he Hebrew and Christian Bible consists of both the
Old and New Testament and records the essential outline of history
from the beginning of creation to Abraham, from Abraham to the birth
of Jesus the Messiah, and from the birth of Jesus to the end of the apostolic
era in approximately 100 AD. The true description of the two books should
be The Old and New Covenants as the Greek word used is diatheke (dee-ath-ay'-kay);
which means a contract, or a covenant. The last book titled the book of Revelation
reveals major events prophesied to take place from the end of the apostolic
era to the return of Jesus and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The
book is frequently called by the incorrect name Book of Revelations. The actual
title of the book is "The Revelation of Jesus the Christ to his servant
John", as we find in the first verse.
The author, who identifies himself as John, states that he received these
visions on the isle of Patmos. The beginning of the vision relates to where
the authority of this information is from as recorded. "One like the
Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps
with a golden girdle", speaking with "a great voice, as of a trumpet".
Then there are statements addressed to the seven churches of Asia which denote
that the coming prophecies are for these seven Churches as well as to the
evil people on earth. The next important part of these visions relate to the
rest of the book which begins with "a door opened in heaven", and
describes the end of the world which also involves the final rebellion by
Satan up till Armageddon where God's defeat of Satan will be completed before
the coming of the Kingdom of the Messiah for a thousand years, and the restoration
of peace to the world.
Scripture in the latter part of the book of Revelation records that after the thousand years of Christ's rule are completed Satan will be loosed for a little season, and then with Satan's final army attempting to overthrow the city's of the Kingdom, God will defeat him for the last time and cast all evil into outer darkness never to return. After this event the current heavens and earth will be destroyed and then the second resurrection will occur to bring in the Great White Throne Judgment. After this last judgment is completed, and those who's names were not found in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire, the new Heavens , Earth, and City of God will come down from heaven and be established among mankind with The Holy Father living among His children. Many end time prophecies recorded in the book of Revelation can also be found throughout the Old Testament. (See Harmony of Prophesy.) The Old Testament was written in the Hebrew language and reportedly was faithfully preserved by the Massorites. History shows that those Massorites that faithfully preserved the Old Testament were the Levites who were appointed by Ezra as the official guardians of the Old Testament. The New Testament was originally written in the Aramaic and was written latter in the Greek language and preserved through the Greek speaking church.
Will it anger God if we want to validate
the bible?
Would it be as some ministers teach
as being a lack of faith to validate the bible? Let's go to the bible to see
some history concerning this question. We read in Acts 17:11-12, where the
apostle Paul went to a city of Macedonia called Berea. The scripture states,
"These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they
received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to
find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and
also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men." When Paul
arrived in Berea the people had not heard of Jesus the Messiah. They were
not Christians, but when Paul preached the gospel to them they searched the
Scriptures "daily" to find out whether these things were so. Now
we know that the New Testament had not been written at this time, so what
Scriptures did the Berean people search to prove the preaching of Paul? They
searched the Old Testament scriptures and old prophecy's concerning the coming
Messiah just as we did in chapter
two of this book. They were
not afraid to question Paul, and so they understood, from the proof of Old
Testament scripture, and believed that Jesus was the true Messiah that was
to come by the testimony of Paul, and as we see, it was not a sin to question
Paul. The question that must be asked and answered is can we believe
that all the Bible versions we use today are credible, and is it the written
word of God? Was the bible inspired directly by God through His chosen servants
by the power of His Holy Spirit to record the Scriptures for mankind? What
about the translators, did God inspire them all? If it is credible we should
be able to compare the teachings of the Messiah and salvation that is written
in the New Testament with the Old Testament. What about the prophecies, are
they valid? Can we in some way check their validity? Does the bible contain
vital spiritual knowledge revealed by God which man cannot discover for himself?
Understanding of the times:
Another subject that should be addressed is that as bible students we should
inject ourselves into the era of the times that we are studying in order to
get the flavor and true picture in which we are trying to understand. The
writings of Paul are a good example of this because the writings of Paul were
letters sent to various churches for the purpose of teachings for each congregation
and to solve problems at the time. We need to realize that Paul was addressing
each church area for their special problems and a letter to the church at
Corinth, an ancient city in Greece, would not be sent to the church in Thessalonike.
Paul even addressed his letters in the same manner as to say this letter is
to such and such church as we can read in 1Thes 1:1 1, "Paul, Silvanus,
and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you." Although there are great examples we
can follow in Paul's letters, I doubt that he ever intended for his letters
to be a law book that Christians would go to in the way the Children of Israel
did with the Law of Moses.
If you remember God stated a command to Moses that what he was to write and
give to the people was the law, but we find no such command from God to Paul,
so we need to keep in mind that most of the teachings of Paul were principles
of Christian living and not commands by God. Paul himself stated when he was
speaking as a man or concerning teachings that God was inspiring and in many
cases he was quoting Old Testament scripture. Jesus also knew and quoted Old
Testament scripture in order to show the teachers of His day their error.
Jesus was born a Jew and His apostles were Jews as well. The New Testament
is not only a record of the Christian Church, but is also a record of the
genealogy of Jesus which ties into the Old Testament Hebrews and the twelve
tribes of Israel. The fact is that the Jews are only one tribe of the twelve
tribes we read about in the Old Testament.
The admonition to Timothy from Paul in 2 Tim 3:16-17 that stated, "All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man
of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." was
referring to the Old Testament as the New Testament had not been written at
the time of his writing. Also it is safe to say that Paul did not write the
book of Hebrews because he was sent to the gentile nations. The letters Paul
wrote to these gentile people would have been in the Greek, or Roman language
but the book of Hebrews would have been written to those of the house of Israel
and most likely would have been in Aramaic. Also the style of the author of
Hebrews does not reflect the style of Paul.
Many Christians today believe that the King James Version of 1611 is the "the original" bible. The fact is that it is not and even in the preface of the KJV of 1611 read in part states, "Truly (good Christian Reader) we never thought from the beginning, that we should need to make a new Translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one, ... but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principal good one, not justly to be excepted against." This has been omitted from the KJV we use today but should not have. Another aspect I must mention here is that many Christians look at the King James Version as the "Authorized Version" and thus denote the wording to mean "Divinely Authorized" when it was only authorized by the King of England which simply means officially recognized for use in public worship. We must also note that the King James Bible was not the first "Authorized Version". The first "Authorized Version" was the Great Bible of 1539. Second was the Bishops' Bible of 1568, and the King James Bible of 1611 was the third.
Just what is the bible?
Because of the way we have used the bible many have come to believe that
it IS the Word of God. It may surprise you but even the bible tells us that
is not true. We should refer to the bible as the scriptures but Jesus is the
word of God. Let's read what the bible states in John 1:1-2 1, "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
was in the beginning with God." Also in John 1:14 we find, "And
the Word became 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."
