© Copyright 1993 by Landmark Baptist Press

Printed By:

Landmark Baptist Press

2222 East Hinson Avenue

Haines City, Florida 33844-4902

SPECIAL NOTE:

Throughout this book, the reader will notice that when the word “Bible” is used in reference to the King James Version, it is capitalized to distinguish it as the true, preserved Word of God in the English language, as opposed to the word “bible” when referring to any of the versions that are not the preserved Word of God in the English language.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the:

1. LORD JESUS CHRIST

2. His preserved Word, and

3. His local Baptist churches.

Our local Baptist church pastor, Dr. Mickey P. Carter, accepted the Lord’s call to His local Baptist church in Haines City, Florida, beginning his ministry here in January, 1971.

Our pastor and his wife, Sonja, live lives of example and dedication based upon the Word of God. Dr. Carter has never compromised his convictions in his preaching, teaching, and leadership, thereby causing the deacons, staff, church members, and friends of Landmark Baptist Church to join with him in dedicating this book to bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

MAY JESUS CHRIST BE PRAISED!!!

CHAPTER 1

“What Think Ye of Christ? Whose Son is He?"

Hebrews 1:5 “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?”

Hebrews 1:8 “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

infallibility - incapable of error; never wrong

mythical - imaginary; not based on fact

prophet - a person who speaks for God under His divine guidance

scribe - a professional penman who copied manuscripts before the invention of printing

scourge - means of inflicting severe punishment, suffering, or vengeance

canon - list of books in the Bible first officially accepted by the Jews and later by the church, the priesthood of believers George Washington once made the statement that a Bible-reading people could never be enslaved. Yet we have a people today who are not sure if we even have a Bible, so why bother to read it? Can the Bible be believed, or is it mythical? If we do have a Bible, which one is the real thing?

It is reasonable to believe that if God created a creature who uses words (writes them and speaks them),— and He did—then that same God would write to that creature and give him a Book.

The Bible is the supreme Authority for faith and practice. It is the source of all we know about salvation and the source of all doctrine.

What keeps a person from reading the Bible with a believing attitude? Until a person comes to the place where he is not pleased with himself, or with the outlook of his future (whether here on earth or in eternity after life on earth), and with his whole life in general, he may never turn to the Word of God with a believing attitude. Therefore, God allows many things to come into such a person’s life to move that person toward searching for answers in His Word. God will use His special tools of loneliness, family problems, illness, destroyed dreams, or the death of a loved one or the approaching death of himself to plow up the hardened heart and soften it toward the Word of God.

When one questions the Bible, when one questions the infallibility of the Scriptures, when one questions the Old Testament (Who wrote it? Is it real? Is it mythical?), the real question being asked is, “Who is Jesus Christ?” The issue always comes back to “What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He?” Pilate had to face this question as every person must face it.

If Jesus is God, He knows everything, including the past. He was in the beginning with God when God said, “Let us (plural) make man in our (plural) own image.” God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit were all in on the making of man. If Jesus existed back then and then came to earth in human form 4,000 years later, what did He say about the Scriptures?

Jesus told us that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, the Law. He said in John 7:19, “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? . . .” In John 5:46, He said, “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.” Mark 12:26 records these words of Jesus: “And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?”

Jesus also indicated that Adam and Eve were real when He spoke the words recorded in Matthew 19:4, “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female.”

It doesn’t sound mythical or as if it were merely a teaching story.

We must always go back to, “Who is Jesus?” and “What did Jesus say?” The One Who said Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible is the same One Who rose from the dead. That is a pretty good authority that He is God.

Matthew 23:34, 35 reads, “Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel (recorded in Genesis 4) unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, (recorded in II Chronicles 24) whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”

In verse 34, Jesus speaks in the human body and said, “. . . behold, I send unto you . . .” He spoke as if He was God the Father, and He was speaking of history, how He had sent the prophets, but the Jews killed them. Some say Jesus never claimed to be God. Even though He was standing there in the human body, Jesus spoke as God.

In verse 35, we see what Jesus considered to be the canon. He referred to the blood of righteous Abel, mistreated and finally killed by Cain, (Genesis, the beginning of the Old Testament,) all the way through the entire Old Testament to the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, (II Chronicles). The Jews had the very same books in the Old Testament that we do, though in different order. Chronicles is an official government record of what happened and was placed as the last book of the Old Testament, rather than Malachi.

What was Jesus saying? He was saying that from Abel, the first man recorded in the Bible as having been killed, to the last man recorded in the Old Testament as having been killed, Zacharias, is the Old Testament. When Jesus condoned the Old Testament, He neither changed nor corrected it. Why did Jesus not point out contradictions in the Old Testament? Because there were none.

Review Questions

1. George Washington once made the statement that a ______________-_______________-people could never be________________.

2. The Bible is the supreme___________________for _____________________and______________.

3. The Bible is the source of what two things?

4. Why does God sometimes allow loneliness, family problems, destroyed dreams, illness, or the death of a loved one to come into our life?

5. When one questions the Bible, what is the real question being asked?

6. What book do the Jews consider to be:

a. the first book of the Old Testament?

b. the last book of the Old Testament?

7. What kind of record is Chronicles considered to be?

8. Jesus said that from_____________________, the first man killed in the Bible, to_______________, the last man killed in the Bible, is the Old Testament.

9. Why did Jesus not point out the contradictions in the Bible?

CHAPTER 2

The Word of God Its Purity; Preservation, and Publication

Part I: Its Purity

Psalms 12:6 “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

innocent - totally lacking guilt or sin; blameless

baffled - confused

The average new Christian has no problem with believing that God has given a Book that is His Book, that is a perfect Book, and that is exactly what God wanted it to be. He believes in an all-powerful, supernatural, miracle-working God, but then education can, in many instances, begin to weaken his faith.

The less one thinks of the Word of God, the less influence it will have on him. The more a person thinks it has error here or there, the more he will disobey it and do wrong. However, when a person believes every word in this Book is God’s Word, God’s Word will have more power over that person in every facet of his Christian life. Some students going off to college are returning with less respect for the Word of God than when they went, and this attitude will influence their lives, whether it concerns a little habit, such as smoking, or something more. The less influence the Bible has over a Christian, the looser they will live the Christian life.

We need to approach the Bible by faith with the belief that the Word of God is innocent of error until someone can prove it guilty. We need to assume that the Word of God is perfect until someone can prove different. God, Who has the power to part the Red Sea and to create the world with a spoken word, also has the power to give us a Book just like He wanted us to have and the power to keep it. God has given us a complete revelation of His will, His Word, His plan through the ages. If there is even one word in the Bible that we do not believe, we may as well not believe any of it. There is a supernatural influence on the Word of God that bothers man because it is different from any other Book. God has given us His will; His hand is on it, and His Spirit is on it.

Many people today are baffled when it comes to selecting a version of the Bible to read and study. This book will help you to fight through the battle and find out that God has done just what He promised: keeping pure, preserving, and publishing His Word right on through to every generation.

CHAPTER 3

The Word of God Its Purity, Preservation, and Publication

Part II: Its Preservation and Publication

Psalms 12:6-7 “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.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

inspired - God-breathed

original autograph - the first time an author personally pens the words

preservation - kept from spoiling; protected; saved

integrity - the quality or state of being of sound moral principle

contradiction - a condition in which things tend to be inconsistent

apparent - appearing (but not necessarily) true or real

Psalms 12:6 and 7 tell us two things about the Word of God: its purity (verse 6) and its preservation by God (verse 7). The preservation of the Word of God, we see in verse 7, is effective all the way down even to our generation! The Lord foresaw all the problems and knew the battle that would take place over His Word, and He spoke of that fact in advance.

Psalms 68:11 “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.”

This verse tells us about another area of God’s Word: its publication. This is a prophetic statement concerning the preserving of God’s Word.

God one time inspired His Word, but He has always preserved it. We many times hear the term “original autograph” used. What is an original autograph? It is the first time an author, who in the case of writing the Bible was inspired of God, actually penned the words personally. Paul wrote I Timothy in the form of a letter to Timothy. When Timothy read his letter from Paul from the actual pages penned by Paul, Timothy was reading an original autograph. Timothy then knew he needed to get copies of the letter to the church. The first time it was copied, it was just that: a copy. This copy was a preservation of the original. Preservation started when the original was first copied. Before Timothy died, his letter from Paul was probably copied many, many times. All of that was preservation after the first original letter was copied. God’s integrity is at stake if He does not preserve His Word as He promised.

We believe the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people. If it is the perfect Word of God, how can contradictions exist in it? There are apparent contradictions in the Bible, while in reality there are none. We need to approach these apparent contradictions with a strong, stedfast, Bible-believing faith that there is an answer to them.

Usually these apparent contradictions deal with numbers. In one area of the Bible we may read that a certain number of people were killed in a battle. Then in another area we read a different account of the same battle, and it gives a different number of those killed in battle. Liberals will say the Bible is inaccurate; it is a contradiction; it is an error made by the scribe when copying God’s Word. There are many times when by studying it out fully, the apparent contradiction can be settled ourselves. You will find it was right all the time. But even if the answer cannot be found, why not trust God with it? We can believe it is right because it is His Word. We can trust Him that He will reveal the answer to us sometime here on earth or, at the latest, when we get to Heaven. In the meantime, we can believe it is right because it is His Word, and we can live without knowing the answer for now. We can go on living what we do understand. Faith is not limited by our education, financial status, race, or by anything else. We have equal opportunity to have as much faith in God as did D. L. Moody, Billy Sunday, or any other great man of faith.

Review Questions

1. How long is God’s preservation of His Word effective?

2. What kind of contradictions are in the Word of God?

3. Most apparent contradictions in the Word of God deal with what?

4.__________________________ is not limited to our education, financial status, race, or anything else.

CHAPTER 4

How Can We Know the Bible Is the Word of God?

Part I: Its Presumption

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

presume - take for granted or accept as true on the basis of evidence in its favor and the absence of proof to the contrary

private interpretation - translating done on an individual basis

transfiguration - changes in appearance

evolutionist - a person who accepts the principles of biological progress by gradual, peaceful steps

How can we know that the Bible is really the Word of God? First of all, we can know the Bible is the Word of God because of its presumption: it presumes itself to be the Word of God. This makes it different from any other book. No other book says, “The Lord saith,” or, “God said,” unless they are quoting the Word of God. However, this is found all the way through the Word of God. “Thus saith the Lord” is used 2,000 times in the King James Version of the Bible. It presumes to be the Word of God.

II Peter 1:19 - 21 reads, “We have a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Peter had just finished saying that he was present on the mount with James and John when the transfiguration of the Lord took place. Peter had witnessed the majesty of the Lord as He was transfigured before them there on the mount. He saw Moses and Elijah in their glorified bodies and heard them speak. In verse 19 Peter then said, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy . . .” He referred to the Bible as being a MORE SURE word of prophecy than the transfiguration that took place before his eyes.

The Bible presumes to be from God. The claim is that it is from God, that no man did it. It is not by the will of man. These holy men spoke as God moved them, many times not understanding themselves what they were writing. They did not know the total future of it themselves. Toward the end of the book of Daniel, Daniel confesses very openly that he does not understand. God did not tell him; He sealed it. God told him to go his way, and Daniel died not knowing about what he wrote. Because we have the book of Revelation, Christians living today in a time when much Bible prophecy is coming to pass can understand more than Daniel did at the time he died, even though Daniel wrote the book. Yet God inspired every word Daniel wrote.

The Bible tells us where man came from, what he is doing here, and where he is going. Man is God’s creation, made in His image. Even though we have fallen, we have more respect for ourselves by believing God’s Word that we are His special creation than the evolutionists allow us. The Bible presumes to be God’s Word, and if it is, it tells us all, from the beginning to the end, and we can count on it.

Review Questions

True or False: If statement is false, correct it to make

the statement true

1. We can know the Bible is the Word of God because it persuades itself to be the Word of God.

2. According to Peter, the transfiguration of the Lord is a more sure word of prophecy.

3. Daniel died not understanding the prophetical book God inspired him to write.

4. The book of Acts reveals to Christians today how the book of Daniel will be fulfilled.

5. God’s Word reveals where man came from, what man is doing here, and when man will improve himself.

CHAPTER 5

How Can We Know the Bible Is the Word of God?

Part II: Its Protection

Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

counterfeit - made in imitation of something genuine so as to deceive

liberal - a person favoring extreme change

Christ - name meaning “Messiah.” When begun with a lower case “c,” it is not referring to Jesus, but a false christ.

penknife - a small pocketknife, originally used in making quill pens

paganism - not related to Christianity or of any religion

perversion - deviating from what is considered normal, right, or good; persisting in error

Secondly, we can know the Bible is the Word of God because of its protection. While the Bible is the most loved Book in the world, it is also the most hated Book in the world. Looking throughout history will reveal that its enemies have done everything they could to try to get rid of it. The conflict today over the different versions of the Bible is nothing more than another Satanic trick: if he cannot bum it or destroy it other ways, then he will counterfeit it. He will steal its power by watering it down. But the Word of God will be here for all generations till Jesus comes. This is the miracle of it: it is not the paupers or peasants who have tried to rid themselves of the Bible; it has been the kings, people with money or power, those with a sword in their hand. They tried to destroy the Bible, yet we still have it. The religious liberals, false churches, and false christs have tried to destroy the Bible, yet we still have it.

In Jeremiah, chapter 36, we find the story of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah was in the prison, and God gave him His Word.

Scribes copied it down, and they took it to King Jehoiakim. The King was sitting before a fire as the scribes gathered around to read the message from Jeremiah as though it was from God. However, Jehoiakim did not like it. He took out his penknife, and each time the scribes read a page he did not like, he cut it out and threw it into the fire. It scared the scribes, because they believed it to be the Word of God. They begged him not to do it, but he did it anyway. It showed his lack of respect and that he had no fear of God. Jeremiah had predicted in those pages the fall of Jerusalem, and King Jehoiakim thought if he cut it out, it would not happen.

The scribes went back and told Jeremiah about it. But God told Jeremiah He would give Jeremiah His Word again, and even more. Today, we have it recorded in the book of Jeremiah. Guess what? King Jehoiakim did not destroy it, nor did He stop God from doing what He said He would do.

The Roman emperor Diocletian ordered that all Bibles be brought, piled up, and burned. Finally he felt he had stopped Christianity from spreading through his empire. He died, and Constantine came to the throne. Constantine was a deceiver, but to the persecuted Christians he seemed an answer to prayer. Constantine passed laws so that no longer would Christians be burned at the stake or thrown to the lions and they would have freedom. However, these laws brought about the unity of Christianity and paganism out of which came the Catholicism we have today. But when Constantine came to the throne, he asked if there were any Bibles left anywhere. In a short while, fifty copies were brought to Constantine. Diocletian thought he had destroyed the Bible, but he had not. This type of story repeats itself over and over down through history, and we still have the Word of God.

God is the Protector of His Word. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18) God is watching over it. Even if man could get rid of God’s Word, God has a copy in Heaven. “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalms 119:89) God gave Moses the blueprint for the Tabernacle, which was patterned after the one in Heaven. If He has the blueprint of the Tabernacle in Heaven, don’t you think God would have a copy of His Word in Heaven?

Satan attempts to destroy God’s Word today from the inside. Some people are genuinely seeking the Truth, and it is being stolen from them and replaced with a false version. If someone was hungry and asked for bread, would we give him a stone? Yet, that is what is happening in the Bible perversion field of today. People who are so hungry for the Word of God are being handed a counterfeit in many cases. The Bible is the written Bread of Life and can be counted on.

Review Questions

1. What is the second reason we can know the Bible is the Word of God?

2. The Bible is the most loved Book in the world and the most____________________.

3. Today Satan is trying to destroy God’s Word by_________________________ it.

4. How is Satan trying to steal the power of the Word of God?

5. What king tried to destroy God’s Word with a penknife and fire?

6. What prophet was in prison at this time to whom God gave His Word?

7. Who was the Roman emperor just before Constantine who tried to destroy the Bible throughout the land?

8. Where does God keep a copy of His Word?

9. What verse(s) prove(s) this?

CHAPTER 6

How Can We Know the Bible Is the Word of God?

Part III: Its Perfection

Psalms 119:128 - 130 “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way. Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

firmament - sky

harmony - a combination of parts into an orderly whole; agreement

excursion - a trip taken with the intent of returning to the point of departure

forensic - suitable for a law court

Thirdly, we can know the Bible is the Word of God because of its perfection. The Bible is made up of 66 books written over a period of 1,600 years by 40 different authors. Most of the authors did not know each other nor did they live at the same time nor in the same locality. Most never saw each other, and yet when put altogether, the Bible speaks of one God, one salvation, one Christ. Each separate book of the Old Testament and the New Testament is not written about different gods. The theme is consistently the same all the way through; the harmony blends throughout its pages. The inspiration of God can clearly be seen. Nothing else can match that.

Before Columbus ever proved the earth was round, the Bible stated the earth was round. “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth . . .”(Isaiah 40:22) Columbus got the idea that the earth was round from the Bible. He set out in faith.

His purpose for his excursion was to find people out there somewhere who needed to know about God: he set sail as a missionary. He convinced Queen Isabella to finance the journey and possibly argued on the basis of the Word of God to convince her to help. The Bible is ahead of science — true science does not contradict the Scripture. God’s Word is perfect.

Job 26:7 states, “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.” There is a place empty of stars in the north. Long before telescopes were invented, the Bible declared it was so. This verse also states the earth was hung on nothing. Science later discovered the fact that the Bible had previously declared: the earth is actually hanging on nothing in space.

We read in I Corinthians 15:39, “All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.” The Bible says that all flesh is not the same flesh. Medical science used to laugh at that and say that all flesh is the same, all blood is the same. It took until the 1930’s before scientists discovered that flesh is not the same. There is a big difference between kinds of flesh, and the differences can be seen in the laboratory. Blood samples can be tested and identified as chicken blood, rabbit blood, human blood, etc. These discoveries are used everyday in crime laboratories as forensic scientists try to unravel the mysteries surrounding a crime.

In Psalms 19:1 we find, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handy-work.” That same mark of God’s handiwork that we can see in the heavens is present on the Word of God. His Word is ever as much His creation as is nature. In the realm of insects (entomology) there are certain scientific facts concerning such things as how many eggs a particular insect lays, how many of those eggs hatch, and the gestation period for those eggs. It is interesting to realize that these various numbers are evenly divisible by seven, the mark of God’s handiwork. Science tells us that no two snowflakes are identical. No two leaves of a tree are the same, and they hang on the tree according to a mathematical structure. Each drop of rain differs from another. That is the mark of God on creation. In nature and in creation, as well as the Bible, we see the handiwork of God. That makes the Bible different from any other book.

If the Bible is perfect, it must have the same mathematical perfection that the leaves on the tree or the snowflake has. In Greek and Hebrew, each letter of the alphabet also has a numerical value. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and at least most of the New Testament was written in Greek. There is a strange mathematical structure that runs through the Bible just as there is in nature, a uniform design all the way from Genesis to Revelation. For example, in the verses of the genealogy of Christ found in Matthew 1, in the original language the number of words in the vocabulary of the genealogy can be evenly divided by seven, God’s number of completion. The number of words beginning with a vowel can also be evenly divided by seven. The words beginning with a consonant can also be evenly divided by seven. Also evenly divisible by seven are the number of letters in the vocabulary of the genealogy. Is it a coincidence?

This same structure is also seen throughout the whole Bible in the number of words that occurred more than once and the number of words that occurred only once. The number of words that occurred in only one form, the number of words that occurred in more than one form, and the number of words that begin with each of the letters of the alphabet are all evenly divisible by seven. The number of nouns, the number of words that are not nouns, the number of proper nouns, the number of male nouns, and the number of female nouns are each evenly divisible by seven. To no other book on earth could this be applied.

Being that nature and the Word of God both have the same mathematical structure that cannot be humanly duplicated proves they both have the same Creator. God wrote the Book.

