Gail Riplinger's Response to James White's Critque of New Age Bible Versions

The following article is taken from Blind Guides (pp.22-34) by G.A. Riplinger. Blind Guides is a scholarly and detailed response to the crtiques of Hunt, McMahon, Lalonde, Cloud, Morey, White, Hanagraaff, House, Passantinos, and others concerning Dr. Riplinger's international bestseller: New Age Bible Versions.

The James White Controversey
Part 7

G.A. Riplinger's Response to James White's Criticism
of New Age Bible Versions

WHITED SEPULCHRES

"Woe unto you, scribes...Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel...Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes..." Matt. 23:23-29

Oh how God must wish such Pharisees would strain out the bats in their new versions, as energetically as they try to strain at my gnats.

In a herculean effort to find something wrong with a book that finds SO MUCH truly wrong with his own new versions, White has resorted to inflating typographical and proofreading errors in the early printings. He describes such human error as "grossly dishonest." Pickpockets tend to think everyone who bumps into them is trying to pick their pocket. Psychologists call this projection. Only someone who lied themselves would assume that simple transcriptural errors, common in any written material (including the critics'), were intentional lies.

When White's NIV differs from the KJV, he points out that scribes do make human errors in copying text.

"The reason for the difference has nothing to do with conspiracies. It has to do with copying Greek by hand and the errors we make when we do this. Quite simply, the phrase was dropped from the manuscripts of the Byzantine textual tradition because of something known as "homoiteleuton" i.e. "similar endings"...when looking back at the original, skipped to the next occurrence...NO GREAT CONSPIRACIES, JUST HUMAN ERROR." (emphasis mine)

Those, like White, can recognize the possibility of transcriptural error by scribes as quite human and devoid of evil motives. HOWEVER, White and the critics call this SAME type of error "grossly dishonest," when committed by those with whom they do not agree. Jesus called this "HYPOCRISY". He identified hypocrisy as a characteristic of the scribes and Pharisees.

White noted two "similar ending" proofreading errors (already fixed in the most recent printing). Regarding p. 289 (John 18:36) he said,

"Obviously, you looked at the beginning of the verse where NASB has "My kingdom is not of this world."

When 'scribes' do this, they commit "human error." When KJV advocates do this, they are perceived to be "grossly dishonest."

In a desperate attempt to prove error, White points to the misplacement of one quotation mark! (p. 261 perfect." should be perfect. The " belong after side.) If he had read carefully, he would have found the same quoted material on page 543 with both the correct and incorrect punctuation, making it crystal clear that the error was accidental. Since NONE of the handful of proofing errors in the book (all corrected by now) affects or alters ANY points being made, it should be clear to any honest person (pickpockets excluded) that they do not reflect a "dishonest" heart but merely my feeble eyesight. Only God knows if White's accusations are in reality a reflection and 'projection' of his own way of doing things.

White says that if God were behind my book, it would have no typos. Even the KJV itself had scores and scores in its first printing. The NIV has made many, many changes in each subsequent printing; most are very important doctrinally. Note just a few of the tons of changes in the NIV. These are not typographical changes, but doctrinal changes. The LORD and the Son are now GONE.

==================================================================

   EARLY NIV                                  CURRENT NIV

==================================================================

 the one and only Son     John 1:14          the One and Only

------------------------------------------------------------------

 the only Son             John 1:18          the One and Only

------------------------------------------------------------------

 name of the LORD         Lev. 24:11 et al.  the Name

------------------------------------------------------------------

 By standing firm you     Luke 21:19         By standing firm you

 will save yourself                          will gain life

==================================================================

LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU

We have demonstrated that White not only misrepresents New Age Bible Versions, but gives his reader no solid evidence on which to base their trust in new versions. With no hard data and only lying statements to feed his reader, he MUST resort to fierce investives to emotionally arouse his reader. Consequently, EVERY PAGE on which he discusses New Age Bible Versions (approx. 20 pages), he sandwiches his 'bologna' with inflamed rhetoric using the following libelous words about 40 times: "purposeful distortion," "simple dishonesty," "false statement," "no interest in being...honest," "less than honest," "white lie," "fudge," "false impression," "falsification of citations," "gross misrepresentation," "honesty and integrity," "untrue," "disregard for...honest argument," "sacrifice truth," "gross misuse," "untrue," and "misrepresentation." The purpose and goal behind the constant repetition of such words is evident.