God may want us to study scripture as did the apostles, but He for sure want's
us to learn from His Holy Spirit which the scriptures state is the spirit
of truth. There is a very plain scripture in which was among the first I learned
over 35 years ago that reveals we can only learn from the Holy Spirit which
gives spiritual understanding. It states; "However,
when the Spirit of truth, has come, It will guide you into all truth; for
It will not speak on It’s own authority, but whatever It hears It will speak;
and It will tell you things to come. John 16:13 There are many
scriptures that back this up but I will use just one more that in itself has
the power of truth in it. "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white
horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head
were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He
was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word
of God. Rev 19:11-13
Some historical information of the New Testament:
The word "Bible" is from the Greek word "biblia"
which means "Book of Books" and we have found in our research that
before the reformers put the bible together these many books of the New Testament
were separate. Some would have the four gospels and preach from them while
others down through time only had, say the "Epistles of Paul" to
preach from. Some historians state that there are in existence some 5,300
manuscripts with several types of texts. Texts are divided by scholars into
four main groups: papyri, uncials, miniscules, and lectionaries. The received
text, or Textus Receptus was the base for the original German Luther Bible,
for the translation of the New Testament into English as was the case by William
Tyndale, and for most other Reformation-era New Testament translations throughout
Western and Central Europe such as the Geneva bible.
Let's understand the Language:
What is Koine Greek and why is it important to understand its use in biblical
research? George Ricker Berry, Ph. D. stated in his points concerning the
value of Hebrew and Greek to the Clergymen; he stated..."Without some
knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, you cannot be an independent student, or a
reliable interpreter of the written word of God." A person can stand
before a group of people and sound knowledgeable about the bible, but without
real understanding and a deep desire to teach the truth that person is no
more than a useless tool to God. Before Alexander the Great, the Greek language
was an assortment of localized dialects and Alexander wanted a Greek language
common to all the people under his rule and it was called 'koine' or common.
By the time the New Testament was written (mid to late 1st century A.D.) koine
Greek had become the common language in Israel. Koine Greek became more popular
in Rome than Latin. One reason was the acceptance by Rome of all cult religions
as long as the Emperor was worshiped as well.
Erasmus' contribution:
The new translations after John Wycliff originated with the first printed
Greek New Testament to be published. It was a work undertaken in Basel by
the Dutch Catholic scholar Desiderius Erasmus in 1516, on the basis of some
six manuscripts, containing between them not quite the complete New Testament.
Although based mainly on late manuscripts of the Byzantine text-type, Erasmus's
edition differed markedly from the classic form of that text. In considering
the experiences of Linacre and Colet, the great scholar Erasmus was so moved
to correct the corrupt Latin Vulgate, that in 1516, with the help of printer
John Froben, he published a Greek-Latin Parallel New Testament. The Latin
part was not the corrupt Vulgate, but his own fresh rendering of the text
from the more accurate and reliable Greek, which he had managed to collate
from a half-dozen partial old Greek New Testament manuscripts he had acquired.
This milestone was the first non-Latin Vulgate text of the scripture to be
produced in a millennium… and the first ever to come off a printing press.
The 1516 Greek-Latin New Testament of Erasmus further focused attention on
just how corrupt and inaccurate the Latin Vulgate had become, and how important
it was to go back and use the original Greek (New Testament) and original
Hebrew (Old Testament) languages to maintain accuracy.
The translators of the KJV of 1611 used as their source for the New Testament a Greek Text based upon the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus of the fourth century. This text, publicized by Westcott and Hort, is also known as the Alexandrian Text (Also called Neutral or Egyptian.) which originated in Egypt. It is reported that Wescott-Hort is mostly based on these two old manuscripts. The Vaticanus which was exhumed from deep in the Catholic archives of Rome in 1481, the date of a catalog in which it is listed according to some historians. Sir Frederic Kenyon has pointed out that, although there is no story to tell of the manuscript's discovery, an interesting story does exist. It is suspect to me that no one really knows how the Codex Vaticanus came to exist, and the printed texts of the Greek New Testament today rely heavily on the Vatican Codex. The Sinaiticus was found by Count von Tischendorf in an abandoned monk's cell in St Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai in May of 1844. He returned in 1859 to find a treasure of manuscripts that were the Sinaitic Manuscripts which contained a complete New Testament. (Some information here is from a good research book titled, "How we got the Bible." by Neil R. Lightfoot.) Some information is from the Encyclopedia Britannica.
There are many people who hold the Old King James Version of 1611 superior
to all other English versions, but how accurate is this translation, and did
the translators have all the tools and knowledge essential to do this great
work? William Tyndale, coming at the start of a renewed interest in Greek,
was the first to translate the Greek New Testament into English (1525). A
Greek grammar was published however in 1476 and a Greek lexicon in 1492. Greek
language studies were also added to university curriculums. These tools and
new studies in Greek made it possible for a Greek-based translation, and Tyndale
made a major contribution to the English Bible by his translation of the Greek
into English, however there are problems with his translations also.
I looked up the word "cross" in William Tyndale's original writings
and he spells it "Crosse" but still we know that the Greek word
he should have translated from is stauros and should be translated as "Stake.
Our research has revealed that the true Greek word for cross is "crux".
This word "Crux" cannot be found in the New Testament at all, but
the word stauros which translates as "Stake" is found in every place
where Tyndale used the word cross. Tyndale also changed the Greek word "pascha"
to "Easter" in many scriptures which is spelled "Ester"
in his work but still is incorrect, and I could not find the word Passover
in Tyndale's New Testament work at all. Also I looked at the word Tyndale
used for the Greek word "pneuma" and he used the word correctly
as "Spirit" and not "Ghost" in some places which Tyndale
spelled "spirite" but in some text he spelled it "sprete"
as in Eph. 4:30. He also used the incorrect translation Holy Ghost which he
spelled "goost" in many places but should have been Holy Spirit
as the New King James version has correctly translated.
Another big problem of Tyndale's translations is that his English was very
different than our English today. For example the scripture in Matthew 20:22
which reads in the King James Version, "But Jesus answered and said,
Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink
of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say
unto him, we are able. Now Tyndale's Version of that same scripture is Iesus
answered and sayd: Ye wot not what ye axe. Are ye able to drynke of the cuppe
yt I shall drynke of and to be baptised wt the baptyme that I shal be baptised
with? They answered to him that we are. His version for John 3:16 was "For
God so loveth the worlde, that he hath geven his only sonne, that none that
beleve in him, shuld perisshe: but shuld have everlastinge lyfe." It
is possible to go back to manuscripts earlier than Wycliff, but the language
is not easily recognizable. For example, the Anglo-Saxon manuscript of 995
AD renders John 3:16 as: "God lufode middan-eard swa, dat he seade his
an-cennedan sunu, dat nan ne forweorde de on hine gely ac habbe dat ece lif."
