CHANGING THE BIBLE

by Loren Davis

God's Word, the Bible, is His covenant with mankind and applies to all generations. The religious practice of pointing out so-called errors in the Bible is what has produced Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses, Islam, and the massive schism in the Christian world today. This attitude has produced THE GAY TRANSLATION, THE FEMINIST TRANSLATION; translations that say nothing about the VIRGIN BIRTH of Christ; and versions that delete THE NECESSITY OF THE BLOOD for redemption. This list goes on into infinitum. Nothing makes a person angrier than for someone to take what he says out of context, twist his words and misrepresent him. If we, as people, feel that way when someone distorts our words, how do you suppose God feels when His words are distorted? The New Testament is THE NEW COVENANT between God and man. It is a legal document, the law of God that must not be tampered with. The Bible is God's unchanging, infallible Word

METHODS OF TRANSLATING THE BIBLE

Many translations were made by one man. Question? If one person is translating the scriptures, is it possible for him to make mistakes? Is it possible or even probable that he will taint the translation with his own doctrinal positions? The answer is obvious.

Other translations were commissioned by a denomination or a particular group. Is it possible that these translations will be tainted by their doctrinal beliefs? Knowing mankind, it is impossible to believe otherwise. For example, the Catholic Bible, the Duhey Version, totally deletes "Thou shalt not make before me any graven images" from the Ten Commandments given in Exodus 20. The reasoning behind this is not hard to figure out. Catholic churches are full of graven images.

WHICH BIBLE IS RIGHT?

Many translations come from corrupt texts, manuscripts that were scholastically proven to be inacurate. The Bible revisers, Hort and Westcott, did not even believe in the infallibility of the Bible. By developing such watered down Bibles, the world's religions will soon have a common book to rally around, a Bible that will deny the divinity of Christ and one that will be contrary to His teachings.

NEW AGE VERSIONS, FLUID BIBLES

The New Age Movement has impacted modern Bible translations and has given us New Age Versions of the Bible. Three of these are the NIV, NASB and The Message paraphrase. Using these many translations is doing nothing but making a "fluid" Bible, which is like water. It will take on the form of whatever it is put into. A New Age Bible is developing which can be used by all religions (even non-Christians). It is so fluid that it can be taken many different ways. The New Age Movement, by using these different translations, has even infiltrated most of Evangelical Christianity. It has SLOWLY BEEN CHANGING THE BIBLE AND ITS DOCTRINES TO LINE UP WITH the "One World" movement, the "New World Order".

THESE NEW TRANSLATIONS ARE GETTING THE APOSTATE CHURCH READY to accept the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, his Image, and the anti-Christ's religion, Satanism. 2 Thesselonians 2:3 The proliferation of so many translations of the Bible has done more to change the teachings of Christ than any other thing.

Some who worked on the NIV admitted that the translators own beliefs influenced their work.One quote from Palmer, the manager of the NIV translation, said that "the common error in the KJV was, namely that regeneration depends upon faith...and that in order to be Born Again, man must accept Jesus as his Savior". If the manager of the NIV translation project has such an objection regarding "The Born Again" experience, how is his translation going to be untainted by his view? We know that many so called "Christian" denominations do not believe in being born again.

UNSUSPECTING CHRISTIANS

Despite the facts that many of these versions are based on corrupt texts, they are continually being sold to unsuspecting Christians in Christian bookstores. Accuracy is totally ignored as long as they will sell and make money for the retailer.

THE INTEGRITY OF THE BIBLE AND IT'S INFALLIBILITY IS THE MAIN ISSUE FOR CHRISTIANS. OTHERWISE, HOW COULD ONE EVER BELIEVE IT? MANY VITAL ISSUES ABOUT MORALITY, ETERNITY, AND THE PROMISES OF GOD ARE AT STAKE.

The reason this issue is so critical is that without the Bible's integrity it is impossible to establish Bible doctrine and truth.