The critics cannot defend their new versions nor deal with all 700 pages of documentation and proof in New Age Bible Versions. So they must instill in their followers a general distrust for the character and "honesty" of the author. This is done so that when evidence is presented that they cannot refute, they can simply cloud the whole issue with 'feelings' that 'maybe that fact isn't true' because it is presented by a "less than honest" person. New version advocates have such a weak case; New Age Bible Versions documents such a strong case. Any thing based on a false premise will eventually have to resort to lies to defend itself. We have seen this tactic used by the critics throughout Blind Guides.

Christ's trip to the cross to rescue lost sheep left him looking horrific. They were trying to stop him all along the way. By the time he reached the cross, his visage was marred more than any man. No doubt when David fought the lion and the bear, to rescue one little lamb, he was torn and ripped upon in the fight. Anyone who sets out to rescue babes in Christ from the "roaring lion" will be set upon in word and deed--hoping to keep him from the rescue operation.

The KJV translators said in their 'To The Readers':

"So hard is it to please all, even when we please God best...whoever attempts anything for the public (specially if it pertains to religion, and to the opening and clarifying of the word of God) the same acts himself upon a stage to be frowned at by every evil eye, yea, he casts himself headlong upon spikes to be gored by every sharp tongue."

"Many false witnesses came" (Matt. 26:60) against Jesus. The same religious leaders set up "false witnesses" (Acts 6:13) against Stephen. "[I]n the last days...men shall be...false accusers." (2 Tim. 3:3)

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." Heb. 12:2-3

Those sharp tongues who have always gored at the word of God, pierced the suffering Saviour as well.

"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..."
Rev. 22:19

"Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..."
2 Cor. 5:11

HALLOWED BE THY NAME

The manuscripts, versions, and principles of 'textual criticism' recommended by the critics tell Christians to pierce the written word defacing the Lord Jesus Christ--even his name.

The following list was taken from Salliby's If the Foundations Be Destroyed. Moorman's Early Manuscripts and the Authorized Version lists many more.

NAMES AND TITLES OF JESUS OMITTED IN THE NIV
An asterisk (*) indicates that the NIV substituted
the title with an inferior one.

        Matt. 8:29......................................Jesus

        Matt. 9:28......................................Jesus

        Matt. 13:36.....................................Jesus

        Matt. 13:51......................................Lord

        Matt. 15:30....................................Jesus'

        Matt. 16:20.....................................Jesus

        Matt. 17:20.....................................Jesus

        Matt. 17:22.....................................Jesus

        Matt. 18:2......................................Jesus

        Matt. 18:11................................Son of man

        Matt. 19:16..............................*Good Master

        Matt. 23:8.....................................Christ

        Matt. 23:10...................................*Master

        Matt. 24:2......................................Jesus

        Matt. 25:13................................Son of man

        Matt. 27:24...............................just person

        Matt. 28:6.......................................Lord

        Mark 2:19..................................bridegroom

        Mark 5:13.......................................Jesus

        Mark 7:27.......................................Jesus

        Mark 9:24........................................Lord

        Mark 11:10.......................................Lord

        Mark 11:14......................................Jesus

        Mark 14:18......................................Jesus

        Mark 14:45..........................master (or Rabbi)

        Luke 4:41......................................Christ

        Luke 7:22.......................................Jesus

        Luke 7:31........................................Lord

        Luke 9:35................................*beloved Son

        Luke 9:56..................................Son of man

        Luke 9:57........................................Lord

        Luke 13:25.......................................Lord

        Luke 17:6........................................Lord

        Luke 22:31.......................................Lord

        Luke 23:42.......................................Lord

        John 4:16.......................................Jesus

        John 4:42......................................Christ

        John 4:46.......................................Jesus

        John 6:69......................................Christ

        John 6:69......................*Son of the Living God

        John 8:20.......................................Jesus

        John 8:35.....................................the Son

        John 9:35.................................*Son of God

        John 11:14......................................Jesus

        John 11:39......................................Jesus

        John 13:23......................................Jesus

        John 19:38......................................Jesus

        John 20:15......................................Jesus

        John 21:5.......................................Jesus

        John 21:21......................................Jesus

        Acts 2:30......................................Christ

        Acts 3:13....................................*his Son

        Acts 3:23.....................................prophet

        Acts 3:26....................................*his Son

        Acts 3:26.......................................Jesus

        Acts 4:27.................................*holy child

        Acts 4:30.................................*holy child

        Acts 7:30........................................Lord

        Acts 8:37................................Jesus Christ

        Acts 8:37..................................Son of God

        Acts 9:5.........................................Lord

        Acts 9:6.................................Lord (twice)

