I cannot
imagine a greater offense against man or
God than the offense committed by the
creators of the paraphrased Bibles.
These books that are called Bibles are
filled with lies. Even worse, you cannot
always identify which Bibles are
paraphrased because the new approach is
"dynamic equivalent
translations." That's just a
deceiving term to cover up the fact that
you are reading a lying
paraphrase. The New
International Version (NIV) is a
"dynamic equivalent
translation" and is clearly a lying
paraphrase in many
instances of its text. These are tough
words, and I certainly do not desire to
offend anyone. I have friends who use
these Bibles, and I hurt to write in
such a manner as will anger them. The
church must have the undiluted truth.
As we
progress in this article, I am going to
prove to you that these books called
Bibles are lies. What is a lie? The Old
English dictionary that I use says the
following, "lie - a false
statement made with the intention of
deceiving; anything misleading or of the
nature of imposture: (with the)
accusation of lying." (Chambers
English Dictionary, W & R Chambers
Ltd, Edinburgh, p. 824.) Notice the
part of that meaning that says "anything
misleading or of the nature of
imposture." What if I
should take quotes from anyone of the
successful authors of our day and
constantly change those quotes but never
tell my readers what I had done. As
those quotes were read that convey
misinformation assigned to the original
author, I would be in trouble. I could
not imagine doing that to my worst
possible enemy.
Let's say
that I did that, and they sued me in
court. Imagine that we are standing
before the judge and my defense is being
presented. I could say something like
this, "All I did was put your words
in a different arrangement so I could
convey what I thought you intended to
say. Yes, I lifted out some things that
seemed unimportant to me and I added
some other things that help convey what
I thought you intended." The court
would treat me like a crazy man, and I
would be found guilty. Yet, that's
exactly what the paraphrased Bibles have
done.
The Spirit
of God warned us about this matter with
a stark warning. "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: 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." (Revelation
22:18-19). After serving my Lord for
fifty-two wonderful years, I cannot
grasp why anyone would want to modernize
or change truth. I do not write about
these issues out of anger but with a
hurting heart. These are God's eternal
words. They have life and death in each
of them. They are eternal truth not just
a few stories.
The present
best seller by Rick Warren, The Purpose
Driven Life, would have been condemned
to the ash heap twenty to thirty years
ago. Southern Baptist leaders and
ministers of the past, the denomination
in which I was raised, would have
conducted a book burning in the church
parking lots. But, because of the
gradual effect of the lying
paraphrases, it has become
acceptable to use New Age ideas that
saturate these corrupt Bibles. The
Scriptures that I am going to show you
prove beyond a doubt that they are lies
and not God's infallible words.
Rick
Warren's book is filled with these
paraphrases. He proves one foolish idea
after another with a quote from a
corrupt Bible. He interweaves these
corrupt quotes so skillfully that you
have to be a master in discernment to
detect his design. I have never read
another book that gives so much credence
to these questionable Bibles.
Let's
review a large number of Scriptures and
see the difference between truth and
error. In most cases there is very
little in the paraphrase to remotely
suggest a connection. The Word of God is
a living book that literally transforms
the believing person that accepts and
internalizes the truth. We dare not rob
the Word of God of the power to redeem
and work miracles. It was the miracle of
the Word that transformed me, and I have
never desired one thing from which the
Word cleansed me.
First
Scriptures
Rick Warren
used several paraphrased verses from the
New Living Translation in his chapter on
"Becoming Best Friends with
God." He quotes Apostle Paul, who
states as translated in the King James
Version, "And
not only so, but we also joy in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
we have now received the
atonement." (Romans 5:11, KJV).
But, Rick Warren chose a paraphrased
version because it fits his
seeker-friendly theology. Now, look at
the paraphrase. "Now,
we can rejoice in our wonderful new
relationship with God - all because of
what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for
us in making us friends of God."
(Romans 5:11, New Living Translation).
