Bible Versions

Source: https://holybiblefoundation.org

I. THE NEED FOR THIS LESSON.

A. There has been a lot of Material Published concerning the Issue of “Which Translation Is Best,” or “Which Translation Is the Inerrant Word of God.” Those publishing this Material Fall into two Camps: those supporting the Modern Translations and those supporting the King James Authorized Version (KJAV).

1. Those supporting the Modern Translations base their view solely on the factual evidence that underlies the majority of manuscripts (wisdom, intellect, and textual findings of man).

2. Those supporting the KJAV base their view not only on the factual evidence but also establishes its points on a scriptural basis.

B. When Dealing with the Bible Translation Issue, those Supporting the

modern Translations never Present a biblical Position.

1. There is usually no Scripture given to support their position in favor of modern translations.

2. Whenever Scripture is used, it is done so to try to prove some supposed “error” in the KJAV.

C. Because of the Attacks by the Critics Who Sit in Judgment of God’s holy Word, there Is a Need to Present the biblical View.

1. No point is presented by man’s wisdom, intellect, or textual “theory.”

   
   

2. All points are supported by God’s word.

   
   

3. When it is stated that the Bible is “infallible” (not capable of error) and “inerrant” (without error), it means what it says.

   
   

4. Modern translators believe that the Bible “was” infallible but through the process of time has lost its infallibility.

II. A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE BIBLE ISSUE MUST HAVE A STARTING POINT:

A.  The starting Point of those who Support the Modern Translations:

1. Their translators must first study Greek and Hebrew.

2. The translators must then learn the major points of textual criticism.

3. Then the translators make a translation of the Bible, presenting it to a translation board for review and revision by “Bible scholars.”

4. The outcome is a reliable translation, but not one free of error (see the NIV preface for example – “Like all translations of the Bible, made as they are by imperfect man, this one undoubtedly falls short of its goals.”).

5. They often ask “Why did not God inspire the copyists as well as the original authors? Why did He begin with ABSOLUTE inerrancy and end with RELATIVE inerrancy?”

B.  The Starting Point of those who Support the KJAV:

1. They start with the Scriptures (Rom. 3:4; 10:17).

2. They believe that God’s word is infallible (John 17:17; Acts 1:3).

3. They believe God’s word is infallible because He promised to keep His words (W-O-R-D-S, not message) (Psa. 12:6-7).

   
   

4. They believe God’s promise that not one of His words was to be in error (Psa. 12:6-7; Mat 5:18; 24:35; 1 Pet 1:23).

   
   

5. They believe that man was not to add to or take away from God’s word (Deu. 4:2; Pro. 30:5-6; Jer. 26:2; Rev. 22:18).

6. They believe that the keeping of God’s words is the responsibility of God, not “fallible” man’s responsibility (Psa. 12:6-7). This was the view that the translators of the KJAV took (see the KJAV Preface – “…we commend thee to God, and to the Spirit of His grace, which is able to build further than we can ask or think. He removeth the scales from our eyes, the veil from our hearts, opening our wits that we may understand His word, enlarging our hearts, yea, correcting our affections, that we may love it above gold and silver, that we may love it to the end.”).

7. They believe that when one starts with the Scripture, their finishing point is confidence in God’s word (1 Thes. 2:13).

III. THE QUESTION OF FINAL AUTHORITY MUST BE ADDRESSED.

A.  If One Has two Authorities that Differ, He Needs a third Authority to Tell Him which One Is Correct. The same Is True of Translations.

1. If the KJAV says one thing and a Modern Translation says something else, one needs a third authority to tell him which one is right (such as a pastor, teacher, professor, scholar, etc.).

2. The third authority then becomes one’s final authority, not the Bible (Psa. 118:8; 1 John 5:9a).

B.  Some People Claim that there Is no “major” Difference between the Modern Translations and the KJAV, this Statement Is not correct.

