"PASTOR, WHO SHARES YOUR PULPIT?"

By Brother Dan Nicholls

When pastors preach from one of today's new version Bibles, I seriously doubt they know who (in a sense), they are "sharing their pulpit" with. Few Christians, (pastors included) are probably not aware that all new English versions of the Bible are the product of a corrupted Greek text that is far different from the vast amount of sources that have given us the Authorized King James Bible. All new versions have been spawned from a far different textual source that two, apostate, English, "high churchmen" named Westcott and Hort concocted in 1881. God's defining parameters of His Word were bypassed and defied, for "man's so-called wisdom" subtly became the final authority. (Scripture says that each and every Word of God, right down to the jot and the title, is absolutely pure, true, precious and preserved forever. And it is accompanied by grave warnings to those who add to or take away His precious Words.) By using this counterfeit text as their source, modern scribes have forged a license to mutilate God's Word. If pastors knew the background, the un-Godly beliefs and utter disdain the "fathers of all new versions," had for God's precious Words, there should be major cause for alarm….especially when Westcott and Hort may also be considered the "fathers" of the modern, occult channeling movement!!! "By their fruits, ye shall know them."

Please ask yourself, "What kind of people would God entrust to handle, preserve or translate His precious Words?" Would they be genuine born-again believers, or would they be apostate scoffers of God's standards? Furthermore, "What kind of people would Satan use to undermine the validity of God's Words?"….

Satan is not just interested in adding to and taking away God's Words in a multiplying, changing, differing scenario of hundreds of English Bibles. He is not just content by making subtle doctrinal changes or watering down the holiness of the Holy Spirit and the deity of our Saviour. As serious as those things are, it is much more than that. By the very presence of increasing numbers of new versions, Satan knows that the stage has been craftily set whereby believers can't really know for certain that each and every Word in their Bible can be counted on as being the pure, true Word of God. At least 15 complete verses, hundreds of partial verses and thousands of individual words have been stricken in each new version Bible. By undermining the validity of God's Word, (as he did in the Garden of Eden, "Yea, hath God said?…") that subtle cloud of doubt has easily brought on disobedience in today's Laodician Bride of Christ. True Christianity will not exist without solid confidence in the Word of God.

Can you imagine what Westcott and Hort would be thinking if they were alive today? I believe that without a doubt, they would be gloating over the fact that gullible Christianity has largely fallen for their text's offspring versions and the validity of Scripture has been undermined. Let's take it another step further. Let's imagine, (in the following "tongue-in-cheek" letter) they smugly thank the pastor for allowing them (in the form of his new version) to share his pulpit. But then with disdain (as the shaken, sweating pastor starts to realize the incredible deception and the massive damage done to the church), Westcott and Hort boldly expose their corrupted beliefs.

Many "tongue-in-cheek" letters are meant to be humorous. This one is not. It's purpose is to expose the Satanic handiwork that underlies his attack upon the Word of God. May you not only realize the truth, but may you also be willing to take a stand for it. Perhaps you would like to copy this letter and give it to someone else, especially your pastor.

Dear Pastor,

My fellow co-worker and I would like to begin by saying "thank you" for having us in your pulpit. We appreciate being an important part of your church's program, and being able to influence your flock on a regular basis. You probably don't remember us, but you have no idea the extent we have been affecting your congregation. Recently though, we have been encountering some negative reactions from some parishioners. (You know…those old-fashioned types who think that since God said He would preserve His Word forever, there can therefore be only one true English Bible.) We think it is in our best interests that you should be aware of the situation, in case a problem should arise. (We have an "image" to protect, you know.)

These adversaries though, are mostly "grass-roots" types, and probably shouldn't be considered much of a threat. Most Christians use our new version products, including our many supporters in Christian seminaries, colleges and institutions; and certainly, the publishing business people, (who are quite aware that a new different version = copyright = more money…) and of course, the majority of the pastors, (especially those famous ones). Nevertheless, these growing numbers of "Bible-thumpers" do cause us some concern at times. If only they would stop saying, "the Bible says…," and just listen to us, and other scholarly intellectuals. After all, we have the advantage of understanding today's theories of critical, textual, analysis of the scriptures.

