SUMMARY: Pastor Marc Grizzard of Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, North Carolina has told a TV station that he plans to burn Bibles and books by Christian authors on Halloween--in order "to light a fire under true believers."He considers all translations of the Bible except for the King James version to be "satanic" and "perversions" of God's word. Some of the Christian books to be burned include ones written by Billy Graham and Rick Warren. The plans also include the burning of Christian music.
To read the entire short article click on this link to USA TODAY.
COMMENT: In this day and age when so many people including clergymen consider truth to be relative, it is refreshing to see a pastor standing up for what he thinks is right. He is correct about avoiding some so-called Christian books and music which are not faithful to the Word of God, even some written by well-known authors. Too bad though Rev. Grizzard is wrong when it comes to his opinions on Bible translations.
What Bible version did Jesus use? It wasn't the King James. What Bible version did the Protestant reformers like Luther and Calvin use? It wasn't the King James. What Bible version do true Bible-based Christians in other countries use? It likely isn't the King James.
The King James has been a trustworthy version of God's Word for a long time, and its beautiful prose is highly regarded by many people. Honestly though, it is far from being a perfect translation, which is true of every other translation as well. I am not versed in the original Bible languages, but I think I know of one KJV mistranslation right away--the identification of the great fish that swallowed Jonah as being a "whale." (Matthew 12:40) Only the original versions of the Old and New Testaments as they were written by the inspired authors should be held with the high esteem in which this minister apparently holds the KJV.
Perhaps the biggest problem with using the KJV is how the English language has changed since this version and its updates were created. I remember when I was young asking my mother why the 23rd Psalm (in the KJV) seems to say that we shouldn't want the Lord, our Shepherd. Many other Bible passages in the KJV can also be misunderstood or not understood at all due to this language change, such as Matthew 19:14 ("But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.") or Acts 9:5 ("And he said, 'Who art thou, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.'")
We thank God that every Bible translation (at least those of which I am aware) does let the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ shine through despite the fact some versions are admittedly better than others. Ultimately we need to trust Bible scholars who know the languages in which the Scriptures were originally written, are faithful to the Scriptures, and can point us to the Bible versions that can best communicate the Word of God to us today.
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QUESTION OF THE DAY
Does an adult human skeleton really have fewer bones than the skeleton of an infant?Yes, at birth the skeleton of a human infant has about 300 bones, in adulthood around 206. The reason for this difference is that as the body ages, many of the bones fuse together. For instance, the adult skull (not including the lower jaw) appears to be one bone but is actually 22 fused bones.
Source: Answers (October-December, 2009)
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1 comments:
The minister who is going to burn Bibles and other Christian literature will be doing more harm than good for the public view of Christianity. Is he really standing up for what he believes or is he just making a scene? It seems that he hasn't really studied he Bible well enough if he thinks the KJV is the one and only true translation. The ministers who do truly stand up for the truth don't get press time, just the wackos like this guy burning books. Reminds me of the middle ages... along the lines of being ignorant and closed minded.
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