After sending out the first part of this teaching series, a sister in Christ wrote to me to ask me to provide further information on Bible translations. Some have wanted to know specifically what errors are present in various translations, and some have requested that I recommend a good translation to use for study.
I have found that many Christians tend to become very emotionally attached to a particular translation, although their reasons for doing so are usually erroneous, or poorly considered. Perhaps you have encountered people who held to the opinion that the King James Version is the only accurate translation, suggesting that all other translations are demonically influenced and to be avoided at all cost. I have sought to reason with some who held this view. I have asked them to consider the following points.
The King James Version of the Bible was not produced until 1611. If the KJV Bible is the ONLY translation authorized and approved by God, what did the church use for the 1600 years prior to its writing? Did the church have only demonically inspired Scriptures?
If the King James Version is the ONLY Bible authorized and approved by God, then what do the Christians of the world who do not speak English use? Must the Chinese church use the English KJV Bible even when they do not speak English? Or how about the Russian church, or the French church, or the German church, or the Spanish church?
I have found that much of the reasoning of those who staunchly defend the KJV Bible is tragically tainted by nearsightedness. Those who espouse such a view are all English speaking Christians who have lived after the writing of this translation. The vast majority of church history occurred without any KJV Bible in existence, and even today English speaking Christians are only a portion of the entire body of Christ.
The arguments suggesting that the KJV is the only translation authorized and approved by God is therefore seriously misguided. It is merely a manifestation of religious prejudice. The KJV Bible is itself filled with errors, which can be easily discovered by anyone who wants to do even a cursory study of the matter. The following letter is part of a correspondence I had with a brother who wrote to tell me that he believed the KJV was the most accurate translation available.
Dear Brother,
I would agree with you that there are some serious problems with many of the translations today, but I haven't found the KJV to be a better translation, but in most cases to be a much more flawed translation. Please don't think this is just some prejudice of mine. This conclusion comes from my own research into translations and I will share with you the reasons why I believe this to be true... All of the popular English translations are full of translation errors...
Following is an excerpt from a writing by Gary Amirault that reveals some of the information he found on the KJV Bible in doing his own research.
The Bible Inerrancy Camp and the King James Only Camp teach that we have a perfect Greek text or imply it. It is called the "Textus Receptus" by the KJV camp which is Latin for "Received Text." They teach this text was available to the King James translators which allowed them to produce an inerrant English translation. Historical records regarding this "Textus Receptus" proves their view to be totally false.
First of all, the term "Textus Receptus" first appears in a second edition of Stephanus Greek text produced by the Elzevire Brothers in 1633, twenty two years after the King James Bible was printed! It was an advertising pitch as false as most commercials are today. The so-called Textus Receptus began its debut in 1516. It started as a work which took a self-proclaimed "humanist" Roman Catholic monk only several months to, in his own words "throw together rather than edit." One critic in England called it the "least carefully printed book ever published." Erasmus in trying to be the first to get a Greek text in print, threw together in a few months what it took his competitors at Alcala de Henares University many years to assemble. The University's text came to be known as the Complutensian Polyglott. Erasmus only had a handful of very late manuscripts to work from, none of which contained the complete Greek New Testament, so he filled in the gaps from the Latin Vulgate. That is why the Textus Receptus has words that do not agree with any known Greek text. He corrected his text in 4 subsequent editions.
In the mid 1500's a man named Stephanus took Erasmus' text, and combined it with the Complutensian Text. He produced several editions making changes along the way. The Stephanus text, which the King James translators used, differed from the self-proclaimed "Textus Receptus" in 287 places. There are no known Greek manuscripts that agree "inerrantly" with either the Textus Receptus or the Stephanus text. Erasmus, the originator of the so-called "inerrant" Greek text later to be called the "Textus Receptus" dedicated his work to Pope Leo X who later would condemn Luther and the Reformation. For a full account of this sad chapter of church deception, read "The Text of the New Testament" by Bruce Metzger. Foundation Press in Anaheim, California also has some valuable information.
The teaching that the King James translators had a perfect Greek text is denied by the translators themselves. In the original edition of 1611 are marginal notes as follows: Note on Luke 17:36, "This 36th verse is wanting in most of the Greek copies." Note on Acts 25:6 where their text reads: "When he had tarried among them more than ten days," they inserted the following marginal note: "or, as some copies read, 'no more than eight or ten days.'" Unfortunately, notes such as these as well as much other information contained in the Original KJV have been removed to support the "Inerrancy" fraud. Enough . . . of this sad chapter of Bible translating...
