Updated Version or Replacement?

By Dr. Ken Matto

 
The term “version” may be understood to mean “a translation from one language into another.” This happens all the time with not only the Bible, but with many secular pieces of literature as well. We are not going to concern ourselves with Caesar’s Commentaries, Philo, or even Josephus. The subject at hand is the Bible, especially the King James Version. Since the 1881 Revised Version of Hort and Westcott, there have been hundreds of new versions which appeared on the scene and many of them have faded out. The New International Version, which is being touted as surpassing the numbers of King James Bibles in use is also using a false method to arrive at this conclusion. The problem is that many false ministries are purchasing the NIV by the thousands, thus pumping the number up. The reality, is that the King James Version is still the best seller. Something else the number moguls forget about, their comparison of numbers of the NIV in circulation and purchase are being compared to phony numbers. If they are going to do a true comparison, then they better go back to 1611 and count all the King James Bible which have been printed and sold. The NIV has only been around since 1967 which means that the KJV has a sales time-span of 356 years longer than the NIV. I seriously doubt if the NIV or any other modern version is going to surpass a Bible that has been around since 1611.
 
The Language of the King James
Contrary to critical opinion, the language of the King James Version is not written in Old English as the supposed intellects of today say it is. If it was written in Old English, it would be unreadable. The evolution of the English language happened in three basic stages. Old English was used from about 600 AD to 1100 AD. Middle English was used from 1100 AD to about 1450 AD. From 1450 AD to present, we have Modern English. The King James Version was translated just at the time when the English Language was making a major update. God knew exactly when the timing was right to bring forth the translation which has stood the test of time.
 
The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages were also known as the Dark Ages because the ruler was the Roman Catholic Institution. She ruled with tyranny, deceit, and superstition. There was only a few flicker of flames of truth in these days. Many Theologians and Christians are under the mistaken belief that it was the Roman Catholic Institution which safely brought truth and the Bible through the Dark Ages. I have read this on websites and have heard this personally from one of my former bosses who was a Bishop in a denomination where I worked and attended church. The only thing that the Roman Catholic Institution brought safely through the Dark Ages was murder, mayhem, and malevolence. Jerome, a Roman Catholic, created a Bible about 450 AD which was known as “The Latin Vulgate.” It was named this, so those living back then, would use this apostate version in the belief that it was the “Old Latin Vulgate” of about 90-150 AD. The Old Latin Vulgate was the true Bible which originated from Antioch, which was the center of true Christianity. Jerome’s Vulgate utilized the false, corrupted manuscripts from Alexandria, Egypt. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate became the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Institution for over 1,000 years. This was a false Bible version and was not the true, unadulterated version of Scripture. God would never trust His Holy Word to an organization which was corrupted and had the blood of millions of His children on their hands. Rome had and still has a virulent hatred for the true Bible.
 
So then, how did God bring the true Bible through the Middle Ages? Around the time that Jerome’s Latin Vulgate showed up on the scene, God was bringing forth a text which would be the untouched forerunner of the Textus Receptus which would be the manuscript of the King James Bible. It was known as the Byzantine Text which also lasted about a thousand years. God trusted true Christians to be the guardian of the true manuscripts. During the Middle Ages there were three basic groups of Christians who were entrusted with the keeping of these manuscripts:
Waldensians which can be dated back to 120 AD. They lived in Northern Italy which bordered on Switzerland and France.
 
Lollards who were followers of Wycliffe in England and Scotland.
 
Albigenses who lived in Southern France.
These three groups were severely persecuted and whenever the Roman marauders found copies of the true Bible, they destroyed them. This was the vengeance of Satan upon God’s people for possessing copies of the true unadulterated Bible. These three groups held onto the true Scriptures tenaciously until the time of the Reformation, when God began His program of bringing the world out of the Dark Ages and was now beginning to start publishing the true Bible in the languages of the common people. The power of the Roman Institution would now begin to wane slowly.
 
1604-1611
When the godly King James came to power, in 1604 he ordained the translation of the Bible which would bear his name for hundreds of years to come. In 1605, the Jesuits tried to kill him by blowing him up along with all of Parliament. It came to be known as the Gunpowder Plot. God protected him and all of Parliament and in 1611, the King James Version was born. It was translated primarily out of the Greek manuscripts of Theodore Beza, 1598 edition. Beza’s manuscript was a direct descendant of the Byzantine Text which was a direct descendant of the original manuscripts which came from Antioch. During the seven year period of the translation of the King James Bible, the Roman Catholic Institution was also busy translating the Alexandrian manuscripts into another false version known as the Douay-Rheims version which was completed in 1610. This version supplanted Jerome’s Latin Vulgate.
 
Afterwards
After the translation of the King James Bible, the Word of God began to spread throughout Europe and it was even brought to the United States. The King James Version was the foundation upon which this country was built. The Pilgrims in 1620 brought the Geneva Bible with them, which was the forerunner of the King James Version. God began to bless the nations who were using the true Bible and this included the infant nation of America.
 