Man could not have written the Bible if he would. What we see in many of the new versions is that man only confuses God’s Word when he tries to re-write it. He causes it to contradict itself, deny itself, lose continuity, and mess up the doctrine. Therefore, man could not have written it if he wanted to.

There has been a standing challenge for anyone else to produce a bible that would match God’s Word, and no one ever has. One challenge is to write only 300 words that will pass the same mathematical test that the Bible does. No one has been able to do that, either. They have only been able to take God’s Word and mutilate it.

Neither would man have written God’s Word if he could, because man does not like to tell the truth about himself. Man does not like the idea that he is totally depraved or the idea that all he deserves is Hell. He does not like the idea, as Paul said, that in the flesh dwelleth no good thing. Man loves to puff himself up. He does not like the thought that he is dead in trespasses and sin. They do not like the truth, so they change it. Man will change it where it deals with salvation by grace into salvation by works. It feeds man’s pride to think he can work his way to Heaven or work enough to earn eternal life. Man will change God’s Word where it deals with the depravity of man, the miracles, the virgin birth, or the blood of Jesus being the only way to have forgiveness of sins. It is distasteful to the carnal nature of man to see himself as a “worm”—as nothing before a holy God. Man’s ego and pride are involved. Therefore, man could not have written God’s Word if he would and would not have written it if he could.

Yes, the Bible is a living Book. It is a perfect Book. No other book can be read and studied over and over, year after year, and still sustain the reader. It can never be used up; it is always new and fresh. No other book compares to it.

Review Questions

1. What is the third reason we know the Bible is the Word of God?

2. How many books are in:

a. the Bible?

b. the New Testament?

c. the Old Testament?

3. How many different authors wrote the Bible?

4. How well did these authors know each other?

5. The Bible was written over a period of how many years?

6. What fact did Columbus prove that the Bible had already declared?

7. What two facts about space did the book of Job declare before science proved it?

8. What fact does forensic science use today that was already revealed in Scripture before medical science discovered it?

9. What kind of strange structure can be seen throughout the Bible that is also seen in nature?

10. What does this prove?

11. Man could not have written God’s Word if he _____________; neither would man have written God’s Word if he_____________.

12. Why would man not have written God’s Word?

13. What feeds a man’s pride?

14. The Bible is a l____________Book, a p__________Book, and will always_____________the reader.1

CHAPTER 7

How Can We Know the Bible Is the Word of God?

Part IV: Its Prophecy

Matthew 22:29 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

archaeologist - a person who studies the life and culture of ancient peoples

vindicate - to clear from guilt, criticism, or suspicion

fulfillment - carrying out of something predicted

orthodox - conforming to the usual beliefs or established doctrines of a religion

version - a translation

We can know the Bible is the Word of God, fourthly, because of prophecy. No other book can tell the end from the very beginning. Archeologists have dug up much evidence to vindicate the Bible, even though the Bible needs no vindication. The Bible is capable of defending itself. Isaiah 7 predicts the virgin birth. In Matthew is the fulfillment. Three hundred different prophecies on the Lord alone, prophecies made anywhere from 500 to 2,000 or more years before His birth, all came to pass exactly as predicted. Kings were named in the Bible before they were born, and God revealed what they would do as much as 150 years (and, in one case, 300 years) before they were born.

In Isaiah 44 and 45 we can read the story of King Cyrus. Before Cyrus was born, God said he would rise up and allow the city of Jerusalem to be rebuilt and the foundation of the Temple to be relaid. It was predicted in Isaiah 45:1 that the two leaved gates would be opened before him. In Daniel we read the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: Cyrus defeated Belshazzar. While Belshazzar was indulging in a mocking, drunken party, Cyrus’ soldiers were entering the city by way of the river beds under the open gates that should have been locked, to go on and capture the city of Babylon. To this day it is a mystery to historians how the gates of this heavily-fortified city were opened. That night the kingdom fell. In Ezra and Nehemiah we find that Cyrus later gave his permission for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Nehemiah was allowed to go back and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem just as prophesied. All of this was predicted 150 years before Cyrus was even born.

In Psalms 22, 1,000 years before Jesus was crucified, we have the very words He would say and what would happen around the area of the cross when He was crucified.

Our modern weapons and present-day forms of transportation were predicted in the Bible. God did not call them atom bornbs, army tanks, cars, or jets, but the descriptions are accurate. We must remember the Bible was written for all people of all ages. Two thousand years ago people would not be able to understand what an airplane, a bornb, or a car was. The Bible is pertinent and up-to-date for all ages.

Ezekiel 36 - 39 predicts Russia in the end times will be in a war against Israel. At the time the prediction was made, Russia was not heard of as being a world power; there were only tribal people living in that area. The Bible predicts God will destroy them on the mountains of Israel. The Orthodox Jews believe it and say when you see Russia moving into Turkey, that will be it. Different nations are predicted to be lined up with Russia. One of these nations is Iran, and another is Germany, which in our day has been reunited into one country. Prophecy sets the Bible apart as no other book.

Some people believe if they can get rid of God’s Word, then what it has to say will not be binding as far as they are concerned. If they read something they do not like in the Bible, they try to find a new version that says something different, thinking that what they first read will not count.

It would be the same if you were going down the road in your car and the gas gauge read empty. Instead of stopping to buy gas, you get out a little hammer and smash the gas gauge. Will that take care of the problem? Of course not. Neither will getting rid of God’s Word solve the problem in a person’s life. When they get on down the road, they will realize it did count! They will find out God’s Word counts whether or not they accept it. Judgment comes whether or not a person believes it. No matter how much people try to change it, get rid of it, or deny it, it will still remain just as God said.

Review Questions

Circle the best answer.

1. One reason we know the Bible is the Word of God is because

a. of its pretense.

b. of its protraction

c. of its prophecy.

d. of its practice.

2. How many different prophecies concerning the Lord alone came to pass exactly as predicted?

a. 300

b. 500

c. 2,000

d. 150

3. How early were these prophecies given?

a. 1 - 3 years before Jesus’ birth

b. 500 - 2,000 years before Jesus’ birth

c. 100 - 200 years before Jesus’ birth

d. the same year as Jesus’ birth

4. What king was predicted to conquer Babylon and then allow Jerusalem to be rebuilt and the foundations of the Temple to be relaid?

a. King Cyrus

b. King Jehoiakim

c. King Jeremiah

d. King Belshazzar

5. How early was this prophecy given?

a. 100 years before his birth

b. 3 years before his birth

c. 1 year before his birth

d. 150 years before his birth

6. What unique part of the fulfilled prophecy still puzzles historians today?

a. that King Cyrus was given the name Cyrus

b. that King Cyrus conquered Babylon with only ten men

c. that Belshazzar had a drunken party that night

d. that the two leaved gates were already open

7. How early were the very words Jesus spoke on the cross prophecied?

a. 1,000 years before Jesus was crucified

b. 10 years before Jesus was crucified

c. 1 year before Jesus was crucified

d. 100 years before Jesus was crucified

8. Why do people want to get rid of the Word of God?

a. because then it will not haunt them

b. because then it will be one less Book to read

c. because they believe it will then no longer be binding as far as they are concerned

d. because they do not believe it is true anyway

CHAPTER 8

How Can We Know the Bible Is the Word of God?

Part V: Its Power

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

destiny - what will necessarily happen to any person

grace - the unmerited love and favor of God toward man

A fifth reason we can know the Bible is the Word of God is because of its power. It has a message that changes destinies. No other book has that. Romans 1:16 reads, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” The Bible has the power of God on it. The Bible bothers people because it has the power of God on it.

It makes the difference. God’s power changes lives; the Bible changes people. That power proves the Bible is the Word of God. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) The commandments in it are for our good. God never takes something away from us without giving us something better in its place. God knows what is best for us. He loves us and will not keep good things from us, but He wants to keep us from a lot of things that we do not need and that would bring harm. God’s message is the power that will change. It is a message of grace that changes the worst to the best. No book but the Bible transforms a person into a new man. (John 1:12) “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” That is the proof: the power is there. It has a power that one can know about, test, and experience for himself. If there is no power in the Book, we have no hope.

Review Questions

1. What is the fifth reason we know the Bible is the Word of God?

2. God’s power changes____________; the Bible

changes_____________.

3. What does God want to keep us from?

4. What kind of person does the Bible transform a man into?

5. If the Bible had no power, what would we not have?

Special Project

Project Instructions

The Word of God has the power to change people: “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17) The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to convict a man of his sin and bring him to the point of salvation. Yet, many people do not know how to show another person how they may accept Christ as their personal Savior. Here you will learn a simple method of winning someone to the Lord, and then you will have the opportunity to put that to practical use as you attempt to win others to the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are many different methods (plans), many different Scriptures that can be used to show someone how to be saved. We are not attempting to say one plan or method is better than another, but we have chosen a popular method called “The Romans Road,” because all of the Scripture verses are found in the first ten chapters of Romans.

Memorize the steps and references. If you are good at memorizing, it is best to memorize the actual verses, also. Sometimes, you may be faced with someone wanting to know how to be saved, and you may not have your Bible with you.

One note to remember is no matter what plan one uses, the Holy Spirit sometimes will lay a different verse on the soul winner's heart to use in dealing with a certain lost person. It is important to always follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in winning a person to the Lord. He knows the need and heart of that individual.

Once you have memorized the references to use and the order in which to use them and have become familiar with the explanations, practice “The Romans Road.” Actually, it is wise to practice it several times.

THE ROMANS ROAD

Step One

To get the person’s attention on eternal matters, a good opening question is, “If you were to die right now, do you know for sure you would go to Heaven?” Many times a person will say, “No,” or “I don’t know.” If they say, “Yes, I know I am going to Heaven,” it is good to ask them to share their testimony about when they accepted Christ as their Savior. If they answer, “No,” or “I don’t know,” you may ask their permission or express your desire to take a few minutes of their time to show them how they can know for sure they are going to Heaven when they die.

Step Two

It is many times good to explain you will show them from the Bible how they can know they are going to Heaven and that the Bible is the Word of God, not some man’s opinions or ideas about salvation; it is from God, so that man may know the Truth. The lost person should follow as you read the Scriptures from the Word of God. Remember, it is God’s Word that has the power to change a person, not your explanations.

Step Three

Show that every person is a sinner:

Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

It is wise to ask the person if he understands what sin is, and have him give you a definition. Sin is actually doing anything that displeases God or that does not match the sinlessness of Jesus Christ, such as lying, stealing, adultery, cheating, etc. You may be surprised what people think “sin” means. A person must understand what sin is before he can decide if he is a sinner.

Once you know the person understands what sin is, ask the person if he is a sinner. If the person does not first view himself as a sinner, he is not ready to be saved.

Step Four

Show the person that Christ died for our sins:

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Explain that sin came into the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Sin carries the penalty of eternal separation from God (death, Hell), and this is passed on to all men, because all have sinned. But verse 12 shows that, despite our sin which God hates, He loved us, the sinner, so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice to die in our place. Eternal life or salvation is a gift, not something we can earn or work for, and it is through Jesus Christ, not through good works, church attendance, church membership, charity, baptism, the sacraments, or anything other than through Jesus Christ. Death is earned as a result of sin; eternal life is a gift through Jesus Christ.

Step Five

Show the sinner how to be saved:

Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Romans 10:10 “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The sinner must first believe in his heart and then confess with his mouth (prayer) to the Lord Jesus that he sees himself as a sinner, that he realizes he deserves Hell because of his sin, but that He believes that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross in his place— Jesus took the punishment for his sin — and then He rose again, Victor over death. The sinner needs to invite Jesus into his life to be his personal Savior. The Lord has promised to save every person (no restrictions whatever) who calls on Him in this manner.

Step Six

Ask the person if they would like to pray right now so they can know for sure they will go to Heaven when they die.

NOTE: After practicing several times until you feel confident that you are ready, begin using it with people who are not saved.

CHAPTER 9

Facts and Review

of Phinehas. Pfalmes. Affliction cauf

28 They joyned themfelues alfo vnto Baal-peor, and did eate the offrings of the dead.

29 Thus they prouoked him vnto anger with their own inuentions, &the plague brake in vpon them.

30 But Phinehas ftoode vp, and executed judgement, and the plague was ftayed.

31 And it was imputed vnto him for righteouines from generation to generation for euer.

32 They angred him alfo at the waters of Meriban, fo that Mofes was punifhed for their fakes,

33 Becaufe they vexed his fpirit, fo that he fpake vnaduifealy with his lippes.

Psalms 106 — from a 1576 Geneva Bible

Interesting Facts About the Geneva Bible 1557-1644

* The Geneva Bible was so named because it was translated in Geneva, Switzerland, by persecuted English and Scottish Christians. Some of the translators were William Whittington, Miles Coverdale, John Knox, and Theodore Beza. John Calvin also assisted them with his advice and support.

* This was the first English Bible to use chapter and verse divisions.

* It is believed to be the first English Bible to use italics to differentiate textual and supplied words.

* It differs from the King James Version only in differing English renderings of the same Greek texts. An example of this: Genesis 3:7, in which the Geneva Bible translators chose the English word “breeches” to describe the coverings which Adam and Eve had attempted to make of the fig tree leaves. This was also the word John Wycliffe used. Because of this, it had been nicknamed the “Breeches Bible. ”

* The Geneva Bible was hated by the Catholic Church since its first translation and printing in 1557 as a New Testament. Every copy found in England during the reign of “Bloody Mary” was confiscated and, along with it, its owner was burned. Even after the Protestant Queen Elizabeth and, later, King James, the Catholic Church continued to attempt to take England back. During these times of rebellion and intrigue, such as during the reign of King Charles, the Geneva Bible and the King James Version were both targets to be destroyed. The destruction of both English versions became a primary goal of Catholic forces well into the 1600’s. Many copies of these English Bibles were periodically burned, or attempted to be burned, by Catholic mobs and their leaders during this period.

* The Geneva Bible was the Bible which came over on the Mayflower and is still in existence at the archives of Harvard.

Seven is God’s number of completion. It is fun to see how God incorporated the number seven into the Word of God to reveal His seal of completion on His perfect Word.

Numerological “Seven’s” in the KJV

1. The number 7 occurs in the book of Revelation more than 50 times.

2. In Matthew 1:1-11, the genealogy of Christ, in the Greek there are:

a) 49 different words used (7 x 7)

b) 21 words begin with a consonant (3 x 7)

c) 28 words begin with a vowel (4 x 7)

d) 266 letters (38 x 7)

e) 140 vowels (20 x 7)

f) 126 consonants (18 x 7)

g) 35 words that occur more than one time (5 x 7)

h) 14 words that occur only one time (2 x 7)

i) 35 male names (5 x 7)

j) 7 names that are not male

3. In Matthew 2, there are:

a) 161 different Greek words used (23 x 7)

b) 836 Greek letters used (128 x 7)

Facts About the King James Version

The King James Version Bible contains:

1) 3,566,480 letters

2) 773,693 words

3) 31,102 verses

4) 1,189 chapters

5) 66 books

6) the word “Lord” 8,000 times

7) “thus saith the Lord” over 2,000 times

8) “fear not” 365 times (one for each day of the year)

What have you learned about your Bible?

Review Questions for Chapters 1-8

1. For what is the Bible the supreme Authority?

2. For what is the Bible the complete source?

3. What do the Jews consider to be:

a. the first book of the Old Testament?

b. the last book of the Old Testament?

4. Why did Jesus not point out the contradictions in the Bible?

5. What, many times, weakens the faith of a new Christian?

6. What will be the result in a person’s life the more he believes the Bible contains error?

7. What are the three things God has promised to do concerning His Word?

8. With what do most apparent contradictions in the Bible deal?

9. How long is God’s preservation of His Word effective?

10. List the five reasons we know the Bible is the Word of God?

11. What three things concerning man does the Word of God reveal?

12. Who were:

a. Diocletian?

b. Jehoiakim?

c. Jeremiah?

13. How many books are in:

a. the Bible?

b. the Old Testament?

c. the New Testament?

14. How many authors were inspired and wrote the Word of God?

15. Over what period of time was the Bible written?

16. If two things have the same mathematical structure, as science and the Bible do, what can we conclude?

17. How many prophecies on the Lord alone were fulfilled exactly as predicted?

18. How early were the prophecies concerning the Lord given?

19. Into what does the Bible transform a person?

20. If the Bible has no power, what are we left without?

CHAPTER 10

The Preachers’ Predicament — The Older Preacher

Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

seminary - a school or college where persons are trained to become priests, ministers, or rabbis

lay people - of or consisting of ordinary people as distinguished from the clergy

translation - rendering from one language into another of something written or spoken

stipulation - a condition agreed upon

prior - previous

interpolation - alteration, enlargement, or corruption by putting in new words

aggressive - ready to engage in direct action

intimidated - made to feel timid or fearful

The preacher who has been preaching 30 or 40 years did not get his training from a seminary. He may think he has missed something that he should not have missed. He did not have an opportunity to go off to seminary. He felt called to preach, and he got help from the church or from whomever he felt he could get the help (his pastor, as well as laypeople). From studying the Bible (without being interfered with by television, travel schedules, and many other things that capture our time and attention today) and from observing experience, he got his training. Many preachers have built great churches across America without the advantage of a Bible college or seminary. In their entire lifetime these preachers have not been exposed to as much information, many of the tools, nor the know-how that one can obtain in Bible college alone. Many had no great library. But these men went out and won souls and preached the Word, believing they had the Word of God. They used the King James Version of the Bible, believing it was the Word of God.

In 1952 the Revised Standard Version came out, based on Westcott’s and Hort’s New Greek text. The other translations up to that point had not caught anyone’s attention. The English Revised Version came out in 1881 to 1885, and then in 1900 came the so-called “revision” of the Bible, the Revised Version. Those versions that came out around 1890 to 1900 did not make much of an impression. They were hardly worth fighting; no one used them much. They were referred to in a good way by some preachers who did not know. When they were trying to settle a doctrinal issue, the preachers would refer to one of these other versions thinking it helped. But if one finds it necessary to change even one word of the King James Version to teach a certain doctrine, he would be wise to put a question on that doctrine. By changing one word, a different doctrine can be invented.

When the Revised Standard Version came out, it was decided to mail preachers a free copy. It was planned that preachers receive their copy on a Saturday so they could preach out of it on Sunday without having the time to study it beforehand. A stipulation was placed on receiving the free copy: that the preacher would preach out of it the first Sunday after receiving it. Many preachers did just that. Others heeded the warning of the Holy Spirit from within and exercised wisdom in refraining from preaching out of it before prior examination.

Immediately some preachers began to attack the Revised Standard Version as soon as they read some key verses, like Isaiah 7:14, which took out the virgin birth of Jesus. Baptists had not published the Revised Standard Version; the American Council of Churches did. Therefore, many Baptists only attacked it now and then, not really giving too much attention to it at all.

The older preacher’s predicament enters here. All these years he has been preaching, while holding up the King James Version of the Bible, that the King James Version not only contains the Word of God, but it IS the very Word of God. During the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s he had fought sin, crooked politicians, the liquor crowd, and even the devil with it. Suddenly he hears from a seminary to which he has sent money and in which he has believed and where young men and women have been trained and sent out as missionaries—missionaries that his church supports. This preacher has even sent young men from his church who have been called to preach under his ministry to this seminary to be trained.

From this seminary the preacher receives some writings that are late in getting to the preacher and the local churches. The seminary informs the pastors that it is taking a dim view of the Word of God and are beginning to pick it to pieces. They say things such as the last few verses of Mark 16 should not be there; I John 5:7 is an interpolation; and on it went. These seminaries did not write, “You sent your young people here for training because we believed the Bible is the Word of God. Now our beliefs have changed, so do you want to bring your young people home?” The preacher was the last one to find out about the changes in belief, and all the while the young people he sent there for training are graduating and drifting back into the ministry, raising questions about the Word of God, the Book that was used when they got saved. This preacher is caught in a spot: he has bragged on that seminary; he has sent them money; he has sent them students; he has attended their missions conferences and fund raisers. He has taken a real part in that seminary. Then he finds his young preacher boys returning with doubt—doubt they did not have when they left his church, doubt about whether or not they have the Bible. It is Satan’s old trick of, IF God said, that he used in the Garden of Eden. A man loses his zeal to preach the Word of God when he doubts it is the Word of God. It steals his fire and vigor for the Lord. When one doubts he has the Word of God, he will be less aggressive as a Christian. If the doubt is very strong at all, one will not be a soul winner nor preach with authority.

