Eeyore's News and a View

Fables And Facts
About The King James Bible

Over the past few decades, new Bible translations have been popping up like popcorn. Many strong Christians have stood their ground and continued to believe, read, and study only the Authorized King James Bible. Many others, however, have forsaken the Book that God has used for centuries. Such people have fallen for smooth advertising schemes and have actually started believing that the modern versions are superior to the King James Bible. It's very sad that most Christians today have not taken time to study the subject thoroughly enough to see what is really happening. Originally we published only one tract about the King James Bible. The tract is titled How I Know The King James Bible Is The Word Of God, and it presents some rather strong arguments for the KJV. Then we offered a second tract, titled Let's Compare Bibles. This tract shows how the modern Bible translations are literally attacking God's word! Both of these tracts are still available, and are free upon request. Now, by the grace of God, we are able to offer a third tract on the King James issue. We call it Fables And Facts About The King James Bible. It's purpose is to better educate Christians about the KJV by clearing up some of the fables that have been spread by the critics. Far too many Christians are accepting the Authorized Version by faith alone, rather than working and studying to become more grounded in some of the basic FACTS about this important issue. The following information should be helpful to the believer who desires to be readily armed with TRUTH. FABLE: The King James Bible was revised several times before 1800, so modern translations are just additional revisions of the original King James Bible of 1611. FACT: The so-called "revisions" of the King James Bible prior to 1800 were to correct typographical errors, add notes, and omit the Apocrypha from between the Testaments. There were no changes in the actual TEXT of the King James Bible. The REAL changes (over 36,000 of them) didn't start until the modern revisionists came on the scene. FABLE: The modern translations are more accurate because they have been translated from older and better manuscripts. FACT: It is truly amazing how so many Christians have bought into this lie without ever checking to see WHAT these manuscripts are, WHERE they came from, and WHO wrote them. It's also strange that no one seems to be asking the question, "Has God honored these 'older' and 'better' manuscripts throughout Church History?" The modern translations are based on the work of two nineteenth century Greek scholars from England--B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort. Westcott and Hort, who were deeply involved in the occult, hated the Textus Receptus Greek text, from which the King James Bible was translated, so they conjured up THEIR OWN Greek text. This Westcott and Hort Greek text was based primarily on two very corrupt fourth century ROMAN CATHOLIC manuscripts: Codex Vaticanus (discovered in the Pope's library in 1481) and Sinaiticus (discovered in 1859 in a trash can at St. Catherine's monastery on Mt. Sinai). These are usually the "older" and "better" manuscripts that we keep hearing so much about. These manuscripts support most of the attacks in the new versions. The Vaticanus is considered to be the most authoritative, although it is responsible for over thirty-six thousand changes that appear today in the new versions. This perverted manuscript contains the books of the pagan Apocrypha, which are not scripture; it omits the pastoral epistles (I Timothy through Titus), the Book of Revelation, and it cuts off the Book of Hebrews at Hebrews 9:14 (a very convenient stopping point for the Catholic Church, since God forbids their priesthood in Hebrews 10!). The attacks on the word of God found in these manuscripts originated in Alexandria, Egypt with the deceitful work of such pagan Greek "scholars" as Origen and Clement of Alexandria. Then in 313 A.D. the Roman emperor Constantine ordered fifty copies of "the Bible" from Eusebius, the Bishop of Caesaria. Eusebius, being a devout student of Origen's work, chose to send him manuscripts filled