Bible Study Course

Examining The New International Version

 

Welcome to Book 3 in the Examining Bible Translations series of the Liberty Bible Course. This booklet deals with Part 1 of the examination of the New International Version (NIV). This study is written to be used with the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, otherwise your answers are going to be incorrect. Please get your Bible, and begin another exciting study in God’s Word, that just might change your life!

Chapter 1

I. The Background Of The New International Version.

 

A. The idea to produce the New International Version.

    In 1965, after several years of study by committees from the Christian Reformed Church and the National Associations of Evangelicals, a group of scholars met and agreed that there was a need for a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. The group was transdenominational, being made up of “Anglican, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Brethren, Christian Reformed, Church of Christ, Evangelical Free, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Nazarene, Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and other churches” (http://www.ibs.org/niv/background.php). This was said to help “safeguard the translation from sectarian bias” (http://www.ibs.org/niv/background.php).
    There are some important things to note in that paragraph. First, the idea for the need of a new translation arose out of the Christian Reformed Church. They have had their share of problems with college professors who have challenged the literal interpretation of Scripture (http://www.prca.org/janssen_and_common_grace/chapter7.html). If a denomination is having that kind of trouble with its scholars, one must carefully question why a new translation of the Bible was being desired by them.
    Secondly, the actual translating committee was transdenominational (it was made up of people from many denominations). It was noted that this helped “safeguard the translation from sectarian bias” (http://www.ibs.org/niv/background.php).

 

The actual result of that is the opposite. It is not the Bible that they are

trying to safeguard — it is the sects, the denominations, that they are trying to

safeguard from passages which condemn their unscriptural practices.

 

 

    This explains why verses like Acts 8:37 were totally omitted from the NIV. The verse will be discussed in detail later, but the verse was too damaging to the many denominations that baptize babies, so they just removed the entire verse.

B. The copyright on the New International Version.

The NIV is copyrighted by the International Bible Society © 1973, 1978, 1984, so this translation may not be freely printed and distributed.  The King James Bible may be freely copied and distributed to people. (If you have a KJV which stipulates that the text is copyrighted, then you do not have a true KJV, but a text that a publisher has tampered with enough to copyright).

 

II. The Problems With The New International Version.

 

A. Some verses are totally missing from the NIV.

 

#1 — Matthew 17:21

“Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by ____________ and ______________.”

Note:   This whole verse has been totally removed from the NIV. Why? What part of this verse is too hard to understand? Why would this verse be removed in the name of updating from Old English to modern?  There is nothing in this verse that is too hard to understand; but, after looking at the context, we can quickly see why Satan would not want this verse in the Bible.

    1. Matthew 17:14-16 says, “And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my ______: for he is ________________, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the ________, and oft into the __________. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not ________ him.”

Note:   Now we find out what was causing him to act crazy.

    2. Matthew 17:17-18 says, "Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus ______________ the __________; and he ________________ out of him: and the child was __________ from that very hour.?"

Note:   It was the devil in the boy that was causing him to act crazy and to do things harmful to his body. Jesus cast the devil out, and the boy was cured.  Notice carefully, as the disciples question the Lord, as to why they could not cast out the devil and help the boy.

    3. Matthew 17:19-21 says, “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not ____ cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your ________________: for verily I say unto you, If ye have __________ as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by ____________ and ______________.”

Note: The Lord let the disciples know that such acts of faith would only come about through prayer and fasting. That verse, verse 21, is the key verse in that passage and the answer to their question — and the NIV has totally removed that verse.

 

Do you understand now why the devil would want that verse removed from the Bible?

He does not want a host of Christians who are right with God and have power in prayer,

for they would prevail over him and his demons. Jesus said the key is

prayer and fasting, and the NIV has removed the key.

 

Is it any wonder that the devil seems to be prevailing everywhere in this world today? Christians who are using the NIV do not have the answer to the problem, because the translators have totally removed this verse.

 

#2 — Matthew 18:11

“For the Son of man is come to __________ that which was ________.”

 

Note:   This whole verse has been totally removed from the NIV. Why? What words in that verse are too hard to understand, and need updating? None. What could be behind the removal of this verse? Look at the passage closer.

    1. Matthew 18:10 says, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in ____________ their ____________ do always behold the face of my ____________ which is in heaven.”
    2. Matthew 18:14 says, “Even so it is not the will of your ____________ which is in ____________, that one of these little ones should ____________.”

Note:   With the removal of verse 11, “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost,” the emphasis for deliverance now switches from the Lord Jesus Christ to the angels.  The angels are seen as the ones personally caring for those little lost sheep. They are seen in heaven beholding the face of the Father (like a scene of compassion, ready to go and save those little ones as soon as they hear the word from the Father).  The Father is seen as having compassion on those little ones in verse 14; but, once again, without verse 11, it seems to be the angels that are the ones ready to go and save them.

 

With the removal of verse 11 in the NIV, (“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost”),

a person could easily think that the way to God and to heaven is through the angels.

That belief will send a person to hell, for the angels are not to be worshipped, and they cannot save.

 

    3. Revelation 22:8-9 says, “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to ______________ before the feet of the __________ which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it ______: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship ______.”
    4. Hebrews 2:9 says, “But we see __________, who was made a little lower than the ____________ for the suffering of __________, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste __________ for every ______.”
    5. Hebrews 2:14-16 says, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of __________ and __________, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through __________ he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the __________; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of ____________; but he took on him the seed of ______________.”

 

Why would Satan want verse 11 to be removed, and then to have people

look to angels to deliver them? Because Satan himself is an angel — a fallen angel,

and he has always wanted man to worship him — not the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

    6. Ezekiel 28 deals with the wicked king of Tyrus, and the power behind him — Satan. Ezekiel 28:13 says, “Thou hast been in ________ the ____________ of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.”
    7. Ezekiel 28:14 says, “Thou art the anointed ____________ that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”

Note:   A cherub is one of the types of angels which God created.

    8. Ezekiel 28:15 says, “Thou wast ______________ in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till ________________ was found in thee.”
    9. Ezekiel 28:17 says, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy ____________, thou hast __________________ thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.”
    10. Isaiah 14:12-15 gives further information. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O ______________, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt ____   ____________ above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to ________, to the sides of the pit.”

Note:   Now do you understand why Satan would want verse 11 removed (“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”)? Satan does not want people to look to Jesus for deliverance

 

— Satan wants people to look to him.

    11. Galatians 1:3-5 says, “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our ________ __________ ____________, Who gave himself for our ________, that he might ______________ us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be __________ for ever and ever. Amen.”
    12. Galatians 1:6-8 says, “I marvel that ye are so ________ removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto ______________ gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would ______________ the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an __________ from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be ________________.”

 

 

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