master John 11:8 Rabbi Master John 11:28 Rabbi Master John 20:16 Rabbi Master Question #5 For New Agers: Is doctrine important? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Edwin Luzer: "Doctrine is NOT IMPORTANT [in the New Age]. What is important is religious experience" [S3P328]. Once Jesus is no longer 'Master', notice what happens to Christian doctrine: doctrine is then no longer important! In new versions, doctrine is 'watered down' to the generic term: 'teaching'. For example: ( The following table is from [S3P326-327] ). Scripture Scripture Reading Scripture Reading Verse ( NASB, NIV, etc. etc. ) KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Matt. 7:28 teaching doctrine Matt. 16:12 teaching doctrine Matt. 22:33 teaching doctrine Mark 1:22 teaching doctrine Mark 1:27 teaching doctrine Mark 4:2 teaching doctrine Mark 11:18 teaching doctrine Mark 12:38 teaching doctrine Luke 4:32 teaching doctrine John 7:16 teaching doctrine John 7:17 teaching doctrine John 18:19 teaching doctrine Acts 2:42 teaching doctrine Acts 13:12 teaching doctrine Acts 17:19 teaching doctrine Romans 6:17 teaching doctrine Romans 16:17 teaching doctrine 1 Co. 14:6 teaching doctrine 1 Co. 14:26 teaching doctrine 1 Tim. 1:10 teaching doctrine 1 Tim.4:13 teaching doctrine 1 Tim.4:16 teaching doctrine 1 Tim.5:17 teaching doctrine 2 Tim.3:10 teaching doctrine 2 Tim.3:16 teaching doctrine 2 John 1:9 teaching doctrine Rev. 2:14, 15, 24 teaching doctrine Does this remind you of 2nd Timothy 4:3 ? i.e.: "For the time will come when they will NOT ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves TEACHERS ..." [S3P327]. As Christians we KNOW doctrine is important! Religious historian David L. Johnson says: "Doctrine specifically states that which is of ULTIMATE CONCERN" [S3P327]. Or put another way: "Our plan of action REQUIRES ... sound doctrine. [I]t is the formal BASIS of our opinions and beliefs. If we do not maintain good doctrine then all manner of BAD TEACHING can creep into the Church" [S3P327]. ( And isn't this happening in these 'new versions' ? ) Question #6 For New Agers: Is God going to judge the world? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ramtha: "God ... will allow you to be and do ANYTHING you wish and hold you JUDGELESS. God HAS NEVER judged anyone." [S3P287]. Comment: "Since the destruction of the earth is a result of God's judgment, those verses describing the severity of that judgment are 'softened up' or omitted. (The following table is from [S3P286-287]). Scripture Scripture Reading Scripture Reading Verse ( NASB, NIV, etc. ) KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mark 6:11 omitted the day of judgement Mark 9:44 omitted Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched Mark 9:46 omitted Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched Luke 17:36 omitted Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Question #7 For New Agers: Where do sinners go when they die? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ H.P. Blavatsky: " ... Hell and its sovereign are both INVENTIONS of Christianity." [S3P291]. Let's see what this 'New Age' belief has done to 'modern' versions: ( The following table is from [S3P292] ). Scripture Scripture Reading Scripture Reading Verse ( NIV ) KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Deut. 32:22 death hell Job 26:6 death hell Prov. 23:14 death hell Prov. 27:20 death hell Isa. 28:18 death hell Notice that Hell, a place of eternal torment and punishment, has been changed to the generic term: 'death'. Question #8 For New Agers: In the end times, what will happen to the earth? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First off; let's see what God says in the KJV: "... the earth also and the works that are therein shall be BURNED UP." ( II Peter 3:10 ). "Luciferian H.P. Blavatsky: 'Both Jesus and St. John the Baptist preached the end of the Age ... So little did the UNINITIATED CHRISTIANS understand that they accepted the words of Jesus literally and firmly believed he meant the end of the world'" [S3P283]. New Agers believe that this 'world' will remain. They DO NOT believe the world will burn up as stated in the Bible. Instead New Agers believe in a nebulous concept of one age ending and a 'New Age' then beginning. Now, let's see if this 'New Age' belief has been injected into 'modern' versions. ( The following table is from [S3P285] ). Scripture Scripture Reading Scripture Reading Verse ( NASB, NIV, etc. ) KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dan. 12:13 end of the age end of the days Matt. 13:39 end of the age end of the world Matt. 13:40 end of the age end of this world Matt. 13:49 end of the age at the end of the world Matt. 28:20 I am with you always lo, I am with you even to the end of alway, even unto the age the end of the world The 'New Age' corruption, that the sinful earth will remain, is also included in 'new versions'. As G.A. Riplinger points out: "If the world ends the sinner has nothing to stand on; if the age ends, he merely changes his calendar" [S3P285]. Something to think about. C H A P T E R 2 6 L E X I C O N S There is one last way the Word of God is corrupted ... In her book "New Age Bible Versions" G.A. Riplinger discusses lexicons. On page 601, she says: "The Greek and Hebrew Lexicons and dictionaries are written by men, 'most of whom are unbelievers', writes Princeton and Yale scholar Edward Hills. A few examples will suffice: 1) The New Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon's editor (Briggs) was defrocked by the 'liberal' Presbyterian Church for his 'liberalism'. 