In This Issue:
Where Is the Word of God?
Untrue Statements about Modern Translations and Versions
Examples of Changes in Different Bible Versions
Volume: 982 November 18, 2024
Theme: God’s Word
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Where Is the Word of God?
Bill Brinkworth
One of the most important yet controversial topics concerning the things of God is whether the English-speaking people still have the inspired (“God-breathed”) and preserved Word of God with them today. Many shrug this topic off as a subject to be discussed only by preachers or Bible scholars. It, however, should be very important to all.
If we do not have all the words of God, how do we know that John 3:16 is accurate? Was something added or removed from the verse? Are we saved, as the words we have been trusting for salvation may have been altered? Do we know how God wants us to live as the verses that give God’s directions to us may also have been changed? If the reliability of God’s Word is questionable, we cannot know anything about God’s will and way for sure.
It is essential that we know what we read in the Bible is what God has commanded. We must be sure we have God’s entire, word-for-word, preserved, God-breathed Word and trust it wholly.
With over 300+ English translations and versions available, and each teaching something different, how can one know where the real Word of God is? A very complex subject cannot be completely answered in this brief article. Still, some facts can be revealed, making it easier to discern where the Word of God is today.
The Jews had preserved the Old Testament in the Masoretic, Hebrew-language text long before Christ. New Testament writings were collected and originally compiled in the Greek Textus Receptus. Godly men precisely translated those two manuscripts through history.
In 1611, a collection of some of the most godly translators took those texts, compared them with other books, and assembled what today is known as the King James Bible. Later, as the English written language became consistent, the KJB (also called the KJV) went through corrections, mostly spelling, and is the King James Bible we have today. The Word of God’s inspiration is preserved in today’s King James Bible.
However, there have always been those who have corrupted and changed God’s Word.
• Eve did. She added that she was not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when God only said not to eat its fruit (Gen. 2:17, 3:3).
• Satan got Eve to doubt God’s commandments (Gen. 3:4).
• Another Gospel was preached even during the time of the first churches (II Cor. 11:4, Gal. 1:6-7).
• Some added their traditions to the Gospel (Mark 7:13).
• Some corrupted God’s Word (II Cor. 2:17).
Today, the same spirit that has always been around to confuse readers and alter what God wanted all to know is still perverting God’s Word. Although there are many renditions, most have a different origin than the KJV. They have their roots in the Latin translations of the Sinaitic manuscript (331 A.D., rediscovered in 1844 A.D.), the Vaticanus text (around 331 A.D.), the Latin Vulgate, and other writings1.
The influencers and authors of those texts were men such as Origen, whose writings reflect his beliefs that Jesus Christ was a created being and did not have eternal existence as God. Eusebius, who introduced tradition into his works, and others not dedicated to preserving God’s word, had their hand in perverting God’s words. They all interjected their philosophies rather than accurately translating what was already written.
Those texts were the foundation for most of the 300+ perversions of God’s Word. Because the original root texts were corrupt, there is no way their translations can ever be accurate. That is one reason modern versions have changed, added, and deleted words. They convey doctrines the writer or the religious organization re-writing the Scriptures wants to be taught rather than what the preserved Word of God says.
It does not even make sense that:
• Until the influx of modern perversions started around 1881, man had been without a copy of God’s Word.
• Many of the liberal translators, some of them with poor Christian testimonies, unsound beliefs, and some denying major doctrines of the Bible (the deity of Christ, Hell, Christ’s blood atonement, etc.) would be used to give us God’s Word, rather than those spiritual, intellectual giants that helped bring the English world an accurate translation of God’s Word in 1611.
• God would give us a new version that contradicts the preserved manuscripts in many places.
• God, who is not a God of confusion (I Cor. 14:33 ), would allow those honestly seeking Him to be confused without knowing what He wanted them to know.
It does make sense:
• That we still have the perfect copy of God’s Word, just as He promised:
“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8
• That no one should add, alter, or remove His Words (Deut. 4:2, Prov. 30:6, Rev. 22:19).
Today, we have the same words as given by Moses, David, kings, prophets, apostles, and other men God used to preserve His Word. We do not have to doubt if we have it all. God’s Word has been preserved and is still available to all who seek it. It is found within the pages of the King James (1611) Bible.
1 Ray, Jasper J. God Wrote Only One Bible, Eugene, Oregon, Eye Opener Publishers, 1983
“The claims of many of the perverters of the Word of God are to make the Bible easier to read and understand. However, few today have read it, and fewer have understood it.”
Untrue Statements about Modern Bible Translations and Versions
• They make the Bible easier to understand. The King James Bible is at a 5.8-grade reading level (Flesh-Kincaid Grade level indicator). However, the New International Version is at 8.4. The New King James is 6.9, and the New American Standard Bible is 8.12. Besides, it is the Holy Spirit that allows anyone to understand God’s Word, not man’s editing (I Cor. 2:14)!
• They come from the originals. The originals were never assembled in one place together!
• They change archaic words. They do, but the words replacing them often change the meaning of the verse in many places. Since less than 20 words in the KJV are not commonly used today (not including verbs with the added “th”), It would make more sense to understand their meaning by using a dictionary rather than to change the whole Bible.
• Modern scholars now know more than they knew then. Many of the authors of the new versions did not even know Hebrew or Greek, nor were they experts in over ten ancient languages, as were many of the 1611 King James translating committee members.
• They come from older manuscripts. The Masoretic and Textus Receptus used in the KJV are older and more reliable manuscripts, not what most modern versions use. Some of what are called the “oldest texts” are not reliable at all. Also, some “most ancient manuscripts” are over 100 years newer than those used in the KJV.
• If the new Bible versions are correcting “errors,” why are all the versions different? Don’t they have it right yet?
• “So you are saying that it is only preserved for the English-speaking people?” There is a text that comes from the Masoretic and Textus Receptus for all the major languages, including English, Greek, Jewish, French, and Spanish.
2 Riplinger, G. A. New Age Bible Versions, Ararat, VA, 1995
The King James Bible has 783,137 words, whereas the New International Bible has only 727,969.
“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.” Rev. 22:19
Examples of Changes in Different Bible Versions
There are thousands of changes in all of the different versions. Here are only a few so you can get an idea of how man has changed what God has said!
King James (KJV): “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Acts 8:37
New International Version (NIV): Verse removed
New American Standard Version (NASB): Verse removed.
New World Translation (Jehovah Witness Bible): Verse removed.
Revised Standard Version (RSV): Verse removed.
New Century Version (NCV): Verse removed.
These re-writers wanted to do away with the biblical teaching of baptism!
(KJV) “And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” Mat. 1:25
American Standard Version (ASV) “and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS.”
(RSV) “but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.”
(NIV) “But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”
(NWT) “But he had no intercourse with her until she gave birth to a son; and he called his name Jesus.”
Other versions remove wording indicating that Jesus was Mary’s first born son. The facts are altered.
(KJV) “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” Mat. 18:11
(NASB) This verse is footnoted and implies that it should not be there.
(NIV) Verse removed.
(NWT) Verse removed.
(NCV) Verse removed.
The important reason for Jesus Christ’s coming has been deleted! The way of salvation is removed!
(KJV) “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” Eph. 5:18
New King James Version (NKJV) “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation …”
I thought they were supposed to make it easier to understand.
(KJV) “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.” Daniel 3:3
(NKJV) “And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.” A difficult word was inserted and facts were changed.
“If the modern authors are supposed to make the Bible easier to understand, why did 300+ versions still not make it easy enough? Why do they still feel it was not simplified enough and still requires other versions?”