And every last person believes they are right.
I have favored versions and least favored versions. There are versions I will read and versions I will not read, at least not unless I am doing so for research purposes.
Much has been written on every Bible version out there. I do not wish to rehash old ground. It's not likely that anyone will ever hear me sing the praises of the King James version, as some do, it's also not likely that anyone will ever hear me sing its evils. My point in all this is to say that I'm not about to get into the KJV controversy, although I am beginning to believe that there may be something to some to their beliefs on the newer versions.
As with all my other studies on the teachings of men, I did not set out to find my heart and mind turned to Bible versions. I have my favored Bible (written of in My Bible, My Friend) and I very much like that Bible. I like the version (ESV) and the feel and look of the Bible.
My husband doesn't understand my speaking of 'the feel of it in my hand', he says he doesn't care how the Bible feels just give him the Bible. I told him maybe it's a book person thing. I think I was in high school when I learned to favor certain books for the way they felt in my hand. I got a library book that had probably been read dozens of times. It was a paperback and it molded to my hand like it was made to be there. Next to accuracy that is what I want in my Bible. It's sad to say but I would pay a lot to get a Bible that fit my hand like that, one that made me feel as though I was being met by a dear friend every time I pick it up. Thankfully, I did not pay a lot for my dear friend. The Lord was kind enough to let me get it for around the ten dollar price range.
And I guess one could say that I sort of fell in love with that Bible. I'm not saying I idolize it but for some reason it quickly took favored status for me and I still favor it.
I think.
The trouble is...in this teachings of men I hit a point where I was studying in 1 Timothy (thanks to my husband) and I found myself reading several verses in three different translations. What I discovered while doing so was astonishing. There before my very eyes was clearly laid out the problem with my beloved Bible and the version I favor so much of the time. Here is what I found:
1 Timothy 5:17 English Standard Version (ESV)
17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
1 Timothy 5:17 Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
1 Timothy 5:17 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)
17 ¶ [a]The Elders that rule well, let them be had in [b]double honor, [c]specially they which labor in the word and doctrine.
There is clearly a HUGE difference in the words 'preaching and teaching' and 'word and doctrine'. I won't rehash everything I wrote on those verses because my intent this time isn't to cover what is being taught but to go into where I ran into a problem and how my heart began to be drawn into delving deeper into the Bible as we know it today.
When did 'word and doctrine'...the very definition of Scripture...become 'preaching and teaching'? My husband and I discussed it when we discovered the variance. We came to the conclusion that people, and in this case it's people in pretty powerful places, powerful in the sense that they are putting the very word of God into the hands of millions of people, have an agenda to promote the entire 'church system'. It appears that they are using our very own Bibles against us in order to accomplish that goal.
I already know just enough of the history of the Bible to know that in 1881 the game changed. I'm not going to delve deeply into this because it's one of those areas that is controversial. The thing is that in 1881 two men, last names of Westcott and Hort, created a manuscript of the Bible that was very controversial at the time. It would appear, from letters written by these very men that they held to "heresies" and did not believe people would receive their version of the Bible well. They set out to keep the fact that they were behind that manuscript secret until after it was well received.
The history here is fascinating but does begin to delve into 'he said, she said' kind of stuff. There appears to be two sides of this story, both claiming they are right. As I write this I find myself thinking that maybe all of our history should be this way. There are always at least two sides to every story. I think of the Civil War and how we had the governments side, the Norths side, the Souths side but we also had the slaves side, the slave owners side, the northern soldiers side, the southern soldiers side, and how all of those sides would have varied just a bit, if not a whole lot, from each other.
Today we have all those sides of the story but to get them we often have to go delving on our own. We have to find the handwritten accounts of the soldiers, the heartrending accounts from the slaves. We have to look beyond what the history books want us to see and see the Civil War through deeper understanding.
The Bible may be the most important part of history we will ever hold in our hands and yet we take it as whatever we can buy at the Bible bookstore.
Let me just take a moment to say that I am not, absolutely not, going to get to the point where I will say 'this' is the only right Bible. I hold strongly to the belief that the right Bible is the one you have access to. If the only Bible a person has is a mockery of the Scriptures...they should use it.
I can hear the outcry of that statement already. I am sure that there are those out there that would say certain versions of the Bible will lead people straight to hell. And they are right but that will only happen if the Lord is sending them to hell anyway. For the elect...God can and will use any version of the Bible to pull them to him. The very worst Bible, so long as it uses the name of Jesus, can be the tool through which the Lord draws an elect soul to salvation.
I am going to stand firmly on that stance and put my faith firmly in the Lord's sovereignty. If you have only one Bible...use it. Don't worry over what translation it is or how accurate it is. If you have access to many Bibles...use them. Compare them to each other. Decide for yourself which one you think is best.
