They Gave My Son a Different Bible

In 1974, my son came home from Bible College with a big, hardback Bible wrapped in an orange cover. He told me that this Bible was a more accurate Bible. Little did he know the story behind the Bible that he had been convinced to purchase. We were soon engaged in very serious discussion about the worthiness of what his Greek teacher told him was a more accurate version of God's Word. The Bible he held in his hand was a New American Standard Version published in 1960 by the Lockman Foundation.

 

He had been sent to Bible College in 1971 to prepare for the Ministry. He went to school with a King James Bible, which at the time of translation in 1611 was known as the Authorized Version. It was the Bible of the Protestants that had brought salvation to the whole world. Missionaries had carried it everywhere, and many souls were brought into the fold of the Great Shepherd. This Bible had been translated into English from the Traditional Greek Text. There are over 3,000 manuscripts, 2,000 lectionaries, and several other language versions, along with multiplied thousands of written quotations from the early church fathers prior to A.D. 400. These all bear testimony to the Traditional Text. (Latin-Textus Receptus)

 

My son and I believed that the Bible was verbally and plenarily inspired by the Holy Spirit. We also knew that God had promised to preserve His Word here on earth (II Tim.3:16; II Pet.1:21; I Pet.1:23-25; Psa.12:6,7). Inspiration without preservation would be pointless. Therefore, we began to search out the Greek foundation underneath this "more accurate Bible." We discovered that this new translation was not made from the Traditional Greek Text of the New Testament. "In most instances the 23rd edition of the Nestle Greek New Testament was followed" (see Preface, page 7). Also, in the Preface we learned that "Perhaps the most weighty impetus for this undertaking can be attributed to a disturbing awareness that the American Standard Version of 1901 was fast disappearing from the scene." Again we read, "The Lockman Foundation felt an urgency to rescue this noble achievement from an INEVITABLE DEMISE" (see Preface, pages 6 and 7; caps are mine).

 

The Greek Text used in the ASV of 1901 was traced back to the Greek Text of Professor Brooke Foss Westcott and Professor Fenton John Anthony Hort. These men worked together for almost thirty years to produce a new Greek Text of the New Testament. It was completed in 1871 and became the foundation for the English Revised Version of 1881. An American Committee of scholars used this new Greek Text to translate the American Standard Version of 1901. The Westcott and Hort Greek Text is based upon the Vaticanus Manuscript, and when pages were missing from that, the Sinaiticus Manuscript was used. These two manuscripts had been gathering dust for hundreds of years. The Vaticanus Manuscript was brought from the palace of the Pope. The Sinaiticus Manuscript was found in 1859 at St. Catherine's monastery on Mt. Sinai. The Sinaiticus had been altered by ten different editors in ten different time periods. The style of writing of the correctors shows the era when corrections were made. Obviously, the original effort was not a true copy of the Word of God, or corrections need not have been made. The Vaticanus Manuscript had omitted words or whole clauses 1,491 times in the Gospels alone.

 

These are two of the worst manuscripts in existence. They bear evidence of heresy concerning the Person and the Work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The reason for their use by Professors Westcott and Hort was to destroy the Bible of the Protestants. The Authorized Version of 1611 had been God's instrument in delivering many souls from the bondage of Roman Catholicism. In the fifty years prior to the new Greek Text of 1881, there was a great Romanizing influence going on in England. Requests had been made to revise the Authorized Version. The Church of England was divided into two Conferences, the Northern Conference and the Southern Conference. The Northern Conference was first approached to authorize a Revision Committee, but they refused. Later, the Southern Conference was asked, and they agreed.