The older preacher now feels intimidated. He did not get a degree from a seminary. But there are men who teach in that seminary who are called “doctors” and hold several degrees and know several languages. The preacher does not speak up; he feels intimidated. He feels he does not have enough education; he does not know enough Greek to know what is right. Therefore, he does not take up issue with these so-called “learned” men.

Review Questions

1. Many older preachers have built great churches in America without what advantage?

2. From what two things did these preachers receive their training?

3. What was the first perversion of the Bible to come out that caught people’s attention?

4. When was it published?

5. What was this version based on?

6. How much of the Bible is it necessary to change before a doctrine is changed?

7. Who published the Revised Standard Version?

8. What is Satan’s oldest trick?

9. Describe what happens to the preacher when he doubts the King James Version is the Word of God.

10. Describe what happens when any Christian doubts the King James Version is the Word of God.

CHAPTER 11

The Preachers’ Predicament— The Younger Preacher

Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

pope - a person who is regarded as having or acting as though he has popelike authority

Let’s now look at the young preacher: he is a piece of clay that has not been molded yet. He is brought up in a church where he got saved and where the preacher, as he preached, held up the King James Version and said, “This is the Word of God.” This young preacher goes off to college thinking he has a supernaturally inspired, supernaturally preserved copy of God’s Word. But then he gets in the classroom, they open up to the last few verses of Mark, and the professor teaches that it should not be there or that I John 5:7 ought not be there, or that the last part of Romans 8:1 should not be there, and on and on.

The young preacher begins to think, “Well, my pastor encouraged me to come here to school, he gave me a reference in order for me to enroll here, so surely this school must be all right.” This young man goes along with the teaching, and doubt begins to be placed in his mind. He may think he is learning something that a preacher just ought not to share with his congregation. This thought brings a man close to Catholicism or many other heresies. If our Christianity is not real enough to be honest all the way through, it just fits in the category of all the other religions: the leaders dupe the people.

A common complaint many Baptists have against Catholicism or other cults is that they do not spiritually feed (study the Bible) on a personal basis. They listen to what the hierarchy or church tradition says to them rather than reading the Bible for themselves. There is no pope or any man that is to pass God’s Word from God to us. He has already given it to us in the Bible. God commanded us to search the Scriptures ourselves. We do not accept Catholic popes; we are not to accept “Baptist popes” either.

A Baptist preacher gets up to preach to his congregation, and the people are sitting there with their Bibles, thinking they have God’s Word just like God wanted them to have it. Yet, the preacher tells them they cannot understand it on their own — they need someone to tell them what it really should have said or what it means instead of what it actually says. So, the preacher changes this or changes that and tells his people they do not really have the Word of God, that they need him to tell them what it really says. He tells them it is dangerous to interpret God’s Word on their own; it is more important the way the church sees it, and the church’s tradition surpasses the Word of God.

If, because a preacher has had a little Greek or Hebrew, he becomes as a pope to his people, he has done them a great injustice. He will have sold out what the martyrs gave their very life for: having the Bible in their own language. He is undermining what our forefathers fought for: putting the Bible in English so common men could read the Word of God themselves.

His predicament is very real. He grew up in a church where the Bible was the Word of God; he heard about a school to which he went off in great zeal and faith. But then the balloon burst. He lost his supernatural Bible. Some egotistical professor showed it off with a “better translation” or by changing the Scripture around.

Why do men try to attack God’s Word? Man is so depraved that we have not yet fathomed the depth of it. When we get saved, we are still in a depraved, lost body that is going back to dust. Keep that in mind as you read, ". . .let God be true, but every man a liar. . .” (Romans 3:4). The pride of life enters into everything. That is why people brag or why people are proud about one thing or another in their life. Men can have a pride of scholarship they want to show off. It causes them to attack the Word of God. “I’ve studied (such and such a) language, and you haven’t.” “I have a doctorate, and you don’t have.” “Let me show you how much smarter I am than that local preacher from where you came.” The danger is, “I’ve had all these studies. I know you believe you know what John 3:16 says, but let me tell you what it really says.” It is pride of scholarship when a professor comes into a classroom trying to show he is smarter than a pastor or smarter than all 47 translators of the King James Version Bible.

It is a great sin when a man does not believe God preserved His Word, that God supervised the preserving of His Word. The young preacher who goes to seminary and ends up hearing all this, finds himself in a predicament.

America is going to be guilty before God for its “idol” worship of education. Education is needed; it is a must, but it is not to become a god and given authority it does not have. Education is supposed to be a means to an end. That end is to get out and use it to do the job— to serve God. Education is only training and preparation. Let’s not be guilty of putting it above the Word of God.

Review Questions

True or False: If the statement is false, correct it to make the statement true.

1. When young preachers begin to hear at Bible college that the King James Version is not the Word of God, some begin to think they are just hearing something that should not be shared with the congregation.

2. If Christianity is not real enough to be honest all the way through, it is set apart from all other religions whose leaders dupe the people.

3. We are commanded to listen to what the church hierarchy or church tradition tells us is from God’s Word.

4. Some preachers feel church tradition surpasses the Word of God.

5. The martyrs gave their lives to have the Bible destroyed.

6. Pride of scholarship can cause a person to attack God’s Word.

7. America is guilty of worshipping the “idol” of freedom

CHAPTER 12

The Preservation Promise

II Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

II Peter 1:19-21 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

Psalms 12:7 “Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

interpretation - explanation or translation

original manuscripts - the very first handwritten copy of a book

depraved - morally bad; corrupted; perverted fallible - liable to be erroneous or inaccurate

divine - of or like God

You cannot read much of the Bible without picking up the claim that the Scripture is inspired. Equally as important, you can also read God’s promise to preserve His Word. Each time someone makes a change in God’s Word, it is because the man that is reading it did not believe God could do what He said He would do. There is a key verse in the Bible about God’s power and ability to do what He said He did: Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” If a person believes that, can’t they believe He can do anything else? If He created the world, surely He could prepare a big fish to swallow a man (Jonah). If He created the world, one should be able to believe that a heathen king could recognize God’s Son in the midst of the fiery furnace. There is no limit on the God who created the heavens and the earth. He can do everything that He said He could do and promised to do.

The issue today is not so much the inspiration of the Bible, but the preservation of the Bible. Everywhere you read in the Bible, there are claims to its inspiration: roughly 2,000 times it says, “Thus saith the Lord . . .” Many Christians say they believe the Bible is the Word of God, but what are they really saying? Which Bible do they mean? A Jehovah Witness believes his bible (New World Translation) is the Word of God even though it is a chopped up, mutilated form of it. Some believe “the Bible is the inspired Word of God as originally written.” What does that mean? In essence it is saying that today we do not have the inspired Word of God, because we do not have the original manuscripts. If we cannot trust God to preserve His Word down through the years through people copying it correctly, then we do not have a Bible. If we believe it is inspired only as it was originally written, what do we have today?

God did something greater than preserve the originals. God could have preserved the originals, but He did not choose to. He preserved accurate copies down through the years for us. That is greater than putting the originals in a stone vault somewhere. God used fallen, depraved, fallible man to preserve His Word. He used man in the same way as a man would pick up a pen and hold it in his hand. God is in control. While a man holds the pen, that man controls it. Man is not worth much, but God can control man when he is in God’s hand.

In one sense we do have the divine originals between the covers of our King James Version Bible. God did something to inspire it; then He did something to preserve it.

Is it hard to believe God inspired His Word? We say no, because God is God. Then why is it difficult to believe God can preserve His Word? Why do we say nothing is too hard for God, then turn around and say here is something too hard for God to do? God did promise to preserve His Word.

People bring up the fact that there are so many versions of the Bible. An agnostic, one who is not a Christian nor even believes in the Bible, one day accused Christians of having so many different versions of God’s Word that literally disagreed with each other. He asked, “How can you know what to believe to become a Christian?”

A similar example would be if you climb into the cockpit of an airplane and you are handed an instruction manual of how to fly the plane. But what if you are handed twelve manuals and they all disagreed with each other? You have problems! What if you were handed 109 versions of the manual? Which one will you follow? You do not know which lever to pull or what will happen, because the manuals disagree with each other.

The New American Standard Version changes (disagrees with) the King James Version in 5,000 to 10,000 different places. That is a lot of changes! And yet people say, “Oh, there’s just a little change here or there.” That is right. If you drink a glass of iced tea, let someone come by with an eyedropper of arsenic and put only one little drop in your tea. If you drink it, it will be your last! After the arsenic is dropped in, it is still more than 99.9% iced tea! Only one drop can be devastating! When you take two Bibles that disagree 5,000 to 10,000 times, that is a lot of “arsenic.” Many good people are being deceived. Some versions are not as bad as others, but why settle for even a little pollution, a little “arsenic”? If we can have a pure glass of tea, why would we want it polluted? And if we have the pure Bible, why do we want it changed (polluted)?

Review Questions

1. Why do men change the Word of God?

2. What key verse reveals God’s power and shows He can do what He said?

3. The real issue is not so much the interpretation of the Bible, but the _____________of the Bible.

4. Approximately how many times does the Bible say, “Thus saith the Lord . . .”?

5. If someone says they believe “the Bible is the inspired Word of God as originally written,” what are they really saying?

6. Through what means did God choose to preserve His Word?

7. How many differences are there between the New American Standard Version and the King James Version?

CHAPTER 13

Proposition:

Why We Believe the King James Version To Be the Preserved Word of God

Part I

Deuteronomy 6:7 “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

Deuteronomy 8:3 “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

proposition - something put forth for consideration

jot - iota; the letter “i,” the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet

tittle - a dot or other small mark

iota - the ninth and smallest letter of the Greek alphabet; a tiny part

1. Did God want us to have His Word?

In the Dark Ages the Catholic Church said God did not want us to have His Word, so the Church tried to keep the Bible from the people, away from the common man. That is what seminaries are doing today when they try to make it that only preachers know what the divine originals said. The Catholic Church did a good job of keeping the Word of God from the common man in ages past. That is why it was called the Dark Ages.

The Machine Age or Industrial Revolution did not bring in the light. Common man getting the Word of God brought the light. All the other blessings came because of that. Many people were burned at the stake for trying to get the Word of God to the common man. Today men smuggle dope; back then men smuggled Bibles.

II Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

If God wanted us to study His Word and rightly divide it, He intended us to have it.

Some people have argued that the version of their Bible does not change any doctrine. Using the last verse above, does God mean we are not to live by bread alone but by every doctrine that proceedeth from the mouth of God? by every thought? No, but by every word.

And Matthew even narrowed that down to jots and tittles.

Matthew 5:18 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

The Word of God is stable. The words of God are the same as when they were first written. Not one jot or tittle will ever pass away. God’s words are totally pure.

A jot comes from the word “iota,” which is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. God was saying that every letter of the Word of God is inspired — not just every word, but every letter.

The word “tittle” means a tiny ending that makes one letter different from another. An example would be the letters “O” and “Q.” There is only one little difference between an “O” and “Q”— one little tittle. Another example is the letters “M” and “N.” The one little part that makes the difference between “N” and “M” is called the tittle, one little thing that makes a different letter. Consider the “P” and “R.” One little tittle makes a new letter.

Not only is every book of the Bible inspired, not only every chapter is inspired, not only is every verse or word inspired, not only is every letter inspired, but even every tittle is inspired!

When Jesus prayed for us (the real Lord’s Prayer recorded in John 17), He said something about God’s words. In verse 8 He said He had given unto the disciples and to all who would listen the words which His Father gave unto Him. He did not say He had given unto the disciples the thoughts. He went on to say that they had received those words and from them knew that Jesus came from His Father and that they believed that the Father had sent His Son.

Review Questions

Circle the best answer.

1. In the Dark Ages the Catholic Church

a. distributed millions of Bibles.

b. translated the Bible into several different languages.

c. tried to keep the Bible from the common people.

d. was still trying to get part of the Bible written.

2. The means of bringing light to the Dark Ages was

a. the Industrial Revolution

b. common man getting the Word of God.

c. the Machine Age.

d. the Bible being distributed in new versions.

3. Today people smuggle dope. In the Dark Ages they smuggled

a. Bibles.

b. people.

c. Sunday school literature.

d. food.

4. If God told us to study and rightly divide His Word,

a. He wanted us to put in chapter and verse divisions.

b. He wanted man to learn to read and write.

c. He intended for us to have it

d. He wanted us to hold Bible studies.

5. God said we are not to live by bread alone, but by every

a. doctrine that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

b. thought that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

c. idea that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

d. word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

6. God promised to preserve His Word down to every

a. jot and tittle.

b. jot and iota.

c. tittle and iota.

d. dot and tittle.

CHAPTER 14

Proposition:

Why We Believe the King James

Version To Be the

Preserved Word of God

Part II

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

plenary - full; complete

verbal - word for word

minute - very small; tiny

rapture - being carried away in body or spirit

2. Did God claim to give His Word to man?

II Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

II Peter 1:19 - 21 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”

Peter said we now have a more sure word of prophecy than what he witnessed on the Mount of Transfiguration.

3. Did God claim to inspire His Word?

Reading the same two passages of Scripture written out above, God claimed that He inspired His Word. We many times hear the phrase, “the plenary, verbal inspired,” applied to the Word of God. What does this mean? “Plenary” means “full; complete; careful attention to minute details.” “Verbal” means “word for word.” And “inspiration” means “a breathing into; a divine influence upon human beings, as that resulting in the writing of the Scriptures.” The King James Version is the plenary, verbal inspired Word of God. Word for word, the very minute details (jots and tittles) were God-breathed into man, who wrote it.

4. Did God promise to preserve His Word?

Psalms 12:7 “Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

Psalms 119:89 “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.”

If you could somehow get every copy of God’s Word into one huge pile and set it on fire, you could still not destroy the Word of God. It is in the “computer” in Heaven. God gave it again to Jeremiah after Jehoiakim cut it up with his knife and burned it in the fire. God is not without copies. It is foolishness for man to try to destroy God’s Word down through the years or even try to counterfeit or camouflage it with all the versions. God has a version in Heaven that has never been revised. It never needed revising—it is settled in Heaven.

It is not up to man to preserve God’s Word; God promised to preserve His Word. Man was only the “pen” God held in His hand.

5. Does God have the power to preserve His Word (keep His promise)?

God has the power to create the earth, He has the power to part the Red Sea that the Israelites could cross it on dry land, He has the power to rapture Enoch right up, He has the power to make the walls of Jericho crumble, but He does not have the power to preserve His Word after He promised He would?! Before the walls of Jericho fell, God did not promise He would make them fall, but He did it. He did not even tell the Israelites He was going to make the walls fall when He gave them their instructions. The Israelites were as surprised as those within the walls of Jericho were. God did promise to preserve His Word, however, and that is even stronger than a miracle He did not even promise to do. So does God have the power to keep His promise to preserve His Word?

6. If God did want us to have the Word of God, if He did claim to give it to us, if He did claim to inspire it, if He did promise to preserve it, and He does have the power to preserve it, then where is the Word of God?

Review Questions

1. In what verse in II Timothy did God claim to give His Word to man?

2. What does “plenary, verbal inspired” mean?

3. Why is it foolish for man to think he can destroy God’s Word?

4. From Chapters 13 and 14, list the six points of the proposition that leads one to believe the King James Version is the Word of God.

CHAPTER 15

Things That Are Different Are Not the Same

Psalm 119:140 “Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

mystical - imaginary; not based on fact

theoretical - of or constituting contemplation

scholar - a learned person

exclusive - shutting out all but what is specified

Things that are different are not the same. Bibles that are different are not the same. There is only one preserved Word of God.

When the average person today talks about the Bible being written (being comprised of 66 books, having been written over a period of 1,600 years by 40 different authors, and so on) he is not speaking of the Bible he can hold in his hand. He is talking about some invisible, mystical, theoretical Book that used to exist somewhere. The average person believes if someone could have a copy of it, the truth about that Book would be that it is comprised of 66 books, was written over a period of 1,600 years by 40 different authors, etc.

So where is the Word of God?

We have it in the King James Version! Not only is the Bible inspired of God and is the Word of God, but we have a copy of that Word of God. God has preserved His Word (100% of it) for every generation, and that includes us!

If we look at a parking lot of cars, we may see a Ford, a Chevrolet, maybe a Dodge. Why do they have different names? Because they are not the same.

Bible versions have different names because they are different. We have a choice to make. There are over 100 different versions of the Bible today. Which translation is the Word of God? It can not be all of them, because there is too much difference in them. There are hundreds to thousands of differences between the versions.

Some people say that some versions are 90% the same as the King James Version. Why are people willing to settle for less when they do not have to settle for less? The Revised Standard Version, copy-righted by the National Council of Churches, had two motives behind it: money and changed doctrine. They changed Isaiah 7:14 to read “young woman” instead of “virgin.” The original language does not in any way give the right to change “virgin” to “young woman.” They violated the translation from the Hebrew when they did that. We will be looking further into differences between Bible versions a little later.

The preserved Word of God cannot be all of the versions. God did not promise to preserve His Word 90%; He promised to preserve it 100%!

Who will be the judge of which version is 100% preserved? No “Bible scholars,” who have worked on the various versions, claim that their version has 100% of the perfect Word of God. Their claim is that no one has 100% of the Word of God. If a bible even has 92% accuracy, who will point out the 8% error? It is a polluted bible. These “Bible scholars” have no answer for that. They are not sure if John 3:16 or Romans 10:9 would fall in that 8% error. They raise questions about particular verses because they are not found in the oldest manuscripts that they have decided are the best, but they cannot prove that these verses were mistakenly included. No man has the right to judge which Bible is accurate and if it is the preserved one. Man is fallible, finite, foolish, unpredictable, untrustworthy, fallen, depraved, undone, and a sinner. So are they worthy to make the judgment? Do you know anyone you would trust to make that great judgment?

We must reach higher to get that judgment. Without looking in the Bible itself, has God said anything about it? Has God indicated His choice? Has He put His stamp of approval on one that would be more obvious than all the others? God had to preserve one of them in order to keep His promise, and things that are different are not the same. Which Bible has God used? If He is going to give us even a hint about which one He is preserving, do you think He would throw us off the trail by using one in the English-speaking world for over 300 years exclusively? Wouldn’t that be an indication that God liked that one? If every major revival in England and America in the last 300 years, where God’s Holy Spirit had blessed, where souls had been saved, where churches were started, had taken place with this particular version; if missionaries had been sent, and every one of those had the same Book in his hand, preaching and teaching from it, going to the foreign field with it; and for 300 years the King James Version stood alone with no competition, wouldn’t that be a good indication that God was pleased with it? Wouldn’t that be a hint that God was saying, “That’s the one I’m pointing you to”? That is the history of the King James Version from the early 1600’s.

CHAPTER 16

So Where Is the Word of God?