1. Modern Translations are based on Greek manuscripts that differ from the Greek manuscripts that the KJAV is based upon.

2. Some translations such as the New American Standard Version (NASV) differ from the KJAV in about 36,000 places in the New Testament alone.

C.  The Supporters of Modern Translations Have no real Authority other than the View of some Scholars.

1. Scholarship is not a deciding factor in relation to the preservation of God’s word.

2. Our Lord did not say kind things concerning scholars. Malachi 2:12 says, “The Lord will cut off the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of hosts.” One should Take Heed in how He Judges God’s Word, for one Day God’s Word Will Judge Him (Heb. 4:12-13).

IV. A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS AND THEIR UNDERLYING GREEK TEXT (The Roots of Corruption – Mat. 7:15-20).

A.  The Major Sources for the Greek New Testament Underlying the Modern Translations:

1. Only about three percent of the 260 Majuscules (uncials) agree with them, consisting mainly of Aleph (Sinaiticus), A (Alexandrinus), B (Vaticanus), C (Codex Ephraemi) and D (consisting of Codex Bezae, or Cantabrigensis, and Codex Claromontanus).

2. Only about one percent of the 2,764 Minuscules (cursives) agree with them.

3. Only some of the 92 Papyrus manuscripts and Fragments support them.

4. Only Jerome’s Latin Vulgate and a minority of the early translations agree with them.

   
   

5. Only about forty percent of the Early Church Fathers who died before A.D. 400 favored them.

6. None of the 2,143 lectionary readings (service books of required readings for church worship) agree with them.

B.  The Men Behind the Underlying Greek Text of the Modern Translations:

1. JUSTIN MARTYR (A.D. 100 to 165):

   
   

a.  Justin was born a pagan, and died wearing the robes of a pagan priest.

b.  Justin was the first to mix Gnosticism with Christianity.

1) Gnosticism was a heretical sect of philosophers in the early Church Age (1st to 6th Centuries), who pretended that they were the only men who had a true knowledge of the Christian religion.

2) Gnostics formed for themselves a system of theology, agreeable to the philosophy of two Greek philosophers, Pythagoras and Plato, to which they adapted their interpretations of Scripture.

3) Gnostics taught, among other things, that Christ was created by God the Father and that knowledge rather than faith was the key to salvation.

c.  Historian Dr. Benjamin G. Wilkinson wrote, “In the teachings of Justin Martyr, we begin to see how muddy the stream of pure Christian doctrine was running among the heretical seats fifty years after the death of the Apostle John.”

2. TATIAN (A.D. 110 to 180):

a.  Tatian was a disciple of Justin Martyr.

b.  Like Justin, Tatian also embraced Gnosticism.

c.  Tatian wrote a “Harmony of the Gospels" using the Christian Scriptures and the Gnostic gospels, thus omitting (leaving out) some Scriptures, such as John 8:1-11 and Mark 16:9-20.

d. Tatian’s Harmony of the Gospels was so corrupt that the Bishop of Syria threw out 200 copies.

3. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA (A.D. 150 to 217):

   
   

a.  Clement was a disciple of Tatian (cf. Luke 6:39-40).

b.  Clement taught that there was no real heaven or hell, no blood atonement of Christ, and no infallible Bible.

c.  Clement used the Gnostic Scriptures to teach his students.

d.  Clement headed the school of theology in Alexandria Egypt.

5. ADAMANTIUS ORIGEN (A.D. 184 to 254):

   
   

a.  Origen was a disciple of Clement and his successor as head of the school in Alexandria, Egypt.

b.  Origen held many of the same doctrinal views as Clement. He also taught “baptismal regeneration,” and that water baptism was necessary for babies to be saved.

c.  Origen adopted the “allegorical method” of interpretation and stated, “The Scriptures are of little use to those who understand them as they are written.” He believed that the Bible was only a set of stories that illustrate truth, but not literal facts.

d.  Dr. Wilkinson stated, “When we come to Origen, we speak the name of him who did the most of all to create and give direction to the forces of apostasy down through the centuries.”

e.  Origen was one of the first textual critics. His textual work in both the New and Old Testaments (the “Hexapla”) was the basis for two of the most corrupt manuscripts ever produced (Vaticanus and Sinaiticus).

f.  Origen believed that Jesus Christ is a created god and subordinate to God the Father, the pre-existence of the soul before birth, and the final restoration of all spirits including Satan (universal salvation).

5. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA (in Palestine) (A.D. 265 to 340):

   
   

a.  Eusebius was trained at Origen’s school in Alexandria, Egypt and had the same doctrinal views as Origen.

b.  Eusebius was the editor of two Greek manuscripts named Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. These two manuscripts were discredited and abandoned by early Christians as being corrupt.

c.  Eusebius was commissioned by Emperor Constantine to make 50 copies of Scripture for the State Church. Eusebius copied the Gnostic Scriptures, Vaticanus, and Sinaiticus.

6. JEROME (Hieronymus) (A.D. 340 to 420):

   
   

a.  Jerome held the same doctrinal views as Eusebius.

b.  Jerome translated the Greek manuscripts of Vaticanus and Sinaiticus into Latin (called, “Jerome’s Latin Vulgate). This was the official Bible of the State Church at that time.

c.  The manuscript Vaticanus was placed in the Vatican library in Rome, while the manuscript Sinaiticus was abandoned in a monastery and neither one was used for the next 1,500 years.

7. KOBEGOTT F. K. VON TISCHENDORF (1815 to 1874):

   
   

a.  Tischendorf was a liberal theologian.

b.  Tischendorf was the first Protestant to find and use the manuscripts of Vaticanus and Sinaiticus.

8. BROOK F. WESTCOTT (1825 to 1901) and FENTON J. A. HORT (1828 – 1881):

   
   

a.  These two men (W & H) used Vaticanus and Sinaiticus to produce a new Greek New Testament, which is not the same Greek text used to produce the Protestant Bibles of the Reformation and the KJAV.

b.  W & H produced a Greek New Testament that was the basis for the Revised Version (RV) of 1881 and the basic Greek text used for all modern translations such as the RSV, TEV, NASV, NIV, NEV, NKJV (in its notes), etc.

c.  The Greek text of W & H differs from the Greek text of the KJAV (the Received Text – TR) some 5,788 times, or 10 % of the text.

d.  Since all Modern Translations are based on the work of W & H, it would profit us to know the mindset (thinking) of these two men.

1)  Westcott: “No one now, I suppose, holds that the first three chapters of Genesis, for example, give a literal history. I could never understand how anyone reading them with open eyes could think they did.”

2)  Hort: “Protestantism is only parenthetical and temporary.” “Evangelicals seem to me perverted rather than untrue.”

d. These two men did not hold to sound doctrine; instead they turned their ears from the truth to fables (2 Tim 4:3-4).

V. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KING JAMES AUTHORIZED VERSION AND ITS UNDERLYING GREEK TEXT (The Key of Knowledge – Luke 11:52):

A.  The four major Sources for the Greek New Testament Underlying the KJAV Are:

1. Greek Manuscripts:

a.  Majuscules (uncials): of the approximately 260 in existence, about 97 % agree with the KJAV readings.

b.  Minuscules (cursives): of the approximately 2,764 in existence, about 99 % agree with the KJAV readings.

c.  Papyrus Manuscripts and Fragments: there are about 92 in existence, the oldest and most important support many of the KJAV readings.

2. The Early Translations: the majority of these support the KJAV readings.

   
   

3. Early Church Fathers:

   
   

a. There are about 35,323 citations from the New Testament.

b.  Sixty percent of those fathers who died before A.D. 400 support the KJAV readings.