There are "favorite Word" people who attach themselves to certain scriptures, and either ignore or reject other scriptures. If, as they say, certain scriptures are not accurate, how do we know which scriptures are true? On that premise, John 3:16, the foundation for salvation may not be true. How can we know that the promises for healing and blessing are accurate? What if those scriptures were not translated correctly? The Bible is the only foundation we have to know about Jesus; salvation; and heaven. When faith in the Bible has been shaken, the foundation of our faith has crumbled. "Doctrines of devils"(1 Timothy 4:1) can then easily take the place of the doctrines of the Bible. Many who believe the Bible is full of errors particularly target the King James Version. No version has been attacked more than the KJV. The biggest assault on the KJV comes from inside Christianity. Is this attack justified? WHY SHOULD WE TRUST THE KING JAMES VERSION ( KJV)?

HOW WAS IT TRANSLATED?

Scholastically, the KJV IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER TRANSLATIONS. Consider these facts regarding how the KJV was translated. This will help you to gain total confidence in the integrity and scholarship that went into it so that you can be fully assured the KJV is TRULY THE WORD OF GOD. There is a major difference in a "professing" Bible, containing some of the Word of God, or the Bible that literally is the Word Of God. A TRUE BIBLE CANNOT BE PARTIALLY ACCURATE.

47 TRANSLATORS WERE INVOLVED IN THE TRANSLATION OF THE KJV

"Never in history had such an assembly of scholarship and spirituality been brought together on a project as these FORTY-SEVEN LEARNED MEN. Four were college presidents, six were bishops, and five were university professors who were all Greek and Hebrew scholars of rare scholarship. Three of them were eastern linguists who were well versed with Arabic. They were as at ease with the eastern languages as they were with their own English. "All of them believed in the plenary, verbal inspiration of the Bible, the Divinity of Christ without equivocation, and all of them were men of prayer. Some prayed as much as five hours per day during the entire course of their Christian lives. Only God could have prepared this group of men for such a monumental task, the results of which were, in the providence of God, needed for the great evangelistic and missionary thrust of the succeeding centuries." 1

THEY WERE DIVIDED INTO 6 COMPANIES

Each person was assigned certain portions of the scriptures to translate. After he finished, he met with others in the group to compare results. Their combined work was then given to each of the other groups of companies for review and approval. Finally A SELECT COMMITTEE OF TWO OF THE BEST EXPERTS IN LINGUISTICS was assigned for THE TASK OF FINAL REVIEW AND APPROVAL. The results were that this gave the world an objective, unbiased translation of the Bible which was done with the highest degree of scholarship. Nothing in history can match the scholarship. It still stands as a masterpiece of scholarship and literary art, unexcelled in the history of the world." 2

To criticize the King James Version is to ignore how it was translated. That criticism is unfair. It is an objective, scholarly, and unbiased translation that has no doctrinal axe to grind. Therefore, it should be unwaveringly accepted as the Word of God and believed to be completely accurate. IF ONE BELIEVES THAT PART OF THE BIBLE IS UNRELIABLE, THEN REALISTICALLY, ONE CANNOT KNOW FOR SURE WHICH PART IS ACCURATE AND BELIEVABLE, and which is not. Then the foundation of the Faith is destroyed, because...

*Romans 10:17 "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."

*Psalm 11:3 "IF THE FOUNDATIONS BE DESTROYED, WHAT CAN THE RIGHTEOUS DO?"

Therefore, I submit that THE KJV MUST BE THE STANDARD BY WHICH EVERYTHING ELSE IS JUDGED.

ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH: KJV AND SHAKESPEARE

Many criticize the KJV saying it is hard to understand because it uses the old Elizabethan English. Yet, in the west, SHAKESPEARE is mandatory for students in schools. Shakespeare used the same Elizabethan English as the KJV. I have never heard a complaint that children can't understand Shakespeare. There are no calls to retranslate Shakespeare to put it into modern language. As a boy I read the KJV and had no problem understanding what "thee and thou" meant. To use modern English for the Bible wouldn't be an issue if while doing this, they wouldn't change the meaning of what the Bible is saying, but that is not what has happened. These newer versions change the very essence of the Bible's doctrines. The complaint about the KJV using Elizabethan English is just a subtil ploy to change the real message of the Bible.

The NIV is now the biggest selling Bible in the world. It is becoming very difficult to get a KJV Bible in bookstores.

COMPARING THE KJV WITH OTHER TRANSLATIONS

EXAMPLES:
  1. Romans 1:20 in KJV," For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."

    The NIV, NASB and The Message change "GODHEAD" to "divine nature." This language does away with the concept of THE TRINITY.