John 8:31, 32 “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

evangelistic - emphasizing salvation by faith in the atonement of Jesus and rejecting sacraments and good works as a means of salvation

common congregation - ordinary or general congregation

commentary - a series of explanatory notes

universal - present or occurring everywhere

comprehensive - dealing with all or many of the relevant details

phenomenon - any extremely unusual or extraordinary thing or occurrence

international - between or among nations

Textus Receptus - Latin for “Received Text;” the Greek text used as a basis for the translation of the King James Version 1611; also known as the Byzantine or Traditional text

Vatican - the papal government or authority

Alexandrian manuscripts - manuscripts from the corrupt “stream” dated around 450 A.D.

indulgences - remission of temporal or purgatorial punishment still due for a sin after the guilt has been forgiven in the sacrament of penance

priesthood of the believers - the church; the common Christians through whom God has to preserve the New Testament

Levitical priesthood - the priesthood from the Jewish tribe of Levi through whom God preserved the Old Testament

traditional - handed down from generation to generation

Beginning in 1890 through 1901 when the Revised Version and the American Standard Version came on the scene and then the revision of it, it was nothing more than a Satanic attack on the real text. It was not accepted by the common man nor is it today. Going back 20 to 30 years ago, no one preached from the pulpit from anything but the King James Version. The liberals began to use the Revised Standard Version, and then a few “scholars” began to use the American Standard Version, but a man who wants to pastor a church that is evangelistic and soul-winning will be preaching out of the King James Version whether or not he personally believes it is the best one. If he does not preach from it, he will not get the job done, and he will not be accepted by the common congregation.

God has blessed the preaching of liberal preachers and even unsaved preachers, as they preached from the King James Version, with people getting saved under their preaching, because the power is not in the preacher, it is in His Word. God has blessed that Book down through the ages and shown us what His choice is.

If God has put His stamp of approval on the King James Version, who are we to second guess God?

At times people have made the statement that the King James Version is not perfect. But when asked if another version is perfect, they likewise say, “Oh, no!” What they are actually saying is that we do not have today a preserved copy of God’s Word. The King James Version is the only version that is claimed by anyone as being a perfect, preserved copy of God’s Word. It still comes down finally, as stated in Chapter 1, that it is a faith position. It is better to believe God too much than too little. We call God a liar if we say today that we do not have a copy of God’s Word. Psalms 12:7 promised its preservation unto all generations.

Up until 1890 when the Revised Version came out, there were only two strains of Bibles: one from Catholicism and one from what was termed Protestantism, and the Catholics did not read or use their Bibles. There is still one Bible for us today—the other versions are merely commentaries, and polluted ones at that.

The question is many times raised, “What about those who speak a different language?” English is quickly becoming the universal language. It may not be the most comprehensive language and, in some ways, does not equal the Greek, but it is a strange phenomenon that it is becoming the international language. Yet, the King James Version is still around and is the greatest classic that can be found in the English language.

But God’s promise was not just to the English-speaking people. He was also speaking to the French, the Germans, the Spanish, and to the entire world. God has used other Bibles in other languages. He used Luther’s Bible in German. You will find it came from the same “received text” as the King James Version and was even translated before the King James Version. You will find that both of these translations are very close. Except for the little problems caused by translation from one language to another, it is the King James Version in a different language. The same holds true with the Geneva Bible.

Many foreign nations have the Bible in their own language, and many of these are translations made directly from the King James Version. Missionaries have translated the King James Version more than any other version. It has been the standard to translate the King James Version into other languages. The true Bible in any language came from the same Hebrew and Greek backgrounds of the Textus Receptus and not from the Catholic side, not from the Vatican side, nor from the Alexandrian manuscripts.

When the common man got the Word of God in his own language, it destroyed the hold Catholicism had on the souls of man. Even the Catholics had a correct version in Latin at one time, but they guarded it and kept it out of the common man’s hands. While the Word of God was hidden from the people, the indulgences and other foolishness began to come into the Catholic teaching and practice.

These true Bibles came from the same background, the same manuscript trail, the “received text,” the Textus Receptus. “Textus Receptus” is Latin, meaning “received text,” which means it was passed from one to another. God preserved the New Testament through the priesthood of the believers. God preserved the Old Testament through the Levitical priesthood. The traditional text, preserved by the Levitical priesthood of the Jews (the Old Testament) is not under debate so much today. The Jews did such a good job of preservation that basically it goes unchallenged as far as to its preservation.

The Old Testament is challenged today in the sense of whether it is merely mythical stories or the Truth, if it is just mythical stories or actual miracles, but not as to its preservation. It is the New Testament that is under attack. Just like God chose the Levitical priesthood to preserve the Old Testament, He chose the priesthood of the believers, not the universities, not the “Church” (Catholicism), but the common people. He empowered them to preserve and pass on the text. That is why it is called the “received text.”

Review Questions

1. Which Bible is still the most accepted by the common congregation?

2. Why does God seemingly bless the preaching of some liberal and even some unsaved preachers?

3. What are people saying if they say that no bible, including the King James Version, is perfect?

4. Up until 1890 when the Revised Version came out, how many strains of Bibles were there and what were they?

5. Which language is quickly becoming the universal language?

6. What is considered the greatest classic in the English language?

7. What was the effect on Catholicism when the common man got the Word of God?

8. All true Bibles come from the same “trail,” the same text. What is it called?

9. From what language does “Textus Receptus” come, and what does it mean?

10. What does “received text” mean?

11. Through whom did God preserve:

a. the New Testament?

b. the Old Testament?

12. In what sense is the Old Testament challenged today?

CHAPTER 17

The Global Bible

Mark 7:7-9 “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

deity - divine nature

ecumenical - furthering the unification of Christian churches

global - of, relating to, or including the whole world

nationalistic - believing in or advocating patriotism; believing that national interest and security are more important than international considerations

patriotic - loyally or zealously supporting one’s own country

Anti-christ - the great antagonist of Christ expected to spread universal evil before the end of the world, but finally to be conquered at Christ’s second coming

religious denomination - a religious sect or body with a specific name deception - the act or practice of making a person believe what is not true

paraphrase - rewording of the meaning expressed in something spoken or written

When we get to Heaven, we will discover that God made arrangements to preserve His Word for all generations, and the people had an accurate copy of the Bible, no matter what they did with it — whether they destroyed it, lost it, or kicked it around.

The same God Who gave His Word in English has also preserved it in other languages. It has been tampered with by man in other languages just as it has in the English language. When some countries (i.e. France) knew God, they did not choose to retain and honor Him.

The Gospel has always moved from east to west. What is happening in America now is that God’s Word is here, but we, as a nation, are choosing not to retain it. It “blowing” on by. America is beginning to deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, yet we are hearing of great revivals in the Philippines, Korea, etc. The Gospel “wind” has blown from the east to the west all down through history.

An oft-asked question today is, “But where do the heathen go?” The heathen go to public schools, go shopping at the mall, attend football games. You see, “heathen” refers to people who reject the Lord. God has given a witness of Himself to the entire world. When Adam and Eve were in the garden, they were the whole world. They knew about the Lord. When Noah and his family stepped off the ark, they were the whole world, and they all knew the Truth. Yet they chose not to retain the Lord. God did not fail; it is what man has chosen to do with the Truth that is the failure

Today we hear much about the New International Version (NIV), the ecumenical bible, the international bible, the “global” bible. We are no longer taught to be nationalistic or patriotic. The world is being taught to think “global” or “universal.” So along comes the NIV. Many preachers are using it, but the basic text behind the NIV is the same one behind the American Standard Version (ASV) and the Revised Standard Version (RSV), which is the same text of Catholicism. However, it is far more perverted than even the Catholic bible. Any leader who is pushing the nations together and planning on putting all religions together would have a problem with the King James Version, which teaches old-fashioned separation. It does not mingle and meddle the doctrines together.

So that leader would need a bible that was toned down or watered down. It would need a new name, and if one is trying to push the nations together into a global community, “international” would be a good name. The Antichrist is getting ready for his kingdom, and an ecumenical bible is needed for that. It cannot offend the various religious denominations.

Today, a person going into a bookstore to buy a Bible is faced with a tremendous decision: he may buy the English Revised Version of 1885, the American Standard Version of 1901, the Revised Standard Version of 1946 and 1952, Good News For Modern Man of 1976, The Living Bible of 1967 and 1971, New American Standard Version of 1963 and 1971, the New International Version of 1973 and 1978, or the Condensed Reader’s Digest Bible of 1982. Other choices are a variety of paraphrases, or new testaments published in the street or gutter language of the world, or any of the other almost 200 translations in the English language. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find a copy of the 1611 King James Version that has not been tampered with.

Along with the new bible versions coming out, there has been a “Madison Avenue” approach to sell them. Yet, not one of the versions—not the American Standard Version, the Revised Standard Version, the New International Version, or the others could ever have been sold had they not contained at least 75-90% of the King James Version. Some people say, “If a version contains that much of the King James Version, doesn’t that make it good?” It makes them dangerous. These versions have the good and bad mixed, and people cannot tell when they are being deceived. Much deception is going on.

Even some KJV Bible publishers must be watched. Some Bible publishers will print what on the cover reads, “King James Version,” yet without any warning anywhere, make changes on the inside. The King James Version that has not been tampered with reads in II Timothy 3:17, “throughly,” rather than “thoroughly.” Those who make changes in the King James Version argue that they do it to give the shorter reading, the shorter spelling, and so on. The word “throughly” has one letter added to it to make it “thoroughly.” People say, “What’s the difference?” Just a doctrine, that is all. People say the new versions do not change the doctrine, but they do. Here in verse 17, reading “throughly” means that the man of God may find help all the way through the Bible. He is furnished all the way through the Book. The emphasis in this verse is on the Word of God itself. To change the word to “thoroughly” takes the emphasis off the Word of God and puts the emphasis on the man. One letter changes the entire meaning of the verse. It is so easy to change just a little bit and, thereby, change the truth of the Word of God. It is a dirty trick to change the Bible without warning or without revealing the changes on the outside, but it is a deception that is happening.

The other versions not only contradict the King James Version, they disagree among themselves. There are many differences between the American Standard Version and the Revised Standard Version. There are a lot of differences between the paraphrases, such as Good News for Modern Man and The Living Bible. They differ and contradict each other.

Not one of the other versions has produced a church they can brag on, or an evangelist, or a revival. We may not be able to fully understand the operation of the State Department in Washington, but a citizen of the United States can recognize a poorly run government. As Christians, we may not be able to read Hebrew or Greek, but we can recognize the spiritually dead churches and mission boards, which have fed on the English Revised Version, the American Standard Version, the New International Version, the New American Standard Version, or any of the other perverted translations.

But once God led the King to authorize the King James Version and God allowed the King James Version to come into existence, God’s stamp of approval has been on it like no other book, especially with America and England. The King James Version has the awe of the Holy Spirit on it.

Review Questions

True or False: If the statement is false, correct the statement to make it true

1. God, Who gave His Word in English, has preserved His Word in only the English language.

2. The Gospel has always moved from West to East

3. Heathenism is the result of man choosing not to retain the Truth.

4. The Revised Standard Version is considered the ecumenical or “global” bible.

5. The world is being taught to be patriotic and nationalistic.

6. People who are trying to push the world into globalism have no problem with the King James Version, because it teaches democracy.

7. Even King James Version Bible publishers must be watched, because some will print “King James Version” on the cover, but make changes inside without any warning.

8. The difference between using the word “throughly” and “thoroughly” in II Timothy 3:17 is that the King James Version, which rightly uses the word “throughly,” puts the emphasis on the Word of God, whereas the King James Version, which erroneously uses the word “thoroughly,” changes the doctrine to put the emphasis on man.

9. God has put His stamp of approval on the New International Version like no other book.

10. The King James Version has the awe of the Holy Spirit on it.

CHAPTER 18

Facts and Review

Interesting Facts About the 1613 Authorized King James Version

* The 1613 Edition was the first year that the King James Version was printed in a smaller size. The first two years the King James Version was a pulpit-size Bible only.

* The 1613 Edition contained a portion, the Psaltry or song book, which was printed in 1612.

* The edition of the King James Version in the smaller size helped further popularize the custom of “bringing the Bible to church with you.” Before this time, only the Psaltry was small enough to carry to church, which Baptists and Protestants did. Those fortunate enough to own a Bible previous to this edition either left them at home because of their large size, as in the case of the Geneva Bible, or because of persecution or custom. Many think the earlier Geneva Bible was originally printed smaller to make it easier to hide!

Numerological “Seven’s” in the KJV

1. There are 26 writers named in the Bible:

a) The number of Old Testament writers mentioned in the Old Testament is 21 (3 x 7).

b) The number of Old Testament writers mentioned in the New Testament is 7.

c) These seven names occur in the Old Testament 2,310 times (330 x 7).

2. “David” is the name that appears the greatest number of times in the Old Testament: 1,134 times (162 x 7).

3. “Moses” appears 847 times in the Old Testament (121 x 7).

4. The Bible is divided into seven sections:

Law

Prophets

Writings

Gospels

Acts

Epistles

Revelation

Facts About the King James Version

* Psalms 118:8 is the middle verse and deals with the faith that we can have that the King James Version is God’s preserved Word.

* The middle word in the middle verse (the middle word of the entire Bible) is “Lord.”

* The longest verse is Esther 8:9.

* The shortest verse in the English is John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”

* The shortest verse in the original Greek is I Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice evermore.”

What have you learned about your Bible?

Review Questions for Chapters 10 - 17:

1. On what was the Revised Standard Version based?

2. How much change in the Word of God can produce a change of doctrine?

3. What is Satan’s oldest trick?

4. For what did the martyrs give their lives?

5. What is America guilty of worshipping?

6. What key verse reveals God’s power and shows He can do what He said?

7. The real issue is not so much the interpretation of the Bible, but of what?

8. When someone says they believe “the Bible is the inspired Word of God as originally written,” what are they actually saying?

9. Through whom did God choose to preserve His Word?

10. What brought light to the Dark Ages?

11. How much of God’s Word did He promise to preserve?

12. In what verse of II Timothy did God claim to give us His Word?

13. What does “plenary, verbal inspired” mean?

14. Why is it foolish for man to try to destroy God’s Word?

15. Name the six points of the proposition that leads us to believe the King James Version is the Word of God.

16. How long has the King James Version stood alone without competition?

17. What effect did the common man getting the Word of God have on Catholicism?

18. Through what group of people did God preserve

a. the Old Testament?

b. the New Testament?

19. From what “trail” do all true Bibles come?

20. What does “Textus Receptus” mean?

21. Did God preserve His Word only in the English language?

22. From what does heathenism result?

23. Which bible is considered the ecumenical bible?

24. With which Bible do people, who are trying to push the world into globalism, have a problem, and why?

25. Why must the publishers of even the King James Version be watched closely?

CHAPTER 19

The Polluted Stream

Deuteronomy 8:3 “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

back trail - to return by the same path

conclusive - that which settles a question; final; decisive

purgatory - a state or place in which, in Roman Catholicism doctrine, those who have died in the grace of God pay the penalty of their sins by suffering

codex - a bound book, in contrast to a roll or scroll

Codex Vaticanus - one of 50 bibles ordered by Constantine during the fourth century, prepared by Eusebius to be used in the Catholic churches of Rome during Constantine’s reign and later found in the Vatican library; one of the manuscripts from the corrupt “stream” on which Westcott and Hort based their new Greek text and, from there, most of the modern bible translations and versions of today

Codex Sinaiticus - discovered on Mt. Sinai in 1844 A.D. by Tischendorf; one of the manuscripts from the corrupt “stream” on which Westcott and Hort based their new Greek text and, from there, most of the modern bible translations and versions of today

pride of scholarship - arrogancy that is derived from the amount of or from where one receives his education.

Have you ever been in the woods and lost something and tried to retrace your trail where you had been? Maybe you lost your wallet, and you thought, “Now I was here,” then “I know I was there.” Did you ever try to back trail yourself? It is not easy, is it? Even though you had been there only a few hours before, it is not easy.

We are going to do some back trailing, tracing the King James Version and other versions back to their beginnings. One problem with going backwards is that not everything will be conclusive. That is the pitfall the liberals have fallen into. Many get off the true trail and find themselves on the false trail.

As we go backwards, we sometimes discover that the textual trails of the Bible seem to mingle, or run together. There are two trails. One is the pure trail, and the other is the corrupt trail, and at times they touch. But they are never exactly the same.

The corruption of the text did not just start in 1952 with the Revised Standard Version. It was being corrupted even in the days of the Apostle Paul and within a hundred years after the Apostle Paul lived. Some of the greatest corruption came out in the first 200-300 years. The polluted trail began with a man named Origen around 200 A.D., and his student, Eusebius, and a follower of Eusebius, St. Jerome. Origen was the first Catholic and was the first to teach the doctrine of purgatory. St. Jerome was responsible for preparing the Latin Vulgate. All of this was the beginning of the Catholic Church.

In 331 A.D. Eusebius prepared 50 bibles for the Roman emperor Constantine, who made Catholicism the state religion of Rome. Two of those bibles were the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus, which, for the most part, agree with one another. These are the two manuscripts that Westcott and Hort were to use to translate their Greek New Testament in 1881, from which the modern bible translations are taken. The Codex Vaticanus was discovered in the Vatican library in 1481 A.D. The Codex Sinaiticus was lost for centuries, later to be discovered in a wastebasket in St. Catherine’s, a Catholic monastery on Mount Sinai, in 1844 A.D. by a man named Tischendorf.

This corrupt textual trail came up through Africa, through Alexandria, through Egypt, then through Rome.

Older is not always better when it comes to Bible text. Some of the earliest manuscripts that were found carry no record of the disciples or others coming into personal contact with the Lord after His resurrection, no record of His giving authority to the church, no record of the Great Commission, or any record of the Lord’s ascension into Heaven.

Likewise, being best cannot be based on the preservation of a manuscript or the good condition a manuscript might be found in and the clarity (not blemished and tom up) of the writings in it. Suppose a volcano erupted here now as it happened in Pompeii. Instantly, everything is covered and “frozen” in hot lava. One hundred years later someone comes along and begins digging the area up. Let’s say they found a King James Version Bible that had been used by someone for a long time: it had notes written in it, and it was worn from heavy usage. But maybe the owner of that King James Version Bible also had possession of another version that they did not use but kept for only reference—it was in excellent condition, like brand new.

THE CORRUPTED TREE BEARS CORRUPTED FRUIT

“Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.” Matthew 12:33

It does not look as bad as the King James Version Bible does. The person making the discoveries could run out and say, “This is the best copy of the Bible (holding up the other version) because it is in such good condition and so well preserved.” The King James Version Bible was in such poor condition because it had been used and studied. The other was in such good condition because it sat on a shelf and had never been used.

As the “ruins” are dug up as one goes back over the textual trail, there are some things that appear so clean, neat, and nice. It is because the common Christian did not use it. It did not get dirtied up because it was laid aside due to the fact that it was of no account. Yet, some have made a lot out of the condition in which they found manuscripts. Some want to go back to the third or fourth century to manuscripts that were found in quite good condition physically and thus claim that they are the best. They were the best possibly because they were discarded and not used.

The devil counterfeits the things of God. Any time one says that the American Standard Version, the Revised Standard Version, the New International Version, or any other version is a revision of the King James Version, they do not know what they are talking about. Yet, that is the lie they are trying to tell. They even say the New King James Version is a revision of the King James Version. Find where they made the changes, then go back and see from where the change came. You will find they came from the other “trail.” The New Scofield claims to be the King James Version, but every change in it “jumps trails” from the King James Version trail and gets over on the corrupt trail, then comes back and tries to install it in the text. That is why in the New Scofield in Daniel, chapter three, can be found the phrase, “a son of God,” rather than “the Son of God” as found in the King James Version.

Anytime a person does back trailing concerning the Word of God, there is some guessing, some chance involved. When a preacher gets up and says, “A better translation would be . . ." or “The originals said . . ." or “In the original language it says . . .," that is what he is doing: he is reading a text, and he is going to change that text to fill in what “a better translation would be . . ." He is looking at an English translation brought forward from the Hebrew or Greek and going in reverse. He takes the English translation and backs it up to tell what the Hebrew or Greek said. He is back trailing, or translating in reverse, and he has so much less to go on that way than the one did who was looking at the manuscript in Hebrew or Greek. Then the preacher stands up in pride of scholarship, which is actually probably not his, but from what he read in a book. Most preachers will not say he got his information from reading someone’s book and that some author was actually the one who said, “A better translation would be . . ." What the preacher does imply is, “Look at me; I had a little Greek in college, so I’m going to tell you what this said in the original.” He is looking at the English translation; where does he get his authority to translate backwards? He is only guessing. He is taking a shot in the dark.