By this example you can see why these translations had to be revised. (We
will cover more about Tyndale at the end of this chapter.)
Miles Coverdale was born in 1488, and died Jan. 20, 1569. He was an English
Augustinian friar who is best remembered as a translator of the Bible. After
embracing Lutheran teachings, he abandoned (1528) the order and preached against
church practices such as confession. Forced to leave England, he went to the
Continent, where he produced (1535) the first complete English Bible. Miles
Coverdale revised Tyndale's translation with the help of the German Bible
in 1535. One contribution he made was to place the Apocrypha in a separate
section. With Richard Grafton he issued the "Great Bible" in 1539
under the patronage of Thomas Cromwell. It was named the Great Bible because
of its great size, being 13 by 71/2 inches. This Bible was the first "Authorized
Version and King Henry VIII placed copies in every church and proclaimed that
the clergy should read it in services and "expressly provoke, and exhort
every person to read the same." In 1551 Miles Coverdale became bishop
of Exeter, but he was exiled again after the succession of the Roman Catholic
Queen Mary (Bloody Mary) in (1553). He returned in 1559 continuing as a leader
of the Puritan party. John Knox and a group of other English exiles produced
a new revision of Tyndale's Bible in Geneva in 1560, which became known as
the Geneva Bible. It contained lengthy marginal "annotation" with
a strong "Calvinist" flavor. This Bible became the commonly accepted
English translation in the late 1500s.
It went through some 140 editions and was the Bible of the Puritans and the common people until finally the King James Version of 1611 replaced it around 1640. The Bishops' Bible (1568), named because the committee included several Anglican bishops, was a revision of the Great Bible. It was the second Authorized Version. This Bible omitted what is called "bitter" marginal notes because of the belief that the Bible should not contain lengthy denominational commentary. It labeled genealogies and other "non-edifying" passages so the reader could jump over them. Since it was the "Bishop's Bible," it quickly replaced the Great Bible for use in The Catholic churches and remained so until the KJV replaced it. It went through twenty editions between 1568 and 1606, yet it never became the Bible of the people.(See the bible time line in the appendix.)
From our research we have found that the KJV of 1611 is not entirely correct! Through my three year study into the history of the English bible I have found interpretation errors in all translations and this is because the foundation is Catholic and if you will continue on you will see more facts. The fact is that we have the Anglican bible from the Church of England as our guide and when you go into the history of the making of this bible of 1611 you find men under great pressure and some with their own agenda being involved in its conception. The King of England did not like the Geneva bible and that is why he authorized the KJV of 1611. The Geneva Bible however was the "Bible of the Protestant Reformation". It is reported that it was the first Bible taken to America, brought over on the Mayflower. I read that most early American colonists, who were fleeing the religious oppression of the Anglican Church (Church of England), wanted nothing to do with the King James Bible of the Anglican Church! (Access the History of the Geneva bible)
This does not in any way say that the KJV of 1611 is not God's word altogether;
and I do believe that God inspired many of the writers of the New Testament,
however, from understanding the history of the manuscripts I do not believe
God's hand was with all the translators down through the last 19 hundred years.
God must not have protected the manuscripts as I once thought for if He had
then we would not be finding interpretation errors in so many scriptures.
Distressed about this I prayed and asked God why He did not lay out exactly
what He wanted for His New covenant Church when Jesus was still here that
last 40 days with His disciples and the answer I received was logged in Matt
22:36-40 which states; "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the
law?" Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first
and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor
as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
Although I do believe that we have most of the correct bible even in the KJV of 1611, I also believe that as good stewards we should investigate the possibility of missing manuscripts and words that were mistranslated to fine tune our understanding. Perhaps by doing this we could come to a greater coming together of understanding and not be so divided over mistranslations. As I have stated in other writings, the Protestants were correct in their fight during the reformation however, after their many good leaders were murdered by being burned, and beheaded, their followers did not complete the reformation but conformed to most of the Old Catholic doctrines. The way I decide what is truth is by looking at, and understanding God's overall plan as well as the wording and how the change affects the teaching of the subject. The one and great important point I keep in mind is that Satan has NEVER ceased in his quest for the throne of God. I have found in my years of studying pagan history that all history is full of Satan's tactics and sorry to say he has had a hand in the English bible also.
If one reads the original Preface to the King James Version you will find that the translators themselves did not believe their work was without imperfections as they stated in the "To-the-reader-preface pages;" "No cause therefore why the word translated should be denied to be the word, or forbidden to be current, notwithstanding that some imperfections and blemishes may be noted in the setting forth of it." For centuries prior to 1611, Latin was the only scholarly language in Europe. The corrup Latin Vulgate translation of Jerome, based upon the Alexandrian Text, which was the "official" text of the powerful Roman Catholic Church. Neil Lightfoot states in his book "How we got the Bible" that many words used in English translations are due to the Latin Vulgate. A short list states Lightfoot are of such terms as "congregation," "consecration," "conversion," "exhortation," "justification," "ministry," "sanctification," "testament," even, "Olivet," and Calvary." Eventually, states Lightfoot, "the result is that the Roman Catholic Bible in English is a translation of a translation and is not a translation from the original languages."
Christians may not want to believe the facts but protestant translators sometimes did not have access to all of the Received Greek Official Text, and being familiar with the Vulgate, they sometimes put words into their translations based upon the Latin which were never there in the original Greek or Aramaic. Also the Catholic Church influenced some copyists. As one example of Catholic influence, Schaff (German-American theologian and church historian.) pointed out that a passage exists only in the Latin version that stated Jesus went to those dead and saved their souls. "It was for this reason that the Lord descended into the regions beneath the earth, preaching His advent to them also, and [declaring] the remission of sins to those who believe in Him. Now all those believed in Him who had hope towards him, that is, those who proclaimed His advent, and submitted to His dispensations, the righteous men, the prophets, and the patriarchs, to whom He remitted sins in the same way, as He did to us, which sins we should not lay to their charge, if we would not despise the grace of God." We know Jesus did NOT go into hell (The grave) and preach to the dead because scripture states that the dead know nothing, but the Catholic Church wants to teach such to their people so they made scripture to back them up.
