BIBLE VERSIONS: Which Is The Real Word of God
By: David B Loughran (Proof Read & Corrected by: Joe
Wells)
Two
of the greatest deceptions ever to confront the human race came to the fore in
the 19th century: deceptions so subtle and dangerous that between them
they have destroyed the faith of multiplied billions of souls in and out of the
Christian Church. The first was the unproved theory of evolution:
fascinating, plausible and seized upon by the godless mind which chafes at the
commandments of the Almighty God. The second was the Revised Version of the
Bible posing as the "Word of God"; a version as corrupt as
it was potent, for it spawned a host of unholy offspring.
The
first deception has, over the years, turned hundreds of millions away from the
Christian church; for it taught that the very first chapter of the Bible was
not really the truth, but legend. This pernicious theory is still taught, as
fact, in thousands of colleges and schools the world over. Our article on Evolution exposes the theory for what
it really is - a fallacy!
The
second deception, the Revised Bible, it casts doubt on the real Word
of God and starves believers of the Bread of Life. Sad to say it is
also taught in thousands of churches, Bible schools and religious colleges the
world over. This article deals with the second deception - Counterfeit
Bibles! Read it with special care, several times over, because if you have
avoided the first deception, you are most certainly the target of the second.
Divine Inspiration
Millions of Christians believe, and rightly so,
in the divine and verbal inspiration of the Bible: that the Holy
Ghost motivated the minds of the prophets and apostles of old to pen every word
of Scripture. Our faith in divine inspiration is based on Bible texts
such as:
·
All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)
·
19:
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day
star arise in your hearts: 20: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the
scripture is of any private interpretation. 21: For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:19-21)
Providential Preservation
Millions also believe in the providential
preservation of the Bible: that God has also preserved His
Word down through the ages; and that His work of preservation is as
important as His initial work of inspiration. After all it would have
been of limited value if the original inspired Scriptures were lost to
posterity a few decades after being penned. Providential preservation,
in other words, is as essential a work as that of divine inspiration.
Our faith in providential preservation is based on Bible texts such as:
·
The
words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth,
purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them
from this generation for ever. (Psalm 12: 6-7)
·
Psalm
119:89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven…111: Thy
testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever…152: Concerning thy
testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.
·
I
know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to
it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear
before him. (Ecclesiastes 3:14)
·
Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew
24:35)
·
Being
born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of
God, which liveth and abideth for ever… The word of the Lord endureth
for ever. (1Peter 1:23-25)
Concerning
Providential Preservation the Westminster Confession of Faith (17th
century) says this on page 23:
QUOTE: The Old Testament in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek,
being immediately inspired by God and by His singular care and providence
kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical,
so as in all controversies of religion the Church is finally to appeal unto
them."
In
the past most Christians accepted these facts, but of late there are a growing
number who have strong reservations about divine preservation. They
will allow that the original autographs, which of course are no longer
available, were inspired. But they have strong reservations about divine
preservation. They believe that much of Scripture is in need of update,
because some of the oldest manuscripts were not available to the 17th
century translators of the King James Bible (KJB). That is why, they
maintain, the Revised Version of 1881 and its many descendants became
necessary; and how that each new English translation is an improvement on the
one that went before. In other words, the Bible is also evolving and
each new version brings us one step nearer the original.
This
is an extremely disturbing development; for when we examine modern
translations, which like the Revised Version are all based on corrupt
manuscripts, we find they do not simply use modern language, which, arguably,
may have been in order; but they say things entirely different from the early English
and foreign language versions of the Scriptures, which in past centuries
God used to further His work. In this article you are about to learn many
startling facts about the modern English translations of the Bible, that they all:
·
Present conflicting messages with
the King James Bible (KJB) and even with each
other.
·
Omit many words, verses
and passages of Scripture.
·
Cast doubt on the
accuracy of the KJB and several fundamental doctrines taught in it, such
as the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, his divinity, his miracles, his bodily
ascension to heaven and his second coming.