One cannot take an English word and back trail accurately to the original. It can be done somewhat accurately, but not to the place where it gives the authority to change what the translators who came forward with it said. They were looking at the manuscripts of the Textus Receptus when they translated it.

Review Questions

1. How many textual trails of the Bible are there?

2. Are these trails always distinct from one another?

3. How early did corruption of the Bible start?

4. With whom did the corruption start and when?

5. Who was Origen’s student?

6. Who was a follower of Eusebius?

7. Who was the first Catholic?

8. Who first taught the doctrine of purgatory?

9. For what was St Jerome responsible for writing?

10. Who was the Roman Emperor who ordered 50 copies of the Bible?

11. Who fulfilled this order?

12. What religion was named the state religion by Constantine?

13. What are the names given to two of the 50 bibles that were turned over to Constantine, and how did each of them receive its name?

14. What are four examples of things found missing in the older manuscripts?

15. What explanation can be given for an ancient manuscript being in such good condition?

16. When a person tries to translate going from today backwards to the old manuscripts, what is he actually doing?

CHAPTER 20

The Pure Stream

Deuteronomy 12:32 “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

Peshitta - Syriac translation of the Bible set down around 150 A.D.

Majority Text - another name for the Textus Receptus, so called because there are more existing fragments and manuscripts of this text than of the other

vulgate - used among the common people; most popular

If a stream is corrupt at its beginning, corruption will flow down through it. Some people have taken a long, big drink from these other versions, but never went back around the “bend of the stream” to see where the stream started, and they have polluted themselves without realizing it.

One day a couple of boys were in the wilderness hiking. It was a hot, muggy day, and their thirst was immense. Their water supply had long been depleted, and they were in search of a creek for a refreshing drink of water. Soon, they came upon just such a creek, and the bubbling, sparkling water drew them immediately. As they kneeled on the bank, the reflection of the sun behind them danced on the ripples. The water was clear and cold, and the boys enjoyed the refreshment with delight. After a brief respite in the nearby shade, they decided to continue on their hike. Walking upstream, following the bank of the creek, they soon rounded a bend. Much to their horror, the scene before them stopped them dead in their tracks. Lying in the creek, the crystal water flowing merrily around it, lay a bloated, dead cow. The seemingly clear stream from which they had just refreshed themselves was not what it had appeared to be— it was polluted!

There are two streams of Bibles. The New Testament pure stream or trail is the Greek text of the Authorized Version and has its beginning at the church at Antioch (Acts 11:26), the Syrian capital, and was already set down by 150 A.D. from the Greek Vulgate into Syrian and was known as the Peshitta Version. This true trail comes through Antioch by the Apostles and missionaries, up through Greece, to the Balkans. From the Balkans, the trail continued through southern France and Germany and northern Italy, where the Waldensians and Albigenses translated it into Latin, named the Italic Version. This was different from the Latin Vulgate, which did not come from the Received Text.

The Waldensians and Albigenses, who were the forerunners of the Baptists, carried the Received Text into England during the time of the Reformation. It was preserved and protected for a thousand years by these same people. Then in 1516, a Dutch scholar, Erasmus, published the Textus Receptus in the Greek language.

The Textus Receptus was one of the great influences that brought about the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther translated the Textus Receptus into German, followed by William Tyndale’s translation into English, which was the basis of the Authorized King James Version of 1611. Westcott and Hort were later to claim that the translators of the King James Version 1611 did not know about the Codex Sinaiticus because it had not been discovered yet. However, Erasmus had seen large sections of the Codex Vaticanus in 1516 and rejected it as being a reliable source. Likewise, the 1611 translators rejected the Codex Vaticanus, as well as other manuscripts that were similar to the Codex Sinaiticus. This Bible was hated and strongly opposed by the Catholics, even to the point of torturing and massacring those who had anything to do with it.

The Textus Receptus was also called the Majority Text because there are by far more existing manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts that has this Syrian type text than those manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts that have the other text. Some like to believe that the oldest is best because a couple of manuscripts they found that are the oldest came from the corrupt “river” or “trail.” The Majority Text, from which came the King James Version, numbers in the thousands above the number found of the other text. They say, “Oldest is best.” We can say, “Most is best.”

The Peshitta has long been regarded as the most ancient New Testament version, being dated around the second century. However, the critics try to put a later date on it, because they try to date everything later than the Vaticanus or Sinaiticus manuscripts. On the true “trail,” the Syrian text and the Peshitta, with 350 manuscripts available, have an honest claim to being dated second century.

The word “majority” is important here. The other versions of the Bible today come from the minority manuscripts and mainly come from two: Sinaiticus and Vaticanus manuscripts, the Sinaiticus having been found in a Catholic monastery, well preserved in the sense that it had not been used.

THE GOOD TREE — Produced from pure and strong stock

These manuscripts were not complete: they contained omissions of certain sections, such as the book of Revelation. But that is the basis from which the new versions are taken.

These minority manuscripts are the authority that the new versions point back to. But the majority manuscripts number in the thousands and agree with each other. Ninety percent of all the old manuscript texts agree with the Textus Receptus from which the King James Version is translated, but do not agree with the Vaticanus or the Sinaiticus, the minority manuscripts. These two minority manuscripts from the false “trail” disagree between themselves over 3,000 times, and yet they carry the weight behind all the new versions today. That would be the same if a group of 30 or 40 people all saw an accident take place, and the police came and interviewed the witnesses. All of the 30 or 40 in the group totally agreed as to how the accident took place. But over across the street were two more witnesses that the police also interviewed. Their story was totally different, and their two stories even disagreed with each other. Which account do you think the police would be most likely to accept—the one same account given by 30 or 40 people, or one of the different accounts given by the other two, who even disagreed between themselves?

Another term with which we need to be familiar when studying the “textual trail” is the word “vulgate.” Today the word “vulgar” in our language refers to something bad. Back when the translators were working on the King James Version, the word “vulgate” meant it was used among the common people—it was the best-known or most popular. Do not confuse Jerome’s Vulgate, which was adopted by the Catholics, with the Greek Vulgate, which is in the lineage of the King James Version. There is also a difference between the Latin Vulgate and the Jerome’s Vulgate.

Review Questions

True or False: If a statement is false, correct it to

make the statement true.

1. The New Testament pure stream is the Greek text of the Authorized Version and had its beginning at Corinth around 150 A.D.

2. This translation from the Greek Vulgate into Syriac was known as the Peshitta Version.

3. The Peshitta was translated into Latin, and this version was named the Latin Vulgate.

4. The Waltons and the Aborigines were forerunners of the Baptists.

5. In 1516, a Dutch scholar by the name of Eusebius published the Textus Receptus in the Greek language.

6. Martin Luther translated the Textus Receptus into German.

7. William Tyndale translated the Textus Receptus into English, which became the basis of the Authorized King James Version of 1611.

8. Erasmus had never seen the Codex Sinaiticus, because it had not been discovered yet.

9. Erasmus had seen large sections of the Codex Vaticanus and used them extensively in his Greek translation

10. The Textus Receptus is called the Majority Text, because there are by far more existing manuscripts and fragments of this type of text than that of the other type of text.

11. The minority manuscripts, such as the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, are the authority the King James Version points back to.

12. The Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus agree with each other.

CHAPTER 21

The Levitical Priesthood and the Old Testament

Deuteronomy 6:6, 7 “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

Masoretic - Hebrew text of the Old Testament, edited by Jewish scribes of the Middle Ages

As we have already learned, the Old Testament (Masoretic traditional text) was preserved through the Levitical priesthood. The Jews did such a good job of preserving God’s Word that we, as Christians, are in debt to them. The Jews not only preserved the Old Testament to the day of Christ, but kept on preserving it down to the time of the Protestant Reformation. During the 1500’s the Jews were still preserving the Old Testament and even still do today. They believed it was the Word of God they were handling, so they were very, very careful. It was extremely precious to them. God preserved His Word despite the backslidden time Israel was going through. He raised up such kings as Josiah to preserve the Word and Ezra to put it together to keep it preserved.

It was firmly established in the day of Christ: He quoted from it. Many times the Hebrew priests translated blindly, but faithfully. Even if they did not understand it, they wrote it anyway.

That is what is missing with modern translators.

They think they pretty well understand the Bible. As they write, they write down what they think it teaches. But the old priesthood copied it accurately, even when they did not understand it.

When the Jews translated Isaiah 53, which points to Jesus as the Messiah, even though the Jews do not believe Jesus is the Messiah, they did not chop that chapter out. They still copied it and kept it. They try to dodge it and even tell their children not to read that chapter, but they are still faithful enough not to alter it or leave it out, because they believe it is God’s Word. If a modern translator does not agree with something, he changes it. Many times that is the purpose behind the translation.

When Philip won the Ethiopian eunuch to the Lord, what text did he have in his hand? Isaiah 53. It spoke of Jesus, His suffering, His dying. The eunuch asked if the prophet was speaking of himself or another man. The Bible records that Philip “preached unto him Jesus.” If the Jewish scribes had been like the revision committee of the American Standard Version, the Revised Standard Version, or the New International Version, they would have cut this out. But the Jews did not do it.

Today the translators are taking the liberty to change God’s Word wherever they want to change it.

Micah 5:2 is the prediction that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. Why didn’t the Jews cut that out rather than preserve it? It is a big witness against them that they rejected their Messiah. Two thousand years later they still have not cut it out. Why? They still believe it is the Word of God. It is sad that Christian translators during the last 100 years have not been as true to the Word of God as the Jews have been.

The scribes were so meticulous in their work that they developed a code of rules to follow in order to avoid the possibility of scribal error. First, they used only approved manuscripts. Then they copied these manuscripts with a special ink only on the skins of clean animals. Before each word was written, it was spoken out loud to avoid any word being written from memory. They took special care to give the name of God the special reverence and honor that was due: before writing the name of God in any form, they wiped their pen clean, and before writing the name of Jehovah, they bathed their entire body. When a copy was finished, it would be carefully examined against the original, sometimes even counting the letters and words. If one letter or punctuation was in error, the entire section was destroyed and begun again.

In contrast, some of today’s translators do not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, so they violate the Hebrew language by changing the translation to read “young maiden.” Psalms 22 predicted Jesus’ words on the cross. The Jews love the Psalms, and the Psalms identify Jesus in many places. Yet the Jews leave it there.

CHAPTER 22

The Apocrypha

Hebrews 1:1, 2 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

Apocrypha - books in the Catholic Old Testament that are not in most of our Bibles today

skeptic - a person who habitually doubts, questions, or suspends judgment upon matters generally accepted

authentic - reliable; trustworthy

The original King James Version included the Apocrypha. It was in a separate unit between the Old and New Testaments. It was never mixed in with the Bible books or mixed in with the text. The Catholic Bibles mix the Apocrypha in with the other books of the Bible.

The King James translators never believed it to be the Word of God, and they never treated it as the Word of God. They were kept more as a traditional thing. They were definitely old writings, but definitely false writings.

Some of the Apocrypha books, such as the books of Maccabees, has value in it for its history content, especially concerning the wars led by the Maccabees to try to free the Jews. However, the King James Version translators declared their belief many times that the Apocrypha was not a part of the Word of God. The obvious intent and position the translators took was that it was not the Word of God. The Geneva Bible, which is one of the forerunners of the King James Version, did not even include the Apocrypha at all, and rightly so. At a point in time the Apocrypha was considered to make the Bible more bulky and added to the cost of the printing of the Bible, so it was dropped.

We already looked at Matthew 23:34, 35 in Chapter 1, where Jesus revealed the canon of Scripture to be from Genesis through U Chronicles (in the sequence of books of the Old Testament as the Jews had them). Jesus was revealing that from A(bel) to Z(acharias), from the beginning (almost the very beginning of Genesis) to the end (almost the very end of II Chronicles), was what at that time was the written Word of God. The Jews knew what He was talking about here. But Jesus never included the Apocrypha. It is important to notice what Jesus sanctioned and what He did not. He nor the apostles even one time quoted or recognized the books of the Apocrypha. Yet the New Testament directly quotes the Old Testament about 263 times and alludes to its passages another 370 times. These books of the Apocrypha were not lost; they were thrown away.

Hebrews 1:1, 2 states, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;” God did speak in times past by the fathers, the prophets, but now He has spoken to us by His Son. What Jesus said about the Old Testament sums it up. It does not matter what this or that “scholar” says; what did Jesus say? He accepted the Old Testament as the Word of God. He quoted Moses as the author of the Law; He spoke of Jonah and the miracle as being exactly what it was. It is almost amazing that the very places that the skeptics point out to try to explain the miracles away, Jesus hits just about every one of these and shows them to be authentic.

The Old Testament was preserved in the Masoretic traditional Hebrew text by the Levitical priesthood. It is from what we get the text used in the King James Version, as well as other classic Protestant translations, such as Luther’s Bible and the Geneva Bible. All these came from the same source, the same text, and are trustworthy.

Review Questions

1. What is the Apocrypha?

2. Where was the Apocrypha placed in the early King James Version?

3. Where is the Apocrypha placed in the Catholic bible?

4. Did the King James translators believe the Apocrypha was part of the Word of God?

5. For what purpose did the King James translators keep the Apocrypha?

6. Of what value is the Apocrypha?

7. What early Bible did not include the Apocrypha?

8. How many times does the New Testament directly quote

a. the Old Testament?

b. the Apocrypha?

9. How many times did the New Testament allude to Old Testament passages?

CHAPTER 23

The Priesthood of Believers and The New Testament

One of the things that makes the scholarly world so angry is that God overlooked the “scholars” and let the common man be so greatly used in preserving His Word: the priesthood of believers.

I Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

The old Jewish priesthood was broken down after the crucifixion. They did not plan it; God just did not allow them to keep cutting the lambs’ throats and offering the blood, because the perfect Lamb (Jesus Christ) had been offered once and for all. The Jews go through their motions today, but they do not make their sacrifices. That is why God allowed the Romans to come in and destroy the Temple. It was the only place the Jews could offer the sacrifice. It would have been hypocrisy for the Jews to continue to offer their bloody sacrifices. To this day, the Jews have still not been able to rebuild the Temple and begin offering sacrifices again. They are training their young priests to offer sacrifices in preparation of the rebuilding of the Temple and reinstating the offering of sacrifices. The Anti-christ will allow them to do that temporarily, but it will be a mockery to the true Lamb of God, Who died on the cross and Who fulfilled all the Old Testament types of every lamb that was slain. Every Christian now makes up that priesthood of believers. We can bow on our knee and go directly to the Father through the name of Christ.

The “scholars” do not like to admit that God took common believers and used them to preserve the New Testament through the years.

Many copies of the original New Testament manuscripts were made by the scribes, which were read and recopied by true believers. Copies that contained error were not as generally read and soon fell by the wayside—part of God’s preservation process. The true text is found in most of the Greek New Testament manuscripts and is thus referred to by critics as the Byzantine text. A more accurate name is the Traditional text, as it was passed down through the church since the time of the Apostles.

Beginning in 1516, the printing of the New Testament began, and it spread throughout Western Europe during the Protestant Reformation. This printed text is accurately called the Textus Receptus, the “received text,” and has been used by all Protestants everywhere for 300 years. It is from the Textus Receptus that the King Janies Version was translated, as well as other accurate translations in various languages.

The classic Geneva Bible and Matthew’s Bible were fore-runners of the King James Version. Translations such as Luther’s Bible and the Geneva Bible were popular 50 years before and after the King James Version, and rightly so, because they were also taken from the Textus Receptus. Critics say they differed in some places. But there were no doctrinal differences. At the same time, the Lord never put His stamp of approval on the Matthew’s or Geneva Bibles or others to the degree that He has on the King James Version, because none of those can be pointed to for having been in common usage for over 300 years as the King James Version has. That does not say God did not approve of them nor have a hand in them, but it was in the preservation of the text that came on through the King James Version. There is no quarrel with these versions; the quarrel is with the versions that jump into the “polluted stream.”

Someone may ask if there would be an objection to a person going today to the “pure stream,” the Textus Receptus, and producing another version. There is no need of it. We cannot produce 50 men in America or in the world today that God will ever use again like those He used who translated the King James Version. When the job was done, God seemed to have sealed it.

Review Questions

Circle the best answer.

1. Whom did God overlook to preserve the New Testament?

a. scholars

b. common man

c. the priesthood of believers

d. the Levitical priesthood

2. Why does God not allow the Jews to make their sacrifices today?

a. because it is too bloody and gory.

b. because the Jews need to learn how to do it properly

c. because the perfect Lamb has been offered once for all

d. because the Temple was destroyed

3. Who makes up the priesthood of believers?

a. the Jewish priests

b. every Christian

c. any person from the tribe of Levi

d. priests of the Catholic Church

4. What are two other names for the true text?

a. Byzantine and Traditional

b. Vaticanus and Byzantine

c. Traditional and Sinaiticus

d. Sinaiticus and Vaticanus

5. When did the printing of the New Testament begin?

a. 331 A.D.

b. 1451 A.D.

c. 1844 A.D.

d. 1516 A.D.

6. During what period did the New Testament spread throughout Western Europe?

a. Industrial Revolution

b. Inquisition

c. Middle Ages

d. Protestant Reformation

7. What are two Bibles that were forerunners of the King James Version?

a. Tischendorf and Alford

b. Geneva Bible and Matthew’s Bible

c. Jerome’s Vulgate and Sinaiticus

d. Vaticanus and Alexandrian

CHAPTER 24

The Attack on the Deity of Christ

Part I

John 10:37, 38 “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

humanistic - the quality of believing that man is capable of self-fulfillment, ethical conduct, etc., without dependence on God

German rationalism - a doctrine that began in Germany that rejects the supernatural and revelation and makes educated reasoning the sole source for religious truth

fundamentalist - a person whose religious beliefs are based on the literal interpretation of the Bible and regards it as essential to the Christian faith and morals

Messianic consciousness of Christ - the quality of Jesus’ personally knowing that He was the Messiah and claiming to be so

Messiah - the promised and expected deliverer of the Jews (Jesus Christ)

Sanhedrin - the highest court and council of the ancient Jewish nation, having religious and civil functions. It was abolished with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Pharisees - members of an ancient Jewish party or fellowship that carefully observed the written law, but also accepted the oral or traditional law

The New Testament deals more with Jesus Christ, and the attack by Satan on the deity of Christ is the spiritual motive behind many of the perversions of the Bible. When changes are found in the Old Testament in other versions, they “mysteriously” also tamper with the deity of Christ, such as Isaiah 7:14, where “virgin” is changed to “young woman.” It is no accident—these changes always appear where they take away from the deity of Christ.

The New Testament tells us how to be saved. It especially presents God’s Son as our Savior. This is where the warfare is today. Christ not only gives in the New Testament information about Himself, but He reveals Himself. The naturalistic critics must turn their backs on Christ and shut their eyes and try to approach it from a humanistic approach.

A term with which we need to be familiar is “German rationalism.” The high criticism of the New Testament came through what we call German rationals, which is where they went education-crazy. This kind of “higher” education produces Hitlers before it is over with, which is what it did for Germany. These same critics, these same writings, are what are being tied in and puffed up by the enemies of the Word of God today, and many believers are being brainwashed into accepting that kind of criticism. German rationalism defines the critical attitude, or approach of unbelief, toward the Bible. It started in Germany and proceeded across the land. It is behind the new versions of our day. Some of the Bible colleges, who have departed from the King James Version, can trace their departure to German rationalism. It is only a matter of degree between fundamentalists caught up in German rationalism and liberals, depending on how much of the Bible he changes. A liberal wants to change it all, where the fundamentalist would say, “A better translation would be . . ."

The liberal unbeliever has a real problem with the Messianic consciousness of Christ, as it is portrayed in the Scripture.