They are "hung up" on the notion that God stressed great importance on each and every Word being pure, precious and preserved. Therefore they just don't get it that the "word-for-word translation" of their KJB is no match for our "dynamic equivalency." (Our modern term that gives us freedom to add to and take away Scripture.) Not only do these "back-woods," "Bible-quoting bumpkins" detest our beliefs, they also claim we have perpetuated a hoax! And not just any hoax. They actually claim we have perpetuated upon the kingdom of God the most deceptive hoax in the last 2000 years! We are confident that after you have read this list, and because you have shared your pulpit with us, that you will stand with us in our defense too. Can you believe they are upset with us because of our following beliefs?

We do not believe the Bible is the verbally inspired, inerrant word of God.

We believe the Bible's old manuscripts aren't any different from the ones of ancient Greece or Rome. None are inspired.

Evangelicals like Moody, don't impress us; but Darwin sure does.

Forget the Genesis account of creation; go with evolution instead.

Let's not get carried away with these notions that there is a hell or a devil, or a literal heaven…but there is a purgatory.

The idea that Christ died for our sins is simply ridiculous.

The doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church are more nearer to the truth than that of the evangelicals. Those people, like Moody, are perverted, unsound, confused, and dangerous.

What is so bad about socialism and communism?

Yes, we are into the occult, active with necromancy, and considered as "Fathers of the modern channeling movement," but let's not advertise that….

As for being racist, yes I did say: "the niggers themselves…they have surely shown themselves only as an immeasurably inferior race, just human and no more, their religion frothy and sensuous, their highest virtues those of a good Newfoundland dog!" (Arthur Hort, "The Life and Letters of F.J.A. Hort," Vol. 1 - NY: Macmillan & Co. 1896, page 458) .... However, let's not broadcast that quote either, for if this information ever got into the hands of African-American Christians, it could produce quite a "backlash."

Using deception, perversion, and "strong-arm" tactics, we were able to convince English Bible revision scribes to ignore the manuscript base of the Authorized KJV. Despite it's massive amount of credible documents and historical Christian evidence, in 1881 we accomplished our goal of undermining that villainous text! Incredibly, we pulled this off using mainly, two discarded manuscripts, which with the rest, added up to only about 1% of the available sources! The revisionist editors, (most of whom shared beliefs similar to our own) accepted our lies = that our newly-invented Greek text (having thousands of word deletions, contradictions, errors, etc.) was the oldest and the best, and even "bought" our critical textual theories.

In short, we are proud to claim that all (more than 100) subsequent English Bible versions from 1881, (the NIV, NASB, NKJV, RSV, Amplified, Living Bible, New Living Translation, etc., etc.) have utilized our theories, and have used our text as their base! Isn't is great that "we," ( our offspring new version Bibles) could be in your pulpit?

But the fruits of our efforts have gone far beyond pastors' pulpits. That is just the "tip of the iceberg." We have spawned a "new order" that has permeated Christianity. No longer can a believer say with certainty that the Bible is his sure foundation, for that concept is now eroded. Faced with a confusing scenario of hundreds of different versions and paraphrases, who can say with assurance their Bible is the 100% totally true, absolutely trustworthy, pure Word of God? Man can't stand upon a foundation that is is doubt. Man is no longer bound by absolute truth. Man is liberated! He is freed to determine what He deems scripture might be saying. The Bible, no longer, is Thee literal Word of God; it just contains words of God. Therefore individual words don't matter as long as we point out some truth there.

By swallowing the bait that our made-up textual theories have "crowned" ONLY TWO discarded manuscripts as the closest to the originals, we have simply removed the old fashioned Biblical notions that every single Word of God is pure, precious, true, and preserved. The Bride of Christ is so pathetically ignorant of God's defining standards of His Word, that we can even scorn those scriptural warnings against those who "add to or take away God's Words." THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT THE POPULAR NIV HAS REMOVED 17 COMPLETE VERSES! [MATTHEW 17:21,18:11, 23:14, MARK 7:16, 9:44, 9:46, 11:26, 15:28, LUKE 17:36, 23:17, JOHN 5:4, ACTS 8:37, 15:34, 24:7, 28:28, ROMANS 16:24 AND I JOHN 5:7!]…NOT TO MENTION THE 45 ADDITIONAL VERSES THAT HAVE BEEN EFFECTIVELY STRICKEN BY THE EDITOR'S FOOTNOTES! WHEN A FINAL TALLY HAS BEEN MADE, THE NIV HAS REMOVED 64,576 WORDS!