        Acts 9:29.......................................Jesus

        Acts 15:11.....................................Christ

        Acts 15:18........................................God

        Acts 16:31.....................................Christ

        Acts 19:4......................................Christ

        Acts 19:10......................................Jesus

        Acts 20:21.....................................Christ

        Acts 22:16.......................................Lord

        Rom. 1:16......................................Christ

        Rom. 6:11........................................Lord

        Rom. 14:6........................................Lord

        Rom. 15:8.......................................Jesus

        Rom. 16:18......................................Jesus

        Rom. 16:20.....................................Christ

        Rom. 16:24..........................Lord Jesus Christ

        I Cor. 5:4.............................Christ (twice)

        I Cor. 5:5......................................Jesus

        I Cor. 9:1.....................................Christ

        I Cor. 9:18....................................Christ

        I Cor. 10:28...................................Lord's

        I Cor. 15:23.................................Christ's

        I Cor. 15:47.....................................Lord

        I Cor. 16:22.............................Jesus Christ

        I Cor. 16:23...................................Christ

        2 Cor. 4:6......................................Jesus

        2 Cor. 4:10......................................Lord

        2 Cor. 4:11.....................................Jesus

        2 Cor. 5:18.....................................Jesus

        2 Cor. 10:7..................................Christ's

        2 Cor. 11:31...................................Christ

        Gal. 3:17......................................Christ

        Gal. 4:7.......................................Christ

        Gal. 6:15................................Christ Jesus

        Gal. 6:17........................................Lord

        Eph. 3:9.................................Jesus Christ

        Eph. 3:14...........................Lord Jesus Christ

        Phil. 4:13.....................................Christ

        Col. 1:2............................Lord Jesus Christ

        Col. 1:28.......................................Jesus

        I Thess. 1:1........................Lord Jesus Christ

        I Thess. 2:19..................................Christ

        I Thess. 3:11..................................Christ

        I Thess. 3:13..................................Christ

        2 Thess. 1:8...................................Christ

        2 Thess. 1:12..................................Christ

        I Tim. 1:1.......................................Lord

        I Tim. 2:7.....................................Christ

        I Tim. 3:16.......................................God

        I Tim. 5:21......................................Lord

        2 Tim. 4:1.......................................Lord

        2 Tim. 4:22..............................Jesus Christ

        Titus 1:4........................................Lord

        Philem. 6.......................................Jesus

        Heb. 3:1.......................................Christ

        Heb. 10:30.......................................Lord

        I Pet. 3:15......................................*God

        I Pet. 5:10.....................................Jesus

        I Pet. 5:14.....................................Jesus

        I John 1:7.....................................Christ

        I John 4:3.....................................Christ

        I John 5:7...................................the Word

        I John 5:13................................Son of God

        2 John 3.........................................Lord

        2 John 9.......................................Christ

        Rev. 1:8.................the beginning and the ending

        Rev. 1:9...............................Christ (twice)

        Rev. 1:11.............................Alpha and Omega

        Rev. 1:11......................the first and the last

        Rev. 1:13.................................*Son of man

        Rev. 12:17.....................................Christ

        Rev. 14:14................................*Son of man

        Rev. 20:12........................................God

        Rev. 22:21.....................................Christ

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WHITED SEPULCHRES

	"Woe unto you, scribes...Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel...Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes..." Matt. 23:23-29 Oh how God must wish such Pharisees would strain out the bats in their new versions, as energetically as they try to strain at my gnats. In a herculean effort to find something wrong with a book that finds SO MUCH truly wrong with his own new versions, White has resorted to inflating typographical and proofreading errors in the early printings. He describes such human error as "grossly dishonest." Pickpockets tend to think everyone who bumps into them is trying to pick their pocket. Psychologists call this projection. Only someone who lied themselves would assume that simple transcriptural errors, common in any written material (including the critics'), were intentional lies. When White's NIV differs from the KJV, he points out that scribes do make human errors in copying text. "The reason for the difference has nothing to do with conspiracies. It has to do with copying Greek by hand and the errors we make when we do this. Quite simply, the phrase was dropped from the manuscripts of the Byzantine textual tradition because of something known as "homoiteleuton" i.e. "similar endings"...when looking back at the original, skipped to the next occurrence...NO GREAT CONSPIRACIES, JUST HUMAN ERROR." (emphasis mine) Those, like White, can recognize the possibility of transcriptural error by scribes as quite human and devoid of evil motives. HOWEVER, White and the critics call this SAME type of error "grossly dishonest," when committed by those with whom they do not agree. Jesus called this "HYPOCRISY". He identified hypocrisy as a characteristic of the scribes and Pharisees. White noted two "similar ending" proofreading errors (already fixed in the most recent printing). Regarding p. 289 (John 18:36) he said, "Obviously, you looked at the beginning of the verse where NASB has "My kingdom is not of this world." When 'scribes' do this, they commit "human error." When KJV advocates do this, they are perceived to be "grossly dishonest." In a desperate attempt to prove error, White points to the misplacement of one quotation mark! (p. 261 perfect." should be perfect. The " belong after side.) If he had read carefully, he would have found the same quoted material on page 543 with both the correct and incorrect punctuation, making it crystal clear that the error was accidental. Since NONE of the handful of proofing errors in the book (all corrected by now) affects or alters ANY points being made, it should be clear to any honest person (pickpockets excluded) that they do not reflect a "dishonest" heart but merely my feeble eyesight. Only God knows if White's accusations are in reality a reflection and 'projection' of his own way of doing things. White says that if God were behind my book, it would have no typos. Even the KJV itself had scores and scores in its first printing. The NIV has made many, many changes in each subsequent printing; most are very important doctrinally. Note just a few of the tons of changes in the NIV. These are not typographical changes, but doctrinal changes. The LORD and the Son are now GONE.

LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU

	We have demonstrated that White not only misrepresents New Age Bible Versions, but gives his reader no solid evidence on which to base their trust in new versions. With no hard data and only lying statements to feed his reader, he MUST resort to fierce investives to emotionally arouse his reader. Consequently, EVERY PAGE on which he discusses New Age Bible Versions (approx. 20 pages), he sandwiches his 'bologna' with inflamed rhetoric using the following libelous words about 40 times: "purposeful distortion," "simple dishonesty," "false statement," "no interest in being...honest," "less than honest," "white lie," "fudge," "false impression," "falsification of citations," "gross misrepresentation," "honesty and integrity," "untrue," "disregard for...honest argument," "sacrifice truth," "gross misuse," "untrue," and "misrepresentation." The purpose and goal behind the constant repetition of such words is evident. The critics cannot defend their new versions nor deal with all 700 pages of documentation and proof in New Age Bible Versions. So they must instill in their followers a general distrust for the character and "honesty" of the author. This is done so that when evidence is presented that they cannot refute, they can simply cloud the whole issue with 'feelings' that 'maybe that fact isn't true' because it is presented by a "less than honest" person. New version advocates have such a weak case; New Age Bible Versions documents such a strong case. Any thing based on a false premise will eventually have to resort to lies to defend itself. We have seen this tactic used by the critics throughout Blind Guides. Christ's trip to the cross to rescue lost sheep left him looking horrific. They were trying to stop him all along the way. By the time he reached the cross, his visage was marred more than any man. No doubt when David fought the lion and the bear, to rescue one little lamb, he was torn and ripped upon in the fight. Anyone who sets out to rescue babes in Christ from the "roaring lion" will be set upon in word and deed--hoping to keep him from the rescue operation. The KJV translators said in their 'To The Readers': "So hard is it to please all, even when we please God best...whoever attempts anything for the public (specially if it pertains to religion, and to the opening and clarifying of the word of God) the same acts himself upon a stage to be frowned at by every evil eye, yea, he casts himself headlong upon spikes to be gored by every sharp tongue." "Many false witnesses came" (Matt. 26:60) against Jesus. The same religious leaders set up "false witnesses" (Acts 6:13) against Stephen. "[I]n the last days...men shall be...false accusers." (2 Tim. 3:3) "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." Heb. 12:2-3 Those sharp tongues who have always gored at the word of God, pierced the suffering Saviour as well.

	"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..." Rev. 22:19

	"Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..." 2 Cor. 5:11

HALLOWED BE THY NAME

	The manuscripts, versions, and principles of 'textual criticism' recommended by the critics tell Christians to pierce the written word defacing the Lord Jesus Christ--even his name. The following list was taken from Salliby's If the Foundations Be Destroyed. Moorman's Early Manuscripts and the Authorized Version lists many more.

NAMES AND TITLES OF JESUS OMITTED IN THE NIV An asterisk (*) indicates that the NIV substituted the title with an inferior one.

WHITED SEPULCHRES

LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU

"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..." Rev. 22:19

"Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..." 2 Cor. 5:11

HALLOWED BE THY NAME

NAMES AND TITLES OF JESUS OMITTED IN THE NIV An asterisk (*) indicates that the NIV substituted the title with an inferior one.

"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..."
Rev. 22:19

"Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..."
2 Cor. 5:11

NAMES AND TITLES OF JESUS OMITTED IN THE NIV
An asterisk (*) indicates that the NIV substituted
the title with an inferior one.