CAN MODERN VERSIONS CAUSE CONFUSION? Yes!
Modern versions cause confusion and many more problems. They cast doubt upon the power of God. Modern versions add words and take away words and entire verses from the Scriptures. They can only be described as the results of satanic intrusion into the Church. It would be appropriate here to relate the following fictional story:
One day, Thomas, who was a new Christian, tried to argue a point with John, who had been in the faith for fifteen years and, in that time, had diligently sought the truth. John had always sought to back things up with facts and was counted a wise man in God’s eyes.
“You know,” said Thomas, “I believe that I can prove that Christ had an origin. The Bible says so!”
John replied, “the Bible says in Acts 20:28 KJV that God purchased the Church with His own blood, and that this is applicable only to the Lord Jesus Christ, then Jesus must be God. And God does not have an origin!”
“But it says that Christ had an origin!” argued Thomas.
“Where? Show me!” exclaimed John, wondering what had transpired since he had last met with Thomas. Thomas brought a book over to John, who recognized it immediately as the Revised Standard Version (RSV), a counterfeit bible.
Thomas announced, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses it shall be established. I can show at least two places where it says that Christ had an origin.” He flipped to Micah 5:2 RSV, which detailed the birthplace of Christ, and read it out. Sure enough it said that Christ had an origin. Then, Thomas flipped across to Hebrews 2:11 RSV and read it out. This too seemed to point out that Christ had an origin and was therefore created.
“See now?” continued Thomas. “It says that Christ had an origin, so the Jehovah’s Witness group must be right in this area at least! So then, Christ must have been created!”
But John was very wise. “What bible version do you have?” he asked.
“The Revised Standard Version.” Thomas replied.
“In both those verses,” said John, “the Authorized King James Bible does not even contain the word ‘origin’. You’ll agree then that something is wrong somewhere.”
“I guess so,” said Thomas.
“All right then,” said John, “from that book you’ve got read out Revelation 21:6, 7 RSV and then Revelation 22:13–16 RSV.”
Thomas did so and John continued with: “If Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega and God is the Alpha and Omega at the same time, then the only possible conclusion is that Jesus is God. And God does not have an origin as shown in the Scripture, ‘From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God’ (Psalm 90:2). This seems to be very curious. The book you have in one part says that Christ is God and yet in another part says that Christ had an origin and hence was created! Surely the true Word of God would have no contradictions, particularly in such an important area as this!”
Thomas was perplexed. “Is this book I’ve got the Word of God?”
John answered, “According to Psalm 119:160 KJV, God’s Word states, ‘Thy word is true from the beginning’, and Jesus Himself said, ‘Thy word is truth’ (John 17:17 KJV). Hence, there can be no errors in the true Word of God since error is the opposite of truth, and ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness’ (2 Timothy 3:16 KJV). Hence, God’s Word is a standard by which other things are measured. It, therefore, has to be exact or else it would be useless for correction. It cannot have contamination or we will see contamination entering into the Church doctrinally and morally. In fact, that’s what’s happening in the Church today. People are using a substitute word in place of the Word of God, resulting in a breakdown in the Church’s ability to function properly.”
“What do you mean?” asked Thomas.
John answered, “There needs to be a sincere return to purity in the Church today. The Bible says, ‘Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live’ (Deuteronomy 8:3 KJV), thus signifying that every word of God is very important. 1 Peter 1:25 KJV says, ‘But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.’ The Word of God then will be essentially without corruption or contradiction, ‘not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever’ (1 Peter 1:23 KJV).”
“Then,” deliberated Thomas, holding up the polluted version, “this book cannot be the complete Word of God since it does have contradictions in it.”
“Amongst other things,” said John.
“What do you mean?” asked Thomas
“Open that book and read out to me John 5:4 RSV,” said John emphatically.
Thomas looked for the verse in the book and then looked up at John with a puzzled look. “It’s ... it’s not here,” he exclaimed horrified.
“What do you mean it’s not there?” John said pretending to be surprised.
“Well ... it’s got verse 3 and verse 5 but no verse 4.” Thomas exclaimed.
“Have a look at Acts 8:37 RSV then,” said John. “Surely that’ll be in there!”
Thomas looks hard but cannot find this either. “This isn’t in here either! Verse 36 and verse 38 but no verse 37.”