There was a time when Bible writing was strictly in the hands of the church. The end result was the church put the Bible into a "Sacred" language called Latin which common people in latter times could not and were not allowed to read. It was called the Vulgate. The common people could not read the Scriptures in their native tongue of English, German, French, etc.. Getting caught with any portion of the Scriptures in your native language could get one killed by the church! Please believe us. This is true. The Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox churches did not want Christians or non-Christians reading the Scriptures.
When the first Common Language Bibles began to appear in the languages of the world, the state and church still had much control over the wording, who could read it, and which translations one could read. An Anglican Protestant was not allowed to read a Lutheran Bible. King James did not want the people of England to read the English Geneva Bible produced by John Calvin and his associates. Church leaders used the notes in the Geneva Bible as Scriptural support to tell the King how to rule. Before James the first was king of England, he was King James the sixth of Scotland. The Presbyterians caused him much trouble and their favorite Bible was the Geneva Bible. King James commissioned the King James Bible because of political reasons, not because of a love of the Creator. The English were strongly being influenced by the marginal notes in the Geneva Bible which states that the people of a monarchy had the right to overthrow that monarchy if it did not line up with Scripture. King James believed in the "Divine Right of the King." He called the Geneva Bible "seditious." Therefore, he commissioned the King James Bible.
These examples should be enough to show one that the King James translators were not "anointed by God" to produce an authentically original translation free from political and denominational bias. They were "appointed by James" for political and monetary reasons. King James didn't put a penny into the project, but he could make money out of the project since it was his Bible...
The translator's have this to their credit. They noted in the preface to the reader that they only took previous men's work and hoped to make a better one, knowing others would follow them and produce even a better one yet. This preface has been also removed from present day King James Bibles because it does not conform to the fundamentalist's "inerrancy" teachings. That is why the translators preface is no longer printed in current King James Bibles... We mention here, only a few points to clearly show that the teaching of an "inerrant" KJV is a pure myth.
In 1611 two separate editions of the KJV were printed. They came to be known as the "Great He Bible" and the "Great She Bible" because one printed Ruth 3:15 as "he went" and the other printed "she went." These two original King James Bibles, printed in the first year this Bible was issued, had several thousands differences. When asked to endorse the KJV, Hugh Broughton, foremost Hebrew scholar of England at that time said he would rather "be rent to pieces by wild horses than have had any part in the urging of such a wretched version of the Bible on the poor people."
It is vital to understand that when the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox church removed the Scriptures from the common people, these churches were then able to bring in hundreds of pagan doctrines, idols, and false religious rites. The mythologies of the Romans, Greeks, Teutons, Norse, Druids etc. were incorporated into church teaching which produced great darkness. Read about the dark ages of Europe which were brought about by Christian leaders, the popes, bishops, cardinals, and kings appointed by the pope.
When the Reformation began, the minds of Christian leaders were so cluttered by superstition and false doctrines that the progress they made in breaking away from the total darkness of Romanism was really only a small step out of darkness. We forget that the Anglican Church began, not because of Godly reasons, but from political and personal ones. Also don't forget, King James was much more interested in a Bible to support his view of the "divine right of the king" than to produce an inerrant Bible. Church historians have glorified the Reformation far beyond what was really accomplished. Today, we still have a long way to go.
Today, most Bibles are produced by merchants. The church proved it only perverted the "Word of God" when she was sole guardian of it. She hid it, then changed it. Now merchants produce most Bible translations which must be sold for a profit which usually means giving the market what they want. Over 350 English translations of the New Testament have been marketed to date. The most popular and accepted translations are, of course, those which can be used to support Christendom's doctrines. Pastors will push those translations which work for them the most.
When a major Bible translation is undertaken by a publisher or some other institution, the directors are not only responsible for getting the text translated; they must also make sure that the resulting work will, over time, pay for the cost of translation and make a profit. In other words, they are under a directive to make sure that the completed Bible supports the majority view of Christendom's doctrines. The market first, accuracy to original texts second. The bottom line of present day Bible translating is: It must sell!
