So, How Accurate Is Your Bible?
Okay, we have taken a pretty
hard look at the Bible in this study and you are now aware of the problems in
doing translations. Verses have been
dropped, verses which have been added, words which have changed their meanings,
words have been dropped, and words have been added. All of these changes at the discretion of the
translator.
Do you use a NIV, NASB, NRSV,
RSV or the NKJV? If so, how accurate do
you feel your favorite Bible is? I use
the Amplified Bible, it gives you every shade of meaning for any word that is
questioned by anyone. And, even at that,
I was stunned this year to find an outright error by the translators in the
book of Luke. Gees, is no translation
safe from mistakes?
Well, let us continue our
look at the validity of our Bible’s base translation by just looking at the
Bible in general and more specifically, just one book.
It is sometime in the 1940’s and
two British soldiers are a bit bored while stationed in Baghdad.
So, what better way to liven up a dull evening than to open up a tomb? Well, not just anyone’s tomb, in this case, Ezekiel’s. Yeah, Ezekiel the prophet. Ezekiel the writer of the book by his name in
our Old Testament. Want to guess what
they found? Yeah, a whole series of stone
tablets, sixty-six in all, with the complete text for the Book of Ezekiel
carved on them. Exactly as documented in
the Talmud….
Eureka! An original
book of the Bible – or at least one which existed during the time of
Ezekiel! The world should be
astounded! But, it wasn’t. After all, these two soldiers were just
looters and not scholars (hmmm, there is a difference?). So, even if the tablets are completely
documented as having come from Ezekiel’s tomb (lots of witnesses), there is no
question it is Ezekiel’s tomb, and still the tablets are not acceptable to
science. Why?
Well, it means that what is on those
tablets might just be true and then just maybe, God is true. And, well, after all, we are enlightened
enough to know that this is just not possible. Right?
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Yeah, even when confronted
with rock hard evidence, man still turns away from God. Think about it, a dream Biblical find and no
one really cares. Okay, Ezekiel existed
and he really did write a book after all.
And, oh look, it is probably the original. Hey, it even predates the liberals strongest
arguments of 167bc for the writing of the entire Old Testament – by about four
hundred years. Darn! It’s just not fair….
And in the seventy years since
these were found, has there been a rush by the liberal theologians to either
embrace or attempt to disprove this proof?
Nope. They just look for other excuses to believe
what they want to believe -professing themselves wise, they became fools…. (Ok, out of context but sure seems
appropriate!)
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What about the
tablets? Yeah, well, when the sixty-six
of them were compared with the contemporary Hebrew texts of today, there are
nine differences. Today’s Hebrew text uses
the term “King” before the name of the king, when he is referenced.
Apparently, in Ezekiel’s
time, everyone already knew who the king was, and so he was not given a
title.
Nine differences. Nine! That sure is not what liberal scholars would
want you to know about your Bible’s accuracy!
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Is your Bible reliable? Yup, it appears God has protected his Word
pretty well across the millennia of time – as the book of Ezekiel has shown.
But, What About the New Testament?
Ok, so we can see that the
Old Testament is strikingly reliable, but how about those New Testament, new
translation problems we have been looking at?
Well, you can just use the King James Version and live with those
problem verses if you are more comfortable with that thought. After all, your salvation is based entirely upon
your faith in Jesus, as the Christ, as your payment for your sins, not whether
or not you handle snakes and drink poison as the end of the book of Mark tells you to.
So, hey, even the NIV will
work! You just have to remember that
there might be some verses missing or perhaps a verse worded oddly from the
original. And, by the way, the NIV is
the second most popular version – in sales volume. The KJV is still number one!
And, you know, God can and still
does do strange and wonderful things. If
you need physical safety from poisonous snakes and poisoned food – He is quite
capable of keeping you safe. Whether He
originally told you so in your translation for the book of Mark or not. And, one of these days, maybe we will find
the original of Mark in an Egyptian desert and it did contain those
questionable verses after all.…
