UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES IN BIBLE VERSIONS
PART ONE

M any people believe that the new Bible Versions that are constantly coming out are just updated words making the meaning of words and phrases clearer or easier to understand. Upon taking a closer look at this controversial subject, we find this is not the whole truth.

With Love

The facts I am going to give you are not meant to divide or dispute with anyone, but to share in love with other Christian brothers and sisters what I have learned while studying this extremely important subject. My prayer is that the Lord will open our eyes and ears to the truth.

God Promised To Preserve His Word!

The Authorized Version or King James Version (KJV) says in Psalm 138:2b, " for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name". In Psalm 12:6-7; God promises to preserve His word forever. "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 forever". If God promised to preserve His word forever than we must have it. "To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"(Acts 1:3) The word infallible means incapable of ever being changed! Read the following interesting statement made by Bible scholar Thomas Holland;

The scriptures are incapable of ever becoming in error! "Forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89) and "Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever (Psalm 119:160). These scriptures make it perfectly clear that God's Word will endure forever! This is exciting and encouraging, because we can be positively sure that we have the word of God in its complete purity.

Every Word of God

Jesus Himself confronted the Devil and showed us the key to overcoming him in Luke 4:4; "Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word of God". God cannot lie (Titus 1:2) so we need to take this verse seriously. If we are to live by every word of God then we must have a book that is His every word. Every single word of God is so important that He has even magnified it above His name! But which Bible version can we trust to have the infallible words of God in it? The popular modern versions such as the New International Version (NIV) and The New American Standard (NAS) and most other modern versions completely omit the words of Jesus "but by every word of God" from Luke 4:4. Why is it that in these new versions, those words of Jesus were not important enough to keep?

Comparing Bible Versions

When we compare the Greek manuscripts underlying the NIV, NAS and other modern versions to the Greek manuscripts of the time-honored and trustworthy King James Version (KJV), we find that there are over 5,600 changes. (2) It is done so subtly that very few ever realize it. Whole verses and sentences are completely deleted! Important words like "Lord", "Jesus", "Christ", "blood", "repent", "hell" are omitted many times! When we take a close look at the changes that are made in the new versions, vital doctrinal truths about the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, salvation, the resurrection, the second coming of Christ, heaven and hell and others have been omitted or changed in many places. It would almost seem that these important truths were taken out to deliberately weaken certain doctrines.

Omissions

There are 17 verses that are in the KJV, but are completely omitted from new Bible versions. Some versions may have brackets around them or footnotes that cast doubt. Let's look at the following verses that deal with salvation.

"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost" (Matthew 18:11). This verse is a clear Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ came to save the lost.

"And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (Acts 8:37). By removing the previous verse, the eunuch's confession of faith in the Son of God is gone, he is saved by baptism instead of faith in Jesus. This is false doctrine!

The following omitted verse is a commandment and must be obeyed by Christians. "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses" (Mark 11:26).

The clearest verse on the Trinity is also omitted: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" (I John 5:7).

In Matthew 17:21 Jesus shares the truth about how to cast out devils - "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting". This is a very important lesson on spiritual warfare but is conveniently removed in new Bible versions! Prayer is also omitted in Mark 12:33, and fasting in Mark 9:29, Acts 10:30, and 1 Corinthians 7:5.

The torments of Hell are omitted in two out of three places in the book of Mark. "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:44,46).

Check and see if the rest of these seventeen verses are missing from your Bible if you have anything other than a King James (Matthew 23:14, Mark 7:16, 15:28, Luke 17:36, 23:17, John 5:4, Acts 15:34, 24:7, 28:29, and Romans 16:24). If you have a Bible with footnotes at these verses, they cast doubt on their validity and make the verses debatable.

Important Doctrines Missing!

Not only are verses taken out, but also important Christian doctrines.

1 Timothy 3:16 says "God was manifest in the flesh," In the new versions "God" is replaced with the word "He". This is the clearest verse in the Bible that Jesus was God Himself. By putting the word "He" in the place of "God" it does not tell us who Jesus truly was.

Exactly one third of the Lord's Prayer is taken out of Luke 11:2-4:

compare to:

Who says Jesus teaching on prayer was not important enough? Let God be true but every man a liar! These are only a few of the thousands of changes. God warned us how dangerous it is to mess with His Word:


The First Lie

The first attack on God's word happened around six thousand years ago in the Garden of Eden. The serpent deceived Eve by first casting doubt on God's word, "Yea, hath God said" (Genesis 3:1). Then by denying it, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4). Compare this to what God said; "thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17). By adding the word "not", the serpent deceived Eve, which led to the fall of the human race!

Also in Genesis 3:1 the serpent subtly takes the word "LORD" away from the word "God". The scriptures in Gen. 2:4 through 3:24 refer to "God" as the "LORD God" every time except when the serpent is deceptively speaking with Eve. This way he subtlety takes authority and holiness away from God's name.
 Today new versions also take "Lord" away from "Jesus Christ" many times over! I wouldn't dare take away from the name that is above all names! (Philippians 2:9-11)  

Testing the Spirits

Let's compare the KJV with the NIV at 1 John 4:3 on how to test for an antichrist spirit.

compare to:

These new versions are doing the very thing that the King James says is not of God - they are not confessing that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh! Just because it says it in the verse before gives no one the right to take it out in verse 3. Heed the warning; "and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (KJV).


Black Marker

Would you be upset or offended if someone took your Bible and crossed out words, sentences, and even whole verses? Since every word of God is so important, you would be missing many words and verses that a Christian needs to have and know so they can walk and be strong in the faith. If this happened to your bible I would hope that every Christian would be upset about this and would wonder what God has really said in back of the black marker. The Bible says; "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (1 Tim 4:16). We are to take heed so we will not be deceived. This is what the New Bible Versions have done. They have deceived many Christians by taken away words, phrases and whole verses from the bread of life!


Which Bible Should I Read?

We must come to realize that there is only one Bible that is the true Word of God and that we can trust, because God is not the author of confusion. It all boils down to this: Either someone added words and phrases to the KJV, or someone deleted words and phrases from the New Versions. God's Word does not "evolve" or change over time, like some might have us believe. Who, then, is responsible for these differences? Would Satan actually desire to exalt the deity of Christ and the Word of God, like we have seen in the King James, or would he rather take away or steal the Word, as we have just seen in the new versions? This alone should clearly demonstrate which Bible is the Word of God.

   We can only stay strong in our Christian walk with the true Word of God. How could a warrior fight against an enemy with a dull sword? In the same way how does a Christian defend the Trinity with a NIV Bible?

I end with a quote from William Schnoebelen, a deliverance minister:


 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth"
 

Notes and Bibliography:

1). Thomas Holland, Manuscript Evidence, LESSON ONE: A Biblical Starting Point

2). Rev. D.A. Waite, "Defending the King James Bible, The Bible For Today Press, Collingswood, New Jersey, 1998, p. xii.

3). William and Sharon Schnoebelen, Blood on the Doorposts, Chick Publications, Chino, CA, 1994, p. 213

(c) Copyright 2000 Fill The Void Ministries. This article may be copied for personal use or reproduced to give to others. Article must be kept in original format and may not be sold for profit.

 Read Part Two

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(c) Copyright 2000 Fill The Void Ministries. This article may be copied for personal use or reproduced to give to others. Article must be kept in original format and may not be sold for profit.


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