After one
sentence, he quotes another paraphrase.
The verse he now quotes says in the word-for-word
King James Bible, "And
all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus
Christ." (II Corinthians
5:18a, KJV). Mr. Warren quotes
Jesus Christ as saying, "All
this is done by God, who through Jesus
Christ changed us from enemies into his
friends." (II Corinthians
5:18a, Today's English Version).
In both of these quotes the strong
theological words of "atonement"
and "reconciled"
are passed over for the empty theology
of "friends."
No person that believes in the
infallible Scripture can take this
carelessly.
On that
same page and in the same context, he
gives another quote that shows no kin to
truth in Holy Scripture. The King James
Bible says, "For
thou shalt worship no other god: for the
LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a
jealous God." (Exodus 34:14,
KJV). The author reaches again
for his New Living Translation, "He
is a God who is passionate about his
relationship with you."
(Exodus 34:14, New Living
Translation). There is a lot of
difference between a "passionate"
God and a God that is "jealous"
about His truths. Please note that the paraphrased
lie called him "a
God." This one page in
Rick Warren's book labels it as a New
Age book. All three of these quotes from
the paraphrased lies
were from one page of Rick Warren's
book.
If you have
this book, The Purpose Driven Life, stop
your reading for a little research. Go
through a few pages and look up each
Scripture in a word-for-word
translation and make a list of the
changes. You owe it to yourself and to
anyone to whom you might suggest reading
this book.
This
concern is far bigger than the book by
Rick Warren. Let's take a look from
Genesis to the New Testament at some of
the varying problems in the lying
paraphrases. I will start
back in Genesis at two very important
Scriptures. This will show that the translators,
or should we say paraphrasers,
are very careless with truth.
The
First Messianic Prophecy
The words,
which God spoke to Adam about the coming
Messiah to redeem mankind, are beautiful
words. "And
I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel."
(Genesis 3:15, KJV). This great
statement is filled with promise that
the seed of woman
would bruise the very head of the
serpent and strip away the venom of sin.
The Living
Bible paraphrased this as follows: "From
now on you and the woman will be
enemies, as will all of your offspring
and hers. And I will put the fear of you
into the woman, and between your
offspring and hers. He shall strike you
on your head, while you will strike at
his heel." (Genesis 3:15, The
Living Bible). The seed
of woman is called a "he"
and "his" in
the paraphrase. In the King James
Version, the seed of woman
is called an "it"
and "thy"
because the seed of woman
is a lineage of the godly seed of woman,
not a male person, which the Holy Ghost
would preserve to assure the promise of
the Messiah. It's apparent that the
paraphrasers had no idea what they were
translating.
The
Great Story of the Ark
God
commanded Noah to build an ark for the
salvation of his family and the
protection of the earth-bound animals.
It is a Biblically perfect type of
salvation by Jesus Christ. When the ark
was finished, God spoke to Noah. "And
the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and
all thy house into the ark; for thee
have I seen righteous before me in this
generation." (Genesis 7:1, KJV).
This ark was also a type of the Rapture
and redemption in the future that is yet
to be fulfilled. Notice that God said, "Come
… into the ark," because
God was speaking from inside where He
would shut the door Himself.
Let's look
at The Living Bible for this same text. "Finally
the day came when the Lord said to Noah,
'Go into the boat with all your family,
for among all the people of the earth, I
consider you alone to be
righteous.'" (Genesis 7:1, The
Living Bible). The error cannot be
missed. In one text God is speaking from
within the ark, while the other God is
speaking outside the ark. This is one of
His greatest examples of salvation by
grace in the First Testament. This
certainly reveals that the paraphraser
had a different theology or that they
were just careless with truth. Either
way, great theology is lost when the
Words of God are changed.