2) Trench, author of the much used: "Synonyms of the New Testament", was a member of Westcott's esoteric clubs, as was Alford, whose Greek reference works are still used. 3) J. Henry Thayer, author of the "New Thayer's Greek Lexicon", was a Unitarian who vehemently denied the deity of Christ. (Thayer was also the dominant member of the ASV committee!) His lexicon contains a seldom noticed warning by the publisher in its introduction (p. vii). It cautions readers to watch for adulterations in the work relating to the deity of Christ and the Trinity. 4) The acclaimed A.T. Robertson's "Greek Grammar" also sends up a red flag in its preface saying, 'The text of Westcott and Hort is followed in all its essentials'. 5) Conclusions drawn by Kurt and Barbara Aland of the "Nestles-Aland Greek New Testament" elicit the response by Philip Comfort that "the Alands' designations must be taken with caution". 6) James Strong, author of "Strong's Concordance" was a member of the corrupt ASV Committee" [S3P601]. Lexicons corrupt the word of God. In this chapter we will see how that happens. U S I N G A L E X I C O N A 'lexicon' can be used two different ways: M E T H O D 1 In method 1, the Christian looks up an English word in their King James Bible. If a 'lexicon' is used, it cross references the Bible's original English word to the Bible's original Hebrew/Greek word. Then the Christian is given the lexicon's 'new' English translation of that original Hebrew/Greek Word. Notice how the Christian makes a 360 degree circle from the Holy Spirit's chosen English word, to the Holy Spirit's chosen Hebrew/Greek word, to "another" English word chosen by MAN! Since God is perfect, and man is not, this method corrupts God's Word. Notice also, method #1 approaches the Word of God by 'doubting' him. i.e. by doubting His choice of the original English words. That is how some people use a lexicon. Knowingly or unknowingly Christians are being misled from what God wants them to know, to what man and/or Satan puts in place of God's original! Thus, a Christian may have God's Word (from their King James Bible), but they can get 'derailed' by reading man's words in place of God's Words! E X A M P L E O F M E T H O D 1 The following is an example of using method 1. Let's see how God's Word gets corrupted. In the King James Bible, in Isaiah 7:14, it says: "... Behold, a VIRGIN shall conceive, and bear a son ...". If I look up the original Hebrew word for 'virgin' in a corrupted (but popular) Strong's lexicon, it says the original Hebrew word is: 'al-maw'. To that original word 'al-maw', Strong gives his definitions. That's right 'plural' definitions! Strong says al-maw is a "young woman" and could EITHER be A) of marriageable age or B) maid or newly married. Notice Strong NEVER translates it "virgin"! Think about it. The Holy Spirit translated 'al-maw' as "virgin". For a "virgin" to conceive is an obvious MIRACLE. But Strong says an 'equivalent translation' is "young woman"! There are two MAJOR problems with Strong's translation: 1) If a "young woman" gave birth to Jesus, this is NOT a miracle. Young women give birth all the time! By Strong's definition, Jesus is just ANY man. If Jesus is just any man, then we are still in our sins. If we are still in our sins, then we are not saved. If we are not saved, then we have a big, big, problem. 2) In Strong's definition 'A' he says "of marriageable age". Strong does not say Mary was married, only that she was of marriageable age. In Strong's definition 'B' he has 2 translations: 1) maid (i.e. a woman who is not married) or 2) newly married. Thus, in most of these definitions, Strong is inferring that Mary is unmarried. Since Mary is pregnant and Strong is inferring that she is unmarried, Strong is calling Mary a whore ! Folks, this is heresy. Lexicons are apostate and are ANOTHER way to corrupt the Word of God. M E T H O D 2 The second method for using a lexicon, is the approach of "faith". In this approach we say: God I know you picked these original English words for a reason, I just don't understand why. Then, you look up the original Holy Spirit chosen Hebrew/Greek word for the original Holy Spirit chosen English word. You compare the places where the Holy Spirit translated the original Hebrew/Greek word into the same (or sometimes) different English words. By using this method #2, you will gain insight into God's Word. Method #2 is the ONLY way to use a lexicon, and that's if you use a lexicon AT ALL. E X A M P L E O F M E T H O D 2 The following is an example of method 2. In 1st Corinthians 13:13, in the KJV, its says: "... faith, hope and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity" In new versions it says: "... faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love". Some people 'like' the new version's translation. However, the 'new version' does not give the FULL meaning. If I use Strong's lexicon and look up the original Greek word I find it is "agape". In the King James Bible, the Holy Spirit translated agape as 'charity' in 1st Corinthians 13:13 BUT the Holy Spirit translated agape as 'love' in Matthew 24:12. Remember, we said earlier there are two ways to approach God's Word: doubt or faith. When I first read this, I approached the Word in doubt. I did not understand why the word 'charity' was used in 1Co 13:13. In my position of doubt, I went to the Lord to ask him why He said 'charity'. I received NO insight. I received NOTHING. Total void. This kept bothering me. Eventually I wearied of getting no response and I finally took the approach of faith. I said: "Lord I KNOW you chose the word 'charity' for a REASON. I don't know why. Lord, you are not the problem, I am the problem. I just