4. Lectionaries: there are about 2,143 in existence and their Scripture readings agree 100% with the KJAV readings.

B.  The Major Men Behind the Majority Text of the KJAV:

1. BELIEVERS AT ANTIOCH OF SYRIA (1st Century)

   
   

a.  These believers were the first to be called “Christians” (Acts 11:26).

b.  Since Antioch is in Syria, they translated the Bible into Old Syrian. This Syrian Bible agrees with the KJAV and not the Modern Translations.

c.  The Believers at Antioch copied the Scriptures in both Syrian and Greek on papyrus (a paper-like material similar to our newspaper).

2. BELIEVERS IN GREECE (1st to 3rd Century)

   
   

a.  These believers used the Greek text of Antioch of Syria and rejected the Greek text of Alexandria, Egypt as corrupt.

b.  This is the Church that departed from the State Church in the 4th Century.

c.  These believers copied Scripture on papyrus in both Greek and Old Latin (not Jerome’s Latin Vulgate). The Old Latin Bible was translated in A.D. 150 and agrees in its text with the KJAV, not the Modern Translations.

4. BELIEVERS IN NORTHERN ITALY (3rd to 12th Century)

   
   

a.  These believers copied and used the Old Latin Bible and rejected Jerome’s Latin Vulgate as corrupt.

b.  These believers were called “Waldensens” and were known for their evangelism and street preaching.

c.  During the Inquisitions in the Middle (Dark) Ages, the Waldensens were the believers who were put to death (see “Foxe’s Book of Martyr’s”).

5. BELIEVERS IN EARLY ENGLAND AND FRANCE (2nd to 17th Century).

   
   

a.  These believers used the Old Latin Bible of the Waldensens as the official translation. They also copied the Greek text that originated in Antioch of Syria, which later came to be called the “Textus Receptus” (Received Text; Majority Text).

b.  These believers were very evangelistic and suffered much under the State Church.

6. DESIDERIUS ERASMUS (A.D. 1466 to 1536)

   
   

a.  Erasmus was a Greek scholar who compiled the Greek manuscripts of the believers in Greece, Italy, England and France.

b.  Erasmus compared the compiled Greek manuscripts with the Old Syrian (2nd Century) and Old Latin (A.D. 120 to 200) translations to produce a Greek New Testament.

c. This was the Greek text of the Reformation and the one that underlies the KJAV.

7. MARTIN LUTHER (16th Century)

   
   

a.  Luther rejected the Greek text that Modern Translations are based upon and translated the Bible into German using the Text of Erasmus.

b.  Luther is known as “the Father of the Reformation.”

C. The Production of the King James Authorized Version of 1611:

1. The N.T. was translated from the Greek text of the Reformers. The translators rejected Jerome’s Latin Vulgate and the manuscripts from which it was translated.

2. The translators of the KJAV were men of God who knew their task and were capable to do it. The following are the qualifications of only a few of the translators:

   
   

a.  Dr. Lansalot Andrews: he was the chairman. He spoke 20 languages and spent five hours a day in prayer.

b.  Dr. John Reynolds: a Puritan leader. He spoke Hebrew and Greek as well as he could English by the time he was 18 years old.

c.  Dr. John Boise: he spoke Hebrew by the time he was five years

old and by the time he was 14 he spoke Greek. He spent from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. studying each day.

d.  Dr. Miles Smiths: he spoke Chaldea, Syriac, and Arabic as well as he

could English. He also served with Dr. Thomas Bilson as one of the two final editors of the whole KJAV.

e.  Dr. William Bedwell: he was called the father of Arabic studies in

England. He wrote Lexicons (dictionary-like books telling the meanings of words, including their root meanings) in Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac and Chaldean.

f.  Dr. Thomas Holland: he was not only a great Hebrew and Greek

scholar but also a man of great dedication to God.

g.  Dr. Laurence Chaderton: he was noted for his knowledge of Latin, Hebrew and Greek. He also spoke French, Spanish and Italian. Because of his Christian faith, his father cut him off from his family.

