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The following
comparisons reveal the basics of the Reformed tendency to distort the
translation away from the Biblical doctrine of the Means of Grace. The New King
James Version tends to agree with the New International Version in these passages
because a major force behind the use of the King James Version (or the NKJV) is
Baptist. Obviously the New King James Version is not merely a modernization of
the Authorized Version language in these selections. Something else has happened.
These passages are difficult for the Reformed, so the New King James Version
provides an attachment to the old language without the Lutheran (they would say
Catholic) wording.
Teach All Nations
Briefly, the
original text has the verb for teaching and all nations as the direct object.
The concept of “making disciples” has been shoe-horned into the translation.
The Reformed like the concept of disciples because the influence of Pietism
leads them to think that there are levels of Christianity. The Church Growth
Movement teaches the gullible that disciples are “soul-winners” and the key to
membership growth. WELS leader Joel Gerlach bit on that concept hard and
published a wretched essay arguing the point. Thus “make disciples” is an
erroneous translation easily used to promote false doctrine.
KJV Matthew 28:19 Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
NIV Matthew 28:19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
NKJ Matthew 28:19 "Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
BYZ Matthew 28:19 poreuqe,ntej maqhteu,sate pa,nta ta. e;qnh
bapti,zontej auvtou.
Jesus Trapped in
Heaven
The Reformed
deny the Real Presence of Christ because of their doubt that Jesus could be in
heaven and yet also in, with, and under the elements of Holy Communion. In this
example, the NIV makes it seem as if Jesus is trapped in heaven until the End
Times. The verb in the original text is commonly translated as “receive” rather
than remain. Note 2 Corinthians 6:1 and 11:16, and many other examples. That is
the argument used against Luther’s doctrine, that Christ cannot be in heaven
and also on earth. The NIV supports the Zwinglian position, while the King
James has an entirely different message. Jesus was welcomed and received into
heaven in His glory, but not imprisoned there. The rationalistic attitude toward
the Two Natures of Christ, expressed by Zwingli and Calvin, reveals their
inability to allow that the divine nature is not limited in any respect by the
human nature of Christ. This imaginary limitation has always led the Calvinists
into Unitarianism.
KJV Acts 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
NIV Acts 3:21 He must
remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he
promised long ago through his holy prophets.
NKJ Acts 3:21 "whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
BYZ Acts 3:21 o]n dei/ ouvrano.n me.n de,xasqai a;cri cro,nwn
avpokatasta,sewj pa,ntwn w-n evla,lhsen o` qeo.j dia. sto,matoj pa,ntwn( tw/n
a`gi,wn auvtou/ profhtw/n avp aivw/noj.
Communion with God or
Something Vague
The
non-Lutheran Protestants all teach that Holy Communion is merely symbolic, an
ordinance to be obeyed, the reception of ordinary bread and ordinary grape
juice (Pietism motivated the Temperance Movement, which succeeded in removing
alcoholic beverages only from worship services, not anywhere else.) Lutherans
will use the term “Lord’s Supper,” but the Reformed seldom use the term “communion.”
The Greek word koinonia means fellowship with God in the New Testament. (See
2 Corinthians 13:14) It is significant that the Church Growth Movement uses
koinonia as a name for Pietistic cell groups, a distinctly anti-Means of Grace
institution. “Communion with the blood of Christ” means that the Son of God is present
in both natures during the Lord’s Supper. “Participation” lends itself to
symbolic interpretation.
KJV 1 Corinthians 10:16
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of
Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of
Christ?
NIV 1 Corinthians 10:16 Is
not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the
blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body
of Christ?
NKJ 1 Corinthians 10:16
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of
Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of
Christ?;
BYZ 1 Corinthians 10:16 to. poth,rion th/j euvlogi,aj o] euvlogou/men ouvci. koinwni,a tou/ ai[matoj tou/ Cristou/ evsti.n to.n a;rton o]n klw/men ouvci. koinwni,a tou/ sw,matoj tou/ Cristou/ evstin;
Everyone a Minister,
or the Ministry?