·
Disagree on major
doctrinal points with other early European versions of the Bible which
triggered the great Protestant Reformation and for which tens of thousands of
true believers died during the dark ages.
·
Are warmly welcomed by
the Roman Catholic Church which has long considered the King James Bible
its number one enemy.
These
discoveries are disturbing to say the least and should cause true believers
around the world to ask: Is all this true? Are these allegations justified?
And if so, what spirit is behind the deception and confusion
caused by the modern translations? Visit any Bible study group where
believers are using a variety of modern "Bibles" and comments
such as these are common:
·
'My Bible puts it
this way.'
·
'My Bible doesn't even
have that verse.'
·
'Listen
to this Note about ancient and more reliable manuscripts.'
·
'My
Bible says something totally different.'
·
'My
Bible says the very opposite.'
The
question is: Which English Bible is the real Word of God? Anyone can see
that they cannot all be the Word of God if they are saying different
things. After all, God doesn't contradict Himself and is certainly not the
author of confusion. (1Corinthians 14:33) Scores of conflicting
translations, all claiming to be God’s Word, cannot possibly be the work of the
Holy Spirit of God. Besides, would Almighty God flood the English-speaking world with well over
100 conflicting translations of the whole Bible and over 300 translations of
the New Testament? Something is wrong somewhere and it's time to find
out.
As
most believers know, the Bible is often referred to as 'the Holy
Scriptures.' It is made up of two parts, the Old and the New Testaments. The
Old Testament is a collection of 39 books which were originally penned mostly
in the Hebrew language. The New Testament is a collection of 27 books, written
originally in Greek; though some portions were probably written in Hebrew or
Aramaic, a north Semitic language. The original autographs (masters) were
the hand-written scrolls penned by the inspired prophets and apostles. They
were written on vellum (the skins of clean animals, such as calf, goat
or antelope) or papyrus. Vellum is more durable and costly than
papyrus; but an entire antelope skin would only furnish two or three pages of a
manuscript. Because of this fact the vast majority of manuscripts were written
on papyrus. Papyrus is a reed-like water plant with thick fibrous stems from
which a kind of paper was made in ancient times. The average papyrus scroll was
about ten inches in width and about thirty feet in length. After years of
constant use, being rolled and unrolled, the original autographs (master
scrolls) especially those of papyrus, became worn and began to fall apart.
Before the original masters completely
disintegrated they were carefully copied. The Almighty, who had initially inspired
their production, then moved His faithful followers, first the Aaronic
Priests and later the Masorites, to make copies of the originals.
Thus began the work of providential preservation. After all, it would
have been short-sighted of God to infallibly inspire the Scriptures only
to have them discarded after a few decades. Jehovah must needs, as
promised, preserve His Word in accurate copies for the following
statements to be true:
Divine Preservation
·
The
words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth,
purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them
from this generation for ever. (Psalm 12: 6-7)
·
Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew
24:35)
·
The
word of the Lord endureth for ever (1Peter 1:25)
The
God of Israel anticipated Satan's intended attack on the Scriptures: and how
the enemy of souls would seek to frustrate the divine work of preservation
by causing unbelieving scribes to add to, delete and distort the
sacred writings. That is why this solemn, yea frightening, warning appears at
the end of the Bible. It not only addresses copyists and translators
who intentionally corrupt Jehovah's Word, but also those who knowingly
promote their corrupted publications.
Revelation
22:18-19 18 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.
I
repeat: to preserve His word, JEHOVAH the LORD God of Abraham,
Isaac and Israel must needs ensure that accurate copies of the inspired
masters be made; else His promise that 'the Word of the Lord abideth
forever' was meaningless - if not false. Consequently the Almighty
caused faithful believers to copy His Word. This is how He organized
that work.
