by Tom Wacaster<\/p>\n
It seems that the 20th and 21st centuries will go down in history as the age when men sought to rewrite the Bible and present to men what they <\/b>want to hear rather than what God wants them to hear. The modern versions [for the most part] are the product of an attempt to put into <\/b>the Bible the creeds and doctrines of men rather than an honest evaluation and translation of what God communicated to mankind. Calvinism is embedded in the New International Version, and modernism is manifested in the Revised Standard Version. I could say without fear of contradiction that some form of error is propagated in about<\/em> every modern version that has hit the market in the last 50 years or so. And the more liberal the translation, the more error will be found therein.<\/p>\n We hear of yet another translation that will soon hit the bookshelves. This one attempts to be “gender” free. And the beat goes on. Attacks upon the word of God are as old as man himself. Satan sought to place doubt in the mind of Eve by suggesting that God did not say what she thought he said. There is now an attempt underway to reconstruct Old Testament history. This time, the attack comes from modernists specializing in higher criticism. Let me assure you that it is not one of my favorite fields of study for the benefit of those who have not had the opportunity to study Higher Criticism, Textual Criticism, and Modernism.<\/p>\nAll such “theologians” and “scholars” take, for the most part, a critical approach to examining the scriptures. One of the areas of attack is the scriptures’ origin, authenticity, and reliability. This past month, William Murchison [Dallas Morning News<\/em>, 13 March 2002] had some things to say about those who would discredit the book of Genesis. According to some so-called “scholars,” the book of Genesis is a set of myths, tales, and fables: no Abraham, no Moses, no Ten Commandments. Influenced by the “no absolutes” mentality of their kissing cousins in the field of philosophy, these new-found spiritual leaders for our generation are quick to point out that “you just can’t be sure about these things.” Murchison reminds us that a “central theme of modernism is the impossibility of really knowing anything except scientific theories.” What it boils down to is this. The new generation of theologians and philosophers inform us that they know you cannot know.<\/p>\n They conclude that the Bible is a “grossy [sic, he may have meant ‘grossly’, TW] overrated book,” and that “today no one seriously accepts that Jesus in fact walked on the sea and raised the dead” [I wonder why I was not included in their poll].<\/p>\n However, modernists do not make claims based on evidence-quite the contrary. The modernist makes his foolish claims despite the evidence. I am reading a little paperback written by Norman Geisler and William Nix, entitled From God to Us<\/em>. These authors present irrefutable evidence of the reliability of both Old and New Testaments. One of their observations is that “there are thousands of manuscripts for both Old and New Testaments, compared with a handful of many great secular classics. This makes the Bible the best-documented book from the ancient world.”<\/p>\n But the modernists believe, as have others, that if you tell someone something long enough and loud enough, they will eventually believe it, no matter how foolish it might seem to be or how lacking in evidence to support their claim. I agree with Murchinson. While these so-called scholars are bold and brash in their claims, “What entitles a modernist to say that? Where is his authority? Why believe him?” Indeed! There is sufficient evidence to prove to the honest seeker of truth that the book you hold in your hand is, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the inspired word of God, all the modernists notwithstanding.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Tom Wacaster It seems that the 20th and 21st centuries will go down in history as the age when men sought to rewrite the Bible and present to men what they want to hear rather than what God wants them to hear. The modern versions [for the most part] are the product of an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[311],"class_list":["post-85051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-translations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88983,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/modernizing-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":85051,"position":0},"title":"Modernizing the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Michael Ray Baggett When King Jehoiakim of Judah heard the writings of Jeremiah read to him, he destroyed the scroll. The King did not simply disagree with what he heard but took his penknife and cut off three or four pages and threw them in the fire until the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-bible-translations-are-the-best\/","url_meta":{"origin":85051,"position":1},"title":"Which Bible translations are the best?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Which Bible translations have the highest accuracy? Answer: At one time, Bible translations were an arduous task that took years, if not decades, to complete. Now translations are appearing in rapid succession, and it is becoming difficult to keep up with the many that are available. I'll restrict my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68247,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-translations-authorized\/","url_meta":{"origin":85051,"position":2},"title":"Are Translations Authorized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Perhaps this seems like an odd question, but it is good to think about this. Since most people are not going to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, the only way they are going to hear God's word at all will be through translations. But how do we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58138,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/modern-versions-and-perversions\/","url_meta":{"origin":85051,"position":3},"title":"Modern Versions and Perversions","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joe R. Price There are over 450 versions of the Bible in English alone.\u00a0 New versions continue to be published, not all of which have as their primary interest that of being a precise translation of the ancient manuscripts.\u00a0 In fact, very few have that as their intended purpose.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8065,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-the-new-living-translation\/","url_meta":{"origin":85051,"position":4},"title":"What do you think about the New Living Translation and the Complete Jewish Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am of need of some help with Bible translations. What I would like is a list of good translation Bibles and a list of bad Bible translations. I don't like the NIV and I always felt in the spirit that it indeed was not trustworthy. However, I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30620,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-bible-in-english\/","url_meta":{"origin":85051,"position":5},"title":"The Bible in English","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant One of the great blessings we have is that we have the Bible, God's Word, in the language of the common people -- English. And we are thankful for those who provided this for us at a high cost. The story behind the translation is an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85051\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAccording to Murchison, the most recent attempt to rewrite Biblical history is headed by (now get this) the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. A well-known rabbi, Harold Kushner, has co-edited an adventure where the publishers will “bid adieu to the childish version of the Bible.” Archaeological evidence, in their opinion, is lacking.\n