with Alexandrian corruption, rather than sending him the true word of God in the SYRIAN text from Antioch, Syria. So the corrupt Alexandrian text (also called the "Egyptian" or "Hesychian" type text) found it's way into the Vatican manuscript, then eventually into the Westcott and Hort Greek Text, and finally into the new "Bible" versions in your local "Christian" bookstore. Therefore, when you hear or read of someone "correcting" the King James Bible with "older" or "more authoritative" manuscripts, you are simply hearing someone trying to use a ROMAN CATHOLIC text to overthrow the God-honored text of the Protestant Reformation and the great revivals. God has never honored this corrupt text and He never will. FABLE: New translations are needed to correct the errors and contradictions in the King James Bible. FACT: No one has ever proven that there are errors and contradictions in the KJV. Many "Christian" colleges and preachers have a nasty habit of pointing out APPARENT contradictions to their people, but these arguments have been disproven so many times that it is nothing less than disgusting to hear them still being used. FABLE: New Translations are needed to bring the archaic Old English language up to date. People have trouble understanding the language of the King James Bible. FACT: The King James language is NOT hard to understand. Most of the so-called "archaic" words are explained by the context of the passage or by comparing the passage with other passages in the Bible where the same word is used. Heady and high-minded people resent the King James language because it is plain and simple, and it isn't in tune with their high-minded vocabulary. In fact, the Grade Level Indicator of the Flesch-Kincaid research company says the King James language is EASIER to understand than the new versions. We certainly agree that the language of the King James Bible is a unique language, but why shouldn't it be? It's the WORD OF GOD! FABLE: The King James Bible cannot be infallible because the translators were only men, and all men are sinners. The human element prevents the KJV from being infallible. FACT: If this is true, then even the ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPHS in Hebrew and Greek were not infallible, because they too were penned by men! The fact of the matter is that the King James translators were only INSTRUMENTS of preservation (which is exactly what they called themselves in the Dedicatory to the A.V. 1611). God has always been the Divine Preserver of His word (Psa. 12:6-7), but He has used men as tools and instruments of preservation, just as He uses men to teach and preach His words. When men humbly yield themselves to the will of God, God can use them to accomplish His will (Rom. 12:1-2), and this is precisely what happened between 1604 and 1611. FABLE: The King James translators added to the word of God, because the italicized words in the KJV were not in the originals. FACT: The italics in the KJV prove that the translators were HONEST in their work. They set the words in italics so we'd know they were not in the manuscripts they were using. Besides, no one has a copy of the original manuscripts today, so no one knows for certain that the italicized words aren't in them. In fact, there are many cases where we know that the italicized words are justified. For example, notice in Deuteronomy 8:3 that the word "word" is in italics. However, when Jesus quotes this verse in Matthew 4:4 he INCLUDES the italicized word! If the italicized word does not belong in the Bible, why did the Lord Jesus quote it? FABLE: The original King James Bible included the Apocrypha in the Old Testament. FACT: The King James translators knew the Apocrypha was not scripture, so they placed it BETWEEN the Old and New Testament as a HISTORICAL DOCUMENT, not as scripture. Friend, don't be deceived by the crafty critics of God's word. LEARN THE FACTS! If you haven't read our other tracts on the KJV, order them soon and read them. Arm yourself with the facts! If you've never received Jesus Christ as your Savior, please send for a free copy of Understanding God's Salvation Plan. "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" (III John 4)

