There Are Many Versions of the Bible

Rev 22:18-19 March 21, 2017

The book, New Age Bible Versions, by G.A. Riplinger, was a tool used by the Lord to teach me some very important facts that I needed to know and understand in order to be where I am now in my relationship with Him. He knows us personally and knows what each individual needs on their journey to perfection. I did not know how important this book was for me until long after I read it.

It was the end of 2012 and I had just become born again. I ended up going on a trip and wanted a book to read on the plane. I happened to see this book on the table at home and asked if anyone was reading it. I was told it was brought to our house so someone specific could read it, but that it turned out they were not interested. I took it on vacation and read a lot; in the airport, on the plane, in the car once I got to my destination, I was very intrigued by this book and could hardly put it down. The book compares the King James Version of the bible to the New Age Versions, such as the NIV and the NASB, and how important those differences are to a Christian trying to learn, hear from, and essentially have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

One reason why this book held my attention was because the church I grew up in read the NIV Bible and I never knew, cared or understood why. I was now reading the King James Version and at this point in my life, I was wondering why I should be reading the King James Version and how it differs from the version I had always known. I thought it was only a matter of old English versus a more modernized way of saying the same things so it could be more easily understood by the people in the 21st century. While I attended the church I grew up in, I don’t recall any kind of reference being made to the particular version of the bible we read or any mention of other versions of the Bible. It has made me wonder if people in churches consider which version of the Bible they’re reading and why. I wondered if my parents ever considered this, not just because they made the decision to read it and trust it, but they had made that choice for my brothers and myself also.

As I read this book, I learned a lot of truths. I know some people think I was just taking this author’s word for it, but that is not so. I prayed about it, considered it, had confirmations from the Lord about it, and was attacked because of it. As a born again Christian, I know that Satan hates God and anything to do with His will being done, so the fact that I was learning the truth about the many different versions of the bible really got him going. But if I’m being attacked by Satan, I praise God and cling to him more, and rejoice knowing I’m doing right by God, otherwise Satan would not be paying attention to me because I’m not getting in his way.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

This book actually pissed me off because I found out how the writers of the new age versions have perverted God’s word. This book gives reference after reference to direct scriptures in the bible that differ from each other depending on what version you read, and how it changes the entire meaning of those verses completely. I looked up so many of these to double check for myself and lo and behold, it was right, every single time.

“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.” Rev.‬ ‭22:18-19

One example of the way that Satan messes with and deceives the people in the pews with New age versions of the bible is by changing the words “he” and “Son” to “The One”. “The One” is not only put in new age versions because of people, such as feminists, not wanting to believe that God is a him, not only to get the world to believe that all we need to do is become one, to be unified, (which God tells us he made the oceans and multiple languages to prevent that from happening because all man’s ideas of unity is to throw God completely out of the equation) but because “The One” can refer to Lucifer. How could someone up and decide to change the words, and therefore change God’s word? Satan had his hand in it, he is THE deceiver. One of the big points made in this book is that Satan will use whoever and whatever he can to become more powerful than God himself. What better way to go about trying to do this than to mess with God’s word itself? Matthew 4 tells us that Satan used God’s word to tempt Jesus, so we cannot be naive in thinking that he wouldn’t do the same with us. We tend to forget, or don’t know, or don’t think about the fact that Satan is smarter than us. He knows what he’s doing and he’ll do anything to try and win. But that’s another thing a lot of new age readers don’t even read about Satan because he’s mis-referenced or removed entirely from a lot of verses in the New Age Versions. I learned that this could be a big part of why a lot of Christians believe that everyone is going to heaven. Hell and Satan are not spoken about much in new age versions, and sometimes mis-referenced, so it’s as if they don’t exist.

Another way that Satan is deceiving the new age readers is by having entire verses completely omitted from these new versions of the Bible. Look at Mark 9:44 and 46, you can look it up online and compare the NIV to the KJV. Do you notice how one version doesn’t even have a verse 44 and 46? I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this. How could this not be questioned by the people in the churches? Is it because they aren’t allowed to speak up during the church service? Do they not want to cause a scene? Is it because they don’t want to question their leader in which they take this person’s word on everything that comes out of their mouth? It seems as though most people don’t care. They don’t want to get into it because you’re not supposed to question things, just believe them.

I learned a lot from reading this book. It was one of the most influential books I have ever read. This book was crucial to my understanding of Satan and his deceptive ways and also an understanding of people and how they really aren’t seeking truth. People want to be deceived; they want the easy road which includes not doing any thinking for themselves. This is what Satan counts on from people and hopes for because he can easily manipulate and use them. I write this in hopes that the reader will take an honest look at this idea for themselves. I was completely unaware of this so I am sure other people are as well.

You can check out this article about the Bible The Book of Books for further knowledge.