 

A Revision Committee was chosen, and they were instructed to make as few changes as were found necessary; and any changes in the Traditional Greek Text were to be noted in the margin. Professors Westcott and Hort gave portions of their new Greek Text to the Revisers as they moved along through the New Testament translation work. One of the Revisers was a Unitarian who did not believe in the Deity of Jesus Christ or in the Trinity. The work was done in strict secrecy for ten years. Changes were based on the new Greek Text and were not noted in the margins. Professor Hort carried the battle for their new Greek Text; Dr. Scrivener carried the battle for the Traditional Greek Text. The majority sided with Professor Hort, and a new English Version was produced with 36,000 changes. The underlying Traditional Text was replaced with a new Greek Text differing in almost 6,000 places. When the new English Version was published it was quite evident that more than a revision had taken place.

 

This new Greek Text of Westcott and Hort was then used by the American Revision Committee to produce the American Standard Version of 1901. This Version gained little acceptance by Christians in the United States.

 

Fifty years later it was headed for an "INEVITABLE DEMISE." The copyright was floating around with no interest until Dewey Lockman picked it up and put it under the Lockman Foundation. At this point I should tell you that the American Standard Version of 1901 was printed and distributed by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (Jehovah's Witnesses) in 1929. In 1942, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society printed a Greek-English Interlinear Translation using the Vaticanus Manuscript reading. In 1957, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society printed a Greek-English Interlinear Translation of the New Testament using the Greek Text of Westcott and Hort. To my knowledge, the Jehovah's Witnesses have never printed or distributed a King James Bible. They needed a Bible that supports their heresy concerning the Person and the Work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Westcott and Hort Greek Text was their choice as opposed to the Traditional or Received Text. This is a telling indictment of the current Critical Text based on the Westcott and Hort Greek New Testament.

 

We are now faced with two Greek New Testaments that differ with each other in almost 6,000 places. The Traditional Greek Text of our King James Bible has 5,000 witnesses from all geographical locations in the world. Versions in other languages support the Traditional Text along with thousands of quotations from church fathers. The Westcott and Hort Greek Text is based upon two manuscripts that were out of sight for hundreds of years. Are we to believe that God hid the more accurate copies of His Word in one case (Vaticanus) about 1200 years and in the other case (Sinaiticus) about 1500 years? Why is it that there are no multiplied copies of these manuscripts?

 

Mr. Dewey Lockman, who was a businessman, called his friend Dr. Franklin Logsdon to help revive the American Standard Version of 1901. Dr. Logsdon was a well-known former Pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago. He brought together all the translators and formed the committees to produce the New American Standard Version that was published in 1960. For many years the Lockman Foundation would not reveal the names of the schools or people who took part in the work. In September, 1999, I received a letter from the Lockman Foundation, which listed the schools and people involved (see Appendix No.1). Soon after the New American Standard Version was published, friends of Dr. Logsdon began to question him about his part in it. They showed him the many problems concerning the Person and the Work of our Lord Jesus Christ. After a spiritual struggle, he finally wrote his friend Dewey Lockman and renounced all connection with the New American Standard Version. In his own words he said, "We have made a terrible mistake." I have the message he preached about his renunciation on audiotape. Now my son has come home with this "more accurate Bible" from Bible College. Dr. Logsdon said, "We need to stick with the Authorized Version." I sent my son back to school with a copy of the Greek Received Text (Latin-Textus Receptus). His Greek teacher had told him that there was no such thing as a Textus Receptus. They were using the Nestle and Aland Greek Text, which was a critical update of the Westcott and Hort Greek Text. Today they are known as the Critical Text.

 

If you have taken the time to look at the Appendix No.1, you will notice that one of the schools involved in the New American Standard Version was Bob Jones University. Since its inception, this school has used the Westcott and Hort Greek Text in the classroom. In the Chapel pulpit, the King James Version is used for Public Relations. The fact that these are two different Bibles does not seem to matter. The February, 1979, issue of Faith for the Family, put out by Bob Jones University, had an article entitled "What is the Inspired Word of God?" The article was written by Edward M. Panosian, Chairman of the Division of Church History at Bob Jones. In it he stated that "Neither the Received Text nor the Westcott and Hort Text is either right or wrong, liberal or conservative. The latter is older and nearer to the original, but both are the Word of the living God." This is quite a statement coming from such a learned professor at a Bible College. There are almost 6,000 differences between these two Greek Texts. If both are to be regarded as the Word of God, then God has given us two Bibles which are not the same.