  2. John 3:15, KJV states..."Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life"

    The NIV deletes "should not perish" and says "May" have eternal life instead of "Shall".

  3. Colossians. 1:14, KJV, states..."In whom we have redemption through his blood..."

    NIV, NASB and The Message state simply..."In whom we have redemption"... The blood is deleted. Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Hebrews 9:22

  4. Psalms 8:5, KJV... "For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour".

    The Message and NASB.... "Yet thou hast made him ...a little lower than God".

  5. Proverbs 8:18 KJV says..."Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness."

    The Message, NASB and NIV state..."With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. Prosperity takes the place of righteousness.

  6. 1 Corinthians 8:4, KJV... "As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world."

    NASB... "There is no such thing as an idol". It denies the very existence of idols.

  7. Luke 4:8 KJV Jesus said, "Get thee behind me Satan".

    "NIV omits "Get thee behind me Satan."

  8. Luke 4:4 says, "And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."

    The Message, NIV, NASB, omits "by every word of God."

  9. Daniel 3:25, "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."

    The Message, NIV and NASB say... "He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." (A son of the gods is much different than THE SON OF GOD).

  10. John 9:35, KJV... "Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?"

    NIV, NASB, "Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

  11. John 3:16, KJV "for God so loved the world that he gave his ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life."

    NIV ..."For God so loved the world that he gave his ONE AND ONLY SON, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

    THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON IS DELETED.

    Deleting "begotten" has a direct impact on the essential truth that Jesus was born of a virgin with a heavenly Father, which makes Him God in the flesh. He had the flesh of man, but the blood of God. He was sinless.

  12. John 3:18, NIV "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's ONE AND ONLY SON.

    Again, the NIV DELETES "THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD."

    The biblical concept of Jesus being God's ONLY BEGOTTEN SON is foundational to salvation.

    In John 1:14, and 1:18 the NIV also deletes ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.

  13. Matthew 1:23 , KJV says..."Behold A VIRGIN shall be with child."

    Matthew 1:23, NIV "THE VIRGIN will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel", which means, "God with us."

    The terminology THE VIRGIN was taken from Babylon and Egypt and is pagan.

  14. 1 Timothy 3:16,KJV..."GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH."

    NIV "Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory."

    The NIV DELETES the phrase, "GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH".

    If Jesus was not manifest in the flesh, there is no Gospel.

    *2 John 1:7 "For many DECEIVERS are entered into the world, WHO CONFESS NOT THAT JESUS CHRIST IS COME IN THE FLESH. THIS IS A DECEIVER AND ANTICHRIST."

  15. Romans 8:1 KJV "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

    The NIV DELETES "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." That means that if one has accepted Christ, even if he doesn't live right he is not under condemnation. This is the doctrine of many denominations which believe one's behavior has nothing to do with his salvation. They finally got a Bible to substantiate their doctrine.

    The Message changes the scripture to say "With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud."

  16. The words "SOVEREIGN and SOVEREIGNTY" are not found in the KJV one time.

    The NIV uses the word SOVEREIGN 315 times and SOVEREIGNTY twice. This is a prime example of denominations influencing translations to taint it with their denominational doctrine of "The Sovereignty of God". This is blatantly changing the scriptures and ADDING to them in defiance of Revelation 22:18-19. The NIV translation and teaching on "The Sovereignty of God" negates all the Bible's teachings on the importance of having faith and believing God to receive from Him.

  17. KJV speaks of "THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST".

    *II John 9 states... "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son."

  18. KJV uses the word DOCTRINE 51 times.

    The NIV uses the word DOCTRINE only 5 times. Is this not changing the Bible?


What about the "NEW" King James Version (NKVJ)?

NKJV omits the word ..."REPENT" 44 times; "GOD" 51 times; "LORD" 66 times; "HEAVEN" 50 times; "HELL" 22 times; "DAMNATION" entirely; "DEVILS" entirely; "JEHOVAH" entirely; the "NEW TESTAMENT" entirely.

(You can use the concordance on your computer comparing the KJV and the NKJV to verify this).

MANY TRANSLATIONS ARE BASED ON CORRUPT GREEK TEXTS

Here is a test to determine if a translation is based on corrupt Greek texts or not.

*Use 1 Timothy 3:16, which says, "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."