The
Masorites were Jewish scholars who, like their B.C. predecessors the Aaronic
Priests, had the sacred task of copying the Old Testament Hebrew
Scriptures. In his book Story of Our English Bible, W Scott wrote over a
hundred years ago concerning the reliability of the copies made by these faithful
priests and scribes.
He
Writes:
"It is well known that among the Jews it was the profession of
the Masorites, or doctors of tradition, to transcribe the scriptures. We know
to what extent these indefatigable scholars carried their respect for the
letter; and when we read the rules under which their labors were carried on, we
understand the use that the providence of God (who had 'confided his oracles to
the Jews') made of their superstition.
They reckoned the number of verses, words, and letters in each book. They tell
us, for instance, that the letter A occurs forty-two thousand three
hundred and seventy-seven times in the Bible; the letter B thirty-eight
thousand two hundred and eighteen times; and so on to the end. They were
scrupulous of changing the position even of a letter, though evidently
misplaced, but limited themselves to noting in the margin, supposing some
mystery was involved. They tell us which is the middle letter
of the Pentateuch, as well as of each of the books of which it is composed.
They never allowed themselves to correct their manuscript; and if any
mistake escaped them, they rejected the papyrus or the skin which they had
blemished, and recommenced upon a fresh one; for they were equally interdicted
from even correcting one of their own errors, and from retaining for their
sacred volume a single parchment or skin in which an error had been made...
"These facts, we repeat it, together with the astonishing preservation
of the Hebrew text (1200 years more ancient than that of the Septuagint),
plainly tell us how the intervention of the mighty hand of God was needed in
the destinies of the sacred book."
In
his book God Wrote Only One Bible, Jasper James Ray confirms this fact
about the faithfulness displayed by these ancient scribes in copying the
Scriptures.
He
Writes:
"In
making copies of the original manuscripts, the Jewish scribes exercised the
greatest possible care. When they wrote the name of God in any form they were
to reverently wipe their pen, and wash their whole body before writing "Jehovah " lest that holy name should be tainted even
in writing. The new copy was examined and carefully checked with the original
almost immediately, and it is said that if only one incorrect letter was
discovered the whole copy was rejected.
Each new copy had to be made from an approved manuscript, written with a
special kind of ink, upon skins made from a 'clean' animal. The writer had to
pronounce aloud each word before writing it. In no case was the written word to
be written from memory."
A
'manuscript' is a hand-written document, not one that is typed or printed. The
word 'manuscript' is often abbreviated as MS or ms (singular) and
MSS or mss (plural). Currently there are 5,795 extant (existing)
manuscripts of the Scriptures or parts of it (Number includes 86,489 Patristic Texts (Apostolic Fathers), 127 Papyrus, 320
Uncials, 2,903 Minuscule’s and 2,445 Lectionaries).
This number does not including the Dead Sea Scrolls which clearly demonstrates
that the King James Bible has been accurately translated and preserved down
through the ages. These manuscripts fall into two categories:
·
Masters:
These were the original autographs. There are
currently no original autographs or masters in existence. They have all
long since been replaced by copies.
·
Copies:
These are hand-written copies of the masters or
hand-written copies of earlier copies. These hand-written copies of the whole
or parts of Scripture are still in existence.
Manuscripts produced by the early Christians
fall into three categories:
1. Copies of masters or copies of
earlier copies.
2. Versions :
These are translations of Scripture made directly from the original languages.
For example from Hebrew or Greek into Syriac, Latin, German, English or French.
A translation from Latin into English, or from English into Chinese,
cannot strictly be called a 'version.' It is simply a translation of a translation:
whereas a 'version' must be a translation from the original. Bear this
important fact in mind.
3. Church Fathers: Our third group is the Apostolic Fathers or early church fathers.
These are the men who led the Christians in the first few centuries after the
New Testament was completed. We have record of their early sermons, books and
commentaries. They will be able to provide us with much information on disputed
passages. Many of them may have seen the original autographs.
