I get no scarcity of questions on the Bible. These questions come by phone - many by long distance, by visitors, and by mail. Many of the questions are regarding the confusing flood of new versions of the Bible. This is especially true in respect to the New International Version, commonly referred to as the NIV. Seeing the NIV is now being urged by many, I am repeatedly asked why I do not also advocate the use of the NIV version and use it in my work of evangelisation.

As I believe it is my duty to give an answer, I will endeavor to pass on some clear and straightforward reasons why I do not use the NIV, and never intend to use the NIV, in place of the time-honored and sure KJV.

Here is Luke 4:4 in the KJV. In the underlined words are cut out:

KJV

NIV

"And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Luke 4:4.

"And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, ---cut out ------" Luke 4:4.

Luke 4:4 is not the only place where parts of the Word of God have been cut out. There are literally hundreds of omissions in the NIV.

This omission in Luke 4:4 makes the statement of Jesus of little sense. "But by every word of God." Now we have it. The Scriptures are to stay. The Word of God is to feed us. We are to live by the Scriptures. Here Jesus is in conflict with the devil and in this statement our Lord is revealing the efficient weapon against sin and Satan.

Is it not significant that this very mutilated version of Scripture cuts out the very passage that condemns it? This omitted passage condemns the NIV!

Note again that our Divine Guide, Jesus, is showing that man is to live by "every word of God". If "every word" is vital and we need "every word" what can be said in favor of a professed version which omits a whole verse? I will never use in my devotion of work a mutilated Bible transliteration or version, no matter how popular it may be. The Bible closes with these important words:

"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." Revelation 22:19.

We should also remember that this solemn warning against taking "away from the words" of God's Holy Book is given by none other than our Lord Himself.

Jesus clearly states,

"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. ..." Revelation 22:16.

"With the same carefulness are we to treasure the bread from heaven to satisfy the needs of the soul. By every word of God we are to live. Nothing that God has spoken is to be lost. Not one word that concerns our eternal salvation are we to neglect. Not one word is to fall useless to the ground." {MH 48.1}

"Brethren, cling to your Bible, as it reads ... and obey the Word, and not one of you will be lost." {1SM 18}

"The people of God are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence of false teachers ... None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict." {GC 593-594}(Ex. 23:1;Ps. 119:104,128; Jer. 14:14b)

"The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of power." {DA 390}

"The written Word is our only safety." {1SM 158}

"Those who do not accept the Word of God just as it reads, will be snared in his [Satan's] trap." {2SM 52.2}

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Matthew 24:35.

That includes:

"And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Luke 4:4.

"The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." John 6:63.

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." 1. Peter 1:23.

"The only thing in our world upon which we can rely is the Word of God." {DA 121 in a comment on Mt. 4:4 or Lk. 4:4.}

"By every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God are we to live." {DA 123}

"Every word of God is pure." Proverbs 30:5.

It is the enemy of God and the hater of mankind. It is the one who cast doubt on the Word of God in Eden when he uttered the words, "Yea, has God said?" Genesis 3:1. Surely God did not say that?

Doubt is the root of all sin; doubt on the Word of God. The enemy, Satan, hates and dreads the Word of God.

Next we read how Satan denied the Word of God.

"Ye shall not surely die." Genesis 3:4.

We read:

"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost." Matthew 18:11

Let us compare another example of Bible mutilation.

KJV

NIV

"Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14

"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14

This rendering of the text certainly conveys divergent ideas. They are totally different statements. Which is the original? Which is the oldest? Which one has been corrupted? Which is the true version and which is the perversion?

The claim for the NIV and other modern versions is that they are found in such ancient manuscripts as the Codex Sinaiticus and Vaticanus and the lesser known Alexandrian manuscripts of the fourth century AD [500]. This claim instead of supporting the NIV condemns it, as we shall see.

The evidences in favor of the Authorized KJ Version go back to much earlier years. Notice these facts:

1. One very interesting, and little used line of evidence is found in the writings of the earliest Church Fathers. When quoting Rev. 22:14 they all quote "Do His commandments." These include Tertullian (200 AD), Cyprian (248-258 AD) and, Tertonius (390 AD). The first of the others (Christian writers) to quote Rev. 22:14 as "wash their robes" was Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in the 4th century AD (326-373 AD).