The
Twenty-Third Psalm
There is
not one passage in the First Testament
that is so filled with truth and glory
as the twenty-third Psalm. This text is
not only great in itself; it is also the
golden text of the entire book of
Psalms. The Holy Spirit has a unique
place in every book of the Scriptures
because He is the Spirit of Truth. The
Father and the Son always reveal truth
by the Holy Spirit. In Psalm
twenty-three the office of the Holy
Spirit is revealed for the entire book
of Psalms. He is the rod
and staff of the Great
Shepherd. Let's look at this great text.
"The LORD
is my shepherd; I shall not want. He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in
the paths of righteousness for his
name's sake. Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff
they comfort me. Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine
enemies: thou anointest my head with
oil; my cup runneth over. Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life: and I will dwell in
the house of the LORD for ever."
(Psalm 23:1-6, KJV).
As happens
over and over in the paraphrased
editions of the Bible, the paraphraser
strikes out. It seems that they never
get much right, and they sure failed in
this great text. Let's look at the
entire chapter from The Living Bible. "Because
the Lord is my Shepherd, I have
everything I need! He lets me rest in
the meadow grass and leads me beside the
quiet streams. He restores my failing
health. He helps me do what honors him
the most. Even when walking through the
dark valley of death I will not be
afraid, for you are close beside me,
guarding, guiding all the way. You
provide delicious food for me in the
presence of my enemies. You have
welcomed me as your guest; blessings
overflow! Your goodness and unfailing
kindness shall be with me all of my
life, and afterwards I will live with
you forever in your home."
(Psalm 23:1-6, The Living Bible).
The rod and staff
are gone. The truth is gone. The beauty
is gone. The excellent assurance is
gone. The Holy Spirit is woefully
missing. It's a paraphrased
lie.
The
Secret Place of Prayer is Gone
The
Psalmist spoke of the great hiding place
of prayer in Psalm ninety-one. "He
that dwelleth in the secret place of the
most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty." (Psalm
91:1, KJV). When the
paraphrasers got through with this text
the idea of prayer to keep us safe was
missing. "We
live within the shadow of the Almighty,
sheltered by the God who is above all
gods." (Psalm 91:1, The
Living Bible).
Song
of Solomon
This is the
love book between the Lord Himself and
His Bride. The Living Bible completely
destroys the whole beauty of this love
relationship. The truth says, "The
song of songs, which is Solomon's. Let
him kiss me with the kisses of his
mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
Because of the savour of thy good
ointments thy name is as ointment poured
forth, therefore do the virgins love
thee. Draw me, we will run after thee:
the king hath brought me into his
chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in
thee, we will remember thy love more
than wine: the upright love thee."
(Song of Solomon 1:1-4, KJV).
The Lord Himself is as an ointment
poured forth and the Holy Spirit is
drawing the lovers to the joy of His
fragrances. Yet, the paraphrasers miss
the prophetic message. "The
song of songs, which is Solomon's. Kiss
me again and again, for your love is
sweeter than wine. How fragrant your
cologne, and how great your name! No
wonder all the young girls love you!
Take me with you; come, let's run!"
(Song of Solomon 1:1-4, The Living
Bible).
The
Rock is Gone
The New
International Version is filled with paraphrased
lies. Remember, the
meaning of a lie is to tell a partial
truth or to leave out a part of the
whole. The only way to keep a
paraphrased story from being a lie is to
warn the reader that the whole story has
been changed. Of course, that would make
a very cumbersome Bible. Look at this
great text from the words of Jesus
Christ Himself. "He
is like a man which built an house, and
digged deep, and laid the foundation on
a rock: and when the flood arose, the
stream beat vehemently upon that house,
and could not shake it: for it was
founded upon a rock." (Luke
6:48, KJV). Jesus Christ
Himself is unquestionably the "Rock"
to which the Son of God refers.
Now, let's
look at the NIV. "He
is like a man building a house, who dug
down deep and laid the foundation on
rock. When a flood came, the torrent
struck that house but could not shake
it, because it was well built."
