I know this might strike you as odd, but I have no intentions of watching the The Bible on the History Channel. Besides the fact that I’m a stick in the mud and I hate going with the crowd on such things, I do have reasons for not doing so. Here are my reasons:
1. First, this show is going to be someone’s interpretation of the Bible and what it means. Most of those on the list behind the series are not those I would give a lot of credibility. There are a few that I might have lunch with, but Joel Osteen is not one of them. As one member of my church put it, “Joel Osteen is a step in the right direction, considering that these programs typically quote John Dominic Crossan and Bart Ehrman, but you are still much closer to Egypt than you are to Jerusalem.“
Another round of arguments is being made for the King James version of the Bible by a man named Sam Gipps. I won’t post his message here, but give you Dr. James White’s response to the claims of Gipps.
The King James only people are quite interesting. What they are trying to claim is that the 1611 King James version of the Bible is the only “true” Bible we have left. What they mean to say is that the only true Bible is this particular translation into English. It’s not the Greek text that the translation was based upon, but the translation itself. This means that the only people who have the true Bible are English-speaking fundamentalist. I’m sure the appeal is made within these circles that the only true Christians left on the entire planet earth are those who have the King James Bible. In a sense, it makes these people almost cult like in their beliefs. I’ve also written about KJV only people here.
Seven new Greek Manuscripts of the Bible have been found over the past several months. According to Professor Dan Wallace, of the New Testament Department at Dallas Theological Seminary, the seven manuscripts are a great find because one of them, a part of the Gospel of Mark, dates to the first century.
A second, a part of the gospel of Luke, dates to the early second century, along with a piece of Matthew’s gospel, along with two manuscripts from the book of Hebrews, one from 1 Corinthians and another from the book of Romans.
What this means is that we have more evidence that the Bible is reliable and that the books were not written some 400 to 500 years after the fact, as the graduates of the DaVinci School for Ignorance typically attest.
We already had one manuscript from the gospel of John that dated to the second century and one from Paul that dated to the third century. These seven manuscripts predate all of them and shows us that we can trust the Bible that we have been given. It is reliable.
Watch the video as Dan Wallace explains how even these new manuscripts will not give us any new information, but confirm that the manuscripts we already had were and are reliable.
You can also refer to an article entitle Can We Trust the Bible? by Arthur Khachatryan. Here is a bit of what he writes:
So how sure are we that we can identify what the originals said? How certain can we be of their consistency? Some have made a cottage industry out of embellishing some of these inconsistencies by claiming that there are upwards of about 300,000 individual variations of the text of the NT. However, most of the differences, such as spelling errors, grammatical mistakes and inverted phrases, are inconsequential. A full comparison shows 98% agreement, and of the remaining differences, virtually all yield to vigorous textual criticism. This means that the NT of today is 99.5% textually pure. In the entire text of roughly 30,000 verses, only 50 are in doubt and none affect any significant doctrine.
An often-cited apparent inconsistency is that there are copies that have errors and deviations from other copies, which make it difficult to trust the text altogether. However, when we take a deeper look at the deviations, we can see that these differences between the copies are expected and do not reduce the trustworthiness of the texts. To expect writings of its length to be copied without any errors is unrealistic. In fact, the text would be more subject to scrutiny if the copies matched too perfectly, as we could charge it with collusion. We need to always account for human error, no matter the topic. Spelling and grammatical errors should be expected. We also see differences in sentence structure, in order to more correctly relay the message. But the substance doesn’t change. What is also significant about the number of copies is that it bodes very well for the determining the exact content matter of the original writings. Ultimately, whatever errors and inconsistencies exist across copies do not matter that much, because we can clearly understand what was contained in the original writings.
I was doing a search for another topic and came across this video clip of Dan Wallace about the reliability of the Bible at the EhrmanProject. Wallace was my first year Greek professor and it an absolute superb scholar. When it comes to manuscripts of the Greek New Testament, this man is one of the top experts in the field. Watch the video, it will assure you that the text we have today is reliable and trustworthy.
Here is part 2.
The long and the short of what Wallace is saying is that we have so many Greek texts of the New Testament, that we don’t have to guess what they said. We know what the original manuscripts said. Even when there is a major difference in texts, as he mentions concerning Romans 8:1, none of those differences affect any major doctrine of Christianity. The point: we can trust our Bibles.