Satan does not sit still and he was going to thwart the truth which was being taught through the true Bible. He knows he could not be successful in the physical killings of Christians who held the true Scriptures, because this only made the body of Christ stronger. He had to devise a way to undermine the authority of the King James Version.
 
Update or Switch
Enter 1871. Satan had two of his willing ministers who were also Roman Catholic sympathizers. Their names were Hort and Westcott. These two had a campaign to update the archaic language of the King James Version. At least, this is what their public stance was, but their private motives were much more sinister. That word “sinister” is interesting. It rhymes with “minister” and begins with “sin.” So Satan had two willing ministers of sin to do his dirty work. In contrast to the King James translators doing everything in the open, this committee on revision did everything behind closed doors. The Christian world was about to be turned upside down and it didn’t even know it. The worse part about it was that they didn’t even have the discernment to know they had been duped. It is the same as today. Christians would rather be deceived than know the truth.
 
While this committee was telling everyone they were updating language, they were switching the manuscripts. Instead of using the Textus Receptus as their primary manuscript, they instead replaced it with the Roman Catholic, Alexandrian corrupted manuscripts. This is why there are so many differences between the modern versions and the King James Version. They did not update the language, they replaced the pure manuscript with a corrupted one. In my possession, I have an original 1881 Revised Version and an original 1901 American Standard Version, the changes in them are as blatant as can be. I will make a comparison between a 1611 KJV, a modern day KJV, the 1537 Matthews New Testament, the Revised version of 1881, and the American Standard version of 1901. Here are two good examples of the corruption:
 
Matthew 17:21
1537 Matthews: Howbeit this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting.
1611 KJV: Howbeit, this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting
1988 KJV: Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
1881 RV: Omitted
1901 ASV: Omitted
 
1 Corinthians 15:47 - Notice how subtle this change is
1537 Matthews: The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1611 KJV: The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1988 KJV: The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1881 RV: The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven.
1901 ASV: The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven.
 
Did you notice the subtle deletion from the text? If you are not looking for it, you will miss it. The RV and ASV both leave out the phrase “the Lord.” This is the Divine witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in the 1611 KJV it is there. In the 1988 KJV it is there. In 377 years, there was absolutely no change in the text which constitutes stability in the KJV, which means it can be counted on to remain stable. The 1537 Matthews Version is in the lineage of the King James Version. So we can actually say, the Textus Receptus has not changed in 451 years. Talk about God guarding the purity of His Word!
 
When looking at these two verses, how could anyone believe that there was only a language update and not a replacement of the entire manuscript since we are speaking of thousands of differences? Since 1881, each subsequent translation has become more and more corrupt to the point that you cannot even find doctrine anymore. With every new translation that is made, it differs from every other one. Do you know that the King James Version has been translated from the Received Text and hasn’t changed?
 
The underlying Greek text of the modern versions change with almost every archaeological find. I have in my possession the Nestle-Aland Text or the United Bible Societies text. The one I have is the fourth revision of the twenty-sixth edition. So in essence, it has been revised 30 times. God changed His mind 30 times on the New Testament? How can anyone build a stable Christian walk on a text which constantly changes with every literary find? The truth is, you can’t! By the way, there is a Roman Catholic Cardinal on the translation committee for these Greek texts and his name is Cardinal Carlo M. Martini. He is there to make sure the agenda of the Vatican is fulfilled. If you think I am kidding about this, the next time you go into a Christian book store, look at the Greek texts they sell and the editors of it. Oh, don’t look for a Textus Receptus in there, all you will find is the replacement UBS Catholic manuscripts that underlies your Bible, you know the one you are basing your eternal salvation on!
 
The proponents of the New American Standard Version, since 1959, have been making the claim that it is the most literal and closest to the originals. Has anybody really defined what that means? What good is having the most literal translation if it is a translated product of a corrupt manuscript?
 
Summary
God wrote one Bible and he completed the Canon with the book of Revelation. With all these text changes, the intellectual elite is telling us that God has violated His own Scripture by deleting Scriptures.
 
(Deu 4:2 KJV) Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
 
(Rev 22:18-19 KJV) For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: {19} And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
 
Since God cannot break His own Scripture, which is His word, that means, in these modern versions, all the deletions are not of the Lord but of man. There is no way that all these deletions and changes could be the product of a mere language update. They are the product of a corrupt manuscript by a corrupt institution. These evil men, took the true word of God and exchanged it for the false, corrupt manuscripts which underlie every modern version. If you are using a modern version, then you are using a Roman Catholic version. Quite frankly, I do not trust their salvation program, so I sure wouldn’t trust their corrupt Bibles. If you are using a King James Version, then stay with it and do not let anyone convince you with trickery and deceit. With the King James, you can be sure you have the true Word of God, protected by Him right down through the ages. You stand on rock, let them stand on sand, and you will see who will be victorious when it is all over.
 
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