|
This is the continuation of an article 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 New Age Bible Versions.
|
|
(Part Three) of New Age Bible Versions |
|
|||||||||||||
1 |
One reviewer of Cloud's article wrote regarding his comments on this point,
Contrary to Cloud's misrepresentation, the word "Calvinism" or the philosophies of John Calvin do not appear anywhere even remotely nearby. The quote under discussion represents the NIV's chief, Edwin Palmer's, move away from the moderate Calvinism of Spurgeon (and the KJV translators), out on to a cliff called supralapsarianism, and headlong down into a chasm to be met by Siddhartha and The Three Fates. A scriptural parallel may be helpful here. In Matt. 16:23 Jesus made a "connection" between Peter, a believer, and Satan, a non-believer; at the point under discussion, Peter and Satan were in agreement. My book pointed out the point at which Palmer agrees with Blavatsky and Manson (viz. the One "controls the thoughts" of men; sin and evil are part of the "Plan" of God). The critic's elevation of man beyond the critical eye of discernment is not biblical. Since when are professed Christians above having their beliefs scrutinized? Are the NIV translators more 'sanctified' than Peter? If you are a 'good' person, but you steal something, does that goodness negate the fact that stealing is wrong? If you are caught, will it not put you in the very same jail with others who may steal and murder? I quote Palmer and Blavatsky from primary sources proving their parallel thinking at this point. I then demonstrate that this thinking has infiltrated the NIV. Cloud, on the other hand, gives no quotes from Calvin, Spurgeon, or any KJV translators, nor does he cite proof that such thinking has affected the KJV. Slovenly scholarship, faulty logic and careless reading skills characterize all of Cloud's article. |
||||||||||||
2 |
The New Age leanings of new versions are not without notice in occult circles. Henry Travers Edge, a personal pupil of Luciferian (A.K.A. Theosophist) Mme. Blavatsky, wrote in his book, Esoteric Keys to the Christian Scriptures & The Univesal Mystery Language of Math & Symbol:
Cloud may not recognize esoteric "Language", but the esoterics do! The KJV rendering of Acts 22:6-11, with its "man" (v. 7) instead of Mollencott's gender inclusive "One," is only one example. "If it was good enough for Paul, it's good enough for you, huh?" quips KJV critics. Could be true! The retelling of Acts 9 by Paul in Acts 22 (in any version) follows the KJV rendition of Acts 9. It includes Paul's salvation ("What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me) which is omitted in the NIV, NASB and others. I guess Paul picked the KJV, Henry Travers Edge picked the new version, and Cloud straddles the pick-it fence. |
||||||||||||
3 |
A reader of New Age Bible Versions wrote to Pastor Cole asking about the book's quote which referred to his inability to identify a verse which forbids premarital sex. The following answer was sent:
He finally had to admit that only the KJV's "fornication" forbids premarital sex. The NASB term, "immorality," or the NIV substitute "sexual immorality" DO NOT "condemn premarital sex," according to Webster's Dictionary, Latin etymology, or any 'engaged' college student who is 'really' in love and plans to be married 'soon'. Ask one. Ten years as a Christian professor at a secular university, counseling young single women, brought a realistic understanding of how young people interpret the NIV's phrase "sexual immorality." Believe me, total abstinence is NOT their definition of sexual morality, nor is it Webster's. |
||||||||||||
4 |
The word of God is likened to a light and a mirror, whereby we can see ourselves clearly (Ex. 38:18, Jas. 1:23, Ps. 119:104). It only takes a few cracks to render a mirror useless. Each crack brings the image further and further from reality.
The word of God is a steady light. All false versions have flashes of light but not consistent enough to keep the sojourner on the right path. Their flicker and sparkle may catch the eye, but do not linger long and steady enough to warm the heart, illuminate deep down into the soul or fully reveal "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Marvelous light (I Peter 2:9) or flickering sparks (Is. 50:10,11) — the choice is yours. Cloud contends the NIV teaches that man is lost and can only be saved through Jesus Christ. Why then do they completely omit the verse which best summarizes this?
John 3:17 expresses similar thoughts and is included in the NIV and KJV. In summary, the NIV omits 2 out of 4 of the verses which most succinctly state Cloud's point. Let's look at the manuscript evidence for those 2 omissions. Matt. 18:11 is in every known uncial except 3 corrupt ones and every known cursive except 3. It is vouched for by the Old Latin, the Vulgate, the Peschitto, Cureton's and the Philoxenian Syriac, by the Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopic, Georgian, and Slavonic versions. Origen, Chrysostom, Tertullian, Ambrose, Hilary, Jerome, Damasus, and Augustine quote it. The entire Greek Orthodox church has always read it near Pentecost. Luke 9:55,56 has similar attestation from the mauscripts, versions, and fathers from the second century downwards, as Tischendorf admits (see Unholy Hands, p. D-28). New Age Bible Versions documents scores of other new version verses which omit man's need for salvation, as well as omitting the Saviour himself. "Diminish not a word," warned God in Jer. 26:2. God is not redundant. In the O.T. there were six cities of refuge; God required that the location of each be no more than ONE day's travel. They were a picture of God's word and a foreshadowing of Christ, to whom we have "fled for refuge" (Heb. 6:18- 20). New versions extend the reader's search beyond God's intended one day. Readers of new versions must travel much farther in their reading journey to reach refuge. We consequently see many weary new version travelers today, stopping at the false rest spot of psychology and heeding false 'signs' along the way. |
||||||||||||
5 |
Internationally known astrophysicist Gerardus D. Bouw, Ph.D, was the first scholar to document evidence that huge clusters of galaxies rotate. He writes regarding the book New Age Bible Versions,
Bouw's background makes him familiar with algebra, apriori probability and symbolic logic. Cloud's comment that formulas like the one on p. 149 can be used to prove "anything" clearly reveals that 'variables,' 'aggregation signs', and 'binomials' were not part of the vocabulary in his Bible school curriculum. Although algebra was discovered by Ahmes (1700 B.C.), the use of letters to represent things was not introduced until Diophantus (AD 200). In the 1500s its value as a symbolic language attracted many scholars. In this century, logicians began using symbols instead of words to stand for logical units. This field of symbolic logic allows deductive logic to become a purely mechanical process like mathematics. Probability, in statistics, is the measurement of the likelihood of events in numerical terms. A priori probability would suggest that the likelihood of the formula on page 149 working out as it does is infinitely small. The critical factor is the extremely limiting givens (viz. NIV, NASV, AV: the subject of the book). A solution generated from an unlimited alphabet soup of variables, like that used in the formula in Cornerstone Magazine (Vol. 23, Issue 104), is meaningless. The acrostic technique was used by God himself in the Bible. The book of Lamentations uses it extensively; note that the sentences begin with the 22 successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The mathematical formulas and models in Dr. Bouw's recent book and articles for The Biblical Astronomer lead me to trust his opinion regarding page 149. Perhaps some would rather trust Cloud's calculations for the next moon shot. Clouds have always been a deterrent to astronomers and those hoping to catch a glimpse of the heavenly city. |
||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
P.O. Box 280, Ararat, Virginia 24053 USA Phone: (800) 435-4535 (CC Orders Only) All other orders: (540) 251-1734 Fax: (540) 251-1734  Prov. 30:5 |