They have made statements to the effect that Jesus never did claim to be God or the Messiah. Yet, anyone who reads the New Testament, believing it all, can see that He actually did. John 10:30 says, “I and my Father are one.” The claim was so real that the Sanhedrim, Pharisees, and priests put Him to death because He did claim to be the Messiah. That was their “charge” against Him. The claim was there, and the miracles were there to prove it. Jesus knew He was the Messiah, but liberals try to tone that down in various ways, including producing films, such as The Last Temptation of Christ, that portray Jesus as merely fulfilling a role or pretending to be the prophesied Messiah. They try to leave a question in people’s minds, “Maybe He was; maybe He wasn’t.” In movies about Christ, however, they also try to play down His resurrection. That is because the resurrection is the victory note—it is the proof. Anyone can say they are the Messiah, but let them be crucified and placed in a tomb and come back alive from the dead—that’s something else.

One day a woman wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper stating that her pastor had said that Jesus did not really die; He just swooned. Then they put Him in the grave, and the coolness of the tomb revived Him, and He came out. That is what the pastor said the resurrection really was.

The editor replied by proposing that the lady’s pastor allow himself to be taken, kept up all night, be slapped and beaten, have thorns placed on his head. The next morning he should drag a heavy cross up a hill and then lay down and be nailed to that cross. That cross should then be lifted up where the pastor could hang on that cross in the sun and, finally, be pierced in his heart with a spear. Place that pastor in a cool tomb, and see if he comes out three days later.

That is the foolishness going on today in Hollywood, trying to play down the Messianic consciousness of Jesus Christ.

The blasphemy going on today includes the idea that Jesus thought if He just did certain things in a certain way, He could fool the people into believing He was the Messiah, but He slipped up and went too far and got Himself crucified. Or they say He thought that if He acted out the part, that God would look down from Heaven and say, “Well, I needed a Messiah, and there’s a Fella’ down there that qualifies, so I’ll just go ahead and use Him.” But Jesus very clearly identified Himself in the Scripture.

Review Questions

True and False: If the statement is false, correct it to

make the statement true

1. The New Testament deals more with Jesus Christ

2. The attack of Satan on spiritual separation of the believer is the motive behind many of the perversions of the Bible.

3. The New Testament tells us how to be saved and presents God’s Son as our Savior.

4. “German rationalism” is a doctrine started in Germany that rejects the Bible and makes psychology the sole source for religious truth.

5. The difference between a liberal and a fundamentalist caught up in German rationalism is that the liberal wants to change it all, and the fundamentalist would say, “A better translation would be . . .”

6. The Sanhedrin, Pharisees, and priests had Jesus put to death because He performed miracles on the Sabbath.

7. The crucifixion is the proof that Jesus is the Messiah.

CHAPTER 25

The Attack on the Deity of Christ

Part II

Romans 1:23-25 “And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

New Age - an umbrella term to describe organizations which seem to follow one or more of these beliefs: (1) all is one; reality is part of the whole; (2) everything is God, and God is everything; (3) man is God or part of God; (4) man never dies, but continues to live through reincarnation; (5) man can create his own reality through transformed consciousness

dovetail - to fit together logically

heresy - a religious belief opposed to the orthodox doctrines of a church

The New Age group pushes a doctrine, which many of the newer versions also push, a doctrine concerning Jesus’ baptism. This doctrine teaches that Christ’s spirit came upon Jesus at the time of His baptism, but when He was crucified on the cross, this spirit left Him—He died not as God, but as a man. He could not have called 10,000 angels to deliver Him, because He was just a man. He became totally weak because the Christ-spirit totally left Him.

This false doctrine leads to the belief that the Christ-spirit can come on anyone—any man is subject for the Christ-spirit to come on him, and he can become the christ for that day and age.

We believe we are the last generation, and the Antichrist is already alive. New-agers are teaching the christ is alive and walking around. Even some of the Jewish talk is that the messiah is already here, but has not revealed himself yet. This makes it understandable how when the Anti-christ appears, the Jews will mistakenly believe he is the messiah. The New Age teaching is dovetailing in at this time. This doctrine is found way back in many of the corrupt texts. These texts compare the Christ-spirit coming upon Jesus much as the Spirit did on Samson in the Old Testament. This doctrine of the Christ-spirit coming upon Jesus at His baptism and departing at His crucifixion was condemned as heresy centuries ago, yet it is making a re-entry now and becoming a popular belief once again.

The Apostle John’s writings have been a great disturbance to the Pharisaical crowd. They do not like his Gospel or the book of Revelation; the spiritual applications of these two books bother them. They try to make reasons for omitting the book of Revelation from the New Testament.

When Jesus was born on this earth, He was not born in a palace. The angel messenger was not sent to proclaim His birth to the king or rulers. The angel went out to the shepherds on the hillside. The announcement was made in humble circles. Jesus was born into this world on the humble path—born in a stable. It should not shock us, then, to realize God preserved His Word through people humble enough to believe His Word and to pray for their daily bread. Which textual trail of the Bible is the poor man’s trail? Which trail is the “highbrow,” intellectual trail?

The King James Version is the Protestant Bible of the Protestant Reformation, of a Protestant King, who authorized it. Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, and others are denying the very Book that brought them into existence when they choose liberal versions of the Bible over the King James. The King James Version is the Baptist Bible; it is the Protestant Bible. Baptists are not Protestants, but if it had not been for the underground Baptists at that time, there never would have been a successful Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther would have been executed had it not been for the help he received from the underground church. William Tyndale, while being burned at the stake, prayed that the Lord would open the eyes of the King of England. God answered that prayer—that is why we have the King James Version.

Review Questions

1. What is meant by “New Age?”

2. What do some of the changes in the newer versions of the Bible show concerning the death of Jesus?

3. What does this false doctrine lead to?

4. Whom will the Jews mistakenly believe is the Messiah?

5. Into what path was Jesus born into this world?

6. What prayer did William Tyndale pray concerning the King of England?

7. What do we have today as a result of God’s answering that prayer?

CHAPTER 26

Coffers and Copyrights

Psalms 19:7-10 “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

copyright - the exclusive right to the publication, production, or sale and to the use of a commercial print or label, granted by law for a specified period of time to an author, composer, artist, distributor, etc.

coffer - treasury; funds

commercializing - the act of engaging in or making use of mainly for profit, especially at a sacrifice of other values

Crown - the monarch as head of state

royalties - shares of the proceeds or product paid to the owner of a copyright

What is behind copyrights? Coffers, which are treasure chests into which the profit goes. Money is behind the copyrights.

A copyright says that all rights are reserved. If copyrighted material is copied or used in many ways without the copyright owner’s permission, it can result in legal trouble. Some publishers change just enough of the Bible to obtain a copyright on it (not to be a help to you, but to obtain a copyright for themselves). Even though there may not be any cases as yet where a publisher has sued someone for using the Scriptures from their copyrighted bible, they are holding the right to do so.

If someone wrote an article for the newspaper and quoted fromThe Open Bible, that person is technically in violation of the copyright. If a person began printing in volume a copyrighted bible, such as The Open Bible, and then began sending it to missionaries or distributing it elsewhere, even if it was at his cost, do you believe he may hear from the publishers concerning it? Copyrights on bibles are a form of commercializing and using for profit the Word of God.

The use of italics by the King James Version translating committee was a sign of their honesty, not dishonesty. There is a problem translating from Greek to English, and to aid in the flow of translation from the Greek to the English, some English words were inserted without changing the translation. However, there was openness concerning these additions by the use of italics. A lot of copyrighted bibles do not identify where changes were made. They made enough changes to obtain a copyright, but failed to identify those changes.

The word “unknown” is in italics in I Corinthians 14:2 in the King James Version: “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.” For over 200 years, people did not have a problem with that word. Later, people grab the one word that did not appear in the original Greek text and was plainly identified in the King James Version by italics, and they hang the doctrine of “speaking in tongues” on it. We cannot blame the translators for that.

The King James Version is also called the Authorized Version. But who authorized it? Many answer that the King authorized it. But we need to remember what King James I did concerning the Bible. He turned the Crown copyright over to the people. As soon as it was printed, it meant that anyone could copy it, write articles on it, quote the Scripture out of it, write a book on it, and the people did not have to go back to the King to get permission to do it nor turn royalties over to him. The copyright was given to the people. Open up the other versions and see who the copyright belongs to. Some say they cannot prosecute a person for quoting the Bible. But their legal right includes that others are not to print a bible like theirs and sell it. But anyone can take the plain King James Version and copy it and sell it as much as they desire. That is one of the reasons that printers and missionaries who really want the Bible copied to distribute without making money on it, want only the King James Version. Without permission, one is not to make copies of the others; the publishers who own the copyright want a royalty from it. The Authorized Version is authorized by the people, not the King. The copyright belongs to the people, the priesthood of believers.

CHAPTER 27

Facts and Review

Interesting Facts About the Great Bible, 1539

* The Great Bible started to be printed in Paris, but the Inquisition caused the printing of it to be finished in England.

* It was called the Great Bible because of its huge size.

* At the bottom of the title page is written, “This is the Bible appointed to the use of the churches.’’ An order had been given in 1538 that a copy of the Bible was to be placed in every church of the land. However, its great size caused its use to be almost totally limited to within the church.

* In 1543, Parliament made it a crime to publicly preach or read the Bible without a license. Only the upper classes were allowed to privately read the Bible. In 1546 all Bibles except the Great Bible were banned from use and huge numbers of the Tyndale and Coverdale Bibles were confiscated and burned

Numerological “Seven’s” in the KJV

* “The Lamb, ” as referring to Christ, occurs 28 times (4x7).

* In the book of Revelation:

a) “Jesus” occurs 14 times (2 x 7), 7 times alone and 7 times with the word “Christ. ”

b) “Spirit ” occurs 14 times (2 x 7).

c) “Lord” occurs 21 times (3 x 7).

* “His mercy endureth forever” occurs 42 times (6 x 7) in the Old Testament.

* “Hallelujah” occurs 28 times (4 x 7).

Facts About the King James Version

1. Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet, except one. Which letter is missing?

2. The longest name in the Bible is found in Isaiah, chapter 8. What is it?

3. IE Kings 19 and Isaiah 37 are basically alike, except for one thing. What is the difference?

What have you learned about your Bible?

Review Questions for Chapters 19-26

1. Where and when did the New Testament pure stream of the Greek text have its beginning?

2. Name two groups as studied in this book who were forerunners of the Baptists.

3. Who was the Dutch scholar who published the Textus Receptus in the Greek language, and in what year did he do this?

4. Who translated the Textus Receptus into German?

5. Who translated the Textus Receptus into English?

6. To what authority do the new versions point back?

7. Did the King James translators believe the Apocrypha was part of the Word of God?

8. Whom did God overlook to preserve His Word?

9. Why does God not allow the Jews to make their sacrifices today?

10. Who makes up the priesthood of believers?

11. With what does the attack of Satan, which is the motive behind many of the perversions of the Bible, deal?

12. What proved Jesus is the Messiah?

13. Who prayed that the eyes of the King of England would be opened?

14. What was the result of God’s answering that prayer?

15. To whom did the Crown copyright of the King James Version belong?

16. For what purpose was the use of italics in the King James Version?

17. What is “German rationalism”?

18. What is meant by “New Age”?

19. Explain the code of rules to which the scribes held while copying God’s Word.

CHAPTER 28

The Translators’ Treachery

Part I

II Corinthians 11:4 “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him”

II Corinthians 11:14,15 “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

motive - some inner drive, impulse, etc., that causes a person to do something or act in a certain way; incentive

prose - the ordinary form of written or spoken language that is not poetry

Satan and God are in a warfare. It started in the Garden of Eden, went through the Old Testament, never let up in the New Testament, and is still going on today. Therefore, the Apostle Paul warned against corruption in his writings, warned against another gospel, warned against those who would pervert the Scripture. II Corinthians 11:4, 14-15 says, “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. . . . And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” And then in Galatians 1:6-7 we find, “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.” The warfare will continue until the Lord comes back and finally takes care of Satan.

In 1604, a group of Puritans suggested to King James I that a new Bible translation be made. King James I liked the idea, and within six months plans were laid and a list compiled of 54 scholars who would do the work. Only 47 of these 54 ended up on the translating committee. These 47 were divided into six groups for a system of “checks and balances,” whereby five groups would check the work of one group. These groups met separately (two in Cambridge, two in Oxford, and two in Westminster) and were given a specific portion of Scripture to translate. A special committee of six members made a final review before the translation was ready for printing. The translation was completed in 1611, less than seven years from when it was started.

The inscription on the Masterpiece read, “The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments translated out of the original tongues and with the former translations diligently compared and revised by his Majesty’s special command. Appointed to be read in churches.”

The translators of the King James Version felt they were handling the Word of God. In the “Foreword” of the King James Version, the translators explained they had finished it and rested secure because they had done it with innocent motive and intention; they had a good conscience about it and had done it simply and honestly. These men made no money off the copyright. They were poor by our standards today. They lived a simple, studious life.

You cannot find translating committees with the personal spirituality and dedication as that of the King James Version translating committee. God was in the selection of the translators. He did not inspire them as He did Paul, but He did superintend and guard over them to preserve the Word.

During the time the King James Version was written was an age of belief. Socialism, Darwinism, criticism of God’s Word was not in existence yet. It was a time when people really used English and had an excellent vocabulary. Many classical, scholarly writers were writing books during this time that would influence such people as Wesley and Whitefield even 120 years later to bring about their conversion. People have lost much ground in the area of pure English. Today’s generation has greatly degenerated in their use of English, and it does carry over into the understandability of the King James Version, but that is not God’s fault. God sent His Son to earth in the fullness of time. The King James Version, likewise, came in the fullness of time in the aspect of language: there is no language like it. It has the deep meaning, rhythm, and prose to it that has never been duplicated. The English of the King James Version is an accurate, high-class language. To some degree, that language has been lost today. It is a classic.

In today’s translations, the argument is that the so-called “archaic” words be changed to a more modern English. However, this very often causes the loss of the original meaning or diminishes the reverence shown to the Lord Jesus Christ. Exchanging the more modern “You” or “Your” for “Thee” or “Thou” brings down the reverence of the Lord to the level of mere man and deletes the honor and glory due Him.

Another area of criticism concerning the King James Version is the use of old English pronouns. God’s Word is to be different. In modern English, there is no difference in the singular or plural “you.” However, in the Greek New Testament and the Hebrew Old Testament, a very distinct difference was made. This difference is carried over by the old English, giving the King James Version a more precise translation than the modern versions.

In the old English translation, any pronoun beginning with the letter “t” was singular; any pronoun beginning with the letter “y” was plural. Therefore, “you,” “ye,” and “your” were plural; “thee,” “thou,” “thy,” and “thine” were singular. And in considering the word “you” alone, used in the King James Version about 2,000 times, the use of “thee” or “ye” in its place offers accuracy in the translation and in the interpretation.

Review Questions

1. About what did the Apostle Paul give warning?

2. Into what is Satan transformed?

3. When was it suggested to King James that a new Bible translation be made, and by whom was the suggestion made?

4. How many scholars were chosen to work on the translation?

5. How many of these actually worked on the translation?

6. Describe the system of “checks and balances” these scholars used.

7. How long did it take to finish the translation of the King James Version?

8. In what year was the King James Version completed?

9. How much did these translators earn off the copyright of the King James Version, and why?

10. When did God send His Son into the world?

11. When did the King James Version come into being as far as the English language is concerned? (not asking for a year or date)

12. How can the English that is used in the King James Version best be described?

13. What is the result when some of the so-called “archaic” words of the King James Version are changed into more modern English?

14. In the older English pronouns, how could one distinguish between singular and plural pronouns?

CHAPTER 29

The Translators' Treachery

Part II

Jeremiah 23:30 “Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.”

There has never been another group of translators ever gathered together that approached a Bible translation like the translators for the King James Version. There are anonymous groups of translators who worked on these other versions. For example, there was a man on the Revised Standard Version's translating committee who was an unsaved Jew, who did not believe at all in the deity of Christ. The members of the New International Version’s (NIV) translating committee were kept secret, and their names were not released until years after the NIV came out. For some time, it was very difficult to find out who the translators were.

Bible perverters will one day stand before God in judgment for stealing the Word of God from the common man. Stealing the Word of God can come in so many different ways. In the Soviet Union, it was done at the point of a gun; the common people were not allowed to have the Bible. That may not be as bad as it is here in America, where it gets changed and then “lost in the crowd.” It is more dangerous to change the label on poison than to have it rightly identified. That is what the new versions are doing.

Remember, the King James Version translators’ job was not researching and digging up the manuscripts. Their job was to take the existing evidence, text, manuscripts, and make a translation — not a paraphrase, not a commentary, but a translation. It was not what they thought an interpretation ought to mean, but what it actually said.

The words “best authorities” must be taken “with a grain of salt.” “Best authorities” in our viewpoint are the King James Version translators. The Sinaiticus is referred to by many as one of the “better manuscripts” because it was discovered after the translators had done their work in 1611. “Scholars” have tried to date the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus back to the fourth or fifth century, but they are not the best manuscripts, nor the oldest. The Peshitta is older.

The committees of other bible versions want the people to think they have revised the King James Version. They have not revised the King James Version. The 1881 Revised Version committee did not revise the King James Version; the American Standard Version did not; the 1946 nor 1952 Revised Standard Version did not. All other versions took the corrupt text, the false text from the Catholic side, the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. But these committees want the people to think that the old Bible that has been around all these years has been revised. That is the biggest lie they tell.

If a person puts a new coat of paint on his car, it is still his same old car. But these committees are “changing cars,” putting on the same color of “paint,” and trying to tell the people it is the same “car.”

The devil does not appear in his red outfit where people can easily recognize him, but he appears sometimes as a “scholar” in trying to destroy God’s Word. The New International Version committee, who hid the identity of the translators until after the work was done, is the ecumenical bible of these last days, putting the one-world church together.

Too many translators today are like Origen, who changed the Word of God to fit his doctrine. Origen, a famous theologian who lived about 200 years after Christ, taught that Jesus was a mere created being, not God. An admirer of Origen’s, Eusebius, also refused to accept the belief that Jesus was equal with God the Father. This is a heresy that has lasted over 300 years. We think of our beliefs as Christians as being very, very old. But some of the error found in today’s modern bible versions are also old. The belief that Jesus is a creature, not the Creator, carries over into the American Standard Version, the Revised Standard Version, the New World Translation, and others. Jehovah Witnesses say, “We can go way back in history with our doctrine that Jesus is not God.” They are right—they can go way back with their heresy. They can go back as far as the devil himself.

Acts 8:37, “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,” is omitted in many versions. Some defenders of its omission are that the doctrine that Jesus is the Son of God still remains in other passages of their versions; therefore, the doctrine has not been changed. However, Jesus did not say we are to live by every doctrine alone, but by every word. There are many countries that do not have the whole Bible because of persecution. They may have only a portion of it. What if all they had was Acts, chapter eight? That statement, the eunuch’s confession that Jesus was the Son of God, found in verse 37 would be a very important statement.

Today’s translators do not realize to what degree they are performing Satan’s plan. If they had come with an extreme bible all at one time, it would have been totally rejected by Christendom. If you look at Satan’s plan, it is like stair steps, a little accumulation of error at a time, as he builds toward an ultra, ridiculous, liberal bible that will take away the Truth.

Even in the worst translations, in places, one can still find the true Gospel. That does not justify these versions; however, it is a fact. It will finally get to the place that the Gospel will not be in them. It will become totally perverted. Some are already that way: the Jehovah Witness bible, the New World Translation, and a few others. But these versions are building toward the ultimate. In the average church today, unless the preacher has stood and made a suggestion as to which Bible he prefers, there will be all kinds of different versions within one congregation.

Amos, in Amos 8:11-12, said, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” A time of famine will come, not for bread or water, but for the Word of God. The Bible is becoming counterfeited and camouflaged, and that is Satan’s plan.