The trouble is though, that if believers find out that their Bible has been ripped apart like that, we can no longer fall back on the deception that "the Greek can be translated in a different way." They may be gullible, but they are not so stupid to think that a Greek verse can be translated a certain way and then that same Greek verse be "translated" another time with absolutely no words!

Of course the publishing business executives absolutely appreciate us, for our invented text has also forged a new license to adjust, invent, and copyright new version Bibles ($$$$$$). The Christian public is so gullible. All we have to do is get our products marketed in Christian bookstores, and they then assume they are Biblical. Their biggest joke is that they actually believe that all the new versions have done is to have translated the Greek a little better and have replaced the archaic English with modern speech. They cannot even realize that therefore, it has taken more than 100 new versions in the last 100 years to update all the "changes" the English language has supposedly gone through! We can't help but smirk though, because in their impossible quest to actually know what the Bible is saying, how many new versions [ 5, 10, 50, 100, 300, 450 ] will they feel compelled to buy before they supposedly "get a handle on the truth?"…. $$$$$$

And naturally, pastors can no longer say in their sermons with solid assurance, "Thus saith the Lord," because if they are honest, they really can't say with certainty, what words really are God's Words. Man is free from God's restraint! He is now his own authority, for “thus saith the Lord,” has now been replaced with doubt, ( “Yea, hath God said,” ). And our bait, Satan's carrot, ( “ye shall be as gods!” ) is so tempting. With the restraints curtailed, man can now dissolve the differences that divide the world's religions. The ecumenical, one world church will soon be a reality, for now man controls his own destiny! Absolutes are out and "relatives" are in.

Well pastor, what do you think? You seem to be squirming, as if you sense you have been deceived. Oh, have you let God down? Surely, you are not thinking you may have made an oversight having us in your pulpit? Forget it! Don't you even toy with the idea you might have made a mistake, or need to check out the facts. What is important here, is what people think of you. Status is everything; "go with the flow of the status quo." Even though your use of the new versions reflects what you were probably taught in a seminary, you can't forsake what your professors taught you. Besides, how could you effectively minister any more, if you admit to an error of such magnitude?

If you went back to the KJV, why, you would be the laughingstock of your parish; not to mention all of your seminary colleagues, and the fellow pastors of your denomination! And what about all those famous preachers who promote the new versions? I know what you're thinking. We know they are just mere mortals too. But hey, there are some "big" names out there. So what, if in the minds of many Christians the Bible's final authority has been replaced by some popular preacher's influence. There is no way that men of such famous acclaim could be wrong,.. is there? And besides, you don't really believe that bunk that someday we are all going before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account, do you?… I'm sure you realize the value of our "wisdom."

Now listen, I want to leave you with these words of advice. Heed them well. What ever you do, do not study or preach on, the subject of "what God's Word says about God's Word." Those standards may confront or confuse you and besides, if there is any question about a verse, remember it's left up to your interpretation anyway. So, it would be a waste of time and besides, your "final authority" should always be "man's wisdom" anyway.

As you know, even though secular education promotes evolution, most Christians refuse to believe in it, because the theory contradicts the Genesis account of creation. By the same token, it is of the utmost importance that these believers don't ever come to the realization that our so-called scientific textual theories are in direct opposition to scripture as well! They must be kept in the dark that our new versions have stricken complete verses and thousands of words. Keep the impression alive that our new versions have simply updated the old English words of the Authorized King James Bible. Let them continue to assume that our modern versions and the old KJV have come from the same pile of manuscripts; but for the more "scholarly" ones, they know that is not the case. Just continue to perpetuate the delusion that our new versions are the offspring of a “better” Greek or Hebrew manuscript textual base. But don’t' let the question be raised, "How could it be of God for how could He be the author of two very different textual bases that contradict each other?"

Oh yes, one more little trick we've pulled off is such a gem. So many pastors and so-called experts love to open their modern Hebrew and Greek Lexicons (or dictionaries) and correct God's Word, especially the KJV. What most Christians don't know is that most of the Greek/Hebrew lexicons and dictionaries were written by nonbelievers! By our scribes inserting subtle changes in our new dictionaries, gullible believers conclude those KJV translators just didn't get it right. For example pastor, Gerhard Kittel's impressive, ten volume Theological Dictionary of the New Testament must have a prominent place in your study's library. It has been proclaimed as the best New Testament dictionary ever made. However though, a word of caution is needed. It's probably not a good idea (at this time of course ) to alert others of his "credentials." The same year he began work on his famous dictionary, Adolf Hitler hired him to be a theological voice in his propaganda against the Jews! Our German friend is also a convicted Nazi war criminal! You see Theologian Kittel played the major role in persuading the German populace that Jewish extermination was a righteous cause!

