Which Bible Versions Are Dangerous?

Because I wrote previously about how the Bible was carefully copied in my previous post, I also need to explain about the unreliability of certain versions. It would be wonderful if all Bibles were safe and edifying for believers but it isn't always the case.

"Didn't people decide which Bible books were to be included in it?" I sometimes hear people ask. Dan Brown and his Da Vinci Code book have shed doubts on the integrity of the scriptures but he's wrong. When the apostles were penning holy scripture, there was no central ecclesiastical  authority. Consequently, copies were copied and passed along all over Europe and neighbouring areas. Only in the fourth century A.D. did bishops meet and that was to counter heresies cropping up a century earlier.

Furthermore, the bishops made sure that the books of the Bible didn't contradict each other as the Gnostic gospels did. Since so many good copies circulated from church to church, the fake ones were easily spotted and rejected. Consequently, what we have today is what the apostles wrote.

As for bad or deliberately twisted Bible translations, two notable versions must be avoided. The New World Standard is a doctored version used by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Passages regarding the Trinity were  edited so that Christ became a created being rather than eternally part of the Godhead.

The second bastardized Bible is the   so-called Inspired Bible. It was written by Joseph Smith. He plagiarized the King James Version and added his own erroneous explanations of what the verses meant.

So which ones are good translations? The English Standard Version is a word-for-word translation. It's great for accuracy. On the other hand, the New International Version is more an idea-for-idea version. Since idioms and words don't translate perfectly into another language, the "idea" version is better for getting those concepts across. Even so, both styles of translation are valid.

Paraphrased Bibles, like Eugene Peterson's The Message, aren't as accurate since they aren't a direct translation. Even so, they are better than the Mormon or Jehovah's Witness Bibles.

I'm grateful to proper biblical scholars, some of whom I've mentioned in my How I Was Razed memoir. God led me to their radio programs so I could be disabused of the lies I learned in a cult.

In my next book, I hope to touch on many questions which I've raised here. One of those questions is why there are so many denominations. I'll tackle that in my next blog post.

THE GREAT FAMINE OF 1975.

I'm ashamed to admit that I fell for the false prophecy that there would be a massive famine in 1975. So concerned were my mother and I that she began hoarding food. From my forthcoming How I Was Razed memoir, here's an excerpt showing how deceived we were. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Mom stripped the sheets from our beds, I noticed that somebody pulled one of them away from the wall. A large cardboard box, half filled with canned goods, sat wedged behind its headboard. "What's all this for?" I asked her. "There's going to be a famine next year and I want to be ready for it." My jaw dropped. "Where did you find this out?" "It was in one of those Awake magazines." "Wow! So the Jehovah's Witnesses know about this too?" "Yes. They've been telling people about the coming famine for years." "Garner Ted Armstrong's been doing that too. It really must be serious then. Brother Herald warned us about the same thing." "I hope I can save enough to last. We've got to set aside enough money to buy extra food before the stores run out." After Mom carried the dirty bed clothes into the laundry room, I held my right hand over our stockpile. "Lord, please bless and multiply this food like you did the loaves and fishes," I prayed. "Thanks too that Mom understands at least one advanced truth." Though she didn't mention what we discussed after that day, I congratulated myself for doing well. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity will be in print and e-book form soon. Meanwhile, have a look at my two previous memoirs on the left hand side of this page.

DOOMSDAY? WHAT DOOMSDAY?

Every once and a while, Jehovah's Witnesses come around to people's houses with their message of a coming doomsday. They cite Bible verses that appear to predict dire consequences for the people of this planet. In fact, this theological cult has predicted worldwide disaster for more than a century. Each time their predictions fail, their leaders set a new date. But will this world end with apocalyptic plagues, falling meteors, and the deaths of millions in a global war? Up until this year, I believed that a time of tribulation would precede the return of Jesus Christ to this world. Hank Hanegraaff, the president of the Christian Research Institute, has convinced me that all these dire predictions are based on a misreading of The Revelation of John the Divine. According to The Apocalypse Code, the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the terrible persecution of Christians by Emperor Nero was the great tribulation. Hanegraaff further explained in his book that John's descriptions of the sun turning black, the moon turning blood red, and the stars falling from heaven are symbolic, not literal events. Similar language has been used by various Old Testament prophets to describe the fall of empires Similarly, the mark of the beast isn't some sort of RFID chip or tattoo, as many "end times" pundits claim. The mark of the beast and the mark of the lamb are metaphors for character. Those who had the mark of the beast were wicked and unbelieving people who refused the gospel message. They were easily recognized for their opposition to Christians proclaiming salvation through Christ. Believers were also recognized by their behaviour. The great red dragon in Revelation chapter twelve wasn't communism or Islam but a picture of Satan's attempt to kill the Christ child. The woman mentioned was Israel and the flood was the soldiers of Herod searching for Jesus. The key to Revelation is to understand that book by the other sixty-five in the Bible. It was written to the seven churches in Asia and the message was of what would soon take place. Nobody in the first century could possibly guess the identity of a twenty-first century antichrist. Therefore, Hanegraaff says that six-hundred, threescore, and six are the numbers indicating the name of Nero. I could write much more about the false and true interpretation of Revelation but I'll leave it for The Bible Answer Man to do. Check out www.equip.org for details about The Apocalypse Code and other resources.