This provides positively that the only earliest and true words of this text are "do His commandments." They are the original words. These earlier men knew nothing of "washing the robes." Those words did not appear until the 4th century BC.

The fourth century was the century of corruptions on a giant scale. It was the century of Constantine (311-337), Jerome (340-420), and Eusebius (ca. 260-345). It was the century of the pagan symbol of the cross. It was the century before the one that brought in Sunday in place of the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. It was the century in which the church adopted so many corruptions of doctrine and practice. The image shown documents the pagan origin of these items. It was a bad century for the transmission of the words in the Bible itself, i.e. the Latin Vulgate by Jerome, which was the manuscript of Scripture that contained "many errors." [GC 56]

These corrupted words of Rev. 22:14 "washed their robes" most likely began in the home of corruption - Alexandria, Egypt. That is where Clement (174) and Origen (185-255) lived - philosophers who greatly corrupted Christianity.

Conclusion: The evidence shows that the Christians of the first centuries AD knew that Rev. 22:14 said, "do His commandments." The words "washed their robes" came into being not until significantly later from the hotbed of corruptions in Alexandria, Egypt.

Another interesting line of evidence is found in:

2. The Aramaic or Syriac translations.

All authorities frankly admit that Jesus spoke Aramaic and His teachings were handed down in that language. What follows is the text of a large section of the introduction to the Lamsa's Syriac [Peshitta] translation about those early centuries before the 4th century.

"Peshitta is the authorized text of the Scriptures and had its origin in the lands from which Christianity sprang and it is written in the language in which Our Blessed Lord, His disciples and the early Christians spoke and wrote. These facts are known to all Bible scholars. Even those who have made translations from the Greek, frankly admit that Jesus spoke Aramaic and his teachings were handed down in that language.
The Christians in Palestine and Syria were the first to embrace Christianity. They must have had Gospels in Aramaic in order to preach to Greeks and other people. Gospels were in circulation before St. Paul's conversion. They were written ten or fifteen years after the Crucifixion. They were the recordings of the eye witnesses who had traveled with Jesus and who could record most of the teachings of their Lord. Papias tells us that Matthew wrote in the language of the Hebrews, that is Aramaic. This is supported by the testimonies of the early fathers and historians.
Aside from the historical and geographical support, the Peshitta New Testament text varies considerably from the Greek and Latin versions which were made later for the use of new converts to Christianity. These are hundreds of passages where the meaning is different from that of the Greek version. The style of writing is purely Aramaic and the idioms are Eastern. Neither does Peshitta agree with recent New Testament translations made from Greek into Aramaic.
The New Testament revisions in the Monophysite text had no effect on the main body of the Church in the East under the Persian Empire. The Church rejected the doctrines advanced at the Council of Ephesus and bitterly opposed the spread of Greek and Monophysite's doctrines. Neither were these revisions used in Monophysite Churches. They were only used privately by bishops and scholars as Greek sources of the Scriptures facilitate their work in achieving unity between the Imperial Byzantine Church and the Monophysites in Syria and Egypt. Then again, Persia, an enemy of the Byzantine empire, for political reasons was strongly opposed to the introduction of Greek doctrines among the Christians in the East. The Persian kings issued decrees to imprison and expel priests and bishops found to be sympathetic to the Byzantine Church.
Such were the political and religious conditions which isolated the Christians in the East from the rest of Christians in the Byzantine Empire and the rest of the Christian world. This isolation continued through Arab, Mongol and Turkish rule from the sixth to the thirteenth century. As the result of this continued isolation, the Biblical customs and manners and the Aramaic language remained unchanged and the Scriptures escaped additions and revisions.
Asahel Grant, M.D., the first American missionary to discover the Assyrians, writes in his book, The Nestorians, or the Lost Tribes: `The Nestorians have preserved the Scriptures in manuscript with great care and purity.' He puts the date of Peshitta New Testament in the early part of the 2nd century AD.
The Christians in the Persian Empire, because of continuous warfare between Persia and Rome, did not participate in the Councils which took place in the Roman Empire, and therefore, escaped the introduction of new doctrines and dogmas which might make necessary Scriptural revisions. Until the coming of American and English missionaries in the early part of the 19th century, the Assyrian Christians were not aware of the religious and political changes which had taken place in the Byzantine Empire and the rest of the Western World. They had not even heard of Dr. Martin Luther, the Reformation, or the discovery of America. The news that others had escaped the fury of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane (1336-1405=) was a surprise to them.
One thing which has impressed the readers of these manuscripts is the care with which they were produced. There is hardly a word variance. Eastern scribes always copy Scriptures carefully. Time is immaterial to them when copying the Word of God.
Sir Frederick Kenyon, Curator at the British Museum, in his book Textual Criticism of the New Testament, speaks highly of the accuracy and antiquity of Peshitta MSS.
This translation is made from ancient MSS., facsimile pages which are reproduced in this volume.
This edition is not made as a revision. It is a translation from ancient Aramaic texts and from ancient manuscripts. We either have them or we have been granted to make photocopies from the ancient manuscripts by either their private owners or their public custodians.
`The Peshitta New Testament is an ancient and the only authoritative document of the New Testament in use among the Syriac Aramaic speaking people of Palestine, Syria, Mount Lebanon, Mesopotamia, Persia and Malabar (South India) from the first century AD to the present day. The terms Aramaic and Syriac are interchangeable.' [Lamsa, George M., `Introduction, The New Testament According to the Eastern Text', Translated from original Aramaic Sources.]

