Which Version Most Glorifies Jesus Christ? Part 1

A number of years ago I composed a tract entitled Which Version Most Glorifies Jesus Christ.  At that time I compared the Authorized or King James Version, 1611 (AV) with the Revised Standard Version (RSV), submitted by the apostate National Council of Churches in 1952;  the New American Standard Version (NASV) of 1977, popular among fundamentalists;  the  New International Version (NIV) of 1978, which gained wide usage among professing Christendom; the Living Bible (LB) of 1971, which is a paraphrase of the Bible; the Douay-Confraternity Version (DCV) of 1961, which is a Roman Catholic Bible; the New King James Version (NKJV) of 1982, which falsely adopts the name of King James, who has been dead since 1625;  and the New Scofield Reference Bible (NSRB) of 1967, which falsely assumes the name of C. I. Scofield, who has been dead since 1921, and changes some of his notes to state things different from his original reference edition. Now another version has appeared upon the scene and has gained widespread usage. This version is the English Standard Version (ESV) of 2001 and is a revision of the Revised Standard Version put out by the apostate National Council of churches. The Revised Standard Version itself underwent revisions in 1962 and 1971, and changed some of the passages of the earlier version that raised the ire of fundamentalists.  This tract is being rewritten and revised in this series of blogs to include the English Standard Version among the versions being compared against the Authorized Version of 1611 as it was not yet published at the time the tract was originally composed.  Throughout this series of blogs we will be using the abbreviations for the various versions listed above in order to save time and space. 

The Holy Scriptures are prophecy given by the Holy Ghost.

2 Peter 1:20  Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 

Following this thought we note this verse:

Revelation 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  The Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus Christ in His prophecy of Scripture. 

John 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Now compare this with what the Lord Jesus said about the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

John 15:26  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me….

John 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

From these words of Christ we can clearly see that the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to testify of Jesus Christ and to glorify Him.  Therefore, since the Scriptures are given by the Holy Spirit, we may conclude that they testify of Christ and glorify Him.  Anything that clouds the testimony of Christ or that detracts from His glory is not of the Holy Spirit!

In our day we are faced with numerous versions all claiming to the be Holy Bible, God’s prophecy given by the Holy Spirit.  Merely claiming to the Holy Bible does not of itself prove that a book is the Holy Spirit’s book.  The Scripture warns against false prophets who profess to be giving the word of God when in reality they are not.

Jeremiah 23:28  The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

29  Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

30  Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

31  Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.

Jeremiah 23:36  …for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.

1 John 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Now our Lord promises to preserve the pure text of His word, “the prophecy of the Scripture,” given by the Holy Ghost.

Psalms 12:6  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

7  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Isaiah 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever….

Matthew 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Yet the Scripture also warns of those who corrupt the word of God and change the truth of God. 

2 Corinthians 2:17  For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

Romans 1:25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie….

The corruptions of the word of God are perversions of God’s word and thus a false prophecy given by men rather than the Holy Spirit.  Seeing that there will be both the pure, preserved words of God and also corruptions of the word of God in this world, we need some criterion in order to discern the words of God, the Holy Spirit’s “prophecy of the Scripture,” from the corruptions of the word of God, the false prophecy. 

This necessary criterion for discernment is found in the ministry of the Holy Ghost that we noted above.  The pure, preserved word of God given by the Holy Spirit will be a testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ that clearly glorifies Him.  In this series of blogs we will compare various modern English versions of the Bible with the Authorized or King James Version of 1611.  It will become readily apparent from this comparison that the Authorized Version bears a brilliantly clear testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ that glorifies both His Person and His work.  On the other hand, this testimony of Christ is clouded and weakened in the modern versions.  From this comparison, it should be obvious which version is the Holy Spirit’s book.

Before engaging in the comparisons, let it be noted that the NKJV and the NSRB both claim to be the King James Version.  To be sure, in most cases they agree with the AV.  However, there are instances where they join the other versions in detracting from the glory of Christ.  Thus they reveal that they too are corruptions of the word of God instead of “the prophecy of Scripture” given by the Holy Ghost. 

Now let’s be about comparing the above listed versions. We will only consider one in this installment. One of the Holy Spirit’s most glorifying pieces of testimony regarding Jesus Christ is His testimony to His deity, that Jesus Christ is God.  Consider this verse from the AV:

1 Timothy 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 

In this verse the AV unmistakably bears witness that Jesus Christ is God Himself “manifest in the flesh.”  This is a clear testimony that glorifies Christ as much as He could possibly be glorified.  It puts Him right up there with God Himself.  There is no greater glory that can be accorded to anyone than that.  However, did you realize that the word God is missing from this verse in the RSV, NASV, NIV, LB, DCV, and the more recent ESB.  It does not matter that sometimes a version will have a footnote stating that some later manuscripts read “God” in this verse.  The suggestion here is that the word God may have been inserted later without divine authority. The fact is that the word God is left out of the verse itself in these versions. Now which version would you judge to be the Holy Spirit’s “prophecy of Scripture” and “testimony of Jesus Christ”?  Is it the one that clearly sets forth Christ as God in this verse or the versions that rob this verse of that testimony?  Which version most glorifies Jesus Christ?  In this case, it is obviously the AV.