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Or, are all versions basically the same? Let's look...
The Foolishness of Preaching
or
"A Foolish Message"?
1 Corinthians 1:21
K J B - For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
Compare to...
NKJV - For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
NASB - For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
NIV - For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
So, is the Bible in a battle or are all versions basically the same? The short answers are “yes, and no.” The explanations are combined in that there is a war going on over the word of God. This fact is because the ‘word’ is what will judge us – John 12:48 “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” This verse explains that the word “word” equals the word “words.” So now we actually have a war over the very “words” of God. This is ‘spiritual warfare,’ plain and simple, starting with the first ‘bible reviser’ in the Garden of Eden, with a question regarding the truthfulness of God’s words (yea, hath God said…?). Satan does not want God’s words to be believed, understood or respected as being inspired, inerrant and infallible or even thought of as ‘being complete’ and with us today in our own language.1 Well, he has succeeded beyond our wildest imaginations. However, God gave us a promise He would preserve his word – Psalm 12:6 and 7 “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.” When God’s word is questioned (by scholars, textual critics, Greek lexicons and dictionaries) the result is DOUBT in its accuracy, thus the reliability and truthfulness remains under an AURA OF SUSPICION. Then in II Corinthians 2:17 Paul said “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God…” If corruption has advanced from one individual in the Garden to “many” in Paul’s time – what, may I ask, is happening today? If corruption is going on today, where is it happening if not within the new versions themselves?
Scholars tell us we must go to the “originals,” in their ancient languages, for real understanding of what God is saying. The problem here is that the “originals” are not with us today. There are NO ‘original’ (first translation) manuscripts anywhere to be found (time and detrimental environmental conditions have seen to that). This is a reference to the first ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek handwritten documents. However, we do have reliable manuscript copies to compare with and a great quantity at that, more than 5,300 scattered around in various places, but more importantly we must know which ones contain the accurate and reliable word of God – because they are not all the same!
Analysis has proven, by far, the majority of these manuscripts are of the type supporting the King James Version of the Bible (for 400 years now and for over 1600 years in the Greek language.) Well, what about all the other modern versions? It’s noteworthy that only a VERY FEW support ALL these modern translations and also happen to disagree among themselves, thus giving an unreliable testimony.
Without understanding manuscript history, people just naturally have thought the modern versions, i.e. The Revised Version (RV) of 1884 followed by the American Standard Version (ASV) of 1901 and ALL the others since that time, were created to replace the “hard to understand” language of the King James Version by using simpler English and synonyms. The general thinking is that all the versions really say the same thing, only in a different way, or with different words, but keeping to the “thought pattern” of the original authors and by this method the original intent of scripture is maintained. But, is this really true?
Let’s insert something at this point about what God has to say about his words and how He feels about them: Psalm 138:2 “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” His word is very important to Him. Then He tells us in many places not to change his word in any way, and prescribes punishment for those who choose to do so – Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Jeremiah 26:2 and Revelation 22:18,19.
The real truth is that ALL the different versions really say DIFFERENT things using DIFFERENT words, while at the same time adding to and taking away from the totality of words. Does this matter? The above admonishments from God’s word reveal his feeling about such matters. We tend to think that paraphrases are the really guilty parties when it comes to saying different things and, in fact, they do to a great extent. However, ALL the other versions are just as guilty when one begins to analyze and compare different verses. The reader can 'search' and find a plethora of charts on the internet showing egregious changes in abundance throughout ALL modern versions, some even saying the exact opposite of what the King James Version says.
Also, many books reveal a pattern of diabolical damage, such as Floyd Nolan Jones’ book on the NIV.
The reasons for these changes are simple. Modern versions use a dangerously different Greek Text than what underlies the King James Version – not even written until the 19th century!2 Modern versions claim to use the “most recent discoveries” and “oldest manuscripts” because they claim they support the modern changes in these versions. What is not revealed though is that 95% actually back the King James Version.3 Not having this vital information is horridly unfair and can be seen as manipulative and a gross deception (II Corinthians 4:2).
Further examination and collation of these versions reveals a noticeable trend to remove the Christian distinctives that separate and set the flock of God apart from the world around them. With “New Age” terminology, ‘gender neutral’ and other gross grammatical changes, we can see how these mutations help facilitate the bringing in of a “One World Government,” composed of a “One World Religion” that can use a ‘Christian neutered’ bible for any belief system.
You might ask how this all came about and wonder how we let it happen. Well, it’s been going on right under our noses ever since the Garden of Eden episode. The Bible says there is nothing new under the sun. The enemy attacked God’s word then and is still doing the same thing today. We just need to be aware of it and know how it is happening. Let’s look a little deeper.