James L. Melton

This is a shame, it is all about money. I believe, well it does not matter what i believe, the King James Bible is the Word of God. It is that simple.
Bible publishers go niche in hopes of gaining readers
By Sarah Skidmore, Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. — Martin Luther King Jr. graces one page, Angelina Jolie the next. A photo of a man on fire opens the Book of Revelation. And laid across a two-page image of gasoline spilling from a pump is the quote that begins, "The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast."
It's not the good book some may remember.
While the Bible has been recreated and repackaged innumerable times, publishers of the newest editions are using some distinctly unique formats to capture the attention of readers.
"In general, Bible publishers have always been creative, but now they are scrambling to meet a culture where people are moving away from print reading," said Paul Gutjahr, an associate professor of English and adjunct associate professor in religious studies at Indiana University.
Secular as well as traditional religious Bible publishers are getting in on the act. Dozens of different versions of the Bible come out each year for various niches: the outdoorsman, the married couple, business leaders. There are electronic Bibles available for the Kindle, iPods and handheld devices. There are graphic novel and comic book interpretations. There's even a new chronological version of the Bible coming out this fall.

It's difficult to capture how many different versions of the Bible are sold each year. But the Book Industry Study Group estimates that Bibles, testaments, hymnals and prayer books were a $795.2 million market in 2007.
Experts say Bible sales tend to rise in times of war and economic crisis. And the Book Industry Study Group says a Bible publishing boom is indeed underway. The market size has grown steadily over the past several years and is expected to jump in the coming years. The group estimates the market will reach $823.5 million this year — growth other publishing categories might covet.
The Bible is reinvented quite often. While essentially still the same book, Gutjahr said that for the past two decades, updates were largely focused on new translations. There are also versions that come out each year that are essentially the same book, with different covers and sizes based on people's wants. But he sees the next trend as one toward textual translation and visual translation.
"In a visually literate, advertising-skeptical age — how do you grab people's attention?" Gutjahr asked. "Mixing the biblical text with Angelina Jolie doesn't surprise me."
First published in Sweden last year, "Bible Illuminated: The Book" is the glossy fashion magazine-style publication that features Jolie. It looks like it might be more at home on a coffee table or the nightstand of the latest hipster hotel than a church.
The creation of former advertising executives, it pairs intense photo essays — including images such as a child with a gun or beatings in the Belgian Congo under King Leopold's II's regime — with passages from the New Testament. It is aimed at people who might not otherwise ever read the Bible.
"There is a large part of the population that considers themselves smart, educated, conscientious, connected people who are not particularly religious and have not regularly read the Bible," said Larry Norton, a former publishing executive and president of Illuminated World, the company that is putting out "Bible Illuminated."
"That group of people probably know it would be smarter, more sensitive to their surroundings if they read the Bible if they were religious or not," Norton said.
Illuminated World is quick to point out that they are not affiliated with any church or religion. The Swedish version was sold first in boutiques and design stores, and mainstream bookstores were hesitant to carry it initially. But as it gained popularity, the book was sold more widely and even found a strong secondary market in secular sales.
Norton said sales of "Bible Illuminated" in Sweden, where an estimated 60,000 Bibles are sold each year, reached 30,000 in its first year. They are hoping for similar success in the U.S. and plan to release the New Testament in October and potentially the Old Testament in March. In the U.S., the New Testament is already pre-selling on Amazon and Illuminated World has contracts with most major bookstores.
"We are living in the age of increased secularization and distance from traditional religion," said Robert Hodgson, dean emeritus at the Nida Institute For Biblical Scholarship that is responsible for the translation and quality control for the American Bible Society, which licensed the rights to the Good News version of the Bible to Illuminated World.
"It's about new points of entry in a modern world that is not ready to open its doors and windows to the traditional word," he said.
These "gateway Bibles" — those intended for the secular crowd — seem to be the latest frontier in Bible publishing.
"Contrary to popular belief, I think most Bibles are published for people who are already in the club," Gutjahr said. "Publishing for people who are outside the club, I don't know how much luck there has been with that."
Thomas Nelson publishing, which is one of the largest Bible publishers, broke some ground with "Revolve," a Bible with a teen-magazine style to it. Girls took well to the format, which publishers said made girls feel more comfortable accessing it and carrying it, and sales were strong.
The company is also coming out with a chronological version of the Bible this fall that has built some buzz. While not the first chronological version, this looks more like a social studies text — with informational and historical outakes on the time. The publisher also has an audio version of the Bible with stars such as Marisa Tomei and Richard Dreyfuss, that they hope will do well among the secular crowd.
"I think that is personally what drives me," said Wayne Hastings, a senior vice president at Thomas Nelson. "The inner-circle (of traditional Bible readers) is a great customer but that next circle is what we are after."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-10-07-gateway-bibles-publisher_N.htm