 

While my son was at home in 1974, we began to compare these two English translations. In Matthew 1:25 we noticed that the word "firstborn" was removed in the NASV. (Hereafter the New American Standard Version will be designated NASV and the King James Version will be designated KJV.) That word tells us that Mary had other children born of her relations with her husband Joseph. The Roman Catholic invention of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary is shown to be false here by the inspired and preserved word "FIRSTBORN." The KJV in Hebrews chapter one, in the last part of verse 3 reads, "when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high." The NASV reads, "When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." Two things are missing which have a great effect on Bible Doctrine. The words "by himself" mark Jesus Christ as the sole Redeemer. The Roman Catholic Church has elevated Mary to the place of "CO-REDEMPTRIX" along with her Son. They reason that since Mary gave Christ His flesh, it was her flesh that was crucified on the cross. God has become indebted to Mary for agreeing to give her flesh to the Saviour. However, the inspired and preserved Word of God says that the purging of our sins was done "BY HIMSELF." Also, the little word "OUR" is omitted by the NASV. The sins that were purged by Jesus Christ were OUR SINS and the doctrine of the Substitutionary Atonement of Christ is marred. When the NASV says that He "made purification of sins," we are left to ponder as to whose sins are involved. There is damage here to the Person and the Work of Christ.

 

In the last chapter of Mark's Gospel in the NASV we find verses 9-20 marked off with brackets and a footnote. The note says, "some of the oldest manuscripts omit verses 9-20." The verses are left intact in the KJV. The truth is that there are 620 copies of the last chapter of Mark. The verses are found in 618 copies and missing in 2 copies. The note says that "some" omit these verses. Most people would expect "some" to be more than two. The Sinaiticus omits it entirely, while the older Vaticanus leaves a blank column where the verses would fit on the vellum scroll prior to starting the Gospel of Luke. The space left indicates its presence in the text being copied. Now we are down to ONE manuscript without the verses. The absence of these verses would leave us with a gospel that ends with "THEY WERE AFRAID." Concerning these verses, the Ryrie Study Bible said, "If they are not a part of the genuine text of Mark, the abrupt ending at verse 8 is probably because the original closing verses were lost. Because of the doubtful genuineness of verses 9-20 it would be unwise to build any doctrine or base any experience on them (especially verses 16-18)." Has God lost part of His inspired Word? If so, we have here no bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ (that satisfies the Jehovah's Witnesses). We also have no Great Commission and no Ascension into Heaven. Since the bodily ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven is found in only two of the four Gospels (Mark and Luke) we had better see what has happened in Luke.

 

Turning to the last chapter of Luke's Gospel we read in our KJV at verse 51 the following: "And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." The NASV omits "and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him." Again the bodily ascension of Christ into Heaven has been removed along with the Deity of Christ (Only God is to be worshipped). The Jehovah's Witnesses are pleased. The bodily ascension of Christ into Heaven is now gone from the four Gospels in this "more accurate Bible." Who is the author of these changes?

 

As my son and I continued to compare these two Bibles, we found many doctrinal errors. In Mark 10:24 we read in the NASV "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God." The KJV reads "Children, how hard is it FOR THEM THAT TRUST IN RICHES to enter into the kingdom of God!" Salvation is not hard, for it is by grace through faith (Eph.2:8,9). It is hard for them that trust in riches. When we went on to Luke 2:14 we found the NASV to read "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased." That was a lot different from "peace, good will toward men" as in the KJV. Do we have to please God in order to have peace with Him? The Jehovah's Witness seeks to make himself worthy to enter the kingdom, and for him it is HARD.