(Luke 6:48, NIV). The
paraphrasers say "rock"
instead of "a rock"
in the beginning of the text and then
leave out the main use of the word, "rock,"
where the emphasis was established.
There is a great difference in a "well
built house" in the NIV
and "house founded upon a
rock." Here is the
original Textus Receptus word-for-word
translation, which shows the King James
Bible to be a perfect English
translation. "He
is like a man building a house, who dug
and deepened, and laid a foundation on
the rock; and a flood happening, the
stream burst against that house, and
could not shake it, for it had been
founded on the rock." (Luke
6:48, Textus Receptus).
Let's go
back to Rick Warren's book, The Purpose
Driven Life. One of the most distorted
chapters is chapter thirty-one entitled,
"Understanding Your Shape."
This chapter totally distorts and mars
the distinction between human abilities
that all of us are born with and
spiritual gifts imparted by the Holy
Ghost. Let me give you the truth from
the text he uses before I show his
paraphrased lies. "Now
there are diversities of gifts, but the
same Spirit. And there are differences
of administrations, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations,
but it is the same God which worketh all
in all." (I Corinthians
12:4-6, KJV). This text has
nothing to do with our abilities in our
flesh, but with supernatural gifts
imparted to a godly saint by the Holy
Ghost.
Here is
Warren's full statement with his
paraphrased quote. "Only
you can be you. God designed each of us
so there would be no duplication in the
world. No one has the exact same mix of
factors that make you unique. That means
no one else on earth will ever be able
to play the role God planned for you. If
you don't make your unique contribution
to the Body of Christ, it won't be made.
The Bible says, 'There are different
kinds of spiritual gifts . . . different
ways of serving . . . [and] different
abilities to perform service.' (I
Corinthians 12:4-6, Today's English
Version in part)." (The
Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren, p.
241.)
This is an
extremely serious infraction against the
Word of God and Rick Warren will be
judged by the Biblical standard given
earlier in this article. The problems
with this confusion will be clearly
understood by anyone familiar with
rightly dividing the Word of God. The
paraphrased Bible and Rick Warren both
totally misrepresented the truth of Holy
Scripture.
Antichrist
Has Become an Anarchist
A
paraphrased Bible called The
Message is one of the
worst. Let's look at a key passage in II
Thessalonians which is filled with
prophetic truths that are very important
to understanding End-Time events. Most
paraphrased Bibles are written to
promote post-millennialism. I do not
know one new version that could be
called a pre-tribulation or
pre-millennial text. I believe that
factor is part of the push to eradicate
the King James Version. Look at this
passage in the beautiful language of the
Authorized Bible. "Let
no man deceive you by any means: for
that day shall not come, except there
come a falling away first, and that man
of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or
that is worshipped; so that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God, shewing
himself that he is God. Remember ye not,
that, when I was yet with you, I told
you these things? And now ye know what
withholdeth that he might be revealed in
his time. For the mystery of iniquity
doth already work: only he who now
letteth will let, until he be taken out
of the way. And then shall that Wicked
be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume
with the spirit of his mouth, and shall
destroy with the brightness of his
coming: Even him, whose coming is after
the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders, And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in
them that perish; because they received
not the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. And for this cause God
shall send them strong delusion, that
they should believe a lie: That they all
might be damned who believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness." (II
Thessalonians 2:3-12, KJV).
Now, look
at The Message
Bible. "Don't
fall for any line like that. Before that
day comes, a couple of things have to
happen. First, the Apostasy. Second, the
debut of the Anarchist, a real dog of
Satan. He'll defy and then take over
every so-called god or altar. Having
cleared away the opposition, he'll then
set himself up in God's Temple as
"God Almighty." Don't you
remember me going over all this in
detail when I was with you? Are your
memories that short? You'll also
remember that I told you the Anarchist
is being held back until just the right
time. That doesn't mean that the spirit
of anarchy is not now at work. It is,
secretly and underground. But the time
will come when the Anarchist will no
longer be held back, but will be let
loose. But don't worry. The Master Jesus
will be right on his heels and blow him
away. The Master appears and - puff! -
the Anarchist is out of there. The
Anarchist's coming is all Satan's work.