Study: Religious people more generous -- on 2 conditions
By Douglas Todd, Religion News Service
Religious people are more helpful and generous than others — but only on two conditions, according to a new study published in the prestigious journal Science.
University of British Columbia psychology researchers Ara Norenzayan and Azim Shariff concluded that religious people act more kindly than atheists on condition they believe their acts will enhance their reputations among their peers. The second condition is being freshly reminded, in a subconscious way, of the existence of a morally tinged God or supernatural being, the researchers said.
BY THE NUMBERS: Who's giving money, time nationwide
Religious people are inclined, under these conditions, to be more giving and honest than others because their belief in God assumes the existence of an all-knowing "supernatural police" force that monitors their behavior, Norenzayan said in an interview.
But once researchers remove the two conditions, Norenzayan said, "all of a sudden you don't find any differences between the moral behavior of religious people and non-religious."
Emphasizing that he is not out to either defend or attack religion, Norenzayan said the Science article goes beyond mere anecdotes about religion and looks at the "hard scentific evidence" that anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, economists and others have gathered during the past 30 years.
"The debate has been so polarized in the past," Norenzayan said. "All I want is for scientists to set aside their likes and dislikes and look at the empirical data."
Norenzayan, who has gained international attention for his psychological experiments into how religion affects the way humans act, said the five-page Science article does not necessarily contradict those who argue religion exacerbates conflict between cultures.
That's because the UBC researchers discovered in their survey of all the research available that religious people are often more generous and helpful (or "pro-social") to members of their own religion, not necessarily to outsiders.
The scholarly article, titled "The Origin and Evolution of Religious Prosociality," shows that, while it has helped create moral behavior, religion has no monopoly on producing honest and empathic people.
The beneficial role that belief in an all-knowing, morally concerned God has played in history, Norenzayan said, is in some cases being replaced by non-religious mechanisms — such as effective policing, courts and social surveillance.
Still, Norenzayan said, religiously motivated virtuous behavior has played a vital role throughout history — by encouraging cooperation among large groups of genetically unrelated people.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-10-07-morality-giving_N.htm

New Bible has a 'green' theme

By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
A new edition of the Bible sets out to show that the seeds of environmentalism were first sown in the Garden of Eden.
Just as "red letter" Bibles highlight the words of Jesus in red ink, The Green Bible, in stores this week, uses green ink to spotlight more than 1,000 passages extolling the goodness of creation and God's charge to mankind to care for it.
The first chapter of Genesis is grass green, as are big chunks of Psalms and threads through every book including the Gospels, where Jesus considers the lilies of the field and keeps his eye on the sparrow.
Publisher HarperOne uses the New Revised Standard Translation of the Bible to present the earth-loving book printed with soy ink on recycled paper and bound in eco-friendly linen.
Where other Bibles have theological analysis, The Green Bible has essays by conservationists and theologians who link its calls to compassion, love and brotherhood to eco-concerns. It concludes with a reading guide tracking environmental themes throughout the Bible.
The Humane Society of the United States is distributing copies at upcoming events for its All Creatures Great and Small campaign to promote moral awareness of the treatment of animals on the farm or in the family home as pets.
A national survey by Baylor University in Waco, Texas, released in September, found most religious people of all denominations agreed that "dramatic" changes were needed to prevent further damage to the earth, air and living creatures. However, those who said they had no religion were 12 to 15 percentage points stronger in their view that mankind must step up on stewardship. Also, evangelical Protestants were consistently less likely to agree on any of the environmental issues than other Christian groups.
"We need a Bible like this," says Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, who has led the group into environmental activism. "I've traveled the country for two years now speaking at college chapel services. I ask, 'Has anyone here ever heard a sermon at their home church on the stewardship of creation?' Rarely does even one hand go up."
Environmentalism faces hurdles among evangelicals, Cizik says, citing suspicions that it is "liberal-leftist" or "witchy-pagan," or that it leans to government regulation.
Another hurdle: "Dominionism — the idea that God gave this to us and we can do what we darn well please.
"When people tell me, Jesus never talked about the environment, I say, God says, 'Love your neighbor,' not drown him in melting sea ice," Cizik says.
However, this newest Green Bible is not the first. A 1993 book also called The Green Bible, co-authored by religious studies expert Stephen Scharper and anthopologist Hilary Cunningham, has no green ink but has the same intentions.
It intertwines ecology and ecumenism by drawing quotes from a wide range of sacred texts, saints, poets and scientists, says Scharper, who teaches on social movements in the University of Toronto's Centre for Environment,.
"We wanted to address the tension between Biblically based Christians and environmentally based Christians and to show the corresponding views of other faith and humanist traditions with quotes from the Dalai Lama, Gandhi and others," says Scharper.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/200810-08-green-bible_N.htm

Why are not we this smart, have some reserve? They might not have enough to do it, but at least they put some thing back for a rainy day, it is like a monson this last few weeks.