don't understand. As your Word says; please give me wisdom and 'upbraideth me not'". At that moment of faith; the Lord gave me insight into His Word: The insight was this: Charity is a form of love. It is consistent with love. But the word charity contains the FULL meaning. The reason is this: If I love my wife, my wife can love me back. Therefore 'what thanks have ye'. If I love my wife and my wife loves me back, I am being REPAID. The Bible is very clear about giving: 'GIVE EXPECTING NOTHING in return', 'it is more blessed to GIVE, than to receive, 'for God so loved the world that he GAVE his only begotten son ...' But 'charity', by definition, is giving when you do not expect to be repaid. When we give our time and money to a charity, we don't get a check back in the mail ! Thus, charity is a HIGHER form of giving than just love. When Jesus gave His life for us He was being 'charitable'. He was giving and getting nothing in return. What He gave to us we can NEVER FULLY repay. Giving when you expect 'nothing back' is charity. Thus, the full meaning is in the King James: "... faith, hope, CHARITY, these three; but the greatest of these is CHARITY". B E C A R E F U L Man made definitions in lexicons are corrupt. If a lexicon is used AT ALL, method 2 is the only way to go. Only method 2 approaches the Word in a position 'of faith'. Method 2 safely bypasses the man-made definitions. And, only method 2, gives insight into God's Word. B E W A R E O F T H E C O U N T E R F E I T In effect, the men who write lexicons are saying: "Yea, hath God said?" And these same men then say: "God did not say the English words that are in your King James Bible, what God really meant was ....". Then the 'counterfeit' is given to the Christian. Lexicons are subtle and devious in their methodology. G.A. Riplinger believes we should rename them: "Lucifer's Lexicons" [S3P591]. C H A P T E R 2 7 T H E F U T U R E ? In previous chapters we focused on 'facts' i.e. historical facts, Bible verse comparisons, Bible readability scores, personal biographies, etc. etc. In those chapters data was available because we were dealing with the past and with the present. In this chapter the topic is 'The Future'. Since we will be discussing the future, we are limited to 'speculation'. No one knows 'the facts' about the future! F A C T S S E P A R A T E D F R O M S P E C U L A T I O N I have purposely separated this chapter on 'The Future' from all other chapters. This was done so that 'facts' are separated from 'speculation'. D I F F E R E N C E S O F O P I N I O N This is a 'Future Shock' kind of chapter. My speculation of the future may differ from yours, the reader. Or, we may be in TOTAL agreement! Whatever the agreement level, I believe this chapter presents some logical and possible, maybe even probable, scenarios of the future. The purpose of this chapter is to encourage and stimulate thought. But, let's keep in mind only God knows the future, and; this is a chapter written by a man. C H A P T E R T O P I C S In this chapter we will discuss: 1) Where Bible 'revisionism' may be going and 2) The possible future of the Bible, the Church, and the world. C O N F U S I O N The Bible says God IS NOT the author of confusion. (1Co 14:33) Since 'modern versions' dis-agree among themselves, and since this is causing confusion in the Church; I believe we can conclude that these books ( i.e. new versions ) are NOT from God. And, if they are not from God, they must be from Satan. T H E B A C K D R O P "Satan wants to be worshipped" [S1P25]. Also: "Satan's first interest HAS ALWAYS BEEN 'revision' (Gen 3:1-4) [S11P121]. W H E R E I S B I B L E R E V I S I O N I S M G O I N G ? One way to know where the future is going is to look back at the past. One way to see where 'new versions' are headed is to go back to the Garden of Eden. It was in the Garden of Eden where we saw Satan's methodology. Let's study Satan's tricks. S A T A N ' S 3 S T E P P L A N In the Garden of Eden, God spoke to Adam. Then, Satan came to Eve and said: "... Yea, hath God said ..." ( Genesis 3:1 ) Thus, step 1 in Satan's methodology, was to question whether God spoke AT ALL. Next Satan said to Eve: "... Ye shall not surely die:" ( Genesis 3:4 ) Thus, step 2 in Satan's methodology, was to ATTACK what God DID SAY. Lastly, Satan said to Eve: "... ye shall be as gods ..." ( Genesis 3:5 ) Thus; step 3 in Satan's methodology, was to SUBSTITUTE his ULTIMATE LIE. W H E R E A R E W E N O W ? God has already told us the truth. He gave us His Traditional Majority Text. So where are we in Satan's 3 step methodology? Satan's 'new versions' deny Jesus' deity, i.e. they deny that 'Jesus IS God'. In effect, these new versions 'infer' that God has NOT SPOKEN AT ALL. From the 3 step model, we can say the world HAS PASSED step 1. Second; some 'new versions', like the RSV, include statements like: "... the King James Version has grave defects" [S5P76]. This statement, as well as the fact that 'new versions' change God's Words, are DIRECT ATTACKS on what God DID SAY. From the 3 step model, we can conclude the world has PASSED step 2. In the last step, Satan's substitutes his ULTIMATE LIE: "... ye shall be as gods ..." ( Genesis 3:5 ). As we have seen 'new versions' contain the 'New Age' belief that man is divine, i.e. God. Thus, the world may be 'in', or may be 'entering', step 3. Jasper James Ray thinks that the world has NOT YET fully entered into step 3. He says: "... [the] conflicting and confusing Bible Versions ... appear to be part of a 'Brain Washing' process, to PREPARE both clergy and laity for the reception of the 'EVOLVING BIBLE'" [S4P115]. He goes on to say: "... the