The Antioch and Alexandria Bibles

The poetic prose of the King James Bible, although a little hard to understand sometimes, has always felt comfortable to me in that I was hearing from God when I read its pages. If ever we needed to hear from God, it is now.

This is not, nor will it be, a crusade I just want to report what I have learned. The only way you can persuade yourself that you are really reading the Word of God is to do the research for yourself. You be the judge. I have already made my decision. I will also give you some sites to use as references. You could write a book on the differences - so, I will barely scratch the surface with this information.

Recently on social Christian network, I started a discussion based on a movie I’d seen many years ago (Planet of the Apes). Although I really didn’t believe in the concept I presented (and said as much)[1], I just thought it might be fun. I had some very interesting comments put forth and I enjoyed reading them tremendously. I even learned a few things in the process.

The concept came from Genesis 1:28 and the word “replenish.” Someone made the comment that the KJV was the only version that used that word. Now I knew of some of the existing alleged discrepancies in other modern day translations but the comments prompted me to do some personal research. Although I have talked to many other people about this, I wanted God to lead me to my answer and conclusion – not man. I think that’s prudent.

Don’t take my word for it, however, do the research yourself. The only trouble is, you’ll need a copy of the AVKJV to make the comparison. I have learned that the KJV is the standard by which we judge all others. It is the original Bible and version.

I love the Word of God and love researching it, so I thank those who participated in my discussion and prompted me to study this. I had a ball with the discussion and the research. There is not enough room to do this topic justice and will only be a few examples out of hundreds of examples that I could present. This will only be a comparison. You decide.

However, what I learned solidified my belief. So, out of love for my brothers and sisters in the Lord, please allow me to exhort you to, minimum, do the research for yourself. I did, and here is what I have learned.


Formal/Dynamic Equivalency

Translators use two basic approaches to creating a Bible translation: formal equivalency and dynamic equivalency. Bibles translated by formal equivalency will take careful reading. At times, you will have to study history to learn the cultural background before you can fully understand the text.

The translator is simply rendering the text in your language...nothing more. . .nothing less. Nevertheless, you will have the confidence of knowing that you do not have to trust another man's understanding, or theology, but can make up your own mind as to what God has said. In the English language, the King James Bible is the only available translation using this approach.

On the other hand, Bibles translated by dynamic equivalency will read as easily as a novel. When a story seems difficult to understand without a little history, the author may even change it to a form he believes you will better understand! You will never know for sure what God said, but must trust the translator's theology to lead you into truth. The translator here is acting as a teacher, not just telling you what God said, but he is adding his understanding of what God meant! All present day versions use this approach.


Antioch and Alexandria Bibles

We hear much talk these days about "older" and "more authoritative" manuscripts, but we aren't hearing much about the origin of these manuscripts. It is an established fact that there are only two lines of Bibles: one coming from Antioch, Syria (known as the Syrian or Byzantine type text), and one coming from Alexandria, Egypt (known as the Egyptian or Hesycnian type text).

The Syrian text from Antioch is the Majority text from which our King James 1611 Bible comes, and the Egyptian text is the minority text from which the new translations come. (As a side note), in the Bible, notice how the Holy Spirit casts Egypt and Alexandria in a negative light, while His comments on Antioch tend to be very positive.


Deleted Verses

You might be shocked to know that the NIV deletes over forty verses from the Bible. Here are just a couple: Mathew 18:11. What are the NIV readers missing? "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost." (KJV) Sort of important, don’t you think? How about this one: 1 John 5:7. What are the NIV readers missing? "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." (KJV)

1 John 5:7 is one of the greatest verses in THE Bible that testifies to the trinity. This is why the Jehovah’s Witnesses leave it out of their bible. They don't believe in the Trinity. So. . .why does the NIV leave it out? If we believe in the Trinity, then this deletion should greatly offend us. I know I am tremendously offended. The NIV removes these two major verses.


How about a couple more?

The NIV completely removes Mark 11:26. What are the NIV readers missing? "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." (KJV) How about Acts 8:37, which the NIV completely removes, "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (KJV) Its deletion makes one think that people do not need baptism or saved to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This goes against our faith, in that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and The Life and is the only way to the Father. Rather important Scripture I think.

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? [3]” (KJV)


Contradiction

One of the most famous and recognizable verses in the Bible is John 3:16. The KJV says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son. . .” Here is the NIV: “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son. . .” This change causes a contradiction in the word of God because God has more than one son according to both the King James (Genesis 6:2, Job 1:6, John 1:12) and the NIV (Genesis 6:2). The NIV even contradicts itself. If there is one contradiction, then the rest loses credibility and needs rejecting.


Deleted Words

The NIV removes 64,576 words from their bible. In other words, don’t look for the word “mercyseat,” its gone; don’t look for the word “Jehovah,” it is gone, and don’t look for the word “Godhead,” it is gone. The word “sodomy” is also gone. (The deletion of the word sodomy sounds suspiciously PC to me.) Are you sitting down? Sixty-four and a half thousand words are like removing thirty books from the Bible. THIRTY!!! The NIV removes words like, remission, regeneration, impute, propitiation, New Testament and many, many others. All this despite the Bible’s warning about “taking away” from His words (Prov 30:5, 6; Rev 22:19).


Jesus is Lucifer?

For me, here is the capper: the NIV bible calls Jesus, Lucifer. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself. We first have to look at Isaiah 14:12. This is what THE Bible (KJV) says: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations." Here is the NIV: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations.” This Isaiah passage is all about Lucifer. . .remember that. Also remember now, while continuing to read, who is the Morning Star.

Is there anywhere else in the NIV that mentions the Morning Star? Check out Revelation 22:16, which says, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” What about 2 Peter 1:19? “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” The NIV has Jesus and Lucifer as the same person by its own words. This is in black and white and irrefutable. This is highly offensive to me. Lord Jesus, please have mercy on us.

I offer this series only because I love the body of Christ and want to help and warn you in your walk. Time for us is running out. I don’t want to keep silent on a truth that I have learned. This would be a lie of omission[2].

As a comparison, what if I was consistently prone to not telling the truth, how much credibility would I have with you? Would you come back to me to seek the truth? I doubt it. You would consider me a poor and unsuitable character reference with zero credibility. We seek the Bible for truth so if one verse is wrong or missing, that bible has zero credibility.

The Holy Spirit convicts us but He also convicts us through the Word of God. His Word is where we reference our convictions and learn from them. If the Bible we are reading has mistakes, lies of omissions, and deletions, then how can we be sure that any of the passages are correct and with which we can base our convictions?

God has given us all free will and we now have a choice. I want to make sure that I am hearing from God because of the times that are ahead of us and not from man’s interpretation of what he thinks God may have said. I don’t have any titles next to my name for I am just His humble servant. However, I do, as we all do, have the Holy Spirit to guide us.

First and foremost, you should test everything that you read on these four pages, as well as elsewhere, against THE Word of God. He is the definitive answer. Therefore, I leave you in His hands and offer these few pages for your testing.

I pray that this information is useful in your walk.

GBY all


Much information taken from:

Jesus-is-Lord
Bible Study Resource
The King James Bible Page
Bible versions F.A.Q
Lie of Omission

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