If your version does not state this, you can then be assured that the translation comes from corrupt texts. Even many translations that accurately translate this scripture often change many others. Just because the cover of a book says Holy Bible doesn't make it a true Bible .

*Psalms 105:8 "He hath remembered HIS COVENANT FOR EVER, THE WORD which HE COMMANDED TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS."

The EXPOSITOR'S Study BIBLE, by Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart

Normal commentaries usually put their comments to the side or bottom of the page of the scriptures, which clearly distinguishes them from actual scripture. The Expositor’s Study Bible is set up in a format that puts the scriptures in black and then his comments or interpretation under each scripture in red. The scriptures and comments are intermingled together in the same columns. It is troubling that the style is like the Red Letter editions of Bibles which put the words of Jesus in red. This makes his comments appear like scripture.

2 Peter 1:20 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of ANY PRIVATE INTERPRETATION." KJV

Proverbs 30:5-6 "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. ADD THOU NOT UNTO HIS WORDS, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." KJV

Revelation 22:18-19 commands us not to ADD TO or TAKE FROM the Word of God.

Of course we should STUDY the Bible to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed.

THE CHANGING OF SCRIPTURES

The changing of scriptures by these varied translations has no end. THE SIN IS ADDING TO and/or TAKING away FROM THE BIBLE, GOD'S WORD. By doing this the translators are blatantly distorting the scriptures. These translations are no longer Holy Bibles, but fraudulent imposters. If I were the devil I would rewrite the Bible and get into the Bible translating and publishing business. He needs no advice regarding this,however, because this has already happened. This strategy of using translations to change the Bible is so diabolical that it had to come from Satan himself. This tactic has even deceived many of the very elect. It is the work of The Deceiver! Revelation 18:23

God is jealous over His Word and will not tolerate it being tampered with. To attack the integrity of the Bible is to attack the integrity and infallibility of God. The Bible is not an ordinary book. It is supernatural. God gave His Word by the Holy Ghost, and He knows how to keep it generation after generation. It was not given just to an exclusive club of clerics who are Greek scholars. That is how the Catholic church operated for years. For a long time, itt was even illegal for the laity to even have a Bible. They needed a priest to tell you what the Bible said and what it meant. Now the protestants, by using so many translations and the heavy usage of the Greek, are virtually doing the same thing.

THE PRACTICE OF USING MANY TRANSLATIONS

Many ministers use several translations to develop their messages. Is there a problem here? Since most translations disagree with each other to varying degrees, this leaves it to the judgment of the minister which one he thinks is translated correctly. I have often heard preachers comment after reading from the KJV, that "this scripture was translated wrong." Then he goes to another translation and says that it was translated the right way in this one! In preaching a message, they often jump from translation to translation. This is what I refer to as the eclectic way of finding truth. If you don't like what you are reading, just go to another translation that you like better. Jumping from translation to translation now makes the preacher the final authority of faith and not the Bible. This practice actually destroys faith in the Bible by causing the congregation to doubt that what they are reading is accurate. Now we are left with the notion that we can't understand the Bible without the preacher interpreting it for us. This practice is deadly.

The abuse of the Greek to privately interpret scriptures is very intimidating. Some will read the Bible, then tell their congregants that the Holy Spirit told them that this was how it should have "really been interpreted".

*2 Peter 1:20-21 "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."

God is jealous over His Word and will not tolerate it being tampered with. To attack the infallibility of the Bible is to attack the infallibility of God. John 1:1 says "...the Word was with God and the Word was God." The Bible is not an ordinary book. It is supernatural. God gave it to men by the Holy Ghost, and He knows how to keep it generation after generation. 2 Timothy 3:16, Psalm 105:8

A WARNING FOR THOSE WHO WOULD CHANGE THE BIBLE

Revelation 22:18-19 "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." KJV

A WARNING FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE A LIE

II Thesselonians 2:11-12 "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should BELIEVE A LIE: That THEY ALL MIGHT BE DAMNED who BELIEVED NOT THE TRUTH," To trust in a corrupt translation will cause you to believe a lie and can lead you to be damned for eternity.
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This article is an excerpt from my book "The Paganization of Christianity" which can be ordered online at www.lorendavis.com

1 New Age Bible Versions, Gail Riplinger
2 Bible Versions, Eldred Thomas; New Age Bible Versions, Gail Riplinger