BibleGateway.com, which has the Bible on line with multiple translations, has compiled a list of the Top 5 Bible verses that were searched on their site for 2011. The list is not that surprising when you look at it. Here it is:
In descending order of popularity, here are the top five Bible passages of 2011:
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. (HCSB)
They do have a post from the previous year about what is missing from the list. Collin Hansen wrote that the most popular verse that year was John 3:16 and was probably due to Tim Tebow’s use of the verse under his eyes during football games. But what is missing from the Top 25, or almost completely missing are verses about man’s sin. Hansen writes:
Let me mention an omission. Maybe you caught it, too. Knowing the whole Bible and not just the most-searched passages, you realize that the absence is glaring. You won’t learn from this list why God needs to redeem the world he created. You won’t learn why his love is so significant. You won’t find any warning of what’s to come if you don’t believe. In short, you won’t read about our sin and God’s wrath. Actually, you need to follow the list all the way down to #19 and #20 to find sin. At #19, 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” And #20 reads, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
If we neglect sin and the Lord’s righteous wrath, then we haven’t understood even the basics of Scripture and God’s true character. D. A. Carson writes in The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism:
The point that cannot be escaped is that God’s wrath is not some minor and easily dismissed peripheral element to the Bible’s plot-line. Theologically, God’s wrath is not inseparable from what it means to be God. Rather, his wrath is a function of his holiness as he confronts sin. But insofar as holiness is an attribute of God, and sin is the endemic condition of this world, this side of the Fall divine wrath cannot be ignored or evaded. It is not going too far to say that the Bible would not have a plot-line at all if there were no wrath.
The danger of popping into Scripture from Google is that we miss the story for the verses. Each one of these top 10 most-searched Bible verses is a beautiful, moving testament to God’s loving faithfulness. We should memorize them, sing them, copy them, and remind one another of them. But without knowing the whole story, we don’t know why we should care that God loved the world enough to give his one and only Son. Unless we know about our sin, we will surely perish in it.
It seems that people are looking for the comfort found in Scripture, without looking for the cause of the discomfort that is in their lives. We will only know true comfort when we face our sin and repent.
This is one of those subjects that is really hard for the believer to do, make a list of our favorite passages. But I’m going to try. Feel free to share your favorite passages and why in the comments sections. I wish I could reverse the count so that you read my favorite one last. Not sure how to make the numbering system of WordPress do that. So here they are, starting with my favorite.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Now, this might seem like an odd passage for someone’s favorite passage. But it is mine because it is the first passage I read from the Bible in which the Holy Spirit moved in me and convicted me of it’s truthfulness. I was still a non-believer at the time and I asked my cousin, who was witnessing to me, about all those money-grubbing televangelists. He took me to this passage and had me read it. For the first time in my life, the text of Scripture was more than just words on a page, more than just a story about a guy some 2,000 years ago. Those words were truth and I realized it. No matter how many people may claim to be doing so many things for Christ, He was not fooled by the false prophets or false professors of the faith. He saw through to the reality in their hearts. I eventually realized that He saw into the reality of my heart as well.
Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. I love this passage because of the assurance that is found in it. Knowing my own heart and resistance to Christ, I would not be a believer had He not first chosen me, moved in me, converted me and saved me. The only aspect of my salvation that I claim is my sin, which I want nothing to do with. It is comforting to know that I’m not a believer because I accidentally stumbled into it, but that He predestined me to become one of His children… before the foundations of the world were laid. If that doesn’t give the believer a sense of purpose and assurance, I’m not sure anything will.
John 6:35-40 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the S7 Again, another passage that offers assurance, and comfort. Those who truly belong to Him will not be lost.
John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Along with the verses through verse 14, this is one of those monumental statements about Christ. This says that He is far more than a carpenter, or a teacher, or a moral man, or whatever the other drivel is that non-believer ascribes to Him. When we actually read what the Bible says about Christ, we find that He is far more than just a man who lived 2,000 years ago. I believe this is why so many want to take the non-believer to the book of John. While the authors of the synoptic gospels move slowly in their revelations of Christ, John gets right to the point. John is giving a view of Christ from a heavenly perspective. Matthew, Mark and Luke are giving us the ministry of Christ from an earthly perspective. This is why there is such a difference in the way that they are written and why so much of what Christ says is centered on His relationship with the Father. Jesus is God in the flesh, the Second person of the Trinity, and to deny this aspect about Him is to deny Him and the Father.