The new modern translations are not only worse than the KJV of 1611 as far as mistranslations, but they are purposefully incorrect and we will see in this study some good examples of the corruption in the modern translations as they even changed the meaning of texts, but for now let's look at some mistranslation in the Old King James Version. The bulk of New Testament manuscripts were copied over the centuries from earlier manuscripts so as they wore out older copies did not survive. The translators relied on as many manuscripts as they could find for comparison. Many mistakes occurred by the many copyists, states Neil Lightfoot. Sometimes a scribe confuses words of similar sound, as in English we often interchange "affect" and "effect." A few New Testament passages may serve as illustrations. In Romans 5:1, is it "let us have peace with God" or "we have peace with God"? The difference is simply whether the 0 in Greek is long or short but they are spelled the same. (echomen or echomen). In 1 Thessalonians 2:7, is it "we were babes among you" or "we were gentle among you"? The difference is one letter (nepioi or epioi).
Another example of misinterpretations is as the late Aramaic Bible researcher George M. Lamsa claimed that the traditional interpretation of "Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani" in the Gospels is wrong which reads, "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" According to Lamsa Christ actually stated, ""My God, My God this is my destiny." Or I was born for this. "This statement would also be more in line with Jesus' attitude towards Our Father and the fact that Jesus knew it was His destiny and that His Father would never forsake Him. In his book, New Testament origin, Dr. George Lamsa states, 'Not a word of the Scriptures was originally written in Greek, the Scriptures were written in Aramaic." Our research have shown that he is correct and that Christians and ministers scrutinizing the nuances of Greek words to fire at each other would be better off investigating the true meanings of Aramaic words and the hidden truth behind Aramaic idioms. Aramaic is a very obscure language, and they didn't know it as well as they should have before they translated the scriptures.
Another example is that the Aramaic word for 'camel' is written so nearly identical to the word for 'rope' that when the original scrolls were being translated into Greek, an error occurred due to the translator's limitations. Matthew 19:24 is commonly translated, 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.' The Aramaic manuscripts read 'rope' instead of 'camel'. Rope, of course, is much more in keeping with the picture of a needle, and is probably what Jesus said, and what was originally recorded. Also in Matthew 7:3 we read, 'Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?' And yet, in Lamsa's version the word 'splinter' appears in place of 'speck.' The organic relationship between a splinter and a plank (or beam) is obvious while speck is more vague. Again, Lamsa's translation remains true to the picture being conveyed. Lamsa relied upon the King James translation in large part for style and form, making thousands of corrections to the Bible from the Aramaic texts and applying it to the more accepted form.
Evil Campaign:
Although the textual errors of the past may be a result of many good men trying
with all the tools they had at the time were just that, mistakes" but
today there is an evil campaign to destroy the scriptures and many churches
called by the name Christian are embracing these false teachers and their
new bibles. The spirit of antichrist is moving strong throughout most churches
bringing lies about Jesus, and the bible. As we learned in
chapter one of this book, there's a great movement from those that hate
the truth or have their own agenda to destroy or pervert the words Jesus brought
from the Holy Father, and that was preached by His faithful apostles. If we
have not proven for ourselves the credibility of the Old and New Testaments
then we surly can be deceived into believing another gospel, and fall for
the false Christ that is now being presented to the people. Remember brethren;
a false Christ has no power to answer prayer, or give salvation and Satan
wants the world to follow anyone but the true Christ.
Satan's attack on the written word of God:
I'm reentering information we covered in Chapter one for review so we can
clearly pick up the point of the next part of this study. The Council of Trent,
the 19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, was held at Trent
in northern Italy between 1545 and 1563. It marked a major turning point in
the efforts of the Catholic Church to respond to the challenge of the Protestant
REFORMATION and formed a key part of the COUNTER-REFORMATION. The council
met during three separate periods (1545-47, 1551-52, 1562-63) under the leadership
of three different popes (PAUL III, Julius III, PIUS IV). All of its decrees
were formally confirmed by Pope Pius IV in 1564. In the area of religious
doctrine, the council refused any concessions to the Protestants and, in the
process, crystallized and codified Catholic dogma far more than ever before.
It directly opposed Protestantism by reaffirming the existence of seven
sacraments, transubstantiation, purgatory, the necessity of the priesthood,
and justification by works as well as by faith. Clerical celibacy and monasticism
were maintained, and decrees were issued in favor of the efficacy of relics,
indulgences, and the veneration of the Virgin Mary and the saints. Tradition
was declared coequal to Scripture as a source of spiritual knowledge, and
the sole right of the church to interpret the Bible was asserted.
Our Adversary, Satan the Devil, knows that God's word is truth. We are told by Christ, "Satan comes Immediately and takes away the word that was sown." (Mark 4:15) Satan was the first being to question God's word. He was the first to change and to add to God's word. Satan could not prevent the sacrifice of the Christ so now he wants to take away from God's word so people will not understand the truth about salvation through the Messiah. We are warned to beware of those who would come as ministers of righteousness but are wolves in Shepherds clothing. 2 Cor 11:13-15. "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." Satan loves to confuse the issue, and just like Satan; deceivers use words having more than one sense so as to seem to say one thing but intend another, and Satan is their teacher and the father and master of deception. The truth can never be interpreted just any way we please; but we must go to the scriptures for truth, and depend on the Spirit of truth for understanding. 2 Pet 1:20-21. "knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
True scripture can only be interpreted by men moved by the Holy Spirit of
God, and if it's only being interpreted by men alone, it's the interpretation
of men, not of God! Satan desires greatly to destroy the written word of God
and has tried many times down through history and continues to do so today.
If He can't get us to disbelieve the scriptures, he will try other ways to
deceive. Satan knows that a frontal assault very seldom works, and he knows
if he tries to burn all the bibles in the world he would get most professing
Christians of this day working to defend it. So how could he accomplish this?
How could he get us to reject the true words of God while still thinking we
have it? The way he is doing this brethren is by changing the contents of
the Bible to mean something that was not intended by the original authors.
What better way to deceive the unsuspecting sheep than to "slowly change"
the very book we all trust without question. It is not necessary to change
every scripture but just selected parts that lead to the worship of the TRUE
creator God, and His TRUE identity, as well as God's plan of salvation, and
new covenant that leads people into His kingdom through the true Messiah Jesus,
and being baptized with the true baptism, and having hands laid on the convert
to receive the Holy Spirit of God to help understand all things.
Now let's look at some NKJ vs. NIV comparisons:
The New International Version is one Bible that distorts the truth of God
as do the New Revised Standard Version, The New American Standard Version,
The Revised English Bible, and The Good News Bible. I will use the NIV to
illustrate this deception and the New King James version as the true source
as it has been proven to be the most accurate Bible in print today. (See our
study titled "NKJV
Vs. KJV)
Satan wants to change his name to the morning star (or daystar). This
title truly belongs to Christ, but Satan wants to take the place of the Messiah,
and he wants to be worshipped as a god.
Isa 14:12 "How you are fallen from heaven, "O Lucifer", son
of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!