Here is the text of a photocopy of Revelation 22:14:

"Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the City."

But there is more. Inspiration confirms which is right:

"But not so did prophets and apostles regard the holy law of God. Said David: "I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts." Psalm 119:45. The apostle James, who wrote after the death of Christ, refers to the Decalogue as "the royal law" and "the perfect law of liberty." James 2:8; 1:25. And the revelator, half a century after the crucifixion, pronounces a blessing upon them "that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14." {GC 466}

"I saw that God had especially guarded the Bible; yet when copies of it were few, learned men had in some instances changed the words, thinking that they were making it more plain, when in reality they were mystifying that which was plain, by causing it to lean to their established views, which were governed by tradition." {EW 220-221}

"Suggested by the father of lies. Ancient writings were forged by monks. ... And a church that had rejected the truth greedily accepted these deceptions." {GC 56}

`hoi poiountas las entolas auiou', "that keep his commandments"

`hoi plunontes tas stolas auton', "that wash their robes"

"The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed." {GC 49-50}

"In the early part of the fourth century (321 AD) the emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday a public festival throughout the Roman Empire." {GC 53}

"Eusebius, a bishop who sought the favor of princes, and who was the special friend and flatterer of Constantine, advanced the claim that Christ had transferred the Sabbath to Sunday. Not a single testimony of the Scriptures was produced in proof of the new doctrine. Eusebius himself unwittingly acknowledges its falsity and points to the real authors of the change. "All things," he says, "whatever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord's Day." [Robert Cox, Sabbath Laws and Sabbath Duties, page 538.] {GC 574}

"Satan well knew that the Holy Scriptures would enable men to discern his deceptions and withstand his power. It was by the word that even the Saviour of the world had resisted his attacks. At every assault, Christ presented the shield of eternal truth, saying, "It is written." To every suggestion of the adversary, He opposed the wisdom and power of the word. In order for Satan to maintain his sway over men, and establish the authority of the papal usurper, he must keep them in ignorance of the Scriptures. The Bible would exalt God and place finite men in their true position; therefore its sacred truths must be concealed and suppressed. This logic was adopted by the Roman Church. For hundreds of years the circulation of the Bible was prohibited. The people were forbidden to read it or to have it in their houses, and unprincipled priests and prelates interpreted its teachings to sustain their pretensions. Thus the pope came to be almost universally acknowledged as the vicegerent of God on earth, endowed with authority over church and state.
The detector of error having been removed, Satan worked according to his will. Prophecy had declared that the papacy was to "think to change times and laws." Daniel 7:25. {GC 51}
"In the early part of the fourth century the emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday a public festival throughout the Roman Empire." {GC 53}

Latin, the common medium of the learned world, had become the language of the Church's worship and doctrine. When the Council of Trent reaffirmed the Faith [errors] and revived the discipline of the Church amid the confusion of that age, its earliest sessions (in 1546) repeated the list of the Bible's books and the truth of their sacred authority. At the time there were different Latin versions known in Europe. To fix upon one of them as an authoritative standard, the Council gave its approbation to "the Vulgate," prepared late in the 4th century by Saint Jerome, the greatest [Catholic] biblical scholar of antiquity.

