Which Bible ? Is there more to being saved than what I see??

Carly · Not So Newbie Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 8

I have a friend who reads nothing but the NKJ. Every time a get a new book or another Bible she tells me that It does not have the same meaning as the NKJ. That I should not read it. I have different translations all over the house. NIV is one of the ones that she has a large problem with. I like my new living translation, and it seems to me to say the same thing. And everytime we have a Bible discussion she questions everyting I know because it did not come from her version. I just got another new book learn the bible in 24 hours. It begins telling what all the books are. Breaking it down to Torah, historical, post-exile, Major Prophets, Minor Prophets and continues on into the New Testament. I love reading this book as well. She is always trying to tell me about Revelations and how its all coming true. I do not understand this book I tried to read it and had to stop. The only problem I have is that she tells me things but can't back it up because she listens to everyone around her and does not look it up. So when I ask a question she is unable to answer it. Then I was reading my book and it says to If you dont read Ruth you wont understand Revelations. When I asked if she had read Ruth she had not. This so called friend of mine is always trying to correct me and it drives me crazy. And she does this I think because I have not been "saved" and she has a problem with it. But..... Big but... She is saved and she sure does not act like it. Her mouth does not stop. I have been to church with her and he talks about the people who are saved on Sunday and The rest of the week do what they want. I understand that. And I thought you got saved so that your life is different. you do away with the mouth that wont stop, you do away with your "Party life" ( smoking and drinking) I just thought there was more to it than what I see. And does she have a leg to stand on when telling me that I am reading the wrong kind of Bible? Is There more to being saved than what I see? Is Ruth important to understanding REV? To me Revelations seems to be depressing if all its about is the end of the world, and how people are going to die because of the mark of the beast. That is another question. What is the mark of the beast? She tells me all kinds of stuff about the mark of the beast. What a mess. Anyone have some information for me??????????

Phinehas · Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2003 10:57 am Post subject:

Carly,

Regarding your friend who insists that you use only her preferred translation of the Bible, she needs to give it a rest and you need to not worry about it.

Personally, I use the NIV for personal reading and devotion time and the NASB for more in-depth study of the Word. Why? Because the NIV is a good thought-for-thought translation and the NASB is a good word-for-word translation.

If your friend is so hung up on the NKJV, then what does she think about the various Spanish translations or Indonesian translations? Is she so ready to condemn those? Will she insist that everyone in the world learn to speak NKJV English?

And don't buy in to her questioning what you quote from Bible simply because it's not from her approved translation. She may be right in that you've misunderstood something, but it isn't because of your translation. I got saved reading the NIV from cover to cover.

Stay away from the New World Translation and some of the newer English translations (like the CEV) and you'll be just fine.

Also, don't concern yourself with the book of Revelation now. Revelation is filled with symbolism that cannot be understood until you've read the rest of the Bible. We may or may not be in the end times; that's still up for debate, and likely will be until the moment Christ returns. Again, don't sweat it. All you need to concern yourself with is living your life day by day to grow in the Lord. I've seen a few people (myself included) who got so involved in studying the end times prophecies that our relationship with Jesus suffered tremendously. We were more focused on unraveling the mysteries than we were on Jesus. Your friend's taking information on faith without checking it out herself is a problem to keep in mind.

It sounds like you need to have a loving heart-to-heart talk with this friend and her pastor. When her mouth doesn't stop, try quoting her Proverbs 10:19. Wink

Don't make the mistake I made when I was coming out of high school. I judged Christianity on my church. The church in which I grew up was a sham, but I didn't know anything different. I dismissed Christianity as possibly being the truth because of that one witness I'd had. Don't let this one person sour your view of Christianity and, most important, of Christ Himself. Keep in mind that Christ forgives us all, even me, even you...and even your friend.

The mark of the beast will be the final culmination of the move to a cashless society. It will comprise a mark either on the forehead or on the hand. The most likely candidate for such a device today is the microchip implants that people are talking about. These microchips can contain your entire medical history, your financial information, your biological data, social security information, etc., and act as a satellite-trackable homing beacon to let authorities know where you are. But...DON'T FRET ABOUT IT. Just, whatever you do, don't take any mark on your hand or forehead that enables you to make purchases.

I hope this wasn't too long winded for you.

Phin
_________________
“When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. My heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD!” Judges 5:8-9

Van · Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2003 11:00 am Post subject: A few words

Carly, as I have posted before, you should not start your bible study by studing either Genesis or Revelation. They are meat and you, just beginning, need milk. James was a good choice. I recommended reading Deuteronomy and Isaiah, Luke and Acts to get an overview of the Bible. The NIV would be fine for reading for an overview.

The King James Only debate runs like this: The people who translated the King James relied upon texts that differ from the texts used by the translators of the NAS or NIV. It is believed that the KJV texts are closer to the texts used in the Greek version (LXX) used in the first century and therefore are closer to the texts used by the New Textament writers. If this seems solid to you, I would recommend the New King James Version.