Review Questions Circle the best answer.

1. The Word of God is stolen from the people in America

a. at gun point

b. by changing it.

c. by burning it

d. by confiscation.

2. It was the job of the King James translators to

a. take existing evidence, text, and manuscripts and make a translation.

b. take existing evidence, text, and manuscripts and make a commentary.

c. take existing evidence, text, and manuscripts and make a paraphrase.

d. research and dig up manuscripts.

3. Which manuscript is referred to by many as one of the “better manuscripts” because it was discovered after the translators had finished their work in 1611?

a. Vaticanus

b. Peshitta

c. Alexandrian

d. Sinaiticus

4. Which manuscript is older?

a. Vaticanus

b. Peshitta

c. Alexandrian

d. Sinaiticus

5. The committees of other bible versions want the people to think

a. they have revised the King James Version.

b. they have developed a new translation.

c. they are better qualified than the King James Version translators.

d. the newer versions are based on the Peshitta.

6. The New International Version is

a. a better translation.

b. written by devil worshippers.

c. the newer version whose translating committee openly revealed who worked on the translation

d. the ecumenical bible, putting together the one-world church.

7. The belief that Origen and Eusebius both held to was

a. that Jesus was a mere created being, not God.

b. Jesus and God were equal.

c. Jesus was the Son of God.

d. salvation came through Jesus Christ.

8. What are some of the versions that carry the doctrine that Jesus is only a creature, not the Creator?

a. the King James Version, the Geneva Bible, and the Matthew Bible

b. the American Standard Version, the Revised Standard Version, and the New World Translation

c. the Coverdale Bible and the Great Bible

d. The Wycliffe Bible, the Luther Bible, and the Tyndale Bible

9. A time is coming when

a. all people will use the King James Version

b. the Word of God will no longer exist

c. every person in the world will have their own copy of the Word of God.

d. there will be a famine on earth for the true Word of God.

CHAPTER 30

The Translators’ Treachery

Part III

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

literally - based on the actual words in their ordinary meaning

figuratively - not in its original, usual, literal, or exact sense of reference

treachery - betrayal of trust, faith, or allegiance

hindsight - ability to see, after the event, what should have been done

Among other verses that warn against tampering with the Word of God, God placed three “soldiers” throughout the Bible to “guard” it. One is found toward the beginning of the Bible, one in the middle, and the third at the end.

Deuteronomy 4:2 “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”

Proverbs 30:6 “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”

Revelation 22:19 “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.”

Every change made in the Word of God is one of two things: it (1) “adds to” or (2) “takes from.” That is what the Bible warns about and is exactly what caused the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Eve and Satan added to and took from the Word of God (Genesis 3). When the same temptation came again, in Matthew 4, Satan quotes the Word of God, but with just a little bit of changing. Jesus kept coming back, correcting Satan. The battle was over the Word. Satan always brings up the question, “Did God mean that literally or figuratively?” These are the areas where the battle continues today.

How accurate is a translation that translates “Lamb of God” into “Pig of God” because the people for whom the translation was made had never seen a lamb? A lamb is the picture of a meek, mild, harmless animal; the pig is a picture of filth, viciousness, and greed. How accurate is translating “demon” to “troll,” giving the idea of a make-believe being that in reality is harmless?

In John 12:48, we see the judgment prepared for these modern-day translators which have changed or omitted portions of the Bible. They will be judged by the very words they changed or omitted: “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.” Jesus was speaking here as God. He knew He was God. He said His words would be judge in the last day.

It is no accident that there is a fight for the Word of God, because the fight is between God and Satan. If you were Satan, what better place to attack than the very words of God? That is because saving faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and Satan knows that. It is a Satanic conspiracy. This is the big battle in these last days.

Many grandparents today, when they were only teenagers or younger, saw their church in the beginning with a preacher declaring the Word of God as if it had just been handed to him out of Heaven. Then gradually they have seen the perversions filter in and the question marks and all the liberalism that comes with it.

The King James Version translators had the attitude toward God’s Word that whether they totally understood it or whether they agreed with it, they still would not tamper with it. There is a difference with today’s translators’ attitude.

The treachery of today’s translators becomes apparent when the attitude behind changing the Bible is detected. That attitude is, “If I can’t understand it, or if it doesn’t say what I think it ought to say, I have the right to change it, because it must be a scribal error or a bad copy.”

When the King James Version translators were translating, they did not know the Masterpiece they were producing. They did not know it would become the approved, authorized version—authorized by the common people, by the priesthood of believers, by the usage of the common church. God was using the translators more than they realized. They rose above themselves, above their abilities, and above their talents in that work. But the evidence of the Masterpiece was the test of time and the stamp of approval God has put on it. It is easy to look back (hindsight) and see that God’s hand was in the work, not in the sense of inspiration, but in the sense of having that which had already been inspired translated correctly and preserved.

Review Questions

1. Give the references for the three “soldiers” that “guard” the Word of God.

2. Every change in the Word of God does one of two things. What are they?

3. What question does Satan always bring up?

4. What will those who change the Word of God be judged by?

5. Why does Satan attack the Word of God?

6. By whom was the King James Version authorized?

CHAPTER 31

Who Were These Men, Westcott and Hort?

Galatians 1:6, 7 “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.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

liturgy - prescribed forms or ritual for public worship

incarnation - appearing in human form inerrancy - the quality of being without mistakes

Brooke Foss Westcott was born in England in 1825 and died in 1901. His contemporary, Fenton John Anthony Hort was also born in England in 1828 and died in 1892. Both attended English private secondary schools and graduated from Cambridge University. At that time only Anglicans were allowed to attend Cambridge University. Westcott tutored Hort for a period of time. Both Westcott and Hort were ritualistic Anglicans and admirers of a man named John Henry Newman. Newman was known for his role in writing a series of pamphlets encouraging the Anglican Church to become more like the Catholic Church. He wanted to see the Catholic liturgy, their burning of candles and incense, and other Catholic rites brought back into the Anglican Church. Later, Newman became a Catholic himself.

Westcott was also an admirer of Origen, who was the first Catholic. Westcott believed in a social gospel. When speaking of the incarnation of Christ, Westcott said that when God took on the form of man, He was merely showing the destiny of mankind; that Christ was inspiring man to attain the same highest thoughts and noblest actions, because God knew man was capable of it. Westcott believed that man’s sin was not a natural part of his being, that sin could be separated from man.

Westcott further believed that those men who were inspired of God as they wrote the holy Scriptures, were not divinely inspired at all, but merely making personal choices from other literature and patching those pieces together. Hort denied that he assumed that the Word of God was true or inspired of God, but that he was more willing to follow the higher criticisms of others concerning the inspiration or the inerrancy of the Word of God.

According to Westcott, all religions were related to one another; that Buddhism, Confucianism, and any other religion were equal with Christianity.

Both Westcott and Hort denied a literal Heaven that God prepared as the eternal abode for His children. They believed heaven could be attained here on earth as man became better and better.

Both men were Darwinists. Wescott once said that he could not believe that any intelligent person could believe the first three chapters of Genesis held literal meaning. Hort’s personal support of Darwin helped the spread of Darwinism and secured its success in England.

Concerning salvation, both Westcott and Hort believed in salvation by infant baptism and the taking of the sacraments of the Anglican Church. Hort, at the confirmation of his own son, stated that he believed that Jesus came to earth to teach us the true way of looking at things, and that through loving Jesus and following His example, we could destroy the evil in and around us.

Hort was also a hater of America. He viewed America as a menace to civilization, and his hope was that America’s Civil War would be her destruction. He wrote against the slaves in America, portraying them as an inferior race and barely human, and their virtues were not much more than that of a dog.

Famous fundamentalists of the nineteenth century, such as Finney, Moody, Spurgeon, Sam Jones, and others, all spoke of their personal relationship with Jesus Christ—but not so with Westcott or Hort. They relied on their infant baptism and the taking of sacraments for their salvation.

Dare we allow men such as these to choose a biblical manuscript for us and then translate it? Certainly not!! Even if their translation was as accurate as the King James Version, Baptists, out of respect for their forefathers, many of whom were tortured and died under Anglican and Catholic tyranny, would be forced to refuse it!

Review Questions

Place a checkmark next to the items below that are true about Westcott and/or Hort:

believed when God took on the form of man, He was

merely showing the destiny of mankind

believed in salvation by infant baptism and the taking of the

sacraments of the Anglican Church

never spoke of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ

denied a literal Heaven

believed man could be separated from his sin

believed in evolution

was an admirer of Origen, the first Catholic

believed the Word of God was not divinely inspired

hoped America would be destroyed by the Civil War

believed all religions were related to one another

believed in a social gospel

believed Jesus came to earth only to show us the true way

of looking at things

believed the slaves were barely human

CHAPTER 32

The Real Issue: Purity of Doctrine

II Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Vocabulary: An understanding of the following vocabulary words will improve your understanding of the following chapter content.

concordance - an alphabetical list of the important words used in a book with references to the passages in which they occur

theology - the study of God and the relations between God and the universe; study of religious doctrines

Up until 1881 when Westcott’s and Hort’s work came on the scene, there were only the King James and the Catholic versions of the Bible. Until that time, all Baptists and Protestants used the King James Version.

Many changes in the different versions of the Bible came about when people had a problem with the doctrine they wanted to believe compared to the doctrine the Bible taught. Changes came because people just could not believe what is written, where it is written. The problem is actually a problem of disbelief.

An example of this is the Jehovah Witness’s bible, the New World Translation, rewritten many times in order to remove the doctrines of Hell and the deity of Christ.

The Bible is not as hard to understand as it is to believe. People think, “I will change it so I can believe what it says.” A doctrine should not be hung on something you have to change to get it to work.

An example can be taken from the end of Revelation where it says, “They shall be judged according to their works.” Baptists come along and say, “But we are saved by grace, not works. This must be a bad translation.” Actually, it is bad dividing on the part of the preacher. The Bible is to be rightly divided to be rightly understood. If one continues trying to change the verses in the Bible, it will soon trap him.

How do we know when a doctrine is right? Peter said that no Scripture is of private interpretation. That does not mean what it is generally explained to mean. Peter was not saying that a person cannot privately interpret the Word of God. He was saying that if one reads a verse in one place that he believes makes a specific statement, and then he reads other verses in the Bible that do not back that statement up, then his interpretation of the first verse was wrong.

KJV — Rev. 22:19

“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.”

Amplified Version — Rev. 22:19

"And if any one cancels or takes away from the statements of the book of this prophecy — these predictions relating to Christ's kingdom and its speedy triumph, together with the consolations and admonitions (warnings) pertaining to them — God will cancel and take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the city of holiness (pure and hallowed) which are described and promised in this book ."

The Amplified Version interjected their interpretation.

Every verse on a subject will back up other verses on the same subject; one verse does not stand alone. It is not of private interpretation. The Bible should be the first commentary read on itself.

If some versions, such as the Amplified Version, were used only as a study help, commentary, or concordance, one could get some help from them sometimes. But to call them a Bible is an error. We need to realize with these versions that we are only reading another man’s opinion of what the Bible says or means. Some of these, such as the Amplified, were not written to replace the King James Version; they were written solely as a study help. Calling them Bibles was actually wrong and misleading.

The biggest deception there is is to call a paraphrase, such as The Living Bible, a translation. A translation is the best accurate rendering that can be made from one language to another. A paraphrase is just putting in their own words what one person thinks it says. It is is nothing more than a commentary. A paraphrase may not even have 50% of the Bible in it. It is one man’s opinion, theology, or doctrine.

A little bit can be changed in one place, but mess up the Truth in the end.

Review Questions

1. Before Westcott and Hort, how many versions of the Bible were there, and what were they?

2. Why did the newer versions have changes in them?

3. What did Peter mean when he said that no Scripture is of private interpretation?

4. What is the first commentary of the Bible that should be read?

5. What are we actually reading when we read one of the other versions of the Bible?

CHAPTER 33

Cornering the Critics

Matthew 4:4 “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Let’s “corner” the critics with a comparison of selected passages of Scripture from the following versions. There are two “trees”: one that produces good fruit and one that produces corrupt fruit. It is usually pretty clear and distinct which “tree” or “trail” is which. In order to sell the new versions of the Bible, many times it is made to look as if there was but one “trail” or one “stream” from which our Bible came. If the common man can be made to believe the new version is God’s Bible improved, then it can be sold to him. If it is made known to the common man that the version is a totally different bible that comes from a different source and that all the changes made came from a different source, he will not buy it. Therefore, the new version is advertised as the old Bible revised. A new sales slogan promoting the New Scofield Bible reads, “So faithful to the original, it is like being there.”

But it is not the old Bible revised! It has been changed. Even the slightest changes in the King James Version, including the New King James Version, came from the polluted “stream.” Or, if they did not jump over to the polluted “stream” for the changes, the translators’ own pollution was added. Everywhere God’s Word was tampered with was not helpful and, in many cases, was deceitful and misleading, as we will see in the remainder of this book.

The only difference between the Revised Standard Version and the American Standard Version is the degree and the number of changes they made. They are from the same corrupt text, and it is a lie to say they are the 1611 King James Version revised. Someone who believes these versions are the 1611 King James Version revised has not studied it.

Critics ask, “What harm is there if I have a bible I can read and understand better? There are no doctrinal changes involved.” Comparing the versions with the King James Version will prove there are doctrinal changes. The accumulation of every little change in these versions, not just one little spot, begins to build until it affects a doctrine, such as the deity or lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Revised Standard Version even holds the position that Jesus was a created being rather than the Creator.

In the New International Version, we see where “tares” was changed to “weeds,” thus changing the doctrine, the intended picture of a false Christian among true believers. The doctrine showed how the hypocrite can go to church like any saved person and sing like him, look like him, pray like him, and talk like him, but at the coming of the Lord he will be revealed as a tare. He never produced fruit for God. A weed is easily identifiable. The farmer has no problem separating the weeds from the crop. It is the tares that look exactly like the crop that are hard to separate. So the tares are allowed to grow together with the crop until the time of the harvest. Then, when there is no fruit on the plant, they are identifiable as the tare. This is only one example how the changing of one word produces a doctrinal difference. In Matthew 4, Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word.

Some critics will further argue that we do not have the 1611 King James Version but, in fact, a 1769 King James Version, which is the version where changes were made. However, upon examination, it would be found that the only changes made were in the spellings of certain words and the form of some of the letters. The extra letters in the Old English style spelling, such as the extra “e” on the end of many words, were dropped in favor of the more accepted and shorter English spellings of the same words. Some letters, such as “f” and “s” had a shape that was becoming more outdated and somewhat difficult to distinguish between. These letters’ shapes were changed for easier reading. The words were never changed; thus, the doctrine was never changed.

All of this finally comes down to the real purpose behind these modern translations: causing confusion and division among God’s people and causing a mocking, unbelieving world to laugh and say, “Where is the REAL Bible anyway? How can I tell which one I am supposed to believe?”

The best defense against the critics is still exposing what they believe about God: Did He promise to preserve His Word? Does He have the power to keep His promise to preserve His Word? If so, where is it?

Review Questions

Finish the statements below.

1. In order to sell new versions, it is sometimes made to look as if____________________.

2. If the common man,___________________________________________then it can be sold to him.

3. The common man will not buy the new versions if he knows the bible came from___________________and that all the changes made came from_________________.

4. When God’s Word is tampered with, it is not helpful, but________________ and___________________.

5. The changes made in the King James Version in 1769 involved______________and________________.

6. The real purpose behind the modern translations is causing_____________________and_______________among

God’s people and causing_____________________.

CHAPTER 34

Comparisons Among Popular Bible Versions

Part I

For the next two chapters we will make a comparison of some important passages of Scripture among the different contemporary versions of the Bible. It is important to take the time to see for oneself how distorted the original meaning of the Word of God has become in these translations, causing many to be spiritually led down the wrong path to an everlasting separation from God.

Directory of abbreviations used in the following comparisons:

KJV— King James Version

NKJV — New King James Version

RSV — Revised Standard Version

NRSV — New Revised Standard Version

ASV — American Standard Version

NASV — New American Standard Version

NIV— New International Version

NEV — New English Version

NWT — New World Translation, the Jehovah Witness bible

TLB — The Living Bible

GNMM — Good News for Modern Man

NTLP — New Testament in the Language of the People

NTME — New Testament in Modern English

CB — Catholic bible

NS — New Scofield

Acts 8:37 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. ”

Eliminates this verse Eliminates this verse. They include a footnote that tells the reader that “other ancient authorities” include this verse. Then why does the RSV leave it out here?

Eliminates this verse. They include a footnote that tells the reader that "other ancient authorities" include this verse. Then why does the RSV leave it out here?

NIV: Eliminates this verse

RSV: Eliminates this verse. They include a footnote that tells the reader that "other ancient authorities" include this verse. Then why does the RSV leave it out here?

NWT: Eliminates this verse

NRSV: Eliminates this verse

NEV: Eliminates this verse. They include a footnote saying that some insert verse 37.

GNMM: Eliminates this verse

NTLP: Eliminates this verse. Note says this verse is not in the last manuscripts.

NTME: Eliminates this verse

CB: Some versions eliminate it; others included it, but changed it.

As can be seen, these versions come closer to the New World Translation, the Jehovah Witness bible, which follows Origen’s doctrine that Jesus is a created being. The kinship of these run through the Catholic versions. Many Baptists will say the New World Translation is not good, but then turn around and say the American Standard Version is good. But when comparing the American Standard Version to the New World Translation, the changes made are closer to the New World Translation than to the King James Version.

The Catholic bible is many times clearer on the deity of Christ than the New International Version, Revised

Standard Version, New English Version, or the New American Standard Version. And some Bible colleges and universities are pushing these other versions as being as good or better than the King James Version.

Isaiah 7:14 — KJV: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel ”

RSV: “young woman” instead of “virgin”

Many young women have sons, whether married or not. The promise of a virgin bearing a son was a sign. Just a young woman having a baby would not have been a spiritual sign, but a virgin having a baby would definitely be a sign from God. The word almah in the Hebrew appears four times in the Old Testament (Genesis 24:43, Song of Solomon 1:3 and 6:8, and Isaiah 7:14), and each time it means “virgin.” The word almah had to be murdered to get “young woman” out of a word meaning “virgin.”

Matthew 1:18-25 will settle any question about Isaiah 7:14. Matthew 1:23 reads, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” The Lord, in the New Testament, restates that it would be a virgin — not just a young woman — who would conceive and bear a Son. The word almah was translated “virgin” in the Vulgate (300 A.D.), the Revised Version of 1881, and the American Standard Version of 1901. The unsaved liberals got it wrong in the Revised Standard Version in 1952!

TLB: uses “virgin,” but eliminates verse 15

After the Revised Standard Version was attacked for the substitution of “young woman” for “virgin,” many of the newer versions realized Isaiah 7:14 would be a test verse, and they opted to leave the word “virgin” in the verse.

NWT: “maiden” instead of “virgin”

Jehovah Witnesses remove the word “virgin” because they do not believe Jesus is God. However, note further that the verse continues by saying that she would call her Son’s name Immanuel, which means “God with us.” The New World Translation contradicts itself within the same verse.

I Kings 18:27 — KJV: “And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. ”

TLB: “out sitting on the toilet” instead of “pursuing”

Notice the dishonesty in this interpretation. One cannot get further away from the original meaning.

I Samuel 20:30 — KJV: “Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, . . .”

TLB: “S.O.B.” instead of “perverse rebellious woman” (not abbreviated in actual text)

Both of the above examples are not translations, but interpretations. It stands to reason that the writer who chooses a dirty or crude interpretation is really mocking or laughing at God’s Word. If the author truly understood Jewish history, he would know that nothing but a virgin was brought to a king for marriage. Nothing was more guarded. They were stoned for adultery. This interpretation is certainly not factual nor accurate. Satan’s fingerprints are all over it.