[End Quote by Gary Amirault]
Is it not a conflict that we venerate these early pilgrims for their desire to worship God in Spirit and in truth, and we feel pity for all the hardship they faced, yet we also venerate the King who caused the hardship and we declare that the translation of the scriptures that he authorized is a superior translation? Somehow the church's prejudices have disconnected them from the truth. King James was a tyrant and he was by no means a godly ruler. Yet many in the church staunchly defend the Bible that he ordered written for political and monetary reasons.
Again, I don't share these things with you to antagonize you, and I hope you are not offended that I have shared them. These are things I have learned as I have done my own studies, and I believe it is the Spirit of Yahweh that has led me to these things. I want to walk in truth and to avoid error so I weigh carefully the things people speak to me. Paul praised the Berean believers for doing this very thing.
May you be blessed with the wisdom and understanding that is in Yahshua our Lord,
Joseph
I would like to append some more information here to this page, as there are many more things that I have come cross in my study of Bible translations. Adlai Loudy, in support of the Concordant Literal Version of the Bible, made some of the following observations.
In John 20:1, the King James reads: “The first day of the week . . .”
It is little known to Christendom that this is a “bogus” translation foisted upon the church by the translators, a “camel” that has been swallowed by scholars and students alike. The writer had a well-meaning brother in the Lord, who became so concerned about me and my teaching that he traveled a long distance to go over the matter with a view to readjusting me in the truth. After patiently listening to all that he had to say, I suggested a few things to him, one of which was the fact that the Scriptures, correctly translated, knew nothing about “the first day of the week.” He threw up his hands in astonishment that I would make such an irreverent indictment of the “Bible!” After facing the facts. He apparently preferred “error” to the truth, as he made no attempt to reply and quit the subject without any explanation whatever.
The original, in all three of the oldest manuscripts, reads: mia ton sabbaton, ONE OF-THE SABBATHS. Our translators presumed to know more than the great Author and corrupted the word of God. They altered “one” to read “first,” inserted the word “day,” for it is not in the original and is not needed in the translation, and changed “sabbaths” to the singular “week.” Can one imagine a more perfidious and deceptive act of man? It truly is repugnant to those who reverently regard the original as the very word of God, and want it to speak to them as He was pleased to give it...
-----------------------------
The Authorized Version renders Romans 7:24 thus: O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Since the King James “Bible” was made, this question has been read and reread by the saints of God, but the answer has been lacking. THE CONCORDANT VERSION, following the editor of Sinaiticus, restores the answer that has been lost all these years. It reads:
A wretched man I am! What will rescue me out of this body of death? Grace! Now I am thanking God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord...
----------------------------
These examples could be multiplied many times, but this will suffice to show that we should be very careful about building divisive articles, dogmas and doctrines on such imperfections, as are manifest in these older versions. Since the King James “Bible” was issued in 1611, some forty new dictionaries have been issued to keep pace with the growth and changes in the English language. The English and American revision committees made 36,191 changes —rectifications — of the King James Version that more closely conform to the original, after which President Schaff said the work was still far from perfect!
The present state of Bible translations forces the seeker of the mind of Christ to come to the throne of God time after time, asking the Father to lead us to Truth through the working of His Spirit in us. Choosing a Bible translation is one of the thornier issues among Christians today, and many have exhibited a decided lack of grace and love toward their brothers who should disagree with some favorite translation. Nowhere is this more evident than those who have camped out around the KJV Bible, yet as we have seen, it was not divinely inspired in its translation, and has had thousands of revisions and changes, and is still full of so many errors and prejudices as to make it difficult to rely upon.
The church today resembles very much the Corinthian church that Paul derided for their carnality. They had divisions among them based upon who their favorite teacher was, Paul, Apollos, Peter, and even Yahshua. The church today still has its divisions, and one source is found in arguments over which Bible translation is the best. I believe there is no "best" translation, and the serious student would do well to compare many translations and to do research of their own. A great help to me is in comparing how a word was used in other instances by the same author, or by other authors of the time. By comparing in this manner we can see what a word's actual meaning was, and we can see if the translators have altered it in certain places to fit their own views. Time after time this has led me to discover some alteration of the Scriptures that served to obscure truth from the readers.