3. All the translators of the KJAV suffered under the reign of Queen Mary (also called, “Bloody Mary”) before James became King of England. This is the only Bible committee to suffer persecution for their faith.

4. The translators of the KJAV believed they translated the pure word of God, and the KJAV is essentially the same today as it was in 1611.

5. The KJAV is the Bible of the Great Awakening, the Welsh Revival, the preaching of Edwards, Wesley, Moody, Carry, Hudson, Taylor, Sunday, Spurgeon, etc., and every major revival from 1611 until now. No modern translation (or its underlying Greek text) can make the same claim (Mat 12:33).

   
   

a.  If the tree of modern translations is corrupt, how can the translation be good?

b.  If the tree of the KJAV is pure, how can the translation be bad?

c.  The fruit of the KJAV is salvation, reformation, and revival.

d.  The Modern Translations claim they have errors in them, the KJAV says it is without error.

e.  The Bible calls for choices (Josh 24:15). This is also true in reading a Bible translation. One must choose which one he will read. Do so, not by what men say, but by the word of God.

VI. A BRIEF COMPARISON OF BIBLE TRANSLATIONS:

A.  Comparing the KJAV with any Modern Translation of the Bible Will Show that the following Changes Have Been Made to the New Testament of the Modern Translations (1 Cor. 5:6b; Mat. 16:12):

1. The whole verse is omitted or placed in brackets in Matthew 12:47; 17:21; 18:11; 23:14; Mark 7:16; 9:44; 9:46; 11:26; 15:28; Luke 17:36; 23:17; John 5:4; Acts 8:37; 15:34; 24:6b-8a, 17; 28:29 and Romans 16:24.

2. Mark 16:9-20 and John 8:1-11 are either omitted or placed in brackets with a footnote stating that they should not be there.

3. Half of the verse is omitted in Matthew 6:13 and Romans 8:11.

4. “To repentance” is omitted in Matthew 9:13 and Mark 2:17.

   
   

5. The part of 1st John 5:7 showing the Trinity is omitted.

6. “Christ is come in the flesh” is omitted in 1st John 4:3.

7. “Begotten Son” is changed to “Begotten God” in John 1:18.

8. “Unto salvation” or “in regard to your salvation” is added to the text to teach salvation by works in 1st Peter 2:2.

9. “Of Christ” is omitted in Romans 1:16.

10. “Joseph” is changed to “father” in Luke 2:33.

11. “God was manifest in the flesh” is changed to “He who was made manifest in the flesh,” in 1st Timothy 3:16.

12. “Through his blood” is omitted in Colossians 1:14.

13. “Blood” is omitted in Acts 17:26.

14. “Firstborn” is omitted in Matthew 1:25 disguising the fact that Mary had other children.

15. “Without a cause” is omitted in Matthew 5:22 thereby making Jesus guilty of breaking the Law when He became angry (Mark 3:1-7).

B.  The above were only a few of the 36,000 plus Changes that Have Been Made by modern translations. In the Light of Scripture, one Change is one too many (Deu. 4:2; Pro. 30:5-6; Rev. 22:18-19).

C.  When Comparing the KJAV with the modern Translations, One Will See that they Do not Teach the same Things.

1. In 2nd Samuel 21:19, the KJAV has “Elhanan slew the brother of Goliath” while the others have “Elhanan killed Goliath.”

2. In Daniel 3:25, the KJAV has “the Son of God” while the others have “a son of the gods.”

3. In Genesis 6:4, the KJAV has “There were giants in the earth” while the others have “The Nephilim were on the earth.”

   
   

D.  The modern Translations omit the names and titles of the Lord Jesus Christ almost 200 times (Col 1:18).

1. The name “Jesus” is omitted (Col. 1:2; 1 Pet. 5:14).

2. The name “Christ” is omitted (Rom. 1:16; Rev. 22:21).

3. The title “Lord” is omitted (2 Cor. 4:10; Tit. 1:4).

4. The name “the Beginning” is omitted (Rev. 1:8).

5. The name “the word” is omitted (1 John 5:7).

VII. THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE OBJECTIONS THAT PEOPLE USE AGAINST THE KING JAMES AUTHORIZED VERSION.

