Consider the average man (or woman) who enters a Christian bookstore to buy a Bible. He reminds me of the man who fell off the top of a ten-story building. At every floor on the way down you could hear him saying, “So far, so good…so far, so good…so far, so good.” He simply ignored the sudden reverse of fortune awaiting him at the bottom of the first floor.

Watch the Bible-buyer as he finds the Bible section of the bookstore and flips through six or eight hot versions. I cannot tell you what versions this may include since every few months bookstores tout a new bible as the latest word from God. It promises to be more up-to-date, more understandable and more relevant than the 200 or so translations that preceded it over the course of the last century.

Anyway, back to our shopper. He finds a bible he likes. It has a nice look and feel. The notes seem helpful. He reads a verse or two. It sounds like modern English. The store clerk tells him that he is holding a good choice in his hands. It has been translated by the best scholars and is recommended by famous people. He lays down his $40 (or $60 or $80) and proudly carries his new possession home with him.

He has now made a financial commitment to his version and has no intention of allowing any challenges to its veracity. He rejects any hint that it might have made critical subtractions from God’s word. He may sense that it does not sound the same as the Bible of his grandmother. He may be forced to admit that some verses are missing. But he chooses to keep his eyes closed. He does not notice that the present bibles have changed much more than the earlier revisions did. He does not care that future versions will make even more drastic changes. He is happily oblivious to the coming crash awaiting him at the bottom of the first floor. He might as well be saying, “So far, so good…so far, so good…so far, so good…”

This book is written for those of you who really want to know what is happening to the English Bible. If you prefer to be ignorant about the changes being made and the doctrines being diminished, perverted, or erased, then you do not need to read this book. It might upset you. It might make you notice things you have been able to ignore prior to this time. No, for your own peace of mind, just put it back on the shelf where you got it.

However, if you really want to know the truth and are not afraid of where it might lead you… if being right is more important to you than being accepted… then just keep reading. At times you will laugh and at other times you will cry. Some pages will cause your blood to boil and others will make you want to know more. As a preview, look at the New International Version and consider some of the changes being made in this popular translation.

Verses Omitted

The NIV has totally omitted seventeen verses. In it, you no longer read Matthew 17:21; 18:11; 23:14; Mark 7:16; 9:44,46; 11:26; 15:28; Luke 17:36; 23:17; John 5:4; Acts 8:37; 15:34; 24:7; 28:29; Romans 16:24; or I John 5:7. These verses deal with doctrines of great importance: the doctrine of the Trinity (I John 5:7); the doctrine of hell (Mark 9:44,46); the doctrine of salvation (Matthew 18:11; Mark 15:28; Acts 8:37); the doctrine of prayer (Matthew 17:21). Other passages remain in the NIV, but the marginal notes discredit them. These notes reveal that the NIV translators would have preferred to leave out Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53-8:11. That’s an additional 24 verses. Why would someone want to remove these passages? Who would want to remove Matthew 18:11 which states, “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost”? In spite of these and even more disturbing alterations, the advocates of the new versions declare that no doctrines are changed in the new bibles.

Words Omitted

Something else is disappearing from the NIV. There are many biblically significant words that are simply no longer there. By this, I mean that these words are not mentioned even one time in the NIV. Words conspicuously absent from the NIV include all of the following words enclosed in quotation marks. There is no longer a “Godhead.” There is no “Jehovah” or “blessed and only potentate.” There is no “Holy Ghost” and He is not the “Comforter.” God is no longer “immutable” or “omnipotent” – there goes Handel’s Messiah!

Christ is no longer the “only begotten” or the “first begotten.” We no longer need to worry about “devils” or “Lucifer” or “damnation” or “brimstone” or the “bottomless pit.” Hell, which is mentioned 54 times in the KJB, is mentioned only fourteen times in the NIV and is entirely removed from the Old Testament. But why worry about hell or damnation? In the NIV, there are no “trucebreakers” or “winebibbers.” No one is ever accused of being “carnal,” “slothful,” or “unthankful.” In the NIV, there is no “backbiting,” “vanity,” “lasciviousness,” “fornication,” or “whoredom.” In fact, no one is “effeminate” and there are no “sodomites.” No wonder liberals so readily accept this bible.

It is a good thing that there is not much to be saved from in the NIV, since it is harder to get saved as well. No longer is Christ crucified on “Calvary.” He is not the “testator” who brings us the New Testament or the “daysman” who stands between God and us. He has not sprinkled His blood on the “mercyseat.” He was not placed in the “sepulchre” and His resurrection is no longer established by many “infallible” proofs. It only makes sense then that we are no longer “quickened” and there is no more “propitiation” or “remission” or “regeneration” in the NIV. Did you get that? No “Calvary;” no “propitiation;” no “regeneration.”

All of the words in quotation marks—as well as many others that could be cited—have been totally removed from between the covers of the New International Version. Therefore, it follows that the word of God is no longer “incorruptible.” It is not the “engrafted” word of God. There is no “verity” and Christ does not say “verily, verily.” There is no “science” falsely so-called and there are no “fables.” Perhaps that is why the saints no longer “abide in Christ.”