However, the New Textament writers also read the Hebrew scriptures, and many scholars believe the texts used by the NAS and NIV translators are closer to the Hebrew texts used by the New Testament writers.

I like the NAS for study because it is a more literal translation of the available texts than the NIV. I like to read the NIV because it is easier for me to read. If you are going to study a passage, I would recommend that you read it in the NIV, the NAS and the NKJV so that liberal translations would be apparent. For example the NIV puts in sinful nature where flesh is found in the KJV and NAS. So I would conclude flesh is probably the best understanding of the authors intent.

One more thing is that the model of learning about salvation, as taught in the New Testament has one on one discussions between elders (people trained by Jesus as disciples) of the church and seekers of salvation. For example, do not compare biblical behavior by looking at those who claim to be saved, look instead on the behavior taught by Jesus and his disciples in the Word.
Do you know someone that regularly attends a church, perhaps a family member? Perhaps they could connect you with a Pastor who could recommend a Bible study led by people whose lives demonstrate a committment to Christ.

L.alburito · Not So Newbie Joined: 16 Feb 2003 Posts: 6

a lot of people prefer the king james. but your freind doesnt sound very well read in the bible. if you do your reading in a more modern translation, then if you comepare the king james text to see if it is markedly different . if it is, then check with other translations to see what else it is read as. it cant hurt to read as much as you can about the bible. also start findin out what churches have bible study nights. i have gone to several different study nights at different church groups. it is very informative.

Nobby · Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2003 5:24 pm Post subject: Welcome

Hi L.alburito,
Welcome to the board! Please enjoy yourself.

Carly I agree with the guys, some of the new versions are easier to read and understand! But compare them to the older Bibles,
The KJV or NKJV
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larryjf · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2003 3:00 pm Post subject:

Just to put some info on the version debate...

Anti KJV/NKJV:
Translated from the 'received text'. This text can be traced to a Dutch scholar named Erasmus.
Erasmus was not able to find a single Greek manuscript that contained all of the New Testament.
His text was based mostly on 2 inferior 12th century greek manuscripts.
Erasmus had only one copy of the book of Revelation, from which the last page was missing.
Since Erasmus combined several manuscripts and translated some portions from the Latin, the resulting text was in many ways unique. An identical text had never existed before.

Pro KJV/NKJV:
The new versions are only supported by about five of the over 5,000 manuscripts of Bible text.
The two most prominent of these, Vaticanus, which is sole property of the Roman Catholic Church, and Sinaiticus are both known to be overwhelmed with errors.
It is said that Sinaiticus has been corrected and altered by as many as ten different writers. In Vaticanus is found the evidence of very sloppy workmanship. Time and again words and whole phrases are repeated twice in succession or completely omitted. While the entire manuscript has had the text mutilated by some person or persons who ran over every letter with a pen making exact identification of many of the characters impossible.

Personal observations on the text:
+ New versions(NASB) mistakenly translate the greek “porneia” to “immoral” when it should be “fornication” or “whoredom” (ie: 1 cor 5:1). In the OT there are many non-literal translations such as “countrymen” instead of “brother” or “power” instead of “arm”.
+ When Samuels mother goes to Eli with a sacrifice, the new versions claim that she brought 1 bull instead of 2 – but, she brought the amount of grain offering that would coorespond to 2 bulls (see cross reference to the law of sacrifice). The new versions take the text from the dead sea scrolls and the syriac instead of from the masoretic text(masoretic being the best text available).
+ 1 Cor 11:16 – is it “no such custom” or “no other custom” the literal greek in all manuscripts is “no such custom”, so why is it translated as “no other custom” in new versions?
+ Ex 26:14 - was the covering for the tabernacle made of porpoise or badger skin? – May have been some type of “sea cow” which was used at the time for sandals and other such things.
+ The NASB has better verb tense translation than does the KJV/NKJV.

Personally, I read from the NKJV and the NASB - 2 very good word for word translations. And, they come from different manuscripts.

Remember that we are to Glory in Christ, not in a bible version. The bible is not what saves - Jesus saves.

In Christ.

Dshadna · German Shepherd Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 344

I have King James, NKJV, NIV, LifeApplication NKJV, Revised Standard Version, Modern English Translation Version. Also, a couple I can't think of right off hand.

I mainly use KJ and Life Application NKJV the most. I read the verses in my NKJV first, then in KJ, and often find things that I wouldn't otherwise have noticed. Often, I pull out one of the other versions, for a different take on the same verses.

I'd hate to have to be without all my different Bibles, as I feel that using each of them helps me to see things that I miss otherwise.

I've heard many people, and preachers say that they don't like NIV, but that's their choice. When I have witnessed to people, I usually hand them an NIV and tell them to find King James as soon as possible, to understand more about the Bible. The reason for giving them NIV, is because for a new Christian, convert, it's one of the easier versions to read and grasp the meaning of the Bible.