As regards the format of ancient
manuscripts, they are often described as:
·
Uncial
or Majuscules: written in capital letters
with no spaces: e.g. NOMANHATHSEENGD.
·
Cursives
or Miniscules: written in small letters and later with spaces:
e.g. No-man-hath-seen-gd.
Ante-Nicene
Fathers & Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers By: Schaff, Philip (1819-1893)
Description:
(THE CHURCH FATHERS… brings together the
writings of the early Church fathers prior
to the fourth century Nicene Creed.
These volumes are noteworthy for their inclusion
of entire texts, and not simply fragments or excerpts from these great writings. The translations are fairly literal,
providing both readers and
scholars with a good approximation of the originals. This particular
volume contains works by St. Clement, Mathetes, St. Polycarp, St. Ignatius,
Barnabas, St. Papias, St. Justin Martyr, and St. Irenaeus. These writings were
heavily influential on the early Church, and for good reason, as they are
inspirational and encouraging. These volumes also come with many useful notes,
providing the reader with new levels
of understanding.)
Before the art of
printing was known (before AD 1450) the church fathers of the early Christian
era wrote - by hand - their letters, sermon notes, commentaries and
books. Their manuscripts contain many quotations from the original
autographs or the earliest copies. Some fathers had actually seen
the New Testament autographs or very early copies; and had personally hand-copied
large portions of Scripture. The writings of these early elders help verify the
original text and form a valuable source of information as to what the first
apostles wrote. Scripture tells us that Satan began his attack on the New
Testament Scriptures very early, even before the first apostles died. Listen to
Paul's testimony concerning this matter about corrupting of the Word of God;
and of some who even wrote letters as though they were composed by the apostle
himself.
Paul writes:
|
2 Corinthians 2:17 |
For we are not as many , which corrupt the word of God:
but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. |
|
2 Thess.2:2 |
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by
spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of
Christ is at hand. |
During the latter part of his life the apostle
John strongly defended the Word of God. Being an eye-witness of the
events involving the ministry of Jesus
Christ, John was well qualified to refute written or spoken error and to
put the record straight. The enemies of truth had this reliable eye-witness
banished to the island of Patmos. Note the reason why.
John writes:
Revelation 1:9 (KJV) 9 I John, who also am your brother,
and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,
was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the
testimony of Jesus Christ.
There were many church fathers who hand-copied the
whole or portions of Scripture. Let me mention a few who greatly influenced the
church, particularly in Europe.
In his book Story of Our English Bible W
Scott writes: "Crysostom, the most eloquent of the
fathers, spoke of them (the Scriptures) as The Divine Books, Polycarp,
who lived at a still earlier date, having been personally instructed
by the Apostle John, spoke of the Bible as The Sacred Scriptures, as also the
Oracles of the Lord. Clement of Rome, whom Paul styles his
'fellow-labourer' (Phil.1V.3), termed the Scriptures The True Sayings of the
Holy Spirit. Irenaeus, of the second century, makes about
1200 citations or references from the New Testament; Tertullian, also
of the second century refers to or quotes from the New Testament about 2500 times;
Clement of Alexandria, another of the second century
Fathers, cites from or refers to the New Testament 800 times; and Polycarp,
already referred to, in a brief epistle addressed to the
Philippians, quotes from the New Testament about 50 times."
Lucian of Antioch
Lucian (AD 250-312) was born in Antioch in Syria
where the early believers in Jesus were first called Christians. (Acts
11:26)
QUOTE: Lucian founded a college at
Antioch which strove to counteract the dangerous ecclesiastical alliance
between Rome and Alexandria. How bitter the situation became and how it finally
split West and East will be clarified by the following fact:
The original founders of the ecclesiastical college
at Alexandria strove to exalt tradition. Justin Martyr, as early as 150, had
stood for this.
6. Ancient Versions
Bear
in mind that a version is a translation made directly from the original
Hebrew or Greek: i.e. from Hebrew or Greek into Syriac, Latin or English; whereas
a translation of a version into yet another language is simply called a translation.