Colossians 1:15-18 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Again, another Christological verse showing Christ as the preeminent One. I love this verse because it shows that all things belong to Him, and were made by Him, and that He is NOT a created being. For all things were created by Him. He is the One that speaks creation into existence. Paul wants us to understand the greatness of Christ and who He is. Again, if we know anything about Him at all, He is far more than just a good teacher. He is the Second Person of the Trinity.
Philippians 2:5-11 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. and Again, showing us more about Christ. But this time, showing us His great humility and His greater exaltation. He laid aside all the glory that belonged to Him, and became a “bondservant” on our behalf. What should have happened is that He should have come and rightfully declared that we should worship Him. Yet, He doesn’t because He is looking for us to love Him out of hearts of gratitude. Yes, in His exaltation, eventually every knee will bow and confess that He is Lord, but until then, He extends an open invitation to all, seeing those who are His come to Him.
1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. This verse captures the gospel and the special place we have in Christ. He does not just save us from our sins, but makes us into a royal priesthood, a holy nation and even calls us His own special people. I rejoice at the mercy He has extended to me. I deserve none of the blessings given, yet for His own glory, He has graciously extended them to me.
Hebrews 1:1-4 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself[a] purged our[b] sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.Again, another Christological passage showing us that Jesus is the final and ultimate revelation of God. There is no more revelation once the canon closed because there is nothing more for Him to reveal to us. He has revealed the greatest message there is, found in His Son alone, bringing peace to those who believe in Him.
Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Short, but so full of truth. Those of us in Christ are to live for Christ. He is the center of who we are because He has purchased us from the eternal darkness, and brought us into His unapproachable light. Given that, even when we die, we gain because then we are immediately in His presence for the rest of eternity. We will have much sweeter communion with Christ on that day, that this life, and all the trials, tribulations and troubles will fade away.
Romans 8:1 Thereis therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. A declaration of who we are in Christ. Our sins have been dealt with, therefore, let us live as those who have been freed from sin, and live unto righteousness.
There are so many more passages than just these 10. But I had to limit myself otherwise, I would have listed the entire New Testament. I’m not sure the people at WordPress would appreciate that.
If you have a few favorite verses you would like to share, please do so in the comments section.
I’ve only run into 2 of them in 15 years of ministry, but I have to admit, they are some of the most frustrating Christians to deal with. (I imagine Church of Christ being just as frustrating, but when I find out someone is Church of Christ, I politely change the subject with a phrase like, ‘how about them Vols-Hogs?’) That usually does the trick.
Who am I talking about here? I’m talking about those who believe in the King James Version of the Bible and only the King James Version. According to most of these people, all other versions of the Bible are spawned by the Devil himself, and trying to help them understand that the KJV is only a translation, not the original manuscripts, is like trying to get the Devil himself to repent. OK, maybe a bit of hyperbole, but you are getting the idea.
My latest encounter came this past Sunday after morning worship. We decided to go to Perkins for lunch instead of going home and eathing cereal again. (We were out of groceries or things that we can cook. We are really realizing how much we need a new grill. But that is for another post). So we went to Perkins and got a booth as is our custom since keeping the boys under control is easier in a booth.
Then Joey began standing up next to me and smiling at the two women behind us. I turned to apologize to both of them for interrupting them, and noticed that they were having a Bible study. The woman closest to me even had a new Bible, a study Bible for those who were into sports!
They found out I was a pastor and asked me a few questions. Before long, the Sports Bible woman let me know that she was a KJV only person and felt all other translations were works of the Devil. I tried to reason with her, but got no where. She would have none of it, especially given the fact that I’m a NKJV only person! (Not actually, but I do use the NKJV).
The key problem that I have with her view is this: she feels in her heart that she, and those like her, are the only true believers because they use the only true version of the Bible. She tried to explain that there were seven purification processes taken during the translation of the KJV, 1611 version, which made it God’s inspired translation. I don’t buy that. But back to the main problem. What she and her cohorts have done is given us a new level of righteousness that must be obtained if we want to be true believers in Christ. In the process, she has joined hands with those in Galatia that are called the Judaizers. In other words, they offer Christ, but Christ with strings attached. For the Judaiser, one must only trust in Christ, but be circumcised as well.
