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Topical Bible Version Comparison Charts

It is imperative that Christians understand that Bible Versions do matter. New versions are not simply written to make it easier to understand God's Word in "modern language." There is a total assault against Biblical truth and doctrine taking place as demonstrated in the following Charts. Many postulate that no doctrines have been changed, which is a false presumption. The importance of having the true inspired words of God are found in verses such as:

Ephesians 5:25-27 "...even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Unless a version was translated from the Received texts, it is suspect and indeed can and does lead to gnostic doctrine. A Gnostic version will not allow a person to fully understand what the will of the Lord is, because the doctrine itself is changed. For that reason, we believe that the King James Version is the best translation into the English language and had God's protection, as His Word is how we come to know Him. The same holds true for God's Word when it is translated into other languages--the basis must be from the Received Texts. Is doctrine important, or can it be continuously changed and still be the Word of God?

Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the WORD OF GOD."

John 15:1-6 " I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

I Corinthians 2:13 ""Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth; but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual."

It has been suggested by Jacob Prasch of Moriel since 1999,  when my "To Embrace Hebrew Roots" series was published,  along with some of his friends,  that I was "of a Ruckmanite Cyber Cult".  

When Mr. Prasch first published this "story" in 1999, I had to ask a few people what a Ruckmanite was. It was explained to me that there was a man named Peter Ruckman who promotes the King James Version Only teaching. Prior to that I had no knowledge of the man. 

In order to belong to a cult and follow a cult leader one would have to have knowledge of and interaction with that person, and one would certainly have to embrace his teachings. To date, that is January, 10, 2003, I have never investigated, corresponded with, sought out a website or address for, or read material by Peter Ruckman. I don't know the man nor have I felt inclined to analyze him or his teachings. If I feel that God would have me do an article on Ruckman, it would be posted in the Research section of my website. 

The charge of me being a Ruckmanite cult member is false, and quite frankly a ridiculous conclusion by even the most undiscerning. Holding to the KJV as the Bible version to be used came about by my own research and comparison of verses of various Bible versions while investigating the Hebrew Roots and Sacred Name movements. 

Prior to that, I had no knowledge there was even a dispute over versions. Call me naive, but I suspect I knew about as much as the average Evangelical about the issues. But research, verse comparison and reviewing historical data on such people as Westcott and Hort and their determination to destroy Christianity from  the inside out made me evaluate the issue. With Westcott and Hort's translations, and a few others forming the basis of all new versions the result brought us to the conclusion that the KJV was the English Version we should use as it was based on the Textus Receptus and Byzantine manuscripts. Reason and common sense tells us not to use occultist translators for providing sound Scripture. Some individuals recommend the Geneva Bible and it is one that we have not looked to.

We believe that God has protected His Word in the original inspired Byzantine manuscripts and Textus Receptus, and a version should be translated from that source. Even though the Alexandrian texts are some of the oldest, they are also only a handful of texts compared to the 5000 plus that make up the Byzantine texts. 

We recommend that people obtain an Interlinear Bible to compare the original Greek and Hebrew with what is in the King James Version. Some sources that use the Textus Receptus which could also be used are Jay Green's King James Version and Interlinear Bible, or his Modern King James Version. 

http://www.litvonline.com

Literal Translation of the Holy Bible, Translated by Jay P. Green Sr. 

Interlinear Hebrew-Greek-English Bible, One Volume Edition, Jay P. Green, Sr. Editor; "...Translated from the Greek Textus Receptus and the Hebrew Masoretic text which are the same texts that the King James Version translators used."

http://www.sovgracepub.com/

http://www.mkjvonline.com  or http://www.sovgracepub.com/bibles/mkjv.htm

Sovereign Grace Publishers, Modern King James Version of the Holy Bible translated by Jay P. Green. 

http://www.amazon.com/

The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: With Main Concordance, Appendix to the Main Concordance, Topical Index to the Bible, Dictionary, by James Strong

We are to "study" to show ourselves approved. It was never supposed to be easy. And many will admit that 'studying' is difficult.

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Far too many do a quick run through of a passage without actually studying it. Worse, many merely rely on Sunday morning teachings and maybe a Wednesday night Bible study to be their "study to show thyself approved."  

2 Peter 1:20-21, 2:1-2 issued this warning. 

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

Is. 28:9-10: 9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:"

Corrupted Scripture and hence, doctrine, can produce a corrupted fruit.