Ecumenical Church must replace [The King James Bible] with a 'MAN-MADE-BIBLE' in which all 'objectional doctrines' have been removed. A Bible that answers this description is said to be WELL ON IT'S WAY" [S4P114]. Peter Ruckman gives his forecast for 'new Bible versions'. He says: "What is shaping up now is A 'MUTUAL' BIBLE that Catholics and apostate Protestants WILL 'SHARE' ..." [S11P10]. G.A. Riplinger also believes we have NOT YET entered step 3. She believes that we have not yet seen the ULTIMATE LIE, i.e. the ULTIMATE SATANIC BIBLE. In her book: "New Age Bible Versions" she says: "Satan recognizes that a bible is needed to control the masses. The DEVELOPMENT of a New Age Bible is among his top priorities" [S3P15]. She says: "The devious strategy that seems to be paying off for the New Age is that of revising or updating the Bible to make it more 'meaningful to modern times'" [S3P16]. She believes that: "The New Age Bible will be the unholy vessel into which the Antichrist will pour these doctrines of devils. It will incorporate the major doctrines of the [One World] religion" [S3P16]. Reverend Samuel C. Gipp takes Satan's three step methodology and summarizes how he thinks God's truth will be changed, by Satan, into Satan's ULTIMATE LIE and into the ULTIMATE SATANIC BIBLE. Gipp's chart follows: [S1P216]. God's Truth Satan's Counterfeits Satan's ULTIMATE Counterfeit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One God Many "gods" Satan is "god" of this world One Christ Many "anti-christs" The Antichrist One Church Many false churches One ultimate church, Rome One Bible (AV) Many "Bibles" (ASV, One ultimate false "Bible" NIV, etc. ) In summary, these authors believe we are somewhere between step 2 and step 3. T H E S O F T E N I N G "Christians today do not realize they 'need a better translation' until they are TOLD SO by the Bible salesmen ..." [S1P83]. Notice how the public is first 'softened up' to the concept of receiving a corrupted Bible before the actual sale takes place! For Satan to 'sell' his ULTIMATE SATANIC BIBLE (step 3), may require FURTHER 'softening' of the public. Texe Marrs, a researcher of the 'New Age Movement', discusses how this 'softening' is occurring today and how it could occur in the future: "For centuries Satan has inspired scientists and pseudo scientists to label Christians as unsophisticated and behind-the-times. Many of these ... secular humanists' arguments will become part of the New Age Bible. The bible that is developed by the Antichrist will be applauded as fully keeping with the high-tech age. Furthermore, New Age citizens will be told that the New Age scriptures CAN BE CHANGED whenever new scientific discoveries suggest revision is needed" [S3P555-556]. T H E 'F I N A L B I B L E' R E V I S I O N C O M M I T T E E To develop a 'Final Bible' requires a 'Final Bible Revision Committee'! New Age leader, Vera Alder, describes who might be on this committee, and how it could possibly operate. She says: "[T]he World Government and its Spiritual Cabinet of 12, headed by 'the Christ' will study all archaeological archives ... From it, the 'Research Panel' would develop the 'New' Bible of a World Religion which would be the BASIS of future education" [S3P555]. H E A D Q U A R T E R S Where would the 'Apostate Church' be headquartered and whom would it include? G.A. Riplinger quotes Dave Hunt as saying: "There seems little doubt that this false abominable last-days religious system called Mystery Babylon (Revelation 17:5) will have its headquarters AT THE VATICAN" [S3P133]. And "While its headquarters will be at Rome, this false religious system will represent ALL CHURCHES, denominations, cults and religions joined into one" [S3P133]. T H E P O P E ? "The blueprint for the New World Order, by Vera Alder, calls for the POPE to take his rightful 'position'" [S3P135] "The Head of the Spiritual Cabinet would therefore have to be the most spiritually developed MAN in the world ... He would occupy the position which could have been that of the POPE ALL ALONG" [S3P135-6]. W O R S H I P T H E D R A G O N ? G.A. Riplinger asks: "Are new versions preparing mankind to receive the Antichrist and 'worship the dragon'?" [S3P17] She thinks the answer is yes. "... Catholics and unwary Protestants, with their Gnostic Vatican manuscript under their arm, are being steered into the waiting arms of the one world church of the Antichrist" [S3P498]. "Naive Christians pass over the esoteric terminology and philosophy in new versions because, as Moody's 'Agony of Deceit' points out: "[T]hey are unaware that they are repeating the errors of the past. Because they do not understand Greek philosophy or Oriental mysticism, or 19th century theosophy [Luciferism], they do not know how seriously they have been affected by such thinking" [S3P23]. M O V E M E N T T O W A R D ' T H E E N D T I M E S ' "Satan's objective is to unite the world under a man wholly given over to him ..." [S3P421]. This will occur sometime during the 'End Times'. As we look around, there are signs that the world is moving toward the 'End Times' with its 'One World Religion'. For example: "Efforts to have the United Nations declare 1993: 'The International Year of Religious Understanding' have been made" [S3P461]. Also, U.N. Assistant Secretary General Robert Miller has called for a "universal bible" [S3P3]. E V E R Y M A N D I D T H A T W H I C H W A S R I G H T I N H I S O W N E Y E S "New Ager Vera Alder says ... 