(NKJ)
Isa 14:12 "How you have fallen from heaven, "O morning star",
son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low
the nations! (NIV)
Notice the change from O Lucifer to O morning star, however, Christ claims
this title in Rev 22:16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you
these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the
Bright and Morning Star." (NKJ)
Mark 6:11-12. 11 "And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when
you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against
them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah
in the day of judgment than for that city!" 12 So they went out and preached
that people should repent. (NKJ)
Mark 6:11-12 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. (NIV) Comment: Notice the very important missing portion of scripture ("Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!") Meaning not to accept Christ as your savior is a greater sin than sodomy. Satan does not want people to make the connection.
1 Cor 11:24-25. 24 "and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,
"This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is
the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance
of me."
(NIV) This version left out a very important word which is also the word Satan
wants left out. The word as we see below in the (NKJ) is "Broken"
which denotes the fact that we are healed by the broken body of the Christ.
Also the Passover bread should be broken as well.
1 Cor 11:24. 24 "and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,
"Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in
remembrance of Me."
(NKJ)
Matt 6:9 "In this manner, therefore, pray: our Father in heaven, hallowed
be Your name. (NKJ)
Matt 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray" Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, (NIV) Comment: The wording in Matt 6:9 (NKJ) "IN
THIS MANNER" is very important in that Jesus intended us to use this
as a model prayer. The Webster's New World College dictionary renders manner
as "a way or method in which something is done or happens." so it
was never meant to be used as a rote type prayer. Satan wants us to get involved
in rote prayer because it is mindless and it can be done without thought.
The statement in the (NIV) "This, then, is how you should pray"
Denotes EXACTLY which is by rote. It is in this way Satan gets people to give
into him in satanic rituals by repetitious quotes. When the mind is clear
(not reasoning) it becomes very open to control, but because the way our mind
functions it MUST become focused by repetitious quotes, or it easily begins
to reason on logic, not allowing demonic influence to enter in. That's why
religion has all the rituals and ceremonies so they can focus people on the
ceremony instead of the true gospel and plan of salvation.
Matt 6:12-13 12 "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For
Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (NKJ)
Matt 6:12-13 "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' (NIV)
Comment: Note what was left out of Vs 13 in the (NIV) (it is very important
to recognize God's Power, Glory, and Kingdom in prayer.) It is by God's power,
and for His glory that we will inter into His kingdom.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
(NKJ)
John 3:16 "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.
(NIV) Comment: The statement one and only denotes no other sons, trying to
lock out any one else from being part of the God family. This type of statement
is directly from the trinity teaching.
Rev 13:1 "Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising
up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten
crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name." (NKJ)
Rev 13:1 "And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a
beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns
on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name." (NIV) Comment: Satan
is here trying to put himself into the place of John, the one CHRIST revealed
it to. This is interesting because we know Satan will deceive the world into
believing the true Christ is the antichrist at His return.
Rev 16:7 "And I heard another from the altar saying, "Even so,
Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments." (NKJ)
Rev 16:7 "And I heard the altar respond: "Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true and just are your judgments." (NIV) Comment: Notice that the true
statement here is "Another from the alter" however Satan's bible
says, "And I heard the alter respond" denoting the alter is a speaking
idol.
Matt 17:19-22 19 "Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said,
"Why could we not cast him out?" 20 So Jesus said to them, "Because
of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard
seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will
move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 "However, this kind
does not go out except by prayer and fasting." 22 Now while they were
staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be
betrayed into the hands of men," (NKJ)
Matt 17:20-22 "He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." 22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. (NIV) Comment: This verse proves again that the (NIV) is Satan's inspired deceptive bible, Note what was deleted from vs. 20 to vs. 22. The whole verse 21 has been deleted because Satan or his demons does not want us to learn about a very powerful tool God has revealed for us to use against them, (FASTING)
This is only a few examples of Satan's deception using the (NIV) but it suffices
to illustrate that there's positively a plan by Satan to deceive God's true
people in a way so subtle that if not addressed could deceive the very elect.
Most Churches and ministers are taking this lightly, but one day they will
have to give account for their neglect of those in their charge. Many are
not just neglecting to teach against this gross perversion of the Bible, but
are using the (NIV) knowing they are using a bad version. Research has shown
that the NIV has 64,098 less words than the KJV. This not only is true in
the (NIV) but as well as many other bibles and commentaries being published
by the Bible Societies under the sway of the Vatican and the National Council
of Churches. Remember, Jesus stated, "A little leaven leavens the whole
lump." The leaven within the professing Christian world are those who
have gained power for the purpose of completely destroying the scriptures
as they have been handed down. Now it's up to us individually to study and
rightly divide the scriptures and we must realize what Satan is doing and
be faithful to the written word of God. If we are reckless with the truth,
or if we go along with these deceptions, God will hold us responsible.
Satan wants to bring all religions such as Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindu's
under the same umbrella and incorporate other pagan gods into the world religion.
Satan wants to make us believe that God is just some none existing thing except
maybe the good and creative minds within ourselves. He wants us to believe
that the Holy Spirit is a person and not the power of God so we will pray
to it instead of using it the correct way. (This subject is discussed in greater
detail in chapter
six.of this book.) Satan also wants us to believe that the Kingdom is
just within us and not to be given to us at Christ's return! Satan wants us
to worship with religion so we will focus on the ceremonies and rituals rather
than on God. So, my friend, Satan has published his own bibles and commentaries
to bring this about.
Another attack that is in the works as of this writing is to convince people
that the bible is wrong when it speaks of God's wrath that is to come because
of our sins. They want people to think that God would never kill people by
the thousands or destroy many cities because of disobedience. They teach a
gospel of love and unity in a way that becomes a gospel of tolerance towards
sin. Their gospel of love confines itself exclusively to the positive never
going to the parts of the bible that is pointing out that what we are doing
is sin, and that we need to repent of sin. They don't want to preach from
the bible where we are warned of the consequence of our sins. They say, as
long as we are holding Jesus up as the Savior we don't need to be concerned
about doctrine or warnings of loosing salvation. These are those Paul warned
about in 2 Tim 4:3-4 "For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching
ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their
ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."
What if the Apostles of Christ or William Tyndale had avoided controversy
by quoting only the positive aspects in the bible? What if Steven had quit
proclaiming the true gospel to save his life? If we, today, just teach on
those things that all nations can agree on we too will find ourselves losing
the truth and becoming in bondage to the many myths and superstitions such
as the trinity, Christ-mass, and Easter. We are saved by grace but we should
have works as a result of our growing in Christ. These misguided ministers
teach a salvation ONLY by grace and not of works WITH grace, but the bible
clearly teaches that we must have works with grace. James 2:17-20. "Thus
also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will
say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without
your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there
is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-- and tremble! But do you
want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" And in
John 14:23-24, "Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves
Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to
him and make Our home with him. "He who does not love Me does not keep
My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent
Me." We see here from Jesus' own words that if we don't KEEP His Words
we do not love Him! To keep His commands is the very works of repentance and
we can't keep His Word if we don't know what His words are in the first place.