Let us not be saints that adopt some prejudiced view of which Bible translation is the best, but let us seek to urge one another to a pursuit of the truth and to expose error wherever we find it.
[End Article Excerpt]
Bible translations have always been subject to the fallacies of man. At times errors are introduced simply due to a lack of understanding. A far more grievous occurrence is being manifested today by Bible publishers who are making wholesale changes to Scriptures due to a lack of integrity. They are changing the wording of Scriptures because they believe they know better than God how the Bible should be written. I previously mentioned one such egregious example of this type of error is being manifested by the publishers of the NIV Bible. They have produced a new, gender neutral Bible translation called the New International Version Inclusive Language Edition (NIVI). This Bible translation manifests the pride and arrogance of man who are seeking to transform the Bible into a form that is “politically correct” and does not offend the liberal minds of some who call themselves Christians. Much information can be found online concerning this trend by doing a search on a variety of key terms.
http://www.bible-researcher.com/inclusive.html
The International Bible Society, the publisher of the NIV and a number of gender neutral translations, hired Virginia Mollenkott to work on these translations. Virginia Mollenkott is a lesbian, pro-abortion, a feminist, and under her influence the International Bible Society removed the term “sodomite” from their Bible translations. In fact. Mollenkott has completely redefined what it is that God calls aberrant homosexual behavior. Another contributor to the NIV Bible was Dr. Marten Woudstra. He oversaw the Old Testament Committee, acting as its chairman. He too was an admitted homosexual.
http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/twohomosexuals.htm
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/woudstra.htm
It is not hard to research some of the controversies surrounding Bible translations, or to discover how error is being introduced into the church through the corrupting of the Bible itself. Just consider, if Satan can get the people of God to do all of their reading from Bible translations he has introduced demonic doctrines into, then he will certainly find success in leading people astray into error. It is like making structural changes to a foundation of a building. Everything that is built upon the foundation is affected by the changes at the lowest level.
One of the fundamental changes made to English Bible translations is in the rendering of divine names. Can you imagine someone translating a work of the Holy Spirit where men moved by God were led to record the name Yahweh 6,828 times in the Old Testament, and 49 times to record the name Yah. Yet the translators decided it was inappropriate to refer to God by His memorial name He used to reveal Himself to mankind? Instead, they removed every occurrence of the name of God and replaced it with a title such as Lord, or God. Many Christians think the name of the deity they worship is Lord, or God, but these are generic titles, not names.
I do not have space here to speak comprehensively of this erroneous practice of the translators of all of the popular English Bibles, but I have posted a more thorough writing in this subject titled The Usage of Divine Names.
There are times when the translators have rendered certain Hebrew and Greek words in a manner that is erroneous due to their own lack of understanding, or out of a desire to maintain the orthodox rendering that is most familiar to Christians and Bible teachers. You can imagine that if the translators rendered certain words in a manner that was uncommon, or unknown to a large percentage of the body of Christ, even if accuracy demanded they do so, that few people would buy their Bible translation.
In the early version of the book God’s Plan of the Ages, I have written of one particular instance of this happening, and how in doing so the translators have hidden the actual meaning of one of the most fundamental of Bible doctrines. It has been so obscured that most Christians upon hearing it taught correctly immediately suspect that some heresy has been committed. In fact, they themselves have been taught error, and embraced it, due to the errors incorporated into popular English Bibles by the translators. I will cite a section from the aforementioned book as it speaks of the horrendous way in which the translators have rendered the Hebrew word Olam, and its Greek equivalent Aion.
[Begin excerpt]
J. Preston Eby writes:
The Hebrew word OLAM and its Greek equivalent, AION, mean a limited time, an age, and their plural means ages...
Some of the passages where AION is found will give us added information concerning it. In Ephesians 2:7 we find, "in the ages (aions) to come." In Colossians 1:26 we find, "the mystery which has been hid from ages (aions). " In Ephesians 2:2 we find "you walked, according to the course (aion) of this world." In Hebrews 1:2 we find, "by whom also He made the worlds (aions)." In Hebrews 11:3 we find, "the worlds (aions) were formed by the Word of God." In about fifteen instances, such as Matthew 12:32, 1 Corinthians 1:20, etc., we find it rendered "this world (aion)." Twice we find "this present world (aion)." In Galatians 1:4 we find, "deliver us from this present evil world (aion)." In Ephesians 6:12 we find, "the rulers of the darkness of this world (aion)." In II Corinthians 4:4 we find, "the god of this world (aion)." In I Corinthians 2:6 we find, "the wisdom of this world (aion)." In Luke 16:8 we find, "the children of this world (aion)." In Mark 4:19 we find, "the cares of this world (aion)." How much more understandable it would be if the translators had used the word age instead of world!