'It is likely that a NEW KIND OF RELIGION will develop in which EACH MAN will discover and work out his OWN sermons FOR HIMSELF'" [S3P504]. "J.B. Phillips touts the reader of his forward to the NASB Interlinear Greek-English New Testament to 'TRY AND MAKE HIS OWN TRANSLATION'" [S3P504-5]. David Spangler, a Luciferian (one who worships Satan) said: "The evolution of the race is for every man NOT to learn to OBEY the law but to BE the law ... We can take all the scriptures ... and have a JOLLY GOOD BONFIRE ... Once you ARE the truth, you do not need it EXTERNALLY represented" [S3P507]. Don't these last statements sound a lot like the scripture: "... every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6) ? W H E R E I S T H E C H U R C H N O W ? Sometimes, we can be 'too close' to a problem to see it clearly. As the saying goes: 'we can't see the forest for the trees'. Since we are 'the Church', and since we are discussing where the Church is headed, let's see where outsiders believe 'the Church' is headed: "Starhawk, a self proclaimed witch remarks: 'I am VERY GLAD to discover such movement within Christian churches that is sympathetic to the PAGAN SPIRIT'" [S3P23]. T H E U L T I M A T E Q U E S T I O N In summary, the future is really headed toward ONE question: "The final conflict will come down to 'Who is God?'" [S3P301]. Is it Jesus Christ, or is it Satan ? The sheep are going to be separated from the goats; and what we are, is our choice ! C H A P T E R 2 8 C O N C L U S I O N S Today: "Biblical Christianity is facing one of its biggest tests as the twentieth century closes: A return to Papal Rome of the 'separated brethren'; A continuing stream of 'new' bibles, with NO END in sight; A decadent morality rivaling that of Noah's day; A revival of witchcraft and other ancient religions; and OLD heresies with NEW names. [With] The prospect of a [one] world government forcing conformity in religion; Christians had better be CERTAIN that they have the RIGHT SWORD, to '... earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints' (Jude 3) [S9P11-12]. And the 'right sword' is the Traditional Majority Text, the English translation being the King James Bible. As we have seen in this report: "The New International Version, New American Bible, New American Standard, New Jerusalem, New English Bible, and the New Revised Standard are not so 'NEW', ... but are merely an encore of the 'New' Age esotericism of Plato, Saccus, Clement and Origen ..." [S3P545]. For instance: "The divinity of man, of all men, was taught ... from the writings of Origen and Clement. Plato is saturated with it" [S3P527]. Right now "... we are ... in the middle of a Bible translation explosion - a veritable flood of 'new' Bible translations, versions, paraphrases, all claiming to be the 'most accurate', the 'most readable', and the most 'up to date'" [S17P1]. Publishers of 'modern' Bibles tell us their versions are the 'best' translation of the Word of God. Then, a year or 2 later, they use the exact same words AGAIN when they come out with a newer version (i.e. when they want us to BUY again). There are now more than 120 of these "BEST TRANSLATIONS" of the Word of God. That's right 120! Notice that, at the beginning of this article, there were 110 'versions' of the Bible. At the end of this article there are now 120. From the time I started writing to the end of this report, 10 new 'versions' have been added! Would it surprise the reader if I said they were corrupt also? The publishers of 'new versions' are telling us that, since the last version, 'new information' has been found that sheds 'new light' on God's Word. Think about it, publishers are saying that we do not have God's Word, today. They are saying we have to keep looking for it! C O M E , L E T U S R E A S O N T O G E T H E R Would Jesus Christ leave the world, for the last 2,000 years, WITHOUT leaving us his true New Testament Word? Would He NEGLECT everyone for the last 2,000 years? The simple truth is this: When Jesus Christ left the earth, he left MANY witnesses. Those witnesses wrote down what Jesus said and did. In fact, Jesus left so many witnesses that there are still more than 5,000 Greek New Testament manuscripts which EXIST TODAY. The early church had those witnesses. We have them, too. From those 5,000 New Testament witnesses we can take ANY Bible and test it for accuracy. The King James Bible has been found to AGREE with those 5,000 witnesses in 90-95% of the cases. That agreement level is why the King James is called: 'The Majority Text'. So, we do have God's Word, and we have it, today. If, on the other hand, we take the Westcott and Hort New Testament text (which underpins 'modern' versions) and if we compare it to the 5,000 Greek New Testament manuscripts; we find that it DISAGREES with 90-95% of the witnesses. That is why it is called the 'Minority Text'. The bottom line is this: Jesus said you will know a tree by its fruit. As a Christian, you need to compare the 'fruit' of these Bibles and decide whether you believe the King James Bible (The Majority Text) contains the Word of God, or whether the Word of God is in these 'modern' versions (the Minority Text). Remember that the Bible is not just any book; it is the Word of God, and is, therefore, subject to spiritual attack. In fact it is due to SPIRITUAL ATTACK, that there EVEN EXISTS a MINORITY of the 5,000 Greek New Testament texts which ARE CORRUPTED. Without that spiritual attack, the King James Bible would have agreed with 100% of the 5,000 Greek New Testament witnesses. Remember also: Jesus has the name above all names (Philip. 