When Jesus made this statement the New Testament did not exist. Jesus was talking about the Ten commandments, which was written on Mount Sinai which includes the seventh day Sabbath. All the commands and warnings from God in the Old and New Testaments that we should not go after or worship the pagans are still in affect today. They have not been done away with as misguided ministers of this modern Christian era teach. We need to cling to God and use His Holy Spirit in these last days because we not only have to watch out for the ministers that teach error, but we have to battle with those that are of the antichrist. One of the many ways the antichrist crowd try to destroy our belief in the New Testament writings about Jesus is by claiming the New Testament was changed from the original writings by the Catholic Church who had total access for hundreds of years. Although some errors have been made due to lack of information the Catholic Church has not had complete control of the scriptures. Let's look at this with wisdom and understanding because it is a question that needs answering. If the Catholic Church had exclusive control over the bible would the New Testament record Christ's statement that no one can come to the Father except through Him alone? Without a doubt it would contain a lot of Mary worship with prayers to Mary and prayers to the dead saints such as Peter and Paul.
The statement that Mary had other sons and daughters in Matt 13:55-56; would
be omitted, because the Catholic Church teaches that Mary died a virgin. If
the Catholics had changed the bible, they would have added commands by Jesus
Himself that the Pope was the vicar of Christ, and all true Christians should
look to him for all doctrine. Statements like "call no man Father (or
most Holy Father) but your Father in heaven" would be omitted. They would
have changed all of the scriptures concerning the resurrection because there
can't be a resurrection of the dead at Christ's return, and people also going
to heaven when they die. Many false teachers and antichrists will continue
to come trying to deceive and distort the truth as well as attack the divinity
of Jesus. The question is; do you believe the scriptures when it warns you
to beware of false doctrine as well as false teachers and do you want to defend
the truth at all cost? If we don't study to prove all things then...we will
be deceived. But we don't have to be deceived if we will not be lazy and just
let some man tell us what it says. Again we need to study and understand what
has been changed.
God validates His own Word:
Many skeptics down through time and today say the Bible is just a book of
Jewish history, or a collection of myths about the nation of Israel. Is this
true? What are we to believe, and why do we believe it? History is proof in
many ways, but it can't be validated one hundred percent. So what can prove
the credibility of the Bible? God is the one that has power over all things,
and it's The Holy Father by the power of His Holy Spirit that validates His
own Word. If the statement is that an event is to come to pass and it's said
to be of God, then God will perform it. If it does not come to pass then it
is not of God. One third of the Bible is Prophesy and most of it's for our
generation, or just before the return of the Christ. No man can understand
every Prophesy in the Bible, although God has revealed some points about events
of this generation because we have reached the time when all things can be
fulfilled. For the first time in the history of mankind we have come to the
place where we can travel around the world in hours. Fly to the moon and back
safely. Send messages around the world in seconds by way of the Internet,
or blow up a city with a population of millions by the touch of a button.
We can put one man's heart or kidney in another, or even clone a sheep or
cow without the male animal. In fact science has become the god of mankind,
and man depends on science for what he eats, how he solves his problems and
even for healing, or to save lives. He looks to science to have his children
and to decide if he even wants them. Even in the movie titled "Deep impact"
the space ship that saved the world was named the Messiah. Science has brought
us the television, radio, air conditioning, ease of travel by car, bus or
plane. As a result scientists teach that there's no God, and that we just
evolved from the monkey, and they teach that science is all we need and have
to depend on. The belief in a creator God is fast becoming unpopular.
Prophecies:
We have heard for years that we are living in the last days. Preachers have
shouted from the pulpit as far back as World War One that we are in the final
gun lap and we need to get ready for the great tribulation and the return
of the Christ. Many have used this as what can be termed fear religion and
have literally scared many people into a Church, or out of their life savings.
Many false preachers have spouted out false prophesy because they want to
feel important before the people, and to so say, God was revealing things
to them as if they were a prophet. Because man has misused the bible for gain,
misunderstanding the old problem of crying wolf has caused confusion concerning
the last days, and Satan has used it to confuse the people about the truth
concerning prophesy. There are many prophecies that have been fulfilled and
we can read of these in the bible as well as history. Prophecies that have
been fulfilled would be easy to insert in the Bible, so let's take a look
at some things that was impossible for the apostles to fake, or for anyone
to insert. In what has become known as the book of Revelation, John wrote
what he saw in vision, but he could only describe them, as he understood things
in his day. He had to compare the things he saw with insects or beasts. Let's
take the time here to read what he recorded in Rev 9:17-19 "And thus
I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of
fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were
like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.
By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed-- by the fire and the
smoke and the brimstone, which came out of their mouths. For their power is
in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having
heads; and with them they do harm."
We are far into the future now with these advanced machines all around us.
We are living in the time John was projected into. If you, knowing what you
know now, had to describe what he saw, could the horse be a tank? Out of their
mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. What does it look like when a tank
fires it's big guns? Notice in vs. 19 "For their power is in their mouth
and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with
them they do harm." Picture a machine gun when they are firing from the
rear of a tank; it looks like a serpent as the tracers zigzag through the
air. We read in Rev. 9:3 about another monster that could fly, and this one
came out of the smoke and looked like locusts. They had breastplates like
breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots
with many horses running into battle. What does the helicopters blade sound
like when it's beating the air, and have you ever seen a helicopter that looked
like a locust? Please understand that I'm not in anyway saying dogmatically
that this is what all the descriptions of John's visions mean, however, it
gives food for thought, and remember, John could only describe them as he
understood things in his day and time. He did not know the names of these
things, so he described them as he saw them in comparison to the things in
nature.
John also described a beast system that could only come into power if the
world leaders had mass worldwide communications. The system John described
would control the currency and all that concerned the distribution of wealth,
religion, military, and political powers of the entire world. It would also
be a power that had no country of its own. John saw ten kings give this beast
their power as we read in Rev 17:12-13. "The ten horns which you saw
are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority
for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will
give their power and authority to the beast." Although the United Nations
needs much reform, if we look at the United Nations today we can see how they
could fit in with this prophesy, and add the European Union and European Free
Trade Association and others for the ten horns. The United Nations is not
a country, but they are gaining power as if they were a nation. They now control
the World court, the world's military, which is called the United Nations
Peace keeping forces. They control the world banking system, and the world
distribution system. This power will be very good for all people of the earth
until the dragon (Satan) gets involved. So we see here again that the bible
is proving out for the most part to be the written word of God in that these
things were for told almost 2,000 years ago. Am I saying without a doubt the
United Nations is the system? No! Just that it will be like it.