Critics say there are parts of the King James Version a person would not want to read out loud in public. We are not told to read all of it in public, but neither does the King James Version make something dirty just for the sake of being crude. Many things mentioned in the King James Version were not considered dirty back in the days when it was translated. Some of the phrases have evolved into dirty meanings in the minds of men.

Our American culture has degenerated to the level that what used to be the dirty street language has now become acceptable conversation. It is even found in the textbooks used by the public schools.

The publishers of the newest New American Standard Version and the New International Version especially have become wiser and reinstated some of the words previously omitted in key places, such as the word “blood,” after having been attacked for removing them in the first editions. But like the dripping of water, where they change words all the way through, it still mounts up to a distorting of the whole picture, even when some previously omitted words have been replaced in the newer editions.

Matthew 27:4 — KJV: “Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that”

TLB: “innocent man” instead of “innocent blood”

NEV: “innocent man” instead of “innocent blood”

NTLP: “innocent man” instead of “innocent blood”

GNMM: “innocent man” instead of “innocent blood”

There have been many innocent men who have gone to the electric chair or hung in years gone by, but innocent (sinless) blood is different. That fits only one Person, Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 9:22 — KJV: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. ”

NWT: “unless blood is poured out” instead of “without shedding of blood”

The New World Translation refers to the pouring out of the blood by the priests during the Old Testament sacrifices instead of the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ as meant in the King James Version.

John 1:14 — KJV:“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. ”

NIV: “one and only Son”

They include a note that says, “or the only begotten.” The importance of “only begotten” cannot be minimized. It makes the strongest case possible of Jesus being the Christ and being begotten of the Father. The word “only” and the word “begotten” are both important.

RSV: “the only son from the Father”

NEV: “Father’s only son”

NWT: “glory such as belongs to the only begotten son from a father.”

John 3:16 — KJV: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ”

NEV: “his only Son”

RSV: “his only Son”

The word “begotten” makes Jesus God. Many do not want to acknowledge Jesus as God.

NWT: “might not be destroyed” instead of “should not perish”

Jehovah Witnesses believe there is no Hell.

Mark 9:43-48 — KJV: “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

RSV: eliminates verses 44 and 46

NIV: eliminates verses 44 and 46

The New International Version New Testament, however, included these verses in the newer edition.

NEV: eliminates verses 44 and 46

NASV: eliminates verses 44 and 46

NWT: eliminates verses 44 and 46

II Timothy 3:16 — KJV: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; ”

NEV: “Every inspired scripture has its use . . .” This could refer to anything that claims to be inspired, including works from Buddhism, Mohammedism, or anything else.

Zechariah 9:9 — KJV: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. ”

RSV: leaves out “and having salvation”

NEV: leaves out “and having salvation”

TLB: leaves out “and having salvation”

Zechariah 12:10 — KJV: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. ”

RSV: leaves out “grace” and substitutes “compassion”

This changes the doctrine of salvation by grace to salvation by works.

Zechariah 13:6 — KJV: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. ”

RSV: “wounds on your back”

Jesus could have had a flogging on his back and not died for our sins. Paul was flogged, but he did not die for the sins of the world.

TLB: “scars on your chest and on your back . . . I got in a brawl at the home of a friend.”

A note is added saying that a false prophet was lying about the reason for his scars.

NWT: “(on your person) between your hands, and he will have to say, Those with which I was struck in the house of my intense lovers.”

RSV (1881): "wounds between thy arms”

A note is included showing “arms (hands)” and “friends (lovers).” The word “lovers” shows up here in the Westcott and Hort and later in the New World Translation, the Jehovah Witness bible.

NIV: “on your body. He will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friend.’ ”

This takes away the prophecy of the nail prints in the hands. Down through history this has been taken by God’s people as a prophecy concerning the revelation of Christ as the Messiah to the Jewish people.

CB: “wounds in the midst of thy hands . . . I was wounded in the house of them that loved me.”

A closer inspection of these versions above shows the kinship of these versions. They have all come from the same corrupted manuscripts.

I Timothy 3:16 — KJV: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. ”

ASV: “He was manifested in the flesh”

It does not say “God was manifested in the flesh.” “He” could refer to an angel, Satan, or any other created being.

CHAPTER 35

Comparisons Among Popular Bible Versions

Part II

Matthew 13:27 — KJV: “So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?”

NIV: “weeds” instead of “tares”

RSV: “weeds” instead of “tares”

The two above examples shows their kinship, again. It must be noted that a tare looked exactly like the wheat. The wheat produces fruit, and the tare does not. The Lord said to allow them to grow together until the time of harvest, and He would separate them. By that time, it is apparent which one has the grain and which one does not. They look alike as they grow up. The “weeds” do not look like wheat. It distorts the doctrine of the fake Christian among true believers.

I Timothy 6:10 — KJV: “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. ”

ASV: “a root of all kinds of evil”; “reaching after” instead of “coveting”

They did not use “the root,” which qualifies it as being the one root. “All kinds of evil” does not necessarily include all evil. “Reaching after” is not a heart response such as coveting is.

NKJV: follows almost exactly the American Standard Version above

RSV: “root of all evils”; “craving” instead of “coveting”

NWT: “a root of all sorts of injurious things” These all show close kinship to the American Standard Version.

CB: “coveteousness” instead of “love of money”

I John 5:7 — KJV: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. ”

NTV: “There are three that testify.”

It then skips to verse eight, omitting the deity of Christ and the Trinity.

ASV: “the three agree as one”

This does not mean the same as “these three are one."

NWT: “For there are three witness bearers.”

The rest is omitted, totally removing the deity of Christ and the Trinity.

Romans 6:23 — KJV: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord ”

Phillips’s Translation: “Sin pays its servants. The wages is death, but God gives to those who serve Him. His free gift is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord.”

“. . .Gives to those who serve Him” refers to salvation by works.

John 3:36 — KJV: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

NASV: “he who does not obey the Son shall not see life”

ASV: “he that obeyeth not the Son shall not seen life”

Shows obedience to bring salvation, which is salvation by works.

II Thessalonians 2:4 — KJV: “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. ”

NEV: “He will defy every god there is and will tear down every other object of adoration and worship..."

This shows the possibility of many gods, as well as that the objects of worship representing these other gods must be tom down in preference to the objects of adoration and worship of the proper god (idolatry).

I Peter 1:19 —KJV: “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: ”

NASV: “with precious blood,” leaving out “of Christ”

Titus 2:13 — KJV: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; ”

NIV: “our great God” instead of “the great God”

This implies that other people may have different gods, which are just as great.

II Samuel 22:6 — KJV: “The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;”

NIV: “The cords of the grave” instead of “The sorrows of hell”

This would satisfy the Jehovah Witnesses, who do not believe in a literal Hell.

Ephesians 5:26 — KJV: “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ”

TLB: “washed by baptism”

This teaches salvation by baptism.

I Peter 3:9 — KJV: “Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. ”

RSV: “all should reach salvation” instead of “ye should inherit a blessing”

This teaches salvation by works.

II Corinthians 2:17 — KJV: “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God. . .”

NTV: “peddle” instead of “corrupt”

These are two vastly different meanings, thus changing the meaning of the passage.

Job 19:26 — KJV: “And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:”

RSV: “without my flesh I shall see God”

ASV (1901): “without my flesh I shall see God”

NEV: leaves out the flesh

These versions take away the doctrine of a literal bodily resurrection. Every heathen religion teaches there is life after death and that the soul lives on. Christianity alone stands on the doctrine of a bodily resurrection. Our Savior had a bodily resurrection. The difference between real Christianity and heathen religion is the bodily resurrection of Christ, and these perversions destroy that doctrine, putting Christianity on an equal with the heathen religions.

Genesis 3:15 — KJV: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel ”

CB: “she shall crush thy head” instead of “it shall bruise thy head”

This is a major prophecy of Christ crushing the serpent’s (Satan’s) head, and the Catholics have changed it to show Mary crushing the serpent’s head.

John 9:38 — KJV: “And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. ”

ASV (1901): The American Standard Version includes a note, “The Greek word denotes an act of reverence, whether paid to a creature, as here, or to the Creator.” This is saying Jesus was a mere creature, not the Creator.

Luke 22:20 — KJV: “Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. ”

RSV: eliminates this verse completely, leaving out reference to the blood

ASV: “poured out” instead of “shed”

This is the same teaching as the Jehovah Witnesses, referring back to the Old Testament sacrifices rather than the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

I Peter 2:2 — KJV: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: ”

NIV: “that ye may grow up in your salvation”

Again, this teaches salvation by works.

Daniel 3:25 — KJV: “He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. ”

RSV: “a son of the gods” instead of “the Son of God”

ASV: “and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods”

NS: “and the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods”

This shows the New Scofield going along word for word with the Revised Standard Version and the American Standard Version. There is not one change in the phrase “a son of the gods.” All three versions come from the same “corrupt stream.”

TLB: “the fourth looks like a god”

GNMM: “and the fourth looks like an angel”

This includes a note that says, “or a son of the gods or a son of God.”

CB: removes the fourth person in the fire

II Corinthians 2:17 — KJV: “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God. . .”

NKJV: “For we are not, as many peddling the word of God . . .”

“Corrupt” means “to make evil,” whereas “peddling” means “offering for sale from place to place.” The KJV is condemning those who would change the Word of God. Possibly the translators wanted to change that meaning to remove the condemnation from themselves; however, in so doing, they have turned around and condemned themselves anyway. With their copyrights in place, they are in fact “peddling” the Word of God.

Matthew 6:13 — KJV: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil . . .”

NKJV: “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

There is a difference in being delivered from evil and being delivered from the evil one.

Ephesians 5:18 — KJV: “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess . . .”

NKJV: “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation . . .”

Now, what is that supposed to mean? Aren’t the translators supposed to be making it easier to be understood?

Daniel 3:2 — KJV: “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges . . .”

NKJV: “And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, and the captains, the judges . . .”

And what in the world is a satrap? Maybe a dictionary is needed here!

Romans 4:25 — KJV: “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. ”

NKJV: “Who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised because of our justification.”

Being raised again for our justification (died and raised again to pay for our sin and guilt) and being raised again because of our justification (sounds like we paid for our own sin and guilt, which caused Christ to be raised again) are two very different doctrines!

CHAPTER 36

Education or Wisdom?

There is a difference between wisdom and education. The Bible says wisdom comes from God. Education is loading up your “wagon” with a lot of information. Wisdom is having the sense to not drive that loaded “wagon” off a bridge somewhere. No matter how much education one has, if he does not have the sense to steer it straight, he does not have much. If we cannot pull out information from our education and use it rightly, we have nothing. There is nothing wrong with getting all the education one can get, unless it messes up his faith. If it starts to mess up a person’s faith, then they have received too much education or too much of the wrong information.

A major portion of one’s decision in choosing a Bible college or seminary should be whether or not it uses the Greek Textus Receptus or the text of Nestle or Westcott and Hort. Which text will they use? Will they use the Revised Standard Version or one of the other versions of the corrupted, revised bibles, or will they choose to use the King James Version? The divine originals do not exist, but one can get on the right side of the stream in the Greek text before they get down to the English language version.

One of the things we hear many times is that different preachers, especially those who are involved a lot with colleges and seminaries, are making the statement that no true “scholar” takes a King James only position. The best Bible scholars today DO take the King James only position. The position is blessed and guarded over by the Holy Spirit. Concerning the same preachers who stand in pulpits and do not take this position, one of two things can usually be true about them: (1) They inherited a church that was built by someone else who did believe in the King James Version as being the preserved Word of God, or (2) even if they did start and build the church themselves, they did it preaching out of the King James Version before they got so smart that they felt they could correct it.

When it is said that the priesthood of believers, the common usage of the church down through the years, has chosen the Scripture for us, the “scholars” call it emotion without evidence and will not accept it. However, it is a big piece of evidence: the fact that there is an organized effort to bring in the corrupt text and the fact that it has run into the great resistance that it has and has never been able to attain its victory is significant. Why has it not been successful? Because the Holy Spirit will not give up nor let the battle die. He keeps the majority of God’s people knowing what the Word of God is. The Holy Spirit is still very ably defending the true Word of God.

Where does the Holy Spirit abide? He abides in the body of the believer. He lives in our bodies collectively as our bodies are collected in an assembly (the church). He is still showing us what is right. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and of righteousness and judgment. He convicts of the sin of tampering with the Bible. He convicts of the righteousness of the right Bible. One day, there will be a judgment for those who have gone against His guidance and leading. The Holy Spirit is definitely involved.

Those saying no one has a perfect Bible are really saying that God left us without His preserved Word. The only group claiming to have the perfect Word of God is the King James Version believers. God has not given us the Bible, unless we have it in the King James Version. The other versions are different, and things that are different are not the same. If they are not the same, one is right and the others are wrong; or all are wrong, and God failed to keep His promise.

God will preserve His Word. That is a faith proposition. That is a logical proposition. The main reason we know we still have the Word of God still depends on the proposition: Did God claim He wanted us to have His Word? Did He claim to have given it to us? Did God claim to have inspired His Word? Did He promise to preserve His Word? Does He have the power to keep that promise? If He does, where is it? Does He give an indication that one version is approved above the other versions? Does He put His stamp of approval on one of them? It is not based on manuscript evidence or on what great man said what, but it is based on God’s promise and His power to perform that promise.

Psalms 12:6, 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.”

Review Questions

1. Using the example of a “wagon,” explain the difference between wisdom and education.

2. When does getting all the education one can get become wrong?

3. Why has the organized effort to bring in the corrupt text met with such opposition?

4. Where does the Holy Spirit abide?

5. What does the Holy Spirit do?

6. When a person says no one has a perfect Bible, what is he really saying?

7. If the versions are not the same (and they are not), what can we safely assume?

8. What are the six points of the proposition that leads us to believe we have the preserved Word of God in the King James Version?

9. On what is the fact that the King James Version is the preserved Word of God based?

What have you learned about your Bible?

Review Questions for Chapters 28-36

1. How many translators were chosen to work on the King James Version?

2. How many actually worked on the translation of the King James Version?

3. What group of people made the suggestion to the King that a new Bible translation be made, and when did they make the suggestion?

4. When was the King James Version completed?

5. How much did the King James Version translators earn from royalties from the King James Version?

6. What type of language is the English used in the King James Version considered?

7. How is the Word of God stolen in America today?

8. Which manuscript is the oldest manuscript found to date?

9. What do the committees of other bible versions want the people to think about their version?

10. Give the references for the three “soldiers” that “guard” the Word of God.

11. Every change in the Word of God does one of two things. What are they?

12. By what will those who change the Word of God be judged?

13. Why does Satan attack the Word of God?

14. By whom was the King James Version authorized?

15. Before Westcott and Hort, how many versions of the Bible were there, and what were they?

16. For a new version to be sold to the common man, what must he be made to believe?

17. When does getting all the education one can get become wrong?

18. If the versions are not the same (and they are not), what can we assume?

19. On what is the fact that the King James Version is the preserved Word of God based?

20. Explain the system of “checks and balances” the King James Version translators used to avoid error.

21. What did Peter mean when he said no Scripture is of private interpretation?

22. List the six points of the proposition that leads us to believe that we have the preserved Word of God in the King James Version

EPILOGUE

Recent British Museum Experience

While this book was nearing its final assembly process, I received a twenty-third anniversary gift from my church, a trip to old England. On Saturday afternoon, March 20, 1993, I visited the world-famous British Museum. My main interest, of course, was the old Bibles and their supporting manuscripts.

I walked through the special displays that were set up for the general public. These consisted mainly of Latin copies, with their special artwork often included among the pages. These later bibles, most in codex form, dated to the twelfth or fourteenth centuries or later. Also, under glass there appeared to be authentic copies of the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus manuscripts.

In another room there were copies of the English Bibles, beginning, of course, with Wycliffe’s, Tyndale’s, on through the Geneva, and, finally, the King James. Frankly, their collection was no more complete than the one our own church has in our front foyer.

Dr. William L. Hiltz, our college dean, and I tried unsuccessfully to get into the Archives that are reserved for the “scholars.” Since we did not have a prearranged appointment or a letter of recommendation, the guard would not allow us in. The guard did tell us the curator was off on Saturday, but otherwise might have met with us. The guard then called another staff person, but that person knew nothing of the Textus Receptus and kept wanting to take us out to see the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus. The staff person seemed a little embarrassed that they knew nothing about the manuscripts in the King James lineage. This was especially true when I pointed out that they only had on display two manuscripts (the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus) for the Latin (Catholic) bible, but were not displaying any of the 5,000 manuscripts behind the Authorized Version for which England and her King, King James, were famous.

As Dr. Hiltz and I left the Archives office, he remarked, “It seems there is a deep, dark conspiracy to withhold the truth and deceive concerning the preservation of God’s Word.” No sooner had Dr. Hiltz said this than the Lord allowed us to witness firsthand this deception being put into practice. A group of 20 to 30 people, wearing badges bearing “Bible Tour” and whom we later found out were Jehovah’s Witnesses, were just ahead of us. The guide was beginning his lecture at the Latin bible display. Overhearing him say, “Now the Catholics wanted to keep the Bible out of the hands of the common man by refusing to allow it to be translated into English,” we decided to tag along and listen, as a number of others without tags seemed to be doing.

Saying some good things against this evil, the guide proceeded to the English Bible display and spoke well of the Wyclifife, Tyndale, and Geneva Bibles as good efforts of men who sacrificially got the Word out in English, though done in haste. The guide then came to the King James Bible and said, “Now the King wanted a Bible with which to promote his own doctrine, so he authorized this Bible. Therefore, the Authorized Version has been added to and, therefore, contains much error in doctrine.” The guide went on to propose, “How can we separate these errors out?” The guide used the illustration of a woman baking a cake. He said, “Ladies, how do you get the bad foreign elements out of your cake batter? You ‘sift’ them out.” That’s the word that was used—the same word Jesus used in Luke 22:31 when He told Peter, “Satan wants to sift you as wheat.”

Upon hearing this, I said to Dr. Hiltz, “Bill, that guide is going back to the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, which has not been shown to the group or even mentioned.” Sure enough, the tour group turned and backtracked to the showcase that held these corrupt manuscripts. Then with great delight the guide began to say, “Now we can ‘sift’ the Authorized Version by comparing it to these ‘old’ manuscripts.” The first example was I Timothy 3:16, which was read from the Authorized Version out of the guide’s lecture notebook. The guide said, “Now these manuscripts do not say ‘God was manifest in the flesh,’ but ‘He was manifest in the flesh,’ thus showing that Jesus was not God, which He wasn’t.” (Remember, that the New International Version, the Revised Standard Version, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translation and many others use “He.” Now you know from where it came.)

This deceiver went on to point out that I John 5:7 was missing from the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, “And,” the guide said, “rightly so, because it was a false doctrine of King James and his church.”

Now, brethren, I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears exactly what I have been saying for many years: “Change a few words and teach any bad doctrine you want to teach.” This is what Jesus knew when He said every word, every jot, and tittle is preserved. This only proves that it is only a matter of the “degree” of error that can be taught when the Word is changed. Every fundamentalist that changes the words only differs in degree level from such blaspheming heretics as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

It never occurred to the intellectual guide that the “sifting proposition” contradicted itself by going back for its authority to the Catholic manuscripts that had been condemned earlier in their Latin codex forms. Today those who are defending the new corrupt versions are going back to the old Roman harlot for their authority. It is the same trick the evolutionist uses when he says, “See this rock. It is ten million years old. How do I know? Well, it is found in this ten-million-year-old strata (earth). How do I know the strata is ten million years old? Well, because I found this ten-million-year-old rock in it.” Absurd? Yes, but, of course, you are not supposed to ap-ply logic or common sense. It might mess up the scholar’s playhouse.

In conclusion, as I walked out of that museum, my heart was rejoicing that God had allowed me to see the physical proof that He has so written His Word that sinful man has to change it before he can teach bad doctrine and attack the deity of the Lord Jesus. I went in the museum looking for a testimony of the Old Book. God gave me more than I could have hoped for. Amen!