In Mark 10:30 we find that there is not only this present aion, which is evil, but also "the world (aion) to come." In Luke 20:35 we find, "but they that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world (aion), and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage." In Hebrews 6:5 we find, "and have tasted the powers of the world (aion) to come." And in Luke 1:70, John 9:32, etc., we find that the aion had a beginning: "since the world (aion) began."
I would like to jump in here in the middle of Mr. Eby’s discourse to actually do what he suggested. I would like to render the Greek “aion” here in these passages as “age” and we will see how wonderfully the passages make sense.
Eph. 2:7 "in the ages (aions) to come."
Col. 1:26 "the mystery which has been hid from the ages (aions). "
Eph. 2:2 "you walked, according to the age (aion) of this world."
Heb. 1:2 "by whom also He made the ages (aions)."
Heb. 11:3 "the ages (aions) were formed by the Word of God."
Gal. 1:4 "deliver us from this present evil age (aion)."
Eph. 6:12 "the rulers of the darkness of this age (aion)."
II Cor. 4:4 "the god of this age (aion)."
I Cor. 2:6 "the wisdom of this age (aion)."
Lk. 16:8 "the children of this age (aion)."
Mk. 4:19 "the cares of this age (aion)."
Mk. 10:30 "the age (aion) to come."
Lk. 20:35 "but they that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that age (aion), and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage."
Heb. 6:5 "and have tasted the powers of the age (aion) to come."
John. 9:32 "since the age (aion) began."
(Now, back to Mr. Eby.)
And now in reviewing the Scriptures we have just quoted we note that this aion is something which has a king; it has princes; it is in darkness; it had a beginning; it has an ending; it is evil; it has wisdom; it has children who marry; it has cares. The aions we find were made by Christ, simply through His spoken Word, and we also find in Colossians 1:26 that the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory, has been hidden from these aions.
Now, if AION means ETERNAL, consider how ridiculous the Word of God would be! The Holy Spirit would be found saying, "the mystery which has been hid from eternities;" "the mystery of Christ which in other eternities was not made known;" "in the eternities to come;" "You walked according to the eternity of this world;" "by whom also He made the eternities;" "the rulers of the darkness of this eternity;" "now once in the end of the eternities has He appeared;" "the harvest is the end of the eternity;" "since eternity began;" "in the eternities to come," etc. etc... Suffice it to say here that there have been "aions" in the past, there is this present "aion," and there are "aions" to come. And these all combined make up TIME, encompassing the whole of the progressive plan and program of God for the development of His creation.
[End Excerpt]
Due to the inaccurate manner in which these two words have been translated, the church has formed doctrines that are not only founded upon error, but these doctrines have shaped the way Christians view God Himself. I encourage any Christian who has not yet done so to read the book God’s Plan of the Ages with an honest heart, examining all things carefully. I am confident that many will be shocked at how they have been led astray into false doctrine, and have failed to discern God’s plan to reconcile the entire creation back to Himself through the cross of Christ.
What I have shared here is intended to reveal to the child of God the need to STUDY to show themselves “approved, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of God.” You will not be able to divide truth from error if your approach to the study of Scriptures is casual. Most Christians do no more than read popular translations, and even this is done sparingly. Their lack of careful examination and focused study is a measure of their own lack of interest in knowing the truths and mysteries contained in the Bible.
The Scriptures contain the wisdom of God revealed by the Holy Spirit through holy men of old. There is no greater vocation a man or woman can pursue than to know God in spirit and in truth. Should not our pursuit of the knowledge of God be conducted with the greatest measure of excellence we can bring to the endeavor? God knows those who earnestly desire to apprehend truth. He does not bestow His treasures indiscriminately. Those who yearn for truth, wisdom and understanding, who cry out for it, and pursue it passionately, will be granted that which they seek.
Proverbs 2:1-6
My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of Yahweh and discover the knowledge of God. For Yahweh gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
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Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063
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