2:9). And the Bible goes on to say that: God has MAGNIFIED HIS WORD ABOVE ALL HIS NAME (Psalms 138:2). Wow! That is getting up there! Thus, when we are talking about the Word of God, we are discussing a VERY, VERY, important topic. This report was written for the Glory of God and to point everyone toward His True Word. - THY WORD have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. ( Ps 119:11 ) - I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget THY WORD. ( Ps 119:16 ) - For ever, O Lord, THY WORD is settled in heaven. (Ps 119:89) - I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep THY WORD. ( Ps 119:101 ) - THY WORD [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. ( Ps 119:105 ) - Thou [art] my hiding place and my shield: I hope in THY WORD. ( Ps 119:114 ) - THY WORD [is] true [from] the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments [endureth] for ever. ( Ps 119:160 ) A R E T H E S E R E V I S I O N S ? A R E T H E S E V E R S I O N S ? A R E T H E S E B I B L E S ? Throughout this report I have called the NIV, the NASB, the AMP, the RSV, the LB, the NRSV etc. etc. 'new versions'. I have also called them 'new Bibles'. And add to that the fact they are also sometimes called 'revisions'. But: 1) Are these 'corruptions' REALLY 'Bibles'? 2) Are these 'corruptions' REALLY new 'versions'? 3) Are these 'corruptions' REALLY 'revisions'? I called them 'Bibles' and 'versions', to establish 'a common dialogue' between myself and the reader. But, let's analyze this issue. Q U E S T I O N # 1 To the question: Are these 'corruptions' REALLY 'revisions'? David Otis Fuller responds: "The Revision of 1881, the American Standard Version of 1901, and the Revised Standard Version ... are IN NO TRUE SENSE a revision of the King James of 1611. If they were they would have followed the SAME Greek text, the Textus Receptus, and thus would contain the SAME verses" [S16P5]. 'New corruptions' DO NOT follow the same texts. Therefore, they ARE NOT 'revisions'. Q U E S T I O N # 2 To the question: Are these 'corruptions' REALLY 'new versions'? David Otis Fuller responds again: "A VERSION is that which is TRANSLATED, or rendered FROM ONE LANGUAGE to ANOTHER. The Textus Receptus IS NOT a version. It is composed of the basic manuscript copies from which the King James [English] VERSION was made" [S16P5]. Since all of these 'new corruptions' are in the SAME language, they ARE NOT 'new versions'. Martin Luther's German Bible IS a 'new version'. It is translated, from the same Traditional Majority Text, into a different language, i.e. German. Q U E S T I O N # 3 To the last question: Are these 'corruptions' REALLY 'Bibles'? A 'Bible' is a book written by God. Since there is only 1 God, ALL OF THE BOOKS WHICH ARE REALLY BIBLES WOULD AGREE WITH EACH OTHER. This is because God is CONSISTENT and faithful. Also, the true Bible written by God, would be FREELY available to all His people; as, God is willing that ALL should be saved. It would NOT be financially copyrighted by men. Men CANNOT take credit for God's labor. "God has only one Bible. All the others ... are NOT Bibles BUT BOOKS OF MEN" [S7P13]. 'Modern corruptions' are financially copyrighted because they are the product of MEN'S efforts, not God's. Thus, these modern 'books' ARE NOT Bibles. W H A T A R E W E D E A L I N G W I T H ? So what are we really dealing with when we are discussing these 'books of men'. First off, I believe they are NOT 'revisions', they are NOT 'versions', and they are NOT 'Bibles'. That is what THEY ARE NOT. So what are they? There are at least two words, that I can think of, which accurately describe these 'books of men'. Those words are: 'Forgeries' and 'Counterfeits'. A forgery and/or a counterfeit is something that tries to LOOK like the original, but isn't. A forgery and/or a counterfeit tries to pass itself off as the original, but never makes it OBVIOUS that it is a fake. A forgery/counterfeit always takes a SUBTLE approach. W H Y C O U N T E R F E I T ? WHY is there an effort to counterfeit the Word of God? This question is easily answered. We have all seen the TV ads for 'counterfeit diamonds'. Counterfeit diamonds are called Cubic Zirconias. But, we have NEVER seen a TV ad for a 'counterfeit Cubic Zirconia'. Why is that? The reason is that diamonds are VALUABLE. A Cubic Zirconia is only of 'nominal' value. Items which are counterfeited are those of HIGH VALUE. Diamonds are counterfeited, the US dollar is counterfeited, etc. etc. But, there is no reason to counterfeit a Cubic Zirconia. Thus the TRUE, original Word of God MUST BE EXTREMELY VALUABLE. The actual Word of God MUST BE ABSOLUTELY TRUE. - If God says we MUST be Born Again, then it is TRUE and VALUABLE. - If God says Jesus saves us from Hell, then it is TRUE and VALUABLE. - If God says we can be divinely healed, then it is TRUE and VALUABLE. - If God says we can speak in new tongues, then it is TRUE and VALUABLE. - If God gives the test for Antichrist, then it is be TRUE and VALUABLE. And on and on. C O U N T E R F E I T S O F M E N ? So are these books 'counterfeits of men'? Is this 6,000 year historical struggle for the Word of God a 'struggle between men'? In this report, Protestants seem to be struggling against the Jesuits, the Catholics, and the "... MANY which ... corrupt the Word of God". But the Bible is very clear about our problem: "For we wrestle NOT against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]" ( Ephesians 6:12 ). Thus, these 'counterfeits' are not from men, but from Satan himself. Yes, Satan is 'using' these men. And yes, we need to be 'aware' of the men Satan is using. But, in reality it is a spiritual struggle. We are really struggling against the 'father of lies'. Thus, it was Satan who used Rudolph Kittel to make the corrupted Old Testament manuscript. It was Satan who used Westcott and Hort to make the corrupted New Testament manuscript. And these corrupt manuscripts form the foundation for 120 modern 'counterfeits'. Because this is a struggle against 'wickedness in high places' we are NOT talking about an earthly 'flesh to flesh' deception. Instead, we are talking about "Spiritual Deception In the Highest". I F Y O U L I K E T H I S R E P O R T If you like this report, you are welcome to copy it and pass it on to others. In conclusion, I think the following quote really 'sums things up'! D O W E N E E D A N E W V E R S I O N ? Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones, a highly respected theologian of this century commented on these 'new versions'. He said: "... the most popular of all the proposals at the present moment is to have a new translation of the Bible ... The argument is that people are not reading the Bible any longer because they do not understand the its language ... What does your modern man ... know about justification, sanctification, and all the biblical terms? ... we are told the thing that is necessary is to have a translation that Tom, Dick, and Harry will understand, and I began to feel ... that we had almost reached the stage in which the Authorized Version was being dismissed, to be thrown into the limbo of things forgotten, no longer of any value. Need I apologise for saying a word in favor of the Authorized Version ... It is a basic proposition laid down by the Protestant Reformers, that we must have a Bible 'understanded of the people'. That is common sense ... we must never be obscurantists. We must never approach the Bible in a mere antiquarian spirit ... but it does seem to me that there is a very grave danger incipient in so much of the argument that is being presented today for these new translations. There is a danger, I say, of surrendering something that is vital and essential ... Take the argument that the modern man does not understand such terms as justification, sanctification and so on. I want to ask a question. When did the ordinary man ever understand those terms? ... Did the colliers to whom John Wesley and George Whitfield preached in the 18th century understand? They had not even been to a day school ... they could not read, they could not write. Yet these were the terms that were used. This was the version that was used - the Authorized Version. The common people have never understood these terms ... we are concerned here about something spiritual; something which does not belong to this world at all; which, as the apostle Paul reminds us, the princes of this world do not know. Human wisdom is of no value here - it is a spiritual truth. This is the truth about God primarily, and because of that it is a mystery ... Yet we are told - it must be in such simple terms and language that anybody taking it up and reading it is going to understand all about it. My friends this is sheer nonsense. What we must do is educate the masses of the people up to the Bible, not bring the Bible down to their level. One of the greatest troubles today is that everything is being brought down to the same level; everything is cheapened. The common man is the standard of authority; he decides everything, and everything has to be brought down to him ... Are we to do that with the Word of God? I say no! What has happened in the past has been this. Ignorant, illiterate people, in this country and in foreign countries, coming into salvation have been educated up to the book and have begun to understand it, to glory in it, and to praise God for it, and I say that we need to do the same at this present time. What we need is therefore, not to replace the Authorized Version ... We need rather to reach and train people up to the standard and language, the dignity and the glory of the old Authorized Version" [S6P103-4]. C H A P T E R 2 9 P A R T I N G C O M M E N T S I hope this report has been useful to you. When I began researching the Bible, I did not fully comprehend the depth and breadth of the spiritual battle which has, is, and will continue to take place. This research has been a real 'eye opener' for me. With the exception of one chapter devoted to 'speculating' about the future, this article has been based on 'factual data'. Factual data included Bible verse comparisons, historical facts, personal biographies, etc. etc. Those facts were documented by approximately 500 footnotes. Therefore, the reader can trace all of the information. The early Church verified everything the Apostle Paul told them. You should verify everything Jeff Johnson tells you. You should review this information and decide if; I have said the truth. Jesus said that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. You need to decide what you believe to be true. C H R I S T I A N B U L L E T I N B O A R D S If you are interested in obtaining other Christian literature, articles, clean games for your children etc. etc; you can also modem to various Christian BBS's. There are many of them out there. The following is a partial list of the Christian BBS's that I have found: "Bob's Fellowship" (310) 696-5459 "Bread Board BBS" (972) 617-8259 "Christ's Corner" (213) 938-6579 "Christian Retreat" (972) 221-7198 "Digital Chapel" (714) 870-9228 "Haven of Rest" (904) 474-0992 "Inspiration BBS" (512) 452-6350 "New Joy BBS" (310) 634-0146 "Shiloh BBS" (818) 280-4220 "The Call BBS" (818) 352-1678 "T.R.A.I.N BBS" (972) 878-9818 A N O T H E R E Y E O P E N E R This article discussed some 'eye opening' facts about the Bible. We saw how God's truth has (and is) being corrupted. False teaching abounds. On the same topic of Truth and the Bible: Did you know that ACTUAL archaeological