 

In Luke 2:33,43 the Holy Spirit was careful to show us that Joseph was not the father of our Lord. The NASV was not that careful. In Luke 4:4 the NASV deleted "but by every word of God" and ruined the Lord's quote from Deut.8:3 as He contended with the Devil. As we passed along to John's Gospel we stopped at 1:18, where the NASV read "No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." Here we have one God, who has begotten another God. This is known as Arianism, which makes Jesus a lesser God. It is a well-known teaching of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

The sinlessness of our Lord Jesus Christ was called into question when we reached John 7:8. The NASV reads "Go up to the feast yourselves; I DO NOT GO UP to this feast because my time has not yet fully come." Verse 10 then reads, "Then he himself also went up." The KJV reads, "I go not up YET unto this feast." The removal of the word YET makes Jesus a liar to His brothers. This is a great doctrinal error that should never be tolerated. My son and I were astonished. Then in the same chapter, a big hole of 12 verses was blown open from 7:53 to 8:11 by bracketing the story of the woman taken in adultery. The footnote said, "not found in most of the old manuscripts." Did someone make up the story? Did a fiction writer insert it? Since God did not inspire footnotes and the Received Text in my hand has the story in it, I take it as inspired by the Holy Spirit. Why must we cast doubt on the precious Word of God?

 

In Acts 8:36 the Ethiopian eunuch asks a question but receives no answer in the NASV. The answer is found in the KJV at 8:37. The answer tells us that salvation is of the heart and precedes water baptism. The bodily resurrection of our Lord is deleted in Rom.14:9 by the NASV when the two words "and rose" are left out. The Jehovah's Witnesses believe incorrectly that the Spirit of Christ was resurrected but not His body. I am persuaded that the Vaticanus Manuscript was made by people who held many of the same heresies. In I Cor.5:7 the Substitutionary Atonement of Christ is omitted by the NASV dropping the words "for us." The KJV reads, "For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed FOR US." Keep in mind that "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (II Tim.3:16) and that includes the little words and every word. Again "the Lord" is left out in I Cor.15:47 by the NASV. We read in the KJV "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." The NASV reads, "The second man is from heaven." Abraham had a visit from three men (Gen.18) as he sat in the tent door. One was Jehovah; the other two were angels. Whether the second man here is an angel or the Lord is up to the reader to discern. We are reminded of the words of Mary as she stood at the empty tomb when she said, "they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid Him." The NASV seems to have removed him often from the Word of God.

 

Then we came together to I Tim.3:16 where the clause "God was manifest in the flesh" was changed in the NASV to "HE WHO was revealed in the flesh." Again, "HE WHO" could refer to an angel or the Lord. Both have appeared in the flesh in the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus is God come in the flesh and to relegate Him to "HE WHO" is blasphemy. There are 254 copies of I Tim.3:16 and 252 of them have "God" while 2 have "HE WHO." Which gives the Lord Jesus Christ His proper place? If you have any doubt, read John 1:14. We made another stop at I John 4:19 where the KJV reads, "We love him, because he first loved us." The NASV reads, "We love, because He first loved us." We have left "HIM" out as the object of our love and replaced it with our love for others. Any Modernist minister could preach from this verse in the NASV because it is inclusive rather than exclusive.

 

Though we could cite many other changes that were unacceptable, these were sufficient to convince my son that the KJV is the preserved Word of God in English. He went back to school with full confidence in the Bible he went off to college with. He has been the Pastor for 29 years at Race Street Baptist Church in Catasauqua, PA. The Church stands on the KJV and the Received Text in Greek. How many Pastoral students have come home from Bible College with an NASV, and they are still using it as the "more accurate Bible"? May God be pleased to open their eyes.