The favorite slogan of the Lutheran Church Growth gurus has been “everyone a minister,” and the Ephesians passage has been their favorite mistranslation. The modern translators discovered to their mock surprise that the KJV had been wrong for centuries, just like the “erroneous” translation of virgin in Isaiah 7:14. Although the King James translators—and William Tyndale before them—did not belong to Lutheranism, they knew enough Greek to realize that Paul did not think everyone was a minister. The more we degrade the Means of Grace and the efficacy of the Word, the more we shun the meaning and value of worship in favor of turning everyone into a jabbering evangelist with a “God-story” to tell. The influence of the unionistic and hyperactive Church Growth Movement has created a hybrid universal confession, merging the Jehovah’s Witness activism with the doctrinal vacuum of the Unitarians, sending people out to knock on doors with nothing to say. One very active laywoman pointed out that the value of the NIV translation is to transfer responsibility and labor from the ordained pastor to the members, blaming them for the lack of growth of the congregation.
The LCMS, WELS, and ELS will use the NIV to move from calling teachers (and everyone else) ministers to ordaining women pastors. The Wisconsin Synod already boasts that its teachers’ college, Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota, is their School of Ministry. All MLC students are listed as “ministers” in a WELS brochure in my filing system.
The King James and the original text list offices through which the Means of Grace are administered. Apostles preached, taught, and administered the Sacraments, but they had a greater level of responsibility and were eye-witnesses of the resurrection of Christ. An apostle would train and appoint a pastor through a local congregation. The pastor was educated and bore the responsibility for the flock, but he was not an apostle. Each type of pastoral ministry shared in perfecting the saints, the work of the ministry, the edifying of the body of Christ. However, the new mode translations make it seem as if the professional clergy are in charge of turning everyone (since saints are believers) into mini-ministers. That is the goal of the cell group swamis: to call each cell group leader, man or woman, a pastor. They are disciples making disciples making disciples making disciples, according to the elegant English of Joel Gerlach.
KJV Ephesians 4:11 And he
gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
NIV Ephesians 4:11 It was
he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists,
and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of
service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
NKJ Ephesians 4:11 And He
Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and
some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work
of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
BYZ Ephesians 4:11 kai. auvto.j e;dwken tou.j me.n avposto,louj tou.j
de. profh,taj tou.j de. euvaggelista,j tou.j de. poime,naj kai. didaska,louj 12 pro.j to.n katartismo.n tw/n a`gi,wn eivj e;rgon diakoni,aj eivj oivkodomh.n tou/
sw,matoj tou/ Cristou./
Drowning Baptism in a
Sea of Symbolism
This passage
is treated at greater length in the chapter on the Visible Word. The Greek text
and the King James clearly teach that baptism, like Noah’s Ark, saves people.
The message that “baptism doth now save us” is horrifying to Baptists and
Pentecostals. If baptism is a cleansing, a rebirth, a resurrection from death,
new life, then the answer of a good conscience is the knowledge of forgiveness
wrought by God in the sacrament. But those who deny any efficacy in baptism
must make the individual worthy of an initiation rite, so we have a “pledge of
a good conscience toward God.” The New King James, with an eye focused on its
anti-sacrament market, has an antitype saving us, proof that highly educated
people can have every translating tool at their disposal and turn a clear
passage into hash.
KJV 1 Peter 3:21 The like
figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
NIV 1 Peter 3:21 and this
water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-- not the removal of dirt
from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
NKJ 1 Peter 3:21 There
is also an antitype which now saves us -- baptism (not the removal of the
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
BYZ 1 Peter 3:21 o] avnti,tupon nu/n kai. h`ma/j sw,|zei ba,ptisma ouv sarko.j
avpo,qesij r`u,pou avlla. suneidh,sewj avgaqh/j evperw,thma eivj qeo,n di
avnasta,sewj VIhsou/ Cristou,/
Having the best translation does not release a pastor or congregation from diligent study of the Scriptures. In fact, problems and conflicts in translations are good in keeping us aware of the difficulties and the doctrinal causes of variations from the truth. Some advocates of the Authorized Version get frothy about the implication of any difficulty in their favorite translation. That should not be. The same translation will not be equally clear in all places to every person. In addition, no translation has the unchanging clarity of the original text. English has changed for the worse in the last hundred years, but the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible remain exactly the same as they were in ancient times. Many people use the changing nature of our language as a warrant for new translations, and I would be convinced if they did not keep getting more Pentecostal, more gender bender, and more Church Growthy.