All his power and signs and miracles are
fake, evil sleight of hand that plays to
the gallery of those who hate the truth
that could save them. And since they're
so obsessed with evil, God rubs their
noses in it - gives them what they want.
Since they refuse to trust truth,
they're banished to their chosen world
of lies and illusions." (II
Thessalonians 2:3-12, The Message).
We must identify the apparent losses:
The
Antichrist is only an anarchist.
The
simple words "falling away"
are removed.
The whole
idea of a "Restrainer" is
missing.
The
judgment of Antichrist is a
"puff."
There is
no picture of Christ's glorious
return.
The
wicked are banished rather than
damned.
The whole
passage is a joke compared to the
strong, awesome language of the truth.
This new text is simply a paraphrased
lie.
Jesus
Has a Mother and a Father?
One of the
darkest facts about the new versions of
Scripture is the influence of Catholic
ideas, Bibles, and manuscripts. Rick
Warren quotes from two different
Catholic Bibles in his book, The Purpose
Driven Life. I will give you three texts
right out of one of them, which is
entitled The New Jerusalem Bible. First,
I'll give you the truth in all of these
passages. "And
when the days of her purification
according to the law of Moses were
accomplished, they brought him to
Jerusalem, to present him to the
Lord." (Luke 2:22, KJV).
"And
Joseph and his mother marvelled at those
things which were spoken of him."
(Luke 2:33, KJV). "And
when they had fulfilled the days, as
they returned, the child Jesus tarried
behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his
mother knew not of it."
(Luke 2:43, KJV). These texts
preserve His purity and the fact that He
had no need of purification. Also,
preserved was the fact of His virgin
birth and that He did not have an
earthly father.
Now, look
at what the Catholic Bible does to Him.
I quote the same three texts out of the
paraphrased Bible that was used by Mr.
Warren. "And
when the day came for them to be
purified in keeping with the Law of
Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to
present him to the Lord."
(Luke 2:22, The New Jerusalem Bible).
"As the
child's father
and mother
were wondering at the things that were
being said about him." (Luke
2:33, The New Jerusalem Bible).
"When the
days of the feast were over and they set
off home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in
Jerusalem without his parents
knowing it." (Luke 2:43, The
New Jerusalem Bible. Red color
added to words.). These Scriptures
present a totally different Jesus that
was taken for purification. Joseph is
called His father and then he is called
one of His parents. The New
International Version paraphrases these
verses with the very same corruptions.
Conclusion
The
paraphrased Bibles, including Bibles
labeled as "dynamic equivalent
translations," are absolutely lying
to millions. They misrepresent and
change what God has spoken by the Holy
Spirit. Rick Warren used ninety-nine
quotes from The
Message, sixty-four
quotes from The
Living Bible, and one
hundred sixteen quotes from The
New International Version,
plus many more from other lying
paraphrases. No wonder his
language is clearly New Age jargon and
psychological jabber.
After
talking to different people that are
true supporters of Rick Warren's
bestseller, The Purpose Driven Life,
there is one thing I see in each person.
The person that internalizes his book
will have a conversion called a paradigm
shift. In many cases, that
person may have already had the paradigm
shift and the book will
only add to their deception. One man
called to debate my position and ended
his argument by saying, "Rev.
Chambers, Jesus is my buddy."
I earnestly tried to show him the
foolishness of calling Jesus his "buddy."
His giddy reaction broke my heart for
him. A new "Jesus" is flooding
the lives of many by the paraphrased
lies and the corrupt books
they are spawning. Every lost soul will
be on someone's account at the judgment.
It's your duty to make sure your family
isn't corrupted by these paraphrased
lies.
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