Bible versions were made in several languages within a few years of the New
Testament's creation. This was a rarity in the ancient world for any book.
Josh
McDowell writes on pages 16-17 of his book Answers to Tough Questions.
"...Translation of a document into another language was rare
in the ancient world, so this is an added plus for the New Testament. The
number of copies of the versions is in excess of 18,000, with possibly
as many as 25,000+. This is further evidence that helps us establish the
New Testament text. Even if we did not possess the 5,500+ Greek
manuscripts or the 18,000+ copies of the versions, the text of the New
Testament could still be reproduced within 250 years from its composition. How?
By the writing of the early Christians. In commentaries, letters, etc.,
these ancient writers quote biblical text, thus giving us another witness to
the text of the New Testament.
John Burgon has catalogued more than 86,000 (86,489) citations of the
New Testament in the writings of the early church fathers who lived before
A.D.325. Thus we observe that there is so much more evidence for the
reliability of the New Testament text than any other comparable writings in the
In
his book Final Authority William P Grady quotes John Burgon on pages
33-34 concerning the reliability of a version over any single manuscript.
"I
suppose it may be laid down that an ancient Version outweighs any single Codex,
ancient or modern, which can be named: the reason being, that it is scarcely
credible that a Version - the Peshitto , for example, an Egyptian or the
Gothic - can have been executed from a single exemplar (copy).
A second reason for the value of ancient versions is in their
ability to exhibit a text which antedates the oldest Greek manuscripts. Readings
which are challenged in the Authorized Version for their non-existence in the
'two most ancient authorities' (Codex Sinaiticus or A; and Codex Vaticanus, or
B, fourth century) are frequently discovered in the Syrian and Latin translations
of the second century."
In
the course of time many versions (translations from the original language) of
Scripture were made. Let us now consider a few.
The Peshitta Version (AD 150)
The Peshitta was the first Syrian translation from the original
languages. Even to this day there are around 350 copies of the Peshitta
(or Peshitto) version in existence. In his book Which Bible? David O
Fuller writes this of the Peshitto:
"It was at Antioch, capital of Syria, that the believers were
first called Christians. And as time rolled on, the Syrian-speaking Christians
could be numbered by the thousands. It is generally admitted that the Bible was
translated from the original languages into Syrian about 150 AD. This
version is known as the Peshitto (the correct or simple). This Bible
even today generally follows the Received Text. One authority tells us this -
'The Peshitto in our
days is found in use amongst the Nestorians, who have always kept it, by the
Monophysites on the plains of Syria, the Christians of St.Thomas in Malabar,
and by the Maronites on the mountain terraces of Lebanon.' "
The Old Latin Vulgate (AD157)
The word 'vulgate' is Latin for vulgar or common. The Old Latin
Vulgate is a version. It was used by early believers in Europe when Latin was
in popular use. It was sometimes referred to as the Itala version.
The Old Latin Vulgate must not be confused with Jerome's Vulgate, which
was produced over 220 years later in AD 380. Jerome's Vulgate (also written in
Latin for the Roman Church) was rejected by the early Christians for almost a
millennium. The Waldenses, Gauls, Celts, Albegenses and other groups
throughout Europe used the Old Latin Vulgate and rejected Jerome's
Vulgate. In his book An Understandable History of the Bible Rev. Samuel
Gipp Th.D confirms this fact. He writes:
"The Old Latin Vulgate was used by the Christians in
the churches of the Waldenses, Gauls, Celts, Albegenses and other fundamental
groups throughout Europe. This Latin version became so used and beloved by
orthodox Christians and was in such common use by the common people that it
assumed the term 'Vulgate' as a name. Vulgate comes from 'vulgar' which
is the Latin word for 'common' It was so esteemed for its faithfulness to
the deity of Christ and its accurate reproductions of the originals, that these
early Christians let Jerome's Roman Catholic translation 'sit on the shelf.'