Our smart seminary graduates must love to hear themselves proclaim, "What this word or verse really means is…" or "Actually, in the original Greek…" So in a nut shell, we have not only spawned multitudes of Bibles through a corrupted text, we can even "prove" our position, because we have corrupted the dictionaries as well! (So the issue really boils down to deciding, is the truth found in our modern textual theories and their trappings; or is it in what scripture says.) Frankly, (and this is not for publication) this inability of our theories to match up with God's Words, is the "Achilles heel" of our cause.

If the Christian public ever realizes that the presence of all of our differing, changing, evolving new versions is in direct opposition to the standards God has on His Word, our money making deception will be over. They must never realize that our new versions have ignored God's warnings about "adding to or taking away His Words." They must never realize that if they accept our new version scenario, they have to also conclude that every Word of God is not necessarily pure, true and precious even though their Bible says they are. (Not to mention that therefore they have just put their God in the category of one who can change, fail and yes, even lie!) I'm simply amazed that more pastors, etc., haven't realized this by now. But should the subject come up, play the role of the intellectual, KJV "corrector," and give them the "line" that no Bibles are without error; that only in the original manuscripts was there found the pure word of God. If they start quoting those verses that claim God's Word, right down to the "jot and the title," will be preserved forever (and therefore perfectly), just get a little "huffy," and question their ability to translate Hebrew and Greek. Ignore their "But the Bible says…" stance, and tell them their opinion should be based upon "man's wisdom" such as in the book, "The King James Only Controversy" by our pawn, James White.

Nail 'em with righteous sounding indignation from your pulpit. Accuse them of causing disunity and even refer to them as dogs, but don't let those Bible-quoting detractors steer you away from your peer pressure, the popular "flow of the status quo." You don't want to be out of line with those well-known pastors… Sometimes you just can't deal persuasively with those hard-heads, whose sole authority is the Bible.

Lastly, don't be too serious in your responsibilities as a pastor. I know you're playing the role of the "shepherd leading his flock," and you are supposed to be a "watchman on the church walls;" but just forget what it says in Ezekiel 33:1-9 and 34:1-10! Those very serious verses pointing out your accountability don't apply to our modern times anyway. Stick with the slick productions, the gimmicks, short services, no prayer meetings and "sprinkled" with psychology, you can really "tickle their ears!" See you in the pulpit, guys….

Westcott and Hort*

EPILOGUE

* "Westcott and Hort…all subsequent versions from the Revised Version (1881) to those of the present…have adopted their basic approach…(and) accepted the Westcott and Hort (Greek) text." (by Zondervan spokesman, John R. Kohlenberger, "Words About the Word," Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1987, page 42)

"By their fruit, ye shall know them…" I seriously doubt, if the truth was known and Westcott and Hort were alive today, no Bible believing church would allow them preach from their pulpit, or any of our evangelical seminaries and Christian institutions would embrace their apostasy. Based on their ungodly beliefs, it would be unthinkable. Yet, their legacy in the form of the new versions, is widely accepted. Dear believer, if this subject seems too incredible to believe, I fully understand what you are feeling, because it wasn't that long ago I was using several new versions. When information of this hoax confronted me, I was tempted to ignore the facts and the questions they raised. But today, I thank God that He didn't let me rest, that I "did my homework," and I discovered the truth. The defining standards of God's Word coupled with the incredible historical evidence on the subject, cannot be ignored. God's Word now, means so much more to me, and I give Him all the praise. Hosea 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge…" and Psalms 11:3, " If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Would you please, prayerfully consider this issue, and above all, do it in the light of God's Word with the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Thank you for taking the time to read this. God bless you!

Sincerely in Christ,

Dan Nicholls

PS If you would like further information on the subject, on the Internet there are many good sites:

AV Publications

Dial the Truth

Global Evangelism

The KJB Page

Jesus is Christ

Jesus is Lord