Do We Love the Truth More Than Our Very Lives?
I firmly believe God expects us to do all in our power to preserve the truth
in the Bible; warning others of these false and evil deceptive translations.
If we fail to warn others and they are lost forever then we have failed those
Jesus died for. William Tyndale lived during a time when being a Christian
was to be a Catholic, and also when the Catholic Church was in its prime of
corruption. Many Catholic priests, bishops, and cardinals during that time
used their office as a means of financial gain rather than spiritual leadership.
Many men of Tyndale's day felt that something had to be done to reform the
Church, either by leaving the church or by attempting to reform it from within
like Erasmus and Thomas More. William Tyndale felt that the best way to reform
the church was to provide the common man with scriptures written in their
own tongue. He was a man that loved the truth as he understood it and had
to flee his home to work in seclusion as well as fear for his very life.
He painstakingly wrote by hand the New Testament many times while translating
it from the Greek Testament of Erasmus and then smuggled the Bibles into England
through imports of flour and any other way he could. William Tyndale understood
the great importance of the scriptures, and this is reflected by his own famous
words when he heard an educated man say that it would be better to be without
God's laws than the pope's, Tyndale replied, "If God spare my life, ere
many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the
Scripture than thou doest." Tyndale's translation was written in a new
terminology of the common man. He purposely avoided using ecclesiastical terms
such as "charity", "penance", "church" and "priest",
since these terms had been used by the Catholic church to relate specifically
to actions and practices of the church. Instead, Tyndale translated these
words into the common man's English, using words like "love", "repentance",
"congregation" and "elder" to replace the others. Historians
report that Tyndale's hard years of work and sacrifice did more to fashion
the religious beliefs of the English-speaking people in the world than any
other person during his time. Unlike earlier English translators, he was a
master of Greek and Hebrew and was able to benefit from Erasmus's Greek version
of the New Testament. In 1535 he was arrested and imprisoned at Vilvorde,
near Brussels. The Church authorities in England refused to allow him to work
and banned the Bibles, calling them "damnable and heretical" and
condemned and executed him for heresy because the great mother Church did
not want people to know the truth about God's plan of salvation or the new
covenant God has made with all mankind.
They did not, and still do not, want us to know that the hierarchical type system of Church government is not of God but of men, for the purpose of keeping the old priesthood in power and the common people under their sway. All Churches that have the hierarchical systems want us to believe that we must be under their Government in order to receive salvation, but of course this is a lie, and if it were not for the efforts of men like Tyndale and others working with him, we would still be dependent on the mother Church to tell us what they say God desires for His people. As William Tyndale was burning at the stake, as a heretic, he spoke these famous last words..."O Lord, open the eyes of the King." Some believe that this prayer was answered by God with the publishing of the King James Version of 1611. This was not as many erroneously assume the work of King James. The Holy Bible was authorized by the King not authored by him. With Tyndale's translation the truth came out about the new covenant that we can go directly to God our Father, through Christ, our elder Brother, thereby taking power and authority from the false Church's.
Although there is error in Tyndale's work we can still be thankful for his sacrifice. William Tyndale suffered greatly most of his life, and was burned at the stake to bring the scriptures to us in English in order for you and I to have an opportunity to study the truth and learn to have the love of God coupled with a personal relationship with Him. We should remember people like William Tyndale, and give God thanks for them, and if we truly understand their sacrifice, (Jesus the Messiah's being the greatest.) we will never take lightly what has been freely given. A time is coming very soon when we will not be able to study or meet together to discuss the wonderful things of God without fear of persecution. The Beast power will not tolerate anyone that's preaching the true gospel because it exposes him as a fraud. After he accomplishes the task of rewriting the Bible and deceiving the sleeping flock into believing it's perversion he will then go after those who are the light to the truth.
When one studies the bible in depth they discover that the seven-point plan of salvation is recorded from the beginning to the end in one form or another. Although the bible was written by many different men over thousands of years, it never lost the basic foundation of the plan that God is working out for us. That wonderful plan is to create God children in the great family of God. Once we understand the plan of God we then can understand the bible as the foundation of knowledge, imparting understanding to mankind on how to live God's way of life in both the letter and the spirit of His law.
The great Multitude:
Those like William Tyndale who love and seek the truth will suffer at the
hands of the beast power in the end time, but where do we find that in prophecy?
The term we find used is "The great multitude", but just who are
the great multitude mentioned in Rev 7:9-10. Let's read it for ourselves.
"After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no
one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before
the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches
in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation
belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" When John
was asked by one of the elders, who these were, John stated the elder knew,
and here is what was explained to John. "These are the ones who come
out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb. Rev 7:14.
We also read in Rev.18: 4. "And I heard another voice from heaven saying,
"Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you
receive of her plagues." These are those that are beheaded for the witness
of the gospel and did not receive the mark of the beast. "And I saw thrones,
and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls
of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word
of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received
his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned
with Christ for a thousand years." Rev 20:4. Many of God's people will
have to go into the great whore by way of the present ecumenical movement
in order for them to be made white and God will have to call them out during
the tribulation period which is still future. This is another calling by God
during the great tribulation so those who want the truth will be able to receive
salvation. How do you suppose these people will be able to have the true Word
of God after the Beast power has destroyed it in every way possible? They
will receive it because God is calling many today, while it's still possible
to find the truth to study, research, and write while using His Holy Spirit
to guide us. He wants us to keep the flame burning so those who are asleep
will be able to find their way when He calls them out of the Great Tribulation.
This is the greatest and most important work for Christians today, and we
need to be diligent workers in our calling brethren.
There's a real famine of the word coming upon us as a result of this "Great Apostasy" sweeping the Churches throughout the world. It is prophesied in God's word and will come to pass. "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it." Amos 8:11-12. The question is, do we love God and His truth the way many have in the past? Are we studying? Not as a project, or because we feel guilty if we don't, but out of a love for it and for those who will be saved through Jesus the Messiah by our work through faith? To most people today, going to church is what they do, not what they believe! Why do you go to church? If we are going to do it, let's do it for the right reasons and worship God the way He instructs and on the days He commands. If we worship God man's way then we are worshipping man's god, not the creator God. How can you know what to do? Study the Bible and fight for the truth. Take heed to be very sure that what you believe is from God and not man. The Great Almighty Creator God is coming soon to destroy all the idols and false churches, along with the wolves in shepherds clothing if they don't wake up and repent! Let's be diligent faithful workers for our Lord till He comes to gather His Children and let's be diligent to continue praying for those that are still in darkness.