 

The Greek Text of Westcott and Hort has its origin from Adamantus Origene of Alexandria, Egypt around A.D. 250. Mr. Origen altered the Traditional Text to agree with his own philosophy. He did not believe in the absolute Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He believed in reincarnation and the pagan purgatory. He did not believe in a literal interpretation of Scripture, so he allegorized the Scriptures as he saw fit. He made his own Greek Text of the New Testament and passed it along to his student Eusebius. In A.D. 331, Constantine the Emperor of Rome ordered Eusebius to make 50 copies on vellum (antelope skin) to be read in the churches of Rome. The Greek Text of Origen was used. The Vaticanus Manuscript is probably one of those fifty copies. The Sinaiticus Manuscript is a copy of one of those fifty. The Sinaiticus Manuscript has been corrected ten times to try to bring it in line with the Traditional Greek Text. These two manuscripts are the poorest of all manuscripts and are the foundation of almost every modern version of the Bible published today. It is sad to see that Christians of our day are enamored with Bibles that so well agree with the heretical doctrines of Charles Russell and his Jehovah's Witnesses. The NASV has changed the word HELL found in the Old Testament to SHEOL. That is a Hebrew word left untranslated. A marginal note alongside says "the nether world." For those who do not believe in HELL, that is a more acceptable way to mask the truth. The NASV also takes the Greek equivalent for SHEOL and leaves the word HADES untranslated in the New Testament.

 

The New International Version (NIV) has translated the Hebrew word SHEOL as the GRAVE. That word SHEOL is used 31 times in the Old Testament and never means GRAVE. It refers to the place of departed spirits and is incorrectly translated GRAVE. The Greek equivalent HADES is explained in Luke 16:19-31. Prior to the resurrection of Christ it was the place of departed spirits, both saved and lost. The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in HELL, so they are pleased to use GRAVE as well. In the New Testament the NIV is translated from the same Greek Text of Westcott and Hort. Therefore, the same problems listed about the NASV are also in the NIV. The only difference is that the method of Dynamic Equivalence is used rather than a word for word translation. The changes made in the modern versions are also changed in the New World translation of the Jehovah's Witnesses. No Christian wants to be a Jehovah's Witness, but having a similar Bible is all right. Are we not in a deplorable position?

 

The publishing houses are amassing a fortune with an unending stream of new translations. There is not a dime's worth of difference between them all. Though they may paraphrase or contemporize, they still have the same corrupted Greek Text for their doctrinal base. The Bible has become a Book of the Month Club. The Word of God has been debased and watered down for usage by an unconverted people. Current translation committees are composed of men from all Denominations and Roman Catholicism. There is not a fundamental Bible believing Christian to be found on these committees.

 

God has so ordained that the true Word of God cannot be copyrighted. He holds the copyright, and the King James Version is such an accurate translation of the Received Text that no publisher wants to make another translation from the same Received Text. There would be so few changes that it would not be able to replace the King James Version. Publishers are interested in profits more than the spreading of the Word of God. As an example, the Lockman Foundation has now published an UPDATED NEW AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION. The publisher of the NIV has now published a NEW NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. No matter how many versions are published, the same doctrinal errors are continued because the corrupt Greek Text is still the basis. When the root is bad, the fruit will also be bad (Matt.7: 17, 18; Luke 6:43).

 

God's Word is called "the sword of the Spirit," and it is used to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. The person who would witness for Christ must be able to quote it. Which Bible do you have in memory? Have you given up Bible memorization because the many versions have confused you? If so, your sword has now lost its sharp edge (Heb.4:12). Many Christians who have been temporarily deceived are returning to their King James Bible. There are no doctrinal errors contained therein, and it gives the Lord Jesus Christ His proper place and glorifies His great Work to save sinners.

 

The Holy Spirit of God has inspired the Word, and preserved the Word in the multiplied copies of the Word. He has superintended the translation of the Word into other languages and has caused men to quote the Word time and again in defense of the faith. He has dealt with any copying errors by producing multiplied copies in every part of the world. God has not lost His ORIGINALS, and there is no need for us to seek them. The Received Text of the Greek New Testament and our English King James Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice.

 

Dr. Paul Freeman

Evangelist and Bible Teacher

1270 Kingsbury Rd.
Washington, IL 61571