Jerome's translation was not used by the true Biblical Christians for almost a
millennium after it was translated from corrupted manuscripts by Jerome in 380
A.D. Even then it only came into usage due to the death of Latin as a
common language, and the violent, wicked persecutions waged against true believers
by Pope Gregory IX during his reign from 1227 to 1242 A.D."
David
Fuller confirms this fact:
|
Quote: |
"It is clearly
evident that the Latin Bible of early British Christianity was not the
Latin Bible (Vulgate) of the Papacy." |
The Italic Bible (AD157)
"Italy, France and Great Britain were once provinces of the
old Roman Empire. Latin was then the language of the common people. So the
first translations of the Bible in these countries were made from the Greek
Vulgate into Latin. One of the first of these Latin Bibles was for the Waldenses
in northern Italy, translated not later than 157 AD and was known as the Italic
Version. The renowned scholar Beza states that the Italic Church dates from
120 AD. Allix, an outstanding scholar, testifies that enemies had corrupted
many manuscripts, while the Italic Church handed them down in their apostolic
purity."
The Waldensian (AD 120 & onwards)
"The
Waldenses were among the first of the peoples of Europe to obtain a translation
of the Holy Scriptures. Hundreds of years before the Reformation, they
possessed a Bible in manuscript in their native tongue. They had the truth
unadulterated, and this rendered them the special objects of hatred and
persecution …Here for a thousand years, witnesses for the truth maintained the
ancient faith…In a most wonderful manner it (the Word of Truth) was preserved
uncorrupted through all the ages of darkness."
The Gallic Bible (Southern France) (AD177)
The Gothic Bible (AD 330-350)
The Old Syriac Bible (AD 400)
The Armenian Bible (AD 400) There are 1244 copies of this
version still in existence.
The Palestinian Syriac (AD 450)
The French Bible of Oliveton (AD 1535)
The Czech Bible (AD 1602)
The Italian Bible of Diodati (AD 1606)
The Greek Orthodox Bible: Used from Apostolic times to the present day
by the Greek Orthodox Church.
All
the above mentioned Bibles and the vast majority (about 99%) of the 5200
extant New Testament MSS are in agreement with the text now known as Textus
Receptus; the Text which underlies the Authorised King James Bible.
John Wycliffe's Translation (1380-82). This was the first manuscript
(hand-written) Bible in the English language. Strictly speaking, it was not a version,
but a translation into English from the Old Latin Vulgate. Wycliffe, often
described as the 'Morning Star of the Reformation,' was an able
Latin scholar. Alas! so hated was he for making Scripture available to the common
man that some 44 years after his death his bones were dug up and burned, and
his ashes cast into the river Swift.
William Tyndale's New Testament (1526) was the first printed Testament in the English language.
Unlike Wycliffe's translation, Tyndale's New Testament was translated directly
from the Greek Majority Text, from which came the Received Text - Textus
Receptus. More about this Text later. Tyndale's work, in other words, was a
'version.' The first printings of Tyndale's version were burned at St
Paul's Cross (London). At that time it was a grievous offence, punishable by
fine, imprisonment or death to even possess a copy of Tyndale's New Testament.
It was said of William Tyndale that he was:
|
Quote: |
"A man so skilled
in the seven languages, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, English and
French, that which ever he spake, you would suppose it his native
tongue." |
He
it was who said to the ignorant clerics of his day that he would 'cause
the boy who driveth the plough to know more of the Scriptures than them.'
