time in the Word

I love being able to spend time studying the scriptures. At one time my bible was tattered and worn until it was almost illegible. Then I discovered these fantastic online concordances. (My favorite is http://www.biblegateway.com/) Now my computer keyboard gets a workout. My bibles are still tattered and worn, but I use the computer screen for daily reading and study. I can read whole chapters or look at individual verses and I have quick access to any scripture as the Lord brings it to mind. It is also good to have alternative translations available for study, too—not that I depend on them, but those places where modern translators have substituted man’s doctrine for the pure Word under the guise of ‘clarifying’ the translations are immediately apparent.

Those of us who have been raised up in the Church sometimes aren’t fully aware of the inroads Satan has made into changing the truth through influencing the printed Word. It is appalling. New converts have had contaminated bread and meat placed in their hands from their birth. They have been told the old translators were not well enough educated to correctly interpret the passages. Modern scholars do a better job. I even had one man tell me that King James had exerted specific control over how many passages were written, even though he was not involved in the process of translation except to order it and to fund it. He was king, but not extensively educated in the classical languages. Not to mention the fact that Gentile kings were never very well portrayed in the Bible. What’s more, many of the injunctions for moral integrity were not very well followed in the courts of English kings. Surely King James would have eliminated passages on both of those if he had chosen to influence the translation!

Many honest hearts are being left in confusion when the Spirit is leading them toward righteousness but modern translations and ungodly pastors are telling them that following the Spirit isn’t necessary. One thing I’ve noticed: the passages that modern scholars are finding to be “incorrect” or not “properly translated” are nearly always those which teach holiness. Isn’t that a surprise! The more common simple historical or descriptive accounts are seldom “incorrect” I never realized that until it was possible to quickly and easily compare all the versions. It isn’t really enough to simply tell modernists that these new translations are changing the scriptures we need to be able to point out specifics. These sites make it possible to do that.

There are also alternative, older translations that have endeavored to give a word for word interpretation of the original texts. These versions support the KJV almost entirely. The Amplified Version is the one study tool I’ve come to value because it expands on the actual word for word rendition. From my own experience with the Navajo language, I found out that there is no such thing as a word-for-word translation. Too many English words can have multiple meanings in Navajo, and vice versa. The speaker has to be fluent in both languages to truly understand and translate. It is easy to change the meaning of a passage by just using the wrong word. It is a real translation, but it may not follow the essence of the text. This is what is happening where the Word of God is being subtly altered to meet modern philosophies.

Of course you can't very handily carry a lap top to service with you, so you might want to write any notes, comments or insights in the margins of your favorite Bible.