ambassadors for the risen Christ ministries

by Shawn Brasseaux

This is a controversial topic, but I want you to know the truth. While this information may seem “deep” to some, God will give you understanding, as long as you are willing to listen to reasoning. As always, I love you all, and I care because the Lord cares. If you want to disagree, by all means do so, but do not label me an enemy simply because I tell you the truth (Galatians 4:16).

When I look at my good ol’ King James Bible, what comes to mind is the fact that the Almighty Lord God wanted me to receive a copy of His Word in my language! As one Bible teacher expressed it, “God did not leave His Word with the angels, He gave it to us!” A complete version of the Bible has been in the hands of men nearly 2,000 years, but man has done anything but treasure it. For the most part, man has read it, has ignored it, has burned it, and has adulterated (corrupted) it! Mankind is so ungrateful.

The King James Bible of 1611 is based on the “received text,” or Textus Receptus. The Textus Receptus is based on reliable manuscripts first used in the early Christian church in Antioch (remember Acts 11:26, “The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”). The Textus Receptus contains the majority of the surviving Greek New Testament manuscripts (for this reason, it is also known as the Majority Text). This line of Bible manuscripts has faithfully served the Body of Christ for close to 2,000 years; after all, they are God’s preserved Word and words in Greek.

But, the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:17: “For we are not as many, who corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak us in Christ.” Notice what the Bible says: “many corrupt the word of God!”

Most of the modern English Bibles that have been produced in the past 150 years are based on corrupt manuscripts, the rival texts of the Majority Text (Textus Receptus). These corrupt Greek manuscripts are known as the Alexandrian Critical Text. The two chief manuscripts representative of this depraved text type are Codices Vaticanus and Sinaiticus.

The “scholars” who translated the NIV, NASB, NRSV, ESV, GNB/TEV, NCV, NEB, NAB, Living, Message, et cetera relied more heavily on Vaticanus and Sinaiticus than the Textus Receptus simply because the Alexandrian manuscripts are assumed to be the “oldest manuscripts.” However, while the Alexandrian manuscripts are said to be the oldest, they are not the most reliable— Vaticanus and Sinaiticus disagree amongst themselves over 3,000 places in the Four Gospels alone!

Vaticanus excludes most of the book of Genesis (the first 46 chapters), omits Paul’s Pastoral Epistles (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus), does not contain nearly 30 psalms (Psalms 106-138), omits the last four chapters of Hebrews, and excludes the entire book of the Revelation!

Sinaiticus contains the New Testament plus two extra (spurious, false, uninspired) books. By the way, Sinaiticus was discovered in a trashcan in 1844 behind a monastery located near Mount Sinai!

The King James Bible is not perverted like these modern Bibles. The King James Bible does not cast doubt on dozens of critical verses and doctrines like most of these modern “Bibles.”

ERRORS IN THE NIV, NASB, NRSV, ESV, GNB/TEV, NCV, NEB, NAB, LIVING, MESSAGE, AND MANY OTHER MODERN ENGLISH BIBLES:

1. the deity of Jesus Christ is denied or watered down
2. references to eternal hellfire are removed or watered down
3. the doctrine of the Trinity is denied with the removal of 1 John 5:7
4. the apostleship of Peter and Paul are undermined and/or questioned
5. denial of Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in the New Testament
6. two large 12-verse passages—Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53–8:11—are questioned, bracketed off as uninspired, or removed
7. denial of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ
8. some salvation verses are highly distorted and/or watered down, some are completely removed
9. removal of important Bible words such as “heaven,” “[God the] Son,” “Jesus,” “Godhead,” “Lord,” “Christ,” “my Father,” and “[Christ’s] blood.”

Because of their heavy reliance on the corrupt Sinaiticus and Vaticanus manuscripts, modern English “bibles” are about five percent corrupted each! To boot, there are over 100 modern English Bible translations… in excess of 200 if we count the partial translations. All of these versions, and the Body of Christ is confused as ever about what the Bible actually says. We have “revised” versions, “new revised” versions, and “21st century” versions… eventually, if the Lord tarries, each professing Christian will have his or her own personal version!

If you are using a modern English Bible, and not the King James Bible, I strongly urge you to consider what I have presented to you. Did God keep His promise of preserving His Word and His words in Psalm 12:6,7, or will you be guilty of unbelief, denying what God said? If you want to continue using NIV, NASB, or NKJV, I will not condemn you… you have not lost your salvation, but you have lost the teaching of important Bible concepts and sound Bible doctrine!

You can contact me for additional material, but you can find a lot more about the Bible versions at www.chick.com/information/bibleversions/.