"Before Tyndale's day the English versions of the
Bible had been translations of a translation, being derived from the Vulgate or
older Latin versions. Tyndale, for the first time, went back to the original
Hebrew and Greek. And not only did he go back to the original languages seeking
for the truth, but he embodied that truth when found in so noble a translation
that it has ever since been deemed wise by scholars and revisers to make but a few
changes in it; consequently every succeeding version is in reality little more
than a revision of Tyndale's. It has been truly said that 'the peculiar genius
which breathes through the English Bible, the mingled tenderness and majesty,
the Saxon simplicity, the grandeur - unequalled, unapproached in the attempted
improvements of modern scholars - all are here, and bear the impress of the
mind of one man, and that man is William Tyndale."
|
Quote: |
But
alas! Tyndale was to suffer the wrath of blind ecclesiastical authority. He was
burned at the stake!
"The martyr was first
confined in the castle of Filford, about 20 miles from Antwerp. He was taken
from prison on Friday, October 6th 1536, fastened to the stake,
strangled, and his body burned to ashes. The fervent prayer of the martyr
Tyndale, when bound to the stake, 'Lord, open the King of England's eyes,'
was about to be answered shortly."
David Fuller writes
of Tyndale:
"In the Reformation period the Church of Rome sought to
maintain its dominant position by burning not only the copies of the bible, but
also those who recognized the supreme authority of God's word. Tyndale was
burned at the stake at Vilvorde outside Brussels in Belgium on August 6,
(October according to some historians) 1536. His great offence was that he had
translated the scriptures into English and was making copies available against
the wishes of the Roman catholic hierarchy.”
Miles Coverdale's Bible (1535). This was the first complete Bible in the English language.
Coverdale was not the scholar Tyndale was, for his translation relied heavily
on Tyndale and Luther's German Bible. It was printed just one year before his
friend Tyndale was martyred.
Matthew's Bible (1500-1555). This was the first Bible issued with the king's
license. It was mostly taken from Tyndale's and Coverdale's work which had gone
before. It was printed in Hamburg by the king's printer John Rogers and was
dedicated to Henry VIII by Rogers under the name Thomas Matthew, hence its
name.
The Great Bible (1539). This Bible was printed in large folio (15x9 inches) hence
its name. It was printed in Paris and was mostly a revision of Tyndale's and
Matthew's work which went before.
The Geneva Version (1560). During the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary many
Protestant believers from Britain fled to the Continent. The Scot John Knox was
one. The Geneva Bible is a true 'version' having been translated from
the original Hebrew and Greek throughout.
"A number of these intellectual pilgrims rendezvoused in
Geneva (known as the Holy City of the Alps) to form the first committee to
attempt a translation of the Bible. Such men as Theodore Beza, John Knox,
William Whittingham and Miles Coverdale laboured six years to produce the
celebrated Geneva Bible in 1560. Although this Bible was the first to
feature numbered verses and italics, its main achievement was the Hebrew to
English rendering of Ezra through Malachi, thus representing the first
English Bible translated entirely out of the original languages."
"The Geneva Bible was the first complete translation into English from the originals throughout. It was addressed to 'the brethren of England, Scotland, and Ireland,'… There were two Bibles at this time in general use in England. The Geneva Bible was the more popular of the two, and was generally read in the household and in private study of the Word by the people. The Cranmer or Bishops' Bible was the one, however, which obtained most favor amongst the clergy and was read in the churches.”
The Bishops' Bible (1568).
"Archbishop
Parker was the master mind in the preparation of this new edition of the Holy
Scriptures, assisted by about 15 scholarly men. He distributed the 'Cranmer
Bible' into parts, assigning portions to various learned bishops, the whole
being subject to his own personal supervision. The large number of the revisers
being from the Episcopal bench gave the name and character to this bible. It
was printed in large size, and beautifully executed. It was adorned with
numerous cuts; its notes were brief, and, like the 'Geneva
Bible,' was divided into verses. It was used in the Churches for
about 40 years. Various revised additions of the Bishops' Bible were
published. Soon after the appearance of the Authorised Version of 1611, the
Bishops' Bible - the last edition of which was published about five years
before its noble successor - fell into general disuse…"
The King James Version (1611) This is the Real Word of God for our
generation.
The Almighty has used it to further His work for coming on 400 years.
To be continued………