“Oh well,” said John sarcastically, “perhaps it’s just a printing error. Have a look at Mark 15:28 RSV.”
Thomas is frustrated. “No! This isn’t here either. What is this book!? It contradicts itself, leaves out verses and who knows what else!”
“A closer examination,” said John, “ would reveal many such cases of omission, contradiction, as well as added words and even swapped around verses and yet the Revised Version (1881–1885) is the vanguard from which all other modern versions are derived! It seems that the book you’ve got there can’t be called the total Word of God. At best, it could only be said to contain some of the words of God.”
Thomas sat quiet taking it all in as the work of Satan stared him in the face.
John continued, “In reality, the Church should only accept the English text based on the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Textus Receptus. Anything else is a deviation from God’s Word.”
“What is the English version of those texts?” asked Thomas.
“The King James Bible of 1611,” stated John. “The Hebrew Masoretic Text was already in existence at the time of Jesus and He, being an Old Testament practicing Jew, accepted it totally. It undergirds the Church’s Old Testament today.”
“Well, if Jesus accepted it, why doesn’t everyone in the Church accept it?” asked Thomas.
“Because,” deliberated John, “the Church has been infiltrated by false teachers who think they know better than Jesus. These false teachers are the wolves Jesus prophesied about, and have been supplied by the false church. They are ‘ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (2 Timothy 3:7 KJV). The tragedy is that so many have adopted their beliefs and have abandoned the belief of the inerrancy of God’s Word, held to by millions throughout history.”
“What about the New Testament text?” asked Thomas.
“The Textus Receptus or Received Text is predominantly made up of New Testament manuscripts, copies that can be traced back to the time of the Apostles, who discerned for the early Church which were true and which were corrupted. The true manuscripts were preserved throughout history by the true Church of history, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, and make up about 95% of all New Testament manuscripts that we have today. The majority of the extant New Testament manuscripts constitute a text that is called the ‘Traditional Text’. The Received Text was the result of the Protestant Reformation recognizing the pure textual stream and incorporating other considerations (i.e. not just the Traditional Text), such as the writings of the Church Fathers, to present to the world the true Word of God. The Greek editions of the Received Text were further refined upon, resulting in the final form of the Received Text being in English as the 1611 King James Bible. The various editions of the King James Bible were then necessary to conform the text to absolute purity, resulting in the pure English text (i.e. the Pure Cambridge Edition) printed circa 1900.”
Thomas was astounded. “You mean 95% of all existing Greek manuscripts substantially agree with the Textus Receptus and hence with the King James Bible?”
“That’s correct,” said John. “In fact, the King James Bible is the final form of the Received Text, which corrects any inaccuracies that were present in the previous editions.”
“How then can the body of existing manuscripts be so flippantly rejected by people in the Church for another text?” asked Thomas.
“Satan dealt a masterstroke to the Church,” said John. “He introduced a false doctrine into the Church, which was foolishly adopted by many, even in the face of clear evidence against it. The false doctrine was this: the older a manuscript is, the more accurate it’s going to be. This is a blatant and cruel lie! In fact, history tells us that if a manuscript survives to be very old, then it generally means that the common people didn’t use it because they thought it to be too full of inaccuracies! How correct they were. Satan introduced two old Romanist manuscripts, namely the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus, both having survived because the common people didn’t use them and, in fact, they disagree with each other in thousands of different places! Thus, even though these and other corrupt manuscripts are in the minority of all extant New Testament manuscripts, their readings have been accepted by many people as viable alternatives because there has been ‘a falling away’ (2 Thessalonians 2:3 KJV) from the truth.”
“Then, we can safely say that God has preserved His perfect Word throughout history, even though corruption exists?” Thomas said with a smile.
“That’s correct!” said John. “2 Timothy 2:19 KJV says, ‘the foundation of God standeth sure’ and our faith must be based on what we know to be the Word of God, according to Romans 10:17 KJV; otherwise, our faith may be in vain because we need to be absolutely sure, knowing that God never fails.”
Thomas held up the RSV book. “What shall I do with this then?”
John replied emphatically, “Since you cannot be sure which words in it are God’s pure words, then there’s really only one place for it.” John pointed to the rubbish bin.
The beautiful Truth, Amen ❤️