For "Bible research history" see the appendix link below
which takes you to the appendix of the book "The Great Apostasy."
Table of Contents
| Chapter four
QUICK GUIDE TO BIBLE VERSIONS:
Historic - Major Catholic, Anglican/Protestant Versions ( -1800)
· Latin Vulgate (St. Jerome) c.400: the Bible of the Western
Church through the middle ages; still the official Bible of the Roman Catholic
Church.
· Wycliffe (& Purvey) c.1385: first translation of whole
(or most of) Bible from Vulgate into vernacular, medieval English -- [n.b.
complete Wycliffe Bible not published until 1850].
· Martin Luther c.1522: translation of the Greek N.T. and Hebrew
O.T. into vernacular German; still the standard Bible of German Protestants
[Lutheran].
· Tyndale c.1525: translation of Greek N.T. [consulting Vulgate
and Luther's German translation] and parts of Hebrew O.T. -- fixed the English
translation style.
· Coverdale c.1535: little change from Tyndale's, but with new
translations for previously undone portions of O.T. from Vulgate and Luther's
[not orig. Hebrew]; Coverdale's PSALMS still used by Anglicans and Episcopalians
in Book of Common Prayer.
· Matthew c.1537: Essentially Tyndale's but a publication authorized
by the king (Henry VIII); the first authorized or licensed English Bible -
[though license was extended to Coverdale's later editions].
· Great Bible (Cranmer) c.1540: revision of Matthew's Bible
produced in a large size; undertaken at Cromwell's suggestion and claimed
the "Bible appointed to the use of the churches".
· Geneva c.1560: revision/collation of Tyndale's and the Great
Bible; first English translation to use the division into verses; considered
most scholarly of early English versions; commonly used for many years - especially
among Puritans - and commonly brought to America.
· Bishops' c.1568: a rebuttal by the bishops to the Geneva Bible
(which they didn't like); borrowed heavily from Great Bible and, actually,
also from Geneva Bible - including use of verses; uneven quality but formed
basis for KJV.
· Rheims/Douay c.1582/1610: the official [English] Roman Catholic
Bible; translation from Vulgate [n.b. Bishop Challoner revised in mid 1700's,
sometimes called "Challoner-Rheims Version"].
· King James (or Authorized ) Version (KJV or AV) 1611: the
standard authorized Bible of most Protestant churches for 2+ centuries; used
the original Hebrew and Greek to inform comparison/revision of earlier English
versions - [leaned heavily on Bishop's Bible; much of the language actually
goes back to Tyndale's].
Modern - Major English Language Versions (1800-1990)
· Revised Version or English Revised Version (RV or ERV) N.T. 1881,
O.T. 1884: first major revision of KJV; done by lengthy committee process
including Anglican and most Protestant faiths but NOT Roman Catholics.
· American Revised Version or American Standard Version (ARV or
ASV) N.T. 1900, O.T. 1901: a re-edited version of the RV, basically the
same.
· Moulton (Modern Readers') Bible 1907: a rearrangement of texts
rather than a significantly new version, but an early attempt to "update"
the Bible.
· Moffat Bible N.T. 1913, O.T. 1924: a new translation from
early Greek and Latin texts - considered flawed because of the choice of source
texts and the occasional rearrangement of verses but still a major work and
fairly popular in it's time.
· Smith-Goodspeed or "Chicago " Bible c.1930's: [The
Bible: An American Translation (AT)] first significant attempt to make truly
modern language version.
· Knox Bible N.T. 1945, O.T. 1948: a new translation of the
Vulgate bible; the New Testament was officially approved by the Roman Catholic
church, though not supplanting the Rheims N.T. (first translation done by
a single individual).
· Revised Standard Version (RSV) 1946-1957: an attempt to improve
on the language of the RV/ASV; more widely accepted, but not supplanting KJV.
· Modern Language Bible (New Berkeley) (MLB) 1959, rev. 1969:
another attempt at a modernization of the language leaning especially toward
an American audience and working from the Greek and Hebrew texts.
· Jerusalem Bible (JB) 1966: Catholic translation based on ancient
Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic texts, but closely following the French "Bible
de Jerusalem" [n.b. begun well after the NAB NT (1941) was done, but
finished before the NAB OT (1970)].
· New American Standard Bible (NASB) N.T. 1963, O.T. 1970: conservative,
fairly literal translation from mainly Greek texts; attempt to repeat the
RV process with more contemporary language; not very well-received.
· New English Bible (NEB) 1970: first completely new [Protestant]
translation from original Bible languages into English since Tyndale.
· New American Bible (NAB) O.T. 1969, complete 1970 [added "Confraternity
Version" N.T. of Douay]: The first significant Catholic translation since
Douay-Rheims; working from original Greek texts mainly, rather than Vulgate
(Latin); O.T. also made use of Dead Sea Scrolls; original N.T. rushed and
mostly from Vulgate and later (1987) greatly revised/retranslated.
· Living Bible 1971: most popular "paraphrase translation".
· New International Version (NIV) 1973: a conservative, evangelically
oriented translation from Greek and Hebrew texts.
· Good News Bible [Today's English Version] (TEV) 1966: "common
language" translation from modern Greek/Hebrew texts; emphasis on effective
and accurate communication to the common reader.
· New King James Version (NKJV) N.T. 1979, O.T. 1982: a revision
of KJV to improve readability of text.
· New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) 1985: a revision following on the
changes made in the French revision of the Bible de Jerusalem (1973) reflecting
some new scholarship in research of the original texts and translations.
· New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 1989: the result of continuing
revisions from the committee(s) who made RSV.
· Revised English Bible (REB) 1989: a revision of the New English
Bible (1970), updating according to new scholarship in translation.
Bibliography:
Hudson, Anne, ed., English Wycliffe Writings (1978); McFarlane, K. B., John
Wycliffe and the Beginnings of English Nonconformity (1952); Robson, J. A.,
Wyclif and the Oxford Schools (1961); Spinka, Matthew, ed., Advocates of Reform
from Wyclif to Erasmus (1953); Stacey, J., Wyclif and Reform (1964); Workman,
H. B., John Wyclif, 2 vols. (1926)
Duffield, Gervase E., ed., The Work of William Tyndale (1965); Mozley, J.
F., William Tyndale (1937; repr. 1971); Williams, Charles H., William Tyndale
(1969) Mozley, J. F., Coverdale and His Bibles (1953)
T. Tackett Bibliography: Jedin, Hubert, A History of the Council of Trent, trans. by Ernest Graf, 2 vols. (1957-61); McNally, Robert E., Council of Trent, The Spiritual Exercises and the Catholic Reform (1970); O'Donohoe, J. A., Tridentine Seminary Legislation (1957); Schroeder, H. J., Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (1950)