By Dr. Ray Meier

The Holy Bible is believed by Christians to be the word of God, and rightly so.  The scriptures themselves affirm the perfection and preservation of the word of God in Psalms 12:6-7. But just as Jesus warned us: "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:11); so, we must also beware of bible revisers making changes to God's word. Paul, the apostle informed us: "For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: ....."(2 Corinthians 2:17).  What Paul was saying was that even in his day there were those who corrupted the word of God.  Things have not changed in the modern age.  The subject at hand in this tract is not just the preaching of erroneous doctrines, but rather a changing of the words in the Bible itself, and thereby changing the teachings, and meanings and interpretations radically.  In light of what Paul the Apostle stated above, the Christian should be aware of Satan's attempt to dilute and corrupt the true word of God since his first attempt in the Garden of Eden when he said "Ye shall NOT surely die", down to the latest new version published, including the ones that are not yet on the market.  The purpose for the changes in the new bibles are not just scholarly, but spiritual.  The problem is that the spiritual forces behind these efforts are not godly, but devilish.

1. They come from a perverse source.
2. They come from a perverse text.
3. They come from a perverse spirit.

1. THEY COME FROM A PERVERSE SOURCE.

Isaiah 19:13-14  "The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have  also seduced Egypt, even they that are the  stay of the tribes thereof.  The LORD hath mingled a PERVERSE SPIRIT in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt TO ERR IN EVERY WORK thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit."

According to the word of God, any work that comes out of Egypt is perverse in regard to it's spiritual goodness, purity, and accuracy.  Anyone who knows the issues knows that the new bible versions are the product of the manuscripts that come out of Alexandria, Egypt.  Would you use a bible whose foundational Greek manuscript comes from a land that The Lord declares to be spiritually perverse in every work?

2. THEY COME FROM A PERVERSE TEXT.

The new bible versions are mostly the product of the Vaticanus and Alexandrian manuscripts, to a large part through the scholarship of Westcott and Hort, and Ebhardt Nestle.  The Vaticanus manuscript contains the fourteen old testament books called the Apocrypha.  The attachment of these extra books to the Old Testament brings a Biblical curse upon the manuscript and everything derived from it.  Jesus stated the content of the Old Testament of His day when dealing with the pharisees.  In pronouncing judgment upon their wickedness he said in Matthew 23:35 "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar".

Jesus was a Jew, and to this day a Jewish Old Testament starts with Genesis, where Abel was slain, and ends with 2nd Chronicles where in 24:20-22 Zechariah is slain in the temple.

The Jewish Old Testament contains the same books as the Christian Old Testament scriptures, just a different book order.  Again Jesus states the proper content of the Old Testament in Luke. Luke 24:44 "And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me".  No mention of the inter-testamental books nor of the Apocrypha is made.  In addition, although many Old Testament quotations are made in the New Testament, not once  is there  a reference from any Apocryphal book. Since the Bible emphatically commands in Deuteronomy 4:2 "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, ....", and since the character of the bible reviser is revealed in Proverbs 30:6 "ADD THOU NOT UNTO HIS WORDS, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found A LIAR", the reader should carefully examine the source from which the new bible versions are derived.  Considering the universal law of sowing and reaping, and considering Luke 6:43 "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a CORRUPT TREE BRING FORTH GOOD FRUIT" the reader should beware of anything coming from these perverse manuscripts.

Even if the new bible versions were using a source that was not perverse, the spirit by which they were produced is perverse.

3. THEY COME FROM A PERVERSE SPIRIT.

Some of the scholars who produced the Greek text underlying the new versions were founding fathers of The Ghostly Guild.  It was essentially a seance club, dealing in necromancy.  This is an activity forbidden by Old Testament law.

In addition to that, many of the translators are not "saved" according to the Bible definition of salvation.  Many of them are denominationally connected with the doctrine of "baptismal regeneration"; that is, that one is saved by water baptism.  Although some may not hold to this doctrine, there are many who do hold to it that were integral in the translation of the new versions.  Their work reveals this error in 1st Peter 3:21 where their new versions will usually state in some form that "baptism saves you".

Is the reader willing to trust a bible that has been translated by a LOST MAN? Would a lost man be able to be spiritually sensitive to the Holy Spirit in His effort to publish His word?

Is the reader willing to trust a bible produced by scholars actively involved in a form of witchcraft?

By their own testimony some of the new version scholars admit to sexual perversity. Dr. Virginia Mollenkott who is listed under Literary Critics and Consultants who were responsible for the New  International Version (1), has given her testimony in The Witness. (2)  It is an Episcopalian newsletter in which she states "My lesbianism was always very much a part of me."   She continues (3) "Coming out is a way to strike a blow against heterosexism, which is held in place by silence."

Is the reader willing to read, study, memorize, teach or preach a bible which has been produced by a group of people who had no more spiritual discernment than to consult the help of a SODOMITE?  Those who are in league with sodomites are referred to in Romans 1:32  "Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, BUT HAVE PLEASURE IN THEM THAT DO THEM".

The new versions are translated by a perverse spirit.

Conclusion

The Bible is much more than a book produced by scholarship.  It is a spiritual book.  Whatever spirit the book is produced with will be propagated in the spiritual life of the listener.  The most important thing to consider when choosing a bible is the holiness of the spirit that produced it.  As Sam Jones the old Methodist evangelist from Civil War days said: "if I could understand everything in the Bible I would know that it was written by some fool no smarter than me!".  The modern Christian should choose a Bible according to the purity of the spirit that proceeds from it.  The spirit that comes from the Authorized Version (King James Bible) is found in James 3:17, "But the wisdom that is from above is FIRST PURE, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and WITHOUT HYPOCRISY".  The understanding will come from study, but the source must be like that which is referred to in 1 Peter 1:23 "Being born again, not of CORRUPTIBLE seed, but of INCORRUPTIBLE, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever".

Any bible that deletes numerous verses, that makes numerous changes in such important doctrines as the sinlessness of Christ (Matt 5:22),  and the very nature of the Godhead (1Tim 3:16, 1John 5:7) presents another Jesus, a different Jesus than the Jesus Christ of the old King James Bible.

LET THE READER BEWARE.  2John 8-10 issues a warning to any and all who would dare corrupt the nature of the Godhead, or to anyone who would say "amen" to the ministry of any preacher, teacher, or scholar who does:

2John 8-10
Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For HE THAT BIDDETH HIM GOD SPEED IS PARTAKER OF HIS EVIL DEEDS.

1 The Story of the New International Version p.20, Copyright 1978 by International Bible Society.
2 The Witness, July 1991, p.22
3 The Witness, July 1991, p.23