I happen to have a love for Bibles. I truly enjoy them. I think I could easily pick up Bibles as a hobby if there were such a thing. What I mean by this is I like to look at different Bibles, explore them...enjoy them. Sometimes I will buy a Bible at second hand stores just so I can flip through it, read any notes written in it, and generally just experience that Bible.
I don't buy near as many Bibles these days as I used to and most of the ones I have bought over the years have passed through my hands and moved on to someone else. Some of them, though...some of them have stayed.
I found myself adding to my collection a couple of weeks ago. I found a like new 1599 Geneva reprinted Bible at a thrift store. You might say it was love at first sight. This Geneva Bible brought me joy just seeing it. I hardly even flipped through it, knowing almost before I picked it up that it would be going home with me.
Once home I explored this new Bible much the way a new mother might explore her brand new baby. Fingers? Toes? Hair color? In this case it was what's here? What's not? I read a few verses... and the exploration was well underway.
I quickly discovered this new Bible of mine claimed to have a leather cover but was stiff and unyeilding in my hands. I did not like that. The flow of the words were almost melodic...a joy indeed. I also discovered some parts of it are harder to understand than my ESV are.
A couple of weeks acquaintance has, for now anyway, landed this new Bible the privileged position of taking up residence right along with my favored Bible. The leather is softening with use. It still doesn't mold to my hand but it is less stiff. I still marvel at the melodic tone to some of the verses, still struggle with what some of them are saying. What I did not expect was the very different kind of struggle I have had since studying those verses in 1 Timothy.
Where I had been taking my ESV at it's word, believing what was there, now I find myself either reaching for the Geneva first or double checking my ESV against it. I've also done much research on my favored ESV Bible and while I won't go into what all I discovered, I will say that I was shocked to find out that the ESV removed something like 33,000 words from Scripture. I found this statement on the av1611 website:
A word comparison with the New Testament of the KJB and the ESV reveals the ESV removes over a staggering 33,000 words! And that is nothing to sneeze at. That equals removing the complete books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Malachi, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and Jude - combined!
That’s a huge part of your Bible that someone decided you didn’t need!
And that’s just the words ripped from the New Testament!
I am not promoting that website. I was simply doing an internet search to find out which verses might be different in my ESV and came across that site. While it appears to be a KJV only site it did give me plenty of verses to compare. Most of them the changes did not concern me, a few of them like Romans 2:9 did. In that one the ESV didn't just change a bit of wording but they removed the word soul and with it they changed the meaning of the verse from tribulation in eternity to tribulation on earth. A careful reading of context there will still gain one the knowledge that Paul is talking about eternity but how many people may not read it that closely and how much better is it to simply say the soul will have tribulation?
Those 33,000 words though...
Wow. I just can't hardly wrap my mind around that. While I realize many of those words were simply little things like ye or something that may have been unnecessary...shouldn't we be the one's to decide if something is unnecessary? There are plenty of times in my Scripture studies when I scan over some things while delving deeply into others. The thing is though, not all those words are little unnecessary words. Here's a list of verses from the same site above (the full article can be found at: http://www.av1611.org/kjv/ESV_Fruit.html):
In case you think the ESV simply removes insignificant archaic words. The ESV removes “key” words and phases from hundreds of verses. The following are some examples of the words “taketh away” in the ESV. The words marked in red are removed in the ESV.
Mathew 19:9KJBAnd I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.ESVAnd I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery."
Mark 9:49KJBFor every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.ESVFor everyone will be salted with fire.
Luke 9:55-56KJBBut he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.ESVBut he turned and rebuked them.And they went on to another village.
Luke 22:64KJBAnd when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?ESVThey also blindfolded him and kept asking him, "Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?"
John 3:13KJBAnd no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.ESVNo one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
John 8:59KJBThen took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.ESVSo they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
Acts 9:5KJBAnd he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.ESVAnd he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."
Acts 18:21KJBBut bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.ESVBut on taking leave of them he said, "I will return to you if God wills," and he set sail from Ephesus.
Romans 8:1KJBThere is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.ESVThere is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 13:9KJBFor this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.ESVFor the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
1 Corinthians 10:28KJBBut if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof:ESVBut if someone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience--
Galatians 3:1KJBO foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?ESVO foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Ephesians 3:14KJBFor this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,ESVFor this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
Titus 1:4KJBTo Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.ESVTo Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Hebrews 2:7KJBThou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:ESVYou made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,
1 John 5:7KJBFor there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.ESVFor there are three that testify:the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
Those aren't insignificant words. I am not speaking against the ESV. Not even close. But I'm also not promoting it at this moment either. My favored Bible happens to be one of the 2001 versions despite the fact that I bought it brand new in 2016. I am so very grateful the Lord oversaw that one and at least made sure I received an older version because what I understand of the 2016 version would come close to making me burn it. Supposedly the newest revision has them stating that Eve's desire will be contrary to her husband as opposed to saying it will be for her husband in Genesis 3:16. There's a huge difference in desire for one's husband and her desire being contrary to her husband.