For the KJV Only crowd, it becomes Jesus, plus their version of the Bible. Regardless of the addition, it always corrupts the gospel. This woman may prefer the KJV, which is fine. I know people who do. But to say someone is not a true follower of Christ because they don’t use that particular version, is a bastardization of the gospel itself and must be stood against at every opportunity.
This was the argument that Paul was making in the book of Galatians. This is what Paul says about those who were trying to add circumcision back into the gospel: Galatians 5:12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! (mutilate themselves). This shows Paul’s anger with those who lead others astray from the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It is very serious, and we should ALL be angry about it.
By God’s grace, I didn’t get angry with this woman on Sunday. I challenged her to find some real error in my teaching or preaching. I even tried to give her my sermon from Sunday morning, but she would have nothing to do with it. I do pity her. She probably is a believer in Christ, but she has been very misled by some false teaching. I hope and pray that she does repent of this false doctrine and cling to Christ and Him alone.
Other Thoughts If the process of translating the Greek and Hebrew into the 1611 version of the Bible were overseen by the Holy Spirit, then why are there so many margin notes on possible other translations? The link here, shows that even in 1611, there were variations in how certain verses of the Bible should be translated. They had the same problems of translation that the translators of the modern day had.
Secondly, one of the arguments this woman made was that the “thees” and “thous” of the Bible were special to the KJV. The people of that day, didn’t really speak that way. I simply asked her if she ever read Shakespeare. The entire reason for translating the text into English, was to get it into the “common” tongue. “Thees” and “thous” are not holy language, just the personal pronouncs of the day.
James White has divided the King James Only movement into five main types (according to Wikipedia):[9]
“I Like the KJV Best” – Though White lists this group as a division of the King James Only group,[citation needed] this division does not believe that the KJV is the only acceptable version. This faction simply prefer the KJV over other translations because their church uses it, because they have always used it, or because they like its style.[10]
“The Textual Argument” – This faction believe the KJV’s Hebrew and Greek textual basis are the most accurate. These conclude that the KJV is based on better manuscripts. Many in this group may accept a modern version based on the same manuscripts as the KJV. White claims Zane C. Hodges is a good example of this group.[11] The Trinitarian Bible Society would fit in this division; however, “the Trinitarian Bible Society does not believe the Authorised Version to be a perfect translation, only that it is the best available translation in the English language”[12], and “the Society believes this text is superior to the texts used by the United Bible Societies and other Bible publishers, which texts have as their basis a relatively few seriously defective manuscripts from the 4th century and which have been compiled using 20th century rationalistic principles of scholarship.”[13]
“Received Text Only” – Here, the traditional Hebrew and Greek texts are believed to be supernaturally preserved. The KJV is believed to be a translation exemplar, but it is also believed that other translations based on these texts have the potential to be equally good. Donald Waite would fall into this category.[citation needed]
“The Inspired KJV Group” – This faction believe that the KJV itself was divinely inspired. They see the translation to be preserved by God and as accurate as the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts found in its underlying texts. Sometimes this group will even exclude other language versions based on the same manuscripts claiming the KJV to be the only Bible.
“The KJV As New Revelation” – This faction would believe that the KJV is a “new revelation” or “advanced revelation” from God, and can and should be the standard from which all other translations originate. Adherents to this belief may also believe that the original-language Hebrew and Greek can be corrected by the KJV. This view is often called “Ruckmanism” after Peter Ruckman, a staunch advocate of this view.
These latter two views have also been referred to as “Double Inspiration”.[citation needed]
These types are not all mutually exclusive, nor a comprehensive summary of those who prefer the KJV. Douglas Wilson, for instance, argues that the KJV (or, in his preferred terminology, the Authorized Version) is superior because of its manuscript tradition, its translational philosophy (with updates to the language being regularly necessary), and its ecclesiastical authority, having been created by the church and authorized for use in the church.[14]
BTW, here is a piece of a debate between those who hold to the KJV and Dan Wallace, and James White. Dan Wallace was my Greek professor when I was at Dallas Theological Seminary, so I love posting it. It’s a bit dated, and you will notice that James White doesn’t look like that any more. He’s now bald, by choice.
