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Believing God's Word

 

1. There are two world views in approaching scripture.

a. One asserts (like believing in Creation) that God gave us his perfect word right from the beginning, by inspiration, and that he promised to keep it perfectly preserved (Ps 12:6,7) throughout all generations, despite the sin and decay around us.  It is this standard to which we must continuously refer for guidance.  Our lives must be conformed to it.  We must not change it to more suitably apply to our lives.  In this approach, God's word is the final authority.

 

b. The other view asserts (like believing in Evolution) that God didn't start with a perfect word or didn't preserve that perfect word, even if he started with one.  Instead, this view asserts that modern human scholarship is increasingly able to re-assemble and to improve upon what God originally said or intended to say. (II Cor 2:17)  In this approach, allowance is granted to many and various interpretations from which each person can choose what he/she feels is the best or most meaningful wording to himself/herself.  In this approach, each person becomes his own final authority.

2. Words have meaning.  If you change the word, you change the meaning.  Notice that even in the two passages that I presented so far, that:

a. (Ps 12:6,7) In the King James Bible, God promises to preserve his words,

 

b. (Ps 12:6,7) But in the NASV and NIV, God promises to keep "him" and "us" safe instead

3. If the original manuscripts have a third person plural pronoun (them) in reference to God preserving his words, then someone is not telling us the truth in translating that same Hebrew word into a third person singular or a first person plural pronoun (him and us, respectively), in reference to God preserving a person, instead of preserving "his words".  This results in two totally different meanings.  Both versions cannot be correct.  At least one of them cannot be the Word of God.

 

4. (II Cor 2:17) In the King James, Paul warns us about people who "corrupt" the word of God.

 

5. (II Cor 2:17) In the NASV, NIV, and even the NKJV, Paul is only warning us about people "peddling" the word of God.

 

6. Do the verbs "corrupt" and "peddle" convey the same meaning?  Is it possible that the true word of God is actually becoming "corrupted" by those who peddle his word? (I Tim 6:10 - Love of money - root of all evil) (By the way, look that verse up too.  Does the wording in the NKJV "a root....kinds" mean the same as the wording in the King James Bible?)

 

7. Does the NKJV really provide a better understanding?  The bible was written to be searched, studied and meditated upon; not to be read through like a novel.  Studies suggest that the KJB is actually easier to understand because it uses "cognitive scaffolding" (building block) construction of words, with fewer syllables overall than do modern versions.

 

8. Archaic_words_in_the_King_James? Compare supposedly "Archaic" words in the King James with supposedly "modern" words in the NIV.

 

9. How many people complain about the difficult words in the New York Times?  Do readers call the editors and tell them to write more simply and understandably, or do the readers find a dictionary and increase their personal vocabulary instead?

 

10. Why has no one re-written Shakespeare's plays in "modern" language so we can understand them better?  Why has no one re-written George Orwell's 1984 (or any other book) in order to "update" the language?  Does the reader tell the author what words to use?  (By the way, the King James Bible is neither Elizabethan, nor Shakespearean - it is uniquely constructed in powerful language and concise grammatical construction that transcends the historical periods of modern languages).

 

11. We need to have the highest respect for God's word, and constantly refer to it, as our final authority, at all times:

a. when we are establishing our beliefs,

 

b. when we are proceeding with further learning, and

 

c. when we are validating our presently-held doctrinal positions. (II Tim 2:15  and II Tim 3:16,17).

12. You can TRUST God's word in English, the King James Bible, exactly as it is written.