II Corinthians 2:17: "For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God

1 Peter 1:23-25: 23 "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."

Matthew 7:15-20: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit: 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

Matthew 12:33-34  "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

In "Gnosis: The Nature & History of Gnosticism," Kurt Rudolph exposes the true character of Gnosticism as a heresy that infiltrates and destroys Christianity from within:

" ... The process, which is plain from the New Testament itself, is twofold, the Christianising of Gnosis and the gnosticising of Christianity. The result of both processes is the canonizing of Christianity as an orthodox Church on the one hand, and the elimination of Gnosis as a heresy on the other. Gnosis as we meet it in the New Testament is understood less as an alien pagan religion; " rather, it is only dealt with so far as it is a phenomenon within Christianity." The gnostics feel themselves as Christians and present themselves as such ... Thus it is a danger of more from inside than from outside about which Paul is already said to have given warning. (Acts: 20:29)" [Kurt Rudolph, "Gnosis: The Nature & History of Gnosticism", p.300, Harper & Row, Publishers, 1977]

Quoting from various New Ager's  books, we read of the plan to implement gnosticism.

Article--"Witchcraft and the Religion of the Great Goddess" ~ " We need to create a RELIGION OF HERETICS who refuse to toe any ideological  lines or give their allegiance to any DOCTRINES OF EXCLUSIVITY." (Fundamental Christianity) Miriam Starhawk: YOGA JOURNAL, May/June 1986, p.56

"The ANCIENT WISDOM, as it existed in all old civilizations, will be sifted, pieced together, correlated and synthesized with the finding of modern scientists and the developments in religious fields." Vera Alder, WHEN HUMANITY COMES OF AGE, P. 31

"Religious data previously unavailable has been found or released. Among these are the DEAD SEA SCROLLS; the vast treasures of religious writings found in the Potola in Tibet; CHRISTIAN WRITINGS DELETED FROM THE BIBLE DURING THE 4TH CENTURY (Gnostic); writings of Teilhard de Chardin; and previously carefully guarded knowledge of the ANCIENT WISDOM, including the writings of the Tibetan in the Alice Bailey books; writings of mystics from various religions; the materials offered by the Rosicrucians; and many books on Buddhism and Hindu philosophies and practices...Probably much of this knowledge could be advantageously used in SYNTHESIZING THE MAJOR RELIGIONS WITH A WORLD RELIGION FOR THE NEW AGE." Lola Davis, TOWARD A WORLD RELIGION FOR THE NEW AGE, pp. 187-188

"If the final planetary synthesis of the the Eastern and Western spiritual traditions is to be realized, EASTERN MYSTICISM must be INCORPORATED INTO TRADITIONAL CHRISTIANITY." Peter De Coppens, Forward, in F. Aster Barnwell, THE MEANING OF CHRIST FOR OUR AGE

"The new spirituality does not reject the earlier patterns of the great universal religions. Priest and church will not disappear; they will not be forced out of existence in the New Age, they will be ABSORBED INTO THE EXISTENCE OF THE NEW AGE." William Thompson, in David Spangler, REVELATION: THE BIRTH OF A NEW AGE, Introduction

* Above quotes as cited in Gnosticism: The Mystery of Iniquity, by J. Moser

Dr. John Davis, wrote of similar ideas in " THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, 'Why another English translation of the Bible?' which appeared in Spire, Vol.12, #2, p. 7--Fall 1983 (a quarterly from Grace Theological Seminary):

"The answer to that question was that prior to the NIV most English translations suffered from archaic style, THEOLOGICAL BIAS or inadequate translation skill to be ACCEPTED INTERNATIONALLY AS A STANDARD BIBLE....In an effort to PREVENT THE INTRODUCTION OF DENOMINATIONAL DISTINCTIVES OR THEOLOGICAL IDIOSYNCRASIES INTO THE TRANSLATION PROCESS...a five-step process was established for the translation."

* As cited in Gnosticism: The Mystery of Iniquity, by J. Moser

Men such as Westcott and Hort (the two men that were responsible for the Critical Greek Text and the Revised English version in 1881) were themselves heretics that embraced the Gnostic doctrines and therefore had a hidden motive for creating a new Bible version. They were part of the Apostles Club, The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) and the Ghost Society, the precursor of the SPR. 

Philip Schaff  (the man responsible for the American Standard Version of 1901) also was a heretic and was the father of the Ecumenical Movement. His purpose was to create a Bible version that would further the merger of all religions and nations into a New World Order. George Schriver, in his biography, "PHILIP SCHAFF, CHRISTIAN SCHOLAR AND ECUMENICAL PROPHET", says "he was convinced that such an ECUMENICAL REVISION (of the Bible) would foster the bond of INTERDENOMINATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL UNION" (P. 71-73). * As cited in Gnosticism: The Mystery of Iniquity, by J. Moser

Quite simply, New Versions allow for the teaching of Gnostic doctrine because many of those involved were Gnostics. As you delve into this matter and carefully evaluate the comparison verses and the backgrounds of each of those involved in the versions, it is hoped that you will be moved to reject these new versions, and "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3) - that faith which is consistent with Fundamental Christianity, the Traditional (Antiochian) Greek manuscripts, and the King James Version.