and geological data agrees with the Biblical account of the creation, the fall, and the flood? That's right! Contrary to what we've been told, God's Word AGREES with the facts. The truth is this: the earth, moon, sun, and the universe are actually very young; just like the Bible says. Engineering data and scientific data agrees with God's Word. You CAN be an engineer and/or a scientist and NOT compromise your Christian beliefs. The two are actually consistent. If you want to find out more about how God's Bible agrees with scientific data, I would refer you to: The Institute For Creation Research P.O. Box 2667 El Cajon, California 92021 Phone: (619) 448-0900 The staff at ICR include a significant number of PHD's. These people are intelligent Christians. They publish a newsletter called: "Acts and Facts". They also have a lot of information and materials on the topic of Science and the Bible. Their information is ANOTHER eye opener! Again, I hope this article has been useful to you. D E D I C A T O R Y This article is dedicated to the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords: Jesus Christ; the "Word made flesh". Since there is only 1 God; there is only 1 Bible. Now, to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to the only wise God; to God be the glory, now and for ever more. AMEN. Jeff Johnson R E F E R E N C E S More information is available on this important subject. For those of you who wish to go further in this study, the following are my references. As you know from the section on "Footnoting Methodology"; the following format was used for the footnotes: [S#P#] Where: S# is the source number and P# is the page number. Thus: [S1P1] is source number 1, page number 1; and [S2P4-5] is source number 2, pages 4 through 5 etc. etc. Each source number, source material and distributor of the material is listed below. Also, if it was available, I included the phone number, fax number, and web site for the 'distributors' of this material. As you know, phone numbers (especially area codes) can change. Addresses are more stable. Source Source Distributor Number Material Of The Material ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 "An Understandable History Bible Believers Baptist Of The Bible" Bookstore by: Rev. Samuel C. Gipp 1252 East Aurora Road ( Book, 242 pages ) Macedonia, Ohio 44506 Phone: (216) 467-1611 2 "Which Bible" Eye Opener Publishers by: David Otis Fuller P. O. Box 7944 ISBN 0-944355-24-2 Eugene, Oregon 97401 ( Book, 350 pages ) 3 "New Age Bible Versions" Chick Publications by: G.A. Riplinger P. O. Box 662 ISBN: 0-9635845-0-2 Chino, Calif. 91708-0662 ( Book, 690 pages ) Phone: (909) 987-0771 Fax: (909) 941-8128 Web: http://chick.com 4 "God Wrote Only One Bible" Eye Opener Publishers by: Jasper James Ray P. O. Box 7944 ( Book, 122 pages ) Eugene, Oregon 97401 5 "Let's Weigh The Evidence" Chick Publications by: Larry Burton P. O. Box 662 ISBN: 0-937958-17-4 Chino, Calif. 91708-0662 ( Book, 95 pages ) Phone: (909) 987-0771 Fax: (909) 941-8128 Web: http://chick.com 6 "The Majority Text: Essays Institute For Biblical And Reviews In The Textual Studies Continuing Debate" 2233 Michigan Street N.E. by: Theodore P. Letis Grand Rapids, MI. 49503 ISBN: 0-944355-00-5 ( Book, 210 pages ) Phone: (616) 456-8190 Fax: (616) 949-7540 7 "God's Inspired Preserved Bible" Bible Baptist Bookstore Publ. by: The Peoples Gospel Hr. P.O. Box 7135 ( Book, 67 pages ) Pensacola, Florida 32514 Phone: 1-800-659-1478 8 "Believing Bible Study" Eye Opener Publishers by: Edward F. Hills P. O. Box 7944 ISBN 0-915923-01-7 Eugene, Oregon 97401 ( Book, 258 pages ) 9 "The Legacy Of Our Institute For Biblical English Bible" Textual Studies by: John Wesley Sawyer 2233 Michigan Street N.E. ( Booklet, 15 pages ) Grand Rapids, MI. 49503 Phone: (616) 456-8190 Fax: (616) 949-7540 10 "A Position Paper On The Institute For Biblical Versions Of The Bible" Textual Studies by: David Otis Fuller 2233 Michigan Street N.E. ( Booklet, 8 pages ) Grand Rapids, MI. 49503 Phone: (616) 456-8190 Fax: (616) 949-7540 11 "The Bible Bable" Bible Baptist Bookstore by: Peter S. Ruckman P.O. Box 7135 ( Book 129 pages ) Pensacola, Florida 32514 Phone: 1-800-659-1478 12 "The King James Version Defended" Eye Opener Publishers by: Edward F. Hills P. O. Box 7944 ISBN 0-915923-00-9 Eugene, Oregon 97401 ( Book, 280 pages ) 13 "The Old Is Better" Eye Opener Publishers by: Alfred Levell P. O. Box 7944 ISBN 0-903556-87-1 Eugene, Oregon 97401 ( Book, 61 pages ) 14 "A Fresh Look At The Institute For Biblical King James Bible" Textual Studies by: Dr. Ralph I. Yarnell 2233 Michigan Street N.E. ( Booklet, 35 pages ) Grand Rapids, MI. 49503 Phone: (616) 456-8190 Fax: (616) 949-7540 15 "New International Version: What Trinitarian Bible Society Today's Christian Needs To Know 1710 Richmond Street N.W. About The NIV" Grand Rapids, MI. 49504 by: G.W. Anderson and D.E. Anderson Phone: (616) 453-2892 ( Booklet, 33 pages ) 16 "God Wrote Only One Bible" Eye Opener Publishers by: Jasper James Ray P. O. Box 7944 ( Pamphlet, 8 pages ) Eugene, Oregon 97401 17 "Modern Versions Are Institute For Biblical Dangerous" Textual Studies by: Dr. M. H. Reynolds 2233 Michigan Street N.E. ( Pamphlet, 8 pages ) Grand Rapids, MI. 49503 Phone: (616) 456-8190 Fax: (616) 949-7540 18 "The Origin Of The Bible" Joshua's Christian Bookstores by: Philip Comfort ISBN: 0-8423-4735-6 ( Book, 308 pages ) 19 "A Creationist's Defense Of The Institute For Creation King James Bible" Research by: Dr. Henry M. Morris P.O. Box 2667 ( Pamphlet, 18 pages ) El Cajon, California 92021 Phone: (619) 448-0900 ************************ THE END ! ***************************