The same 4th century saw the origin of the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus. These two corrupt manuscripts are the basis and foundation of the NIV and its companion perversions, the other modern versions.

The enemy's desire to downgrade God's Commandments is well known to Christians. His corrupt methods are seen in the Emphatic Diaglott. It is apparent that the work of deception has not ceased. Notice the deliberate changing of the words. The left hand column contains the Greek Text of the Vatican Manuscript and interlined with it the literal word corresponding in English. Now read the right hand column for deliberate change. Are they trained on the ignorance of trusting people?

The Majority of Greek Manuscripts

Vatican Manuscript #1200 in the Vatican Library [Vaticanus]

"Blessed those doing the commandments of him, so that shall be the authority of them over the word of life, and by the gates they may enter into the city." Revelation 22:14

"Blessed are THOSE who WASH their ROBES, so that their RIGHT may be to the word of the life and they may enter the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14

Rev. 22:14 has never been popular with nominal "Christians" who reject "the commandments of God." They would make void the law of their Creator by their professed faith in Christ. The apostle Paul separated himself from such teachings and so should we.

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Romans 3:31.

"It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law." Psalm 119:126.

A well known religious periodical, The Sword of the Lord rejected "do His commandments" of Revelation 22:14. They declared it teaches "salvation by works." They say it teaches "legalism", "works," as opposed to "Grace". How inconsistent, for according to the NIV and all other Jesuit versions they do teach legalism and works just the same. "Oh, consistency, thou art a jewel."

Notice, according to the popular NIV, the ones who wash their robes have the right to the tree of life.

They do the washing, Is that not works? Note, nothing is said about the finished work of Christ. Nothing about the new birth. Merely they wash their robes. In all my experience I have never heard any one try to expound this perversion. It came from the corruption of Origen, Jerome and Eusebius, the contemporaries of Constantine. It came in the fourth century.

The inspired words of the early church of the first century must be our foundation. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus shows who are going to Heaven and who will not go there. Our Lord closes His sermon with an appeal to build on the Rock. He shows us how:

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock." Matthew 7:24.

Read again the two contrasting statements.

"Wash their robes" is claimed by most NIV users to mean forgiveness of past sins.

"They that do His commandments" are people who are abiding in Christ.

Jesus clearly states,

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. ... Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." John 15:10,14. "If ye love me, keep my commandments. ... He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." John 14:15,21.

"He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5.

Notice these clear statements:

"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature." 2.Peter 1:4.

"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2. Peter 1:10-11.

"Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14.

"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Revelation 22:12.

The Authorized KJV is correct:

By the context.
By the early fathers before the 4th century.
By the earliest of manuscripts. The Syriac.
By the Coptic.
By the Received Text (Deutsch: Reichstext). The `koine' text from Antioch and Constantinopel. (The symbol for `koine' text is )

The Advocates of the NIV proudly claim that it is based on "the two most reliable early manuscripts." These go back to the "fourth century." They are the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. They are both from the Papacy. "Come out of her my people."

Make up your mind to love and follow:

The Bible of the early church writers.
The Bible of the Waldenses.
The Bible of Tyndale, Luther, and all the Reformers.
The Bible of Wesley, Whitefield, and Spurgeon.
The Bible of the Adventists of 1844 and 1888 which are the same.
The only Bible which the SDA's ever published in English - the Authorized KJV.

In desperation to uphold the corrupt modern versions, and "wash their robes" instead of "do His commandments," we read in inspired writings,

"`You have washed your robes in My blood, stood stiffly for My truth, enter in.' We all marched in and felt that we had a perfect right in the city." {EW 17}

Why did Ellen White write, "stood stiffly for My truth"?

Because of the Bible's insistence as we read it in,

"Thy righteousness [is] an everlasting righteousness, and thy law [is] the truth." Psalm 119:142.