Some of the versions translated from various Gnostic manuscripts include: English revised version; American Standard version; Revised Standard version; Berkley Bible;  Amplified Bible; Jerusalem Bible;  New English Bible; New American Standard; Living Bible;  Today's English V.; New International V.; New King James Bible, Spirit-Filled Life, Edition, and the Scholars Version.

Update: 2007>Please note that a few people have stated the following:

"The argument against corrupted text is one that is very close to my heart. I have heard the argument that NKJV is based on Westcott and Hort or the NU as it is also called and I have seen no evidence of this.  They do list it  in the side reference, as well as being the first to include the  Majority Text readings.  While this may be distracting, it does not  label either as the "best" or the "oldest". "

Another wrote: "...if you read the introduction the NT is actually translated from the TR (like the KJV) while the footnotes indicate NA readings, as well as Byzantine readings. This way people who read this or that Bible are able to see why they're different (for differences which are caused by the underlying text  used). ..."

According to the Preface and information from NKJV and Thomas Nelson, Inc.:

The NKJV revisers followed the essentially literal method of translation used in the original King James Version, which the NKJV Preface calls "complete equivalence."  Regarding the Old Testament>The Masoretes  preserved the Scriptures for  five hundred years in a form known as the Masoretic Text. The Masoretes, led by the family of ben Asher continued the legacy of the earlier scribes. The ben Asher text, by the twelfth century, was the only recognized form of the Hebrew Scriptures. The 1967/1977 Stuttgart edition of the Biblia Hebraica, while also sourcing the Daniel Bomberg edition of 1524-25, were used as well as The Septuagint (Greek) Version of the Old Testament and the Latin Vulgate for the Old Testament.

The King James New Testament was based on the  Textus receptus which was first published in 1516, was also called the Received Text. "In the late nineteenth century, B. Westcott and F. Hort taught that this text had been officially edited by the fourth-century church, but a total lack of historical evidence for this event has forced a revision of the theory. It is now widely held that the Byzantine Text that largely supports the Textus Receptus has as much right as the Alexandrian or any other tradition to be weighed in determining the text of the New Testament."

Regarding contemporary translations, most have relied on a few manuscripts found in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These translations have depended on Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus which are older. The Greek translation of these manuscripts, including related papyri,  is what the Alexandrian Text are based upon. Since the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus disagree with each other in many points, some are rejecting them as a sound source.

Most new versions and and contemporary translators have followed "a Critical Text"," which depends heavily upon the Alexandrian type of text." However, many have begun to abandon the Critical Text in favor of the Majority Text." The NKJB sourced both the Critical and Majority texts and showed the variations in the footnotes. According to the publisher, "fully eighty-five percent" of the NT text is the same as the Textus Receptus, the Alexandrian and the Majority Texts.  The footnotes state the differing passages and also appear to objectively state the source of  the variations. They note the variations as coming from NU-Text, meaning from the Alexandrian or Egyptian text, sourced from the Critical Text. That was published by the United Bible Society and known as the Nestle-Aland Greek NT (26th edition). The M-Text shows variations from the Majority or traditional text.

In other words, the NKJB sourced all available manuscripts and while trying to adhere to the original meanings of the KJB, it provided variations which should be noted and evaluated based on the source of the variations. > end update

Each needs to make a studious effort to search these things out. Each can do a topic by topic, or verse by verse comparison on their own. The Word of God is meant for all to utilize and is not bound by one person's comparison. In other words, if you wish to chart your comparisons with these or other versions or paraphrases, by all means. The point is, consider carefully why, for example, the name of Jesus is omitted, or Christ. One cannot assume people will know who is being referenced. 

Psalm 11:3 

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

These charts are by no means complete. This is just a sample of the corruption found in modern versions in relation to our Lord, His deity and other Biblical truth.

Charts Continued

Versions Used

King James Bible (KJB); 

Cambridge University Press

 

New American Standard Bible (NASB) ~ New Testament

Campus Crusade For Christ International ; The Lockman Foundation, 1972

ALSO:Online NAS 1977

 

New International Version (NIV);

 Zondervan Corporation, 1985

 

New King James Version (NKJV); 

Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1982 

 

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989; maps 1990 

 

Copyrights

The King James Version of the Holy Bible
KJV 1769 edition, public domain.

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission."

 

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

"New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

"New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

"Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

 

* All Scripture Quoted from the King James Version

Copyright . All articles are the sole property of SeekGod.ca and Vicky Dillen

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