There have been numerous articles and books written in the last 20 years proving that the NKJV, NASB, NIV, etc. are all products of Occult (Westcott and Hort) and Roman Catholic (Vaticanus) inspired bible scholarship. Therefore, I will not attempt to re-invent the wheel here. Instead, I will pose a new question: Is it possible that your favorite “Bible” has been re-written by those who have a fundamental belief in common with those who claim the Quran, the Book of Mormon, or the Watchtower Society to be true?
Muslims, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Bible contains many mistakes because after 2,000 years, the Bible no longer contains the original words from the original languages it was written in. This is why they believe that the Quran was given to Muhammad or the Book of Mormon was given to Joseph Smith. Both books are said to be God’s attempts to correct the errors in the Bible wrought by years of man-made copyist mistakes.
Ironically, this is the same argument that many Bible-correcting Evangelicals use to justify why they have abandoned the King James Bible in favor of modern “translations” that delete entire verses and change anywhere from 16,000 words (NKJV) to 60,000 words (NIV) of God’s Infallible Scriptures. Just like Muslims, Mormons, Atheists, and every other religious group that denies the inspiration and accuracy of the Scriptures, they do not believe that God is powerful enough to preserve His holy words for all generations. They deny the biblical doctrine of preservation and focus solely on the inspiration of the “originals” (which no longer exist).
Consider the following examples:
1) Muslims emphasize the original (just as all textual critics and “fake bible” users do)
“First of all, it is important to know that if the “Bibles” of today, with all their versions and differences in the quantity of their “books” and “gospels”, were in fact the Original Holy Word of GOD Almighty, then there would be no need for the Noble Quran.” http://www.answering-christianity.com/warning.htm
2) Compare the words of Joseph Smith (Mormon) with the words of Hank Hanegraff (typical Evangelical):
Joseph Smith: “I believe the Bible as it read when it came from the pen of the original writers” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 327).http://lds.org/study/topics/bible-inerrancy-of?lang=eng&query=bible+errors
Hank Hanegraff: “The Holy Scriptures… are therefore infallible in the original writings”http://www.equip.org/site/beliefs
3) Or the Jehovah’s Witnesses with the words of Christianity Today (speaking on textual criticism):
The Watchtower: “The copyists made only a few minor errors, and a comparison of these has established the original text inspired by God.” http://www.watchtower.org/e/lmn/article_03.htm
Christianity Today: “In the New Testament only one word per 1,000 is in any way doubtful, and no point of doctrine is lost when verses not “in better manuscripts” are omitted.” http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/october7/31.102.html
Modern Evangelical scholars think that God is a liar when He tells us in Psalm 12:6-7 that he will preserve his words forever. Psalms 12:6-7 “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”
They think that God is a liar when he tells us that not one jot or tittle will pass from the law: Matthew 5:18 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Luke 16:17 “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.”
These same Bible-correcting hypocrites have no problem telling Muslims, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses that they are “wrong” to change the Quran, Book of Mormon, and New World Bible over time. For example, James White (who helped produce the NASB counterfeit bible): “By placing parallel passages in the books of Moses and Abraham side by side, an evolution of thought is clearly demonstrated within the Pearl of Great Price itself.” http://vintage.aomin.org/ldstheology.html. How Bible-correctors such as James White can lambast Mormons, Muslims, or J.W.’s with a straight face after changing 16,000 to 60,000 words in their own “bibles” is beyond the scope of comprehension. A modern Textual Critic producing a NKJV, NIV, NASB, etc. to fit his personal theology is no different than a Jehovah’s Witness changing words he doesn’t like to fit his personal theology.
Sadly, many well-intentioned Christians have built their ministries on attacking God’s words and replacing them with “better translations” and “better meanings.” Like the Pope, they elevate themselves above Scripture in their desire to pontificate on God’s Holy Bible (essentially making them God). They further imply that the “laity” cannot truly understand the scriptures without their exposition (and years of studying dead languages). These well-intentioned yet carnal Christians can be summed up with three passages:
1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
Revelation 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
1 Corinthians 11:19 “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.”
It does not matter if you are Spurgeon, Moody, Ironside, etc. If you have the gall to change God’s words, you are treading into heresy. Interestingly, one of the main arguments that non-Christians use as to why they don’t believe the Bible is because there are so many different versions. Unlike carnal Christians, non-Christians realize the logical inconsistency in claiming an all-powerful God can somehow lose his infallible/perfect Bible to the sands of time. But of course, since you are a Bible-believer, you witness to non-Christians on a frequent basis about Jesus Christ and you already know about this regular objection.
For the record:
1) There are no originals anymore. Anybody who refers you to the “originals” is either a liar, ignorant, or insane.
2) There is a King James equivalent Bible in every major language on Earth. Also for you Anglo-phobes, English is the modern equivalent of a universal language in all facets of life, just as Greek and later Latin were. Doesn’t it make sense God would communicate His message in the most prevalent language of each time period?
3) It is far easier to open up a dictionary for 400 words you don’t understand than it is to compare multiple fake Bible versions with conflicting words and verses you don’t understand. Studying the Bible in Hebrew/Greek is a waste of time if you can’t understand the Bible in your own language. This is why most “scholars” can spend years learning languages yet not possess an elementary knowledge of the Bible itself.
4) You don’t have to have a Bible of any kind to be saved. However, if you want to learn more about your Lord and Savior, it helps to have his Real Bible (the KJV today) as opposed to some man-made counterfeit (NKJV, NASB, NIV, etc.).
Christians: Do you side with God’s pure words or do you side with cults (mainstream or fringe) who continue to revise those words? Do you believe in God’s promise of preservation or do you believe in the heathen’s doctrine of Bible corruption? Is your heart so hardened that you refuse to admit that you’ve been wrong for all these years? Admittedly, we are all fallen sinners. It’s tough to admit you lack the discernment to recognize God’s words when you see them. It’s equally tough to apologize to both God and your fellow Bible believers for maligning both God’s words (preserved in English through the KJV) and those Christians who actually believe their Bibles to be true.