Latin American Banks Use Reserves to Save Currencies (Update2) By Adriana Brasileiro and Andre SolianiOct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Latin American central banks are being forced to draw on record foreign reserves built up during the six-year commodities rally to stop their currencies from sinking in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Brazil sold dollars for the first time in five years and Mexico sold $2.5 billion in the spot market between yesterday and today, helping their currencies pare losses. Chile may follow suit, Barclays Capital analyst Rodrigo Valdes said. The worst currency meltdown in Latin America since the emerging-market economic crises of the 1990s is causing companies' dollar debts to swell as well as sparking derivatives losses, and may stoke inflation. The decision to intervene came after central banks in the U.S., Europe and Canada cut interest rates in a coordinated effort to boost confidence. ``For a long time, these central banks said their reserve buildup strategy was like an insurance policy,'' said Felipe Pianetti, a strategist at the JPMorgan Emerging Markets team in New York. ``Now is the time to use them.'' Brazilian international reserves increased more than five- fold to a record $208 billion since January 2003, helped by rising revenue from soybeans, iron ore and sugar exports. In Mexico, Latin America's No. 2 oil producer, reserves almost doubled to $83.6 billion in the period. Chilean reserves rose to a record $22.4 billion in August, helped by copper sales. Brazil's real gained 7 percent to 2.182 to the dollar at 10:21 a.m. New York time after tumbling yesterday as much as 9 percent. Yesterday's drop was the biggest since the central bank abandoned a currency peg in January 1999 after burning through more than $30 billion of reserves in nine months. 29% Decline The real is down 29 percent since reaching a high of 1.5545 per dollar Aug. 1. Brazil's central bank didn't say how much it sold in the four dollar auctions it has held since yesterday. The Mexican peso fell 0.3 percent to 12.3589 to the dollar. Yesterday the peso at one point fell the most since 1994, when President Ernesto Zedillo was forced to devalue to avoid depleting the country's reserves. The currency pared losses after the central bank auctioned dollars. The plan includes dollar sales of $400 million starting tomorrow if the peso falls more than 2 percent. ``In extraordinary situations, Banco de Mexico has been willing to intervene in the currency market,'' said Gray Newman, chief Latin America economist at Morgan Stanley in New York. ``This constitutes an extraordinary situation.'' The Chilean peso gained 1.4 percent to 606.35 to the dollar after dropping as much as 4 percent yesterday, the most since November 1992, to the weakest since October 2004. Effect on Companies While governments in Brazil, Mexico and Chile used the commodity boom of the past few years to reduce dollar debt, some companies are suffering as the currencies plunge. Two of Brazil's biggest exporters, Aracruz Celulose SA and Sadia SA, lost about half of their market value since saying Sept. 26 they made bad currency bets that may cost them a combined $1.2 billion. Controladora Comercial Mexicana SAB, the owner of supermarkets and Costco stores in Mexico, fell 44 percent yesterday after saying the peso's plunge increased the cost of its foreign debt ``significantly.'' Grupo Industrial Saltillo SAB, the Mexican auto parts and building materials company, asked the local exchange to suspend trading of its shares before announcing it will take a $48.5 million charge related to derivatives. The currency meltdown may also stoke inflation that has exceeded or is about to top targets set by policy makers in the region. Interest Rates ``Intervening in the currency when there is an excessive devaluation is the natural thing within an inflation-targeting system,'' Barclays's Valdes said. Brazil's central bank last month raised the benchmark overnight rate for a fourth time since April to rein in inflation, which quickened to 6.25 percent in September. The target is 4.5 percent plus or minus two percentage points. Mexico and Chile already busted their targets. Chilean consumer prices rose 9.2 percent last month from a year earlier, more than triple the bank's target of 3 percent. Inflation in Mexico quickened to 5.57 percent in August, above the 4 percent upper end of the target band. Still, economists expect central bank policy makers will slow the pace of rate increases in response to sluggish global economic expansion and falling commodity prices. The global credit crunch may put an end to Latin America's fastest economic expansion in 30 years. Morgan Stanley cut on Oct. 6 its 2009 economic growth forecast for the region by more than half to 1.5 percent, down from 3.5 percent. Intervention Brazil and Mexico join Argentina and Peru in selling dollars. Central banks in Chile and Colombia have so far used derivatives contracts to arrest the decline of their currencies, without touching reserves. ``There's a very high chance'' that the Chilean central bank will intervene to strengthen the peso, said Gabriel Casillas, an economist with UBS Pactual in Mexico City. The bank ``will be feeling quite uncomfortable with the peso at this level.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... in_america