Here follow two more statements,

"Jesus threw open the gates of the golden city and led us in. Here we were made welcome, for we had kept the "commandments of God," and had a "right to the tree of life."
"All, all who keep the commandments of God, will enter in through the gates into the city and have right to the tree of life ..." {EW 35,51}

This is a shocking expose!

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." Matthew 6:9-13.

"And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

"And do not put us to the test, but save us from the evil one."

All three omit "Thine be the glory" etc.

There is then more evil done in the "fourth century." A grand cover-up, Taking away God's glory!!!

Constantine, Jerome, Origen, Augustine.

It is claimed that St.(?) Jerome omitted the half of Matthew 6:13. He with Origen and Eusebius. They taught that the world was getting better.

They taught they were entering into the millenium. The kingdom was being set up on earth. The Douay (Roman Catholic) has this haughty note on Daniel 2:44:

"A kingdom. The kingdom of Christ in the Catholic Church, which cannot be destroyed."

The Scriptures warn,

"Beware, lest any spoil you through philosophy" Col. 2:8.

In Early Writings we read this great statement:

"I saw that God had especially guarded the Bible; yet when copies of it were few, learned men had in some instances changed the words, thinking that they were making it more plain, when in reality they were mystifying that which was plain, by causing it to lean to their established views, which were governed by tradition." {EW 220-221}

The fourth and fifth centuries were famous for the climax of aspostasy. It was in these centuries that Sunday was exalted. The Sabbath of our Lord was pushed into the background and the cross was made the symbol of `Christianity'. It was the century when the Vulgate, which contained many errors due to the corruptions, omissions and changes, was compiled by Jerome.

These omissions and errors have been passed on to the NIV and a number of other modern versions which are based largely on the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus Catholic sources.

We remember, all of these versions end the Lord's prayer with "evil"!

They omit the words of our Lord Jesus.
They omit the same important words of holy Scripture in hundreds of other places.

We thank God that the Spirit of Prophecy upholds and exalts these words of Jesus:

"Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory."

You can read it for yourself in `Mount of Blessings':

"The last like the first sentence of the Lord's Prayer, points to our Father as above all power and authority and every name that is named. The Saviour beheld the years that stretched out before His disciples, not, as they had dreamed, lying in the sunshine of worldly prosperity and honor, but dark with the tempests of human hatred and satanic wrath. Amid national strife and ruin, the steps of the disciples would be beset with perils, and often their hearts would be oppressed by fear. They were to see Jerusalem a desolation, the temple swept away, its worship forever ended, and Israel scattered to all lands, like wrecks on a desert shore. Jesus said, "Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars." "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." Matthew 24:6-8. Yet Christ's followers were not to fear that their hope was lost or that God had forsaken the earth. The power and the glory belong unto Him whose great purposes would still move on unthwarted toward their consummation. In the prayer that breathes their daily wants, the disciples of Christ were directed to look above all the power and dominion of evil, unto the Lord their God, whose kingdom ruleth over all and who is their Father and everlasting Friend."{MB 120}

Words we also find in the Bible:

"Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all." 1.Chronicles 29:11-12.

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them." Isaiah 8:20.

We cannot overestimate the value of simple faith and unquestioning obedience. Therefore, our churches should have just one Bible on the pulpit and in the pews, for God is not the author of confusion, 1 Cor. 14:33. It is God's Bible, not ours. We must realize that the authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul and Peter, of the New Testament joined their theology to that of the God inspired Hebrew Old Testament and not to the philosophy of the Greeks like some later revisionists made the world believe.

Sidney Collett in his "The Scripture of Truth" when writing about the Sinaitic manuscript found by Dr. Tischendorf stated,

"Dr. Tischendorf believed that this and the Vatican manuscript were two of the fifty copies of the Bible which were made in Greek by command of the Emperor Constantine about the year A.D. 331, under the supervision of Bishop Eusebius, the historian of Caesarea." [S. Collett, `The Scripture of Truth', p. 28.]

---

Notes & References

[500] The Greek Codex Sinaiticus was found by Count Constantine Tischendorf at the monastery of St. Catherine on the traditional Mt. Sinai in 1859. It was written in large (capital) Greek letters on vellum sheets measuring 38 x 33 cm (15 in x 13 in). It was copied in the 4th century AD.