Supposedly the word used for that verse can be translated either way so Crossway wasn't violating the Scriptures in doing so but it does appear that they switched up which side of the translation of that word they were on. Considering the ESV is said to be one of the gender neutral Bible versions...I can only wonder if this doesn't somehow fit in with a bigger...possibly much bigger...agenda.
According to the article I mentioned above, "only about 5%-10% of the RSV text was changed in the ESV". The RSV was apparently burned in the pulpits when it was first published. While I could really care less about that and I have to wonder if we would all be wise to rush out and buy any Bible that the 'churches' deem so bad they must be burned, it is an interesting bit of history behind the ESV Bible, or rather about the version that was the ancestor of the ESV Bible.
Please don't get me wrong, I am not basing all my opinions and thoughts on that one article but that one article does seem to pull together all of what I was able to glean from reading multiple other articles. I am not bashing the ESV. I still like my ESV Bible and will continue to use it. What I won't do is use it wholeheartedly anymore without double checking it against an older translation, one that was made off the Textus Receptus rather than the newer manuscripts which some say, and my own research appears to support, are corrupt.
Here's where my opinion probably doesn't agree with most others that have done this very same research...I still say, whichever Bible you have is the 'best' and 'most accurate' Bible. Even the very worst paraphrase out there still gives the Lord's names and hopefully has actual Scripture there hidden among the authors version of what they want the Bible to say.
When I first started writing this post I intended to delve deeply into this issue of whether or not our own Bibles are being used against us to promote the 'church' system. Time has passed, though, since I started this and with it my desire to search out any, maybe I should call them conspiracy theories, behind why 1 Timothy and so many other verses have been twisted.
As I sit here, pulling this post together, I am choosing to back away from that particular study. Just as I believe that whichever version of the Bible you have in hand is the best version at that moment in your life, I also believe the Lord has preserved His word for us. Yes, the modern versions appear to be perverted and it would seem they are being used to push the church system on us.
I did read somewhere that The Roman Catholic Church had to give up their goal of total control as they knew it prior to the reformation and instead instigated a different plan, one that would get to the 'enemy' through a different way, and so they supposedly set out to infiltrate the Christians they so opposed.
Maybe they accomplished that through our own Bibles. I did an internet search for approved Roman Catholic Bibles. It's kind of astonishing at how many versions of the Bible are being used in Roman Catholic Churches and in Protestant Churches. And it seems fishy to me that a religion that so opposed another would use the exact same holy book as those they opposed. Of course, Roman Catholics do add in the Apocrypha so maybe that is supposed to make all the difference. I don't know.
All that aside though, I would encourage anyone with the least bit of interest in this subject to do their own studying on it. See if you can figure out how deeply they are trying to brainwash us into the 'church' system with our own Bibles. I would love to hear your opinions on this topic as well as any articles or information you may know of.
When I first started writing this post I intended to delve deeply into this issue of whether or not our own Bibles are being used against us to promote the 'church' system. Time has passed, though, since I started this and with it my desire to search out any, maybe I should call them conspiracy theories, behind why 1 Timothy and so many other verses have been twisted.
As I sit here, pulling this post together, I am choosing to back away from that particular study. Just as I believe that whichever version of the Bible you have in hand is the best version at that moment in your life, I also believe the Lord has preserved His word for us. Yes, the modern versions appear to be perverted and it would seem they are being used to push the church system on us.
I did read somewhere that The Roman Catholic Church had to give up their goal of total control as they knew it prior to the reformation and instead instigated a different plan, one that would get to the 'enemy' through a different way, and so they supposedly set out to infiltrate the Christians they so opposed.
Maybe they accomplished that through our own Bibles. I did an internet search for approved Roman Catholic Bibles. It's kind of astonishing at how many versions of the Bible are being used in Roman Catholic Churches and in Protestant Churches. And it seems fishy to me that a religion that so opposed another would use the exact same holy book as those they opposed. Of course, Roman Catholics do add in the Apocrypha so maybe that is supposed to make all the difference. I don't know.
All that aside though, I would encourage anyone with the least bit of interest in this subject to do their own studying on it. See if you can figure out how deeply they are trying to brainwash us into the 'church' system with our own Bibles. I would love to hear your opinions on this topic as well as any articles or information you may know of.
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