God's Growing Garden: Bible Version Discrepancies #5

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Bible Version Discrepancies #5 - FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM

Bible Version Discrepancies #5 - FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM (1 John Chapter 1)

For most of my life I have been afraid of the "King James Version" of the Bible. I always thought that it would be like reading Shakespeare - well, it's not. Most of the time on my Sunday blog posts I referenced the N.I.V. (New International Version) but recently, when I need clarification, I refer to the K.J.V. (King James Version) and the N.K.J.V. (New King James Version). In making this small switch I discovered that there are many serious discrepancies between NIV & The King James versions. I also found out that the Bible "scholars" who compiled NIV were members of secret societies. Whether or not there was anything nefarious behind the NIV translation does not affect the goal that I have for this series. We are going to use our God-given common sense to compare these versions and come to our own conclusions.

It is important to note that the King James Version was first published in 1611 and it wasn't until 1978 that the New International Version was first published.

Even if we find serious discrepancies by comparing these two versions, I want you to know that I believe God has still been able to get His message across to us - He is not fazed by "misinterpretation". His Truth fills our heart and that is why we are able to objectively study and compare these versions without losing God's meaning.

In this series we are going to really dive deep into God's Word.

We continue our comparison study with the chapter of

"1 John 1".

We begin with the differences in the chapter subtitles. In the N.I.V. the subtitle for 1 John 1:1-4 is:

"The Incarnation of the Word of Life"

Whereas, in N.K.J.V. the subtitle for that same passage is:

"What Was Heard, Seen, and Touched"

(these can be seen in the first picture seen below).

While I agree with the first subtitle (just for clarification - the meaning of "incarnation" is to make manifest or bodily form), I feel that the N.K.J.V. subtitle is so much more personal and easier to understand.

Color code meaning in the pictures below:

Highlighted in yellow means that those words/sentences do not appear in one of the versions (including when references to God or Jesus appear in lower case rather than upper case)

Highlighted in orange means that the meaning of the word comparison was very different

Highlighted in green means that the meaning of the word comparison was similar or the same.

There are two sets of words that I feel have the same meaning:

appeared = manifested

testify = bear witness

I felt that the word "truly" is very important and I couldn't find any logical reason why N.I.V. should remove that word. "Truly" emphasizes how precious and real our fellowship is with both God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son.

We are going to define the following words that differed in both versions:

touched vs handled

proclaim vs declare

complete vs full

Touch - to bring something into light contact with

Handle - to lift, hold, operate, manipulate

This comparison pretty much explains the difference between the two versions - N.I.V. is light contact with God, whereas N.K.J.V. is full comprehension with the ability to operate the "Word of life".

Proclaim - to declare publicly, insistently and proudly

Declare - to make known formally or officially

Now, with this comparison I actually feel that "proclaim" (N.I.V.) is more personal and appropriate than "declare".

Complete - to have all necessary parts

Full - containing as much or as many as possible

I would much rather have "as much joy as possible" rather than "just enough joy that is necessary". I'd rather not have only the bare minimum.

Continuing on with the differences in the chapter subtitles in the second half of 1 John.

In N.I.V., the subtitle for 1 John 1:5-10 is:

"Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness"

Whereas, in N.K.J.V. the subtitle for that same passage is:

"Fellowship With Him and One Another"

(these can be seen in the second picture directly above).

Here again, I agree with the first subtitle but I feel that the N.K.J.V. subtitle is so much more personal and it also covers light and forgiveness. The only reason we are able to have fellowship with Jesus Christ and with each other is because of God's forgiveness which provides a life of light.

Just like the first few posts in this series - one of the first shocking differences I noticed was the grammar in N.I.V. - it is very disrespectful. Many words describing or referring to God or Jesus are NOT capitalized in the N.I.V. (those letters are underlined in yellow in the pictures above - NIV being on the left). Modern grammar rules have become relaxed in everyday life but that does not mean that this should apply to the Holy Bible!! The amount of lowercase letters (which should have been capitalized) was very maddening to me - there's just no common sense reason to not capitalize.

I pray that you will continue to reflect on these differences this week and never stop digging deep into God's Word.