Where did this 19th century Greek Text come from? Basically, it originated from using two 4th century manuscripts that were written, it is believed, by Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, church historian and follower of Origen of Alexandria, Egypt, who propagated the allegorical interpretation of scripture.4 This ancient Gnostic belief system combined Greek philosophy and elements of Christianity to form an ‘esoteric’ reasoning to change the word of God. It is noteworthy that these two documents disagree with each other and also with the great majority of existing manuscripts but, nevertheless, were used to change the Traditional Greek Text used by the King James Version in thousands of places, causing many thousands of changes throughout the Bible.5
Out of this came ALL modern translations, in one way or another.6 So, the King James Version stands apart from ALL other modern bible versions. The KJV's underlying Greek text can be dated and traced, using modern technology, back to the 1st century, during the time of the eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ.7 That’s 300 years before those two most revered manuscripts of the 4th century originated. History testifies that God has used the Greek text of the King James Version since the start.
There are those among the “Emergent” church movement today who wonder where their “authority” has gone, because
they don’t know. They admit in the past it was known as “sola scriptura” or “scripture only.” Scripture was the only guiding line of absolute truth and was the final authority for all matters of faith and practice for the Christian. This was the norm for 2,000 years. Now, they say, that doesn’t work anymore.8 I wonder who told them it doesn’t?
It is obvious to see once one leaves what has been known by the church ‘at large’ for generations as the “standard” of “final authority,” then naturally there is a vacuum of authority created. The King James Version has been known and accepted world wide as THAT “standard” of authority for 400 years and the Greek text underlying it for 1600 years before that. Because Modern Textual Criticism, coming from the sacred halls of infidel rationalism and liberal German universities of the 18th and 19th centuries, convincing theologians and laymen alike that the “old, antiquated” King James Version is “riddled” with errors, there is now a tremendously large number of liberals and conservatives, who having lost faith in the King James Version, now embrace ANOTHER Greek Text the historic church ALWAYS REJECTED.9 This acceptance has fostered a state of utter confusion and has robbed multitudes of their faith in the pure word of God. They forgot or disbelieve that God promised to preserve his pure word forever!
Here is a list of scriptures you can check out for yourself. Just look them up in your bible and see what they say. If a footnote refers you to something like “the oldest manuscripts”, "oldest and best mss" or “the most recent findings,” you’ll know those manuscripts and findings have to do with the two manuscripts spoken of earlier and are UNRELIABLE testimony the church has ALWAYS REJECTED – UNTIL RECENTLY!
Read Isaiah 14:12 (who was cast out of heaven?) Then read Rev. 22:16.
Matthew 17:21; Matthew 18:11; Matthew 23:14; Mark 7:16; Mark 9:44; Mark 9:46; Mark 11:26; Mark 15:26; Mark 15:28; Luke 17:36; Luke 23:17; John 5:4; Acts 8:37; Acts 15:34; Acts 24:7; Acts 28:28; Romans 16:24 and 1 John 5:7
There is much more coiled beneath the ‘excuse’ of making the Bible easier to understand!
Footnotes:
1 All underlines added for emphasis.
2 Jones, F.N., Which Version is the Bible? KingsWord Press, Goodyear, Az. 2006, back cover.
3 Ibid. page 82.
4 Stauffer, D.D., Th M. , Ph D., One Book Stands Alone, McCowen Mills Publishers, Millbrook Ala, 2001, pp 285. Also,Grady, W.P.Final Authority, Grady Publications, Schererville In. 1993.
5 Ibid. Stauffer pp 285; Grady pp 31, 43, 73, 75, 106 and 110. Both books have testimony throughout their pages.
6 This includes the Jehovah Witnesses' Bible (Watchtower Bible Society, "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures").
7 Thiede, C.P., and D Ancona, M.D. Eyewitness of Jesus Doubleday, New York, N.Y. 1996.
8 Tickle, Phyllis. The Great Emergence, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2008. p. 101.
9 Though somewhat gradually, a distressful number of Apostolics embrace this new Greek text and actively incorporate it, in varying levels, into the church body locally; and some on a much larger scale in the apparent hopeful event it will replace the KJB. This would include bible references in books, and all program teaching/learning material in churches and Bible College curriculum.
2Tim 2:15 - only command in the Bible to "Study"
KJB says:
"STUDY"
Modern Versions say:
NKJV/NASB - Be diligent; NIV-Do your best;
THE MESSAGE-Concentrate on doing your best.
the New Greek Text says:
[KJB: 'STUDY' - Strong's Concordance #4704]
Strong's; Thayer's; Jamieson-Fausset-Brown; Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament;
George Ricker Berry's Interlinear Greek-English New Testament:
"be diligent, be earnest, endeavour, make effort, labour, to exert one's self "
However, the context of 2 Timothy lends to "study", as in study the Scriptures,
not what the New GK Text says.
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