A.  Objection: Those who use only the KJAV worship a Bible and not the God of the Bible.   Answer: One cannot make a distinction between the Word of God in the flesh (Jesus Christ) and the word of God in print. If the word of God in print has error, what about the Word of God in flesh? Both are incorruptible (infallible) (Acts 2:22-27, 31; 1 Pet. 1:23).

B.  Objection: Only the originals are inspired and without error, not any translation.   Answer: This is not taught in Scripture (Psa. 138:2; 119:164; John 14:23). The Scriptures were available through copies in the 1st Century when the original autographs were no longer in existence (Mat. 22:29; John 5:39; 2 Tim. 3:15; Acts 8:32; 17:2, 11).

C.  Objection: There is no difference between the KJAV and modern translations.   Answer: The Greek manuscripts of the modern translations and the Greek manuscripts of the KJAV differ about 10 % of the time (1 Cor. 5:6). However, in the New Testament alone, there are over 36,000 differences between them and the KJAV.

D.  Objection: The modern translations are easier to read and better to understand than the KJAV.   Answer: The KJAV reading level is lower than almost all new Translations. The Bible is a spiritual book, and cannot be understood by natural means (1 Cor. 2:9-14).

E.  Objection: The KJAV we have today is not the same as the one printed in 1611. Answer: The KJAV we have today is the same as the one in 1611 with the exception of typographical errors (printers mistakes), changes due to the progress of orthography in the English language (changes in spelling), changes in calligraphy “gaue” has been updated to “gave”, “Mofef” has been updated to “Moses”, “tooke” has been updated to “took,” etc.).

VIII. GOD SAID HE WOULD KEEP HIS WORDS PURE, WITHOUT ERROR, FOREVER (Psa. 12:6-7; 119:89, 140; Mat. 5:17-18; 24:35).

A.  If God Did not Keep His Words Pure, then the whole Bible Is a Lie and God Is a Liar (Rom. 3:4a).

B.  If God Did Keep His Words Pure, then there Is a Bible that Is being Preserved without proven Error, the KJAV.

BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR FURTHER STUDY

1.  The Answer Book by Dr. Sam Gipp.

2.  Archaic Words and the Authorized Version by Dr. Lawrence Vance.

3.  Believing Bible Study by Edward Hills.

4.  The Bible Translation Test by James Son.

5.  A Brief History of English Bible Translations by Dr. Lawrence Vance.

6.  The Christian Liars Library by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman.

7.  The Christian’s Handbook of Manuscript Evidence by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman.

8.  The Christian’s Handbook of Biblical Scholarship by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman.

9.  The Critical Apparatus in Nestle’s Greek New Testament (any edition).

10.  Counterfeit or Genuine? by David Otis Fuller.

11.  Errors in the King James Bible by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman.

12.  Evaluating Versions of the New Testament by Everett W. Fowler.

13.  God Only Wrote One Bible by Dr. Eugene (The Eye Opener Publishers).

14.  How to Teach the Original Greek by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman.

15.  The Identity of the New Testament Text by Wilbur N. Pickering.

16.  King James Unjustly Accused? by Stephen Coston, Sr.

17.  The King James Version Defended by Edward F. Hills.

18.  The Last Twelve Verses of Mark by Dean Burgon.

19.  New Age Bible Versions by Gail Riplinger.

20.  The NIV – An “In-Depth” Documentation of Apostasy by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman.

21.  O’Biblios by Allan O’Reilly.

22.  The Revision Revised by Dean Burgon.

23.  Ruckman’s Bible References by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman.

24.  The Scholarship Only Controversy by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman.

25.  True or False? by David Otis Fuller.

26.  Which Bible? by David Otis Fuller.