A CAREFUL LOOK AT The New
King James Bibleby M. H. Reynolds, Jr.,
Editor of FOUNDATION magazine"WHAT ABOUT THE NEW KING JAMES BIBLE?"
This query tops the list of questions directed to us
in recent months. In this article, we want to share
with God's people some of the important facts
which led us to reject the NKJV and warn others
about it. We do not believe that the "NKJV makes
the KJV even better" as its publishers claim. To the
contrary, our study leads us to conclude that the
NKJV vitiates the original, reliable, accurate KJV in
a most deceptive manner. While claiming to have
"preserved the authority and accuracy" of the
original KJV, the actual result is a hybrid text which
incorporates many word changes identical with or
similar to the corruptions found in other modern
Bible versions.WHY THE NEW KING JAMES BIBLE? Its publisher,
Thomas Nelson Company, says its purpose is "To
Preserve the Integrity of the Original in the Language
of Today" - "To preserve the authority and accuracy
...of the original King James while making it under-
standable to 20th Century readers" - "To update
with regard to punctuation and grammar; archaic
verbs and pronouns"; and "Up-to-date accuracy
with regard to words whose English meaning has
changed over a period of 3 1/2 centuries." The com-
pleted NKJV text is said to be "Beautifully Clear"
and "Highly Readable." And, Thomas Nelson Pub-
lishers is spending several million dollars to con-
vince Christians that the NKJV is "THE" Bible of
the present and the future.WHY DO WE RECOMMEND REJECTION OF THE
NKJV? Space limitations preclude a full discussion
of every reason, but we do urge a careful considera-
tion of the following facts discovered in our study
of the NKJV. First, it is essential to know that many
of the word changes between the original KJV and
the NKJV are not changes which result from re-
moving archaisms, etc. - but are changes which
clearly reveal that, contrary to their agreed basis,
the NKJV translators departed from the original
KJV and its underlying Greek text, the Textus
Receptus, IN FAVOR OF WORDING FROM COR-
RUPTED TEXTS.THE INSTANCES IN WHICH THE NKJV BREAKS
WITH THE ORIGINAL KJV BY SUBSTITUTING
WORDING IDENTICAL TO THAT OF CORRUPTED
MODERN BIBLE VERSIONS are too numerous to
be considered coincidence. And, since Nelson
tells us that the NKJV scholars spent "months
of prayer, research, and discussion over the HAN-
DLING OF A SINGLE WORD," we must conclude
that these changes were neither coincidental
nor accidental.THE FOLLOWING REFERENCES ARE LISTED AS
PRIME EXAMPLES OF THE WAY IN WHICH NKJV
TRANSLATORS inserted erroneous words and
meanings from corrupted modern Bible versions
into the NKJV text:ACTS 4:27 - KJV reads, "thy holy child,
Jesus". NKJV, NASV and RSV change "holy
child" to "HOLY SERVANT."ACTS 8:9 - KJV reads, "bewitched the peo-
ple". NKJV and NASV change "bewitched"
to "ASTONISHED." NIV and RSV change
"bewitched" to "AMAZED."ROMANS 1:25 - KJV reads, "changed the
truth of God into a lie". NKJV, NASV and NIV
read "EXCHANGED the truth of God for the
lie" or "a lie."ROMANS 4:25 - KJV reads, "Who was
delivered for our offences, and was raised again
change "for" to "BECAUSE OF." (Even the
NIV and RSV use the correct word, "for".)2 CORINTHIANS 10:5 - KJV reads, "Cast-
ing down imaginations". NKJV, NIV and RSV
change "imaginations" to "ARGU-
MENTS."COLOSSIANS 3:2 - KJV reads, "Set your
affection on things above". NKJV, NASV,
NIV and RSV change "affection" to
"MIND."1 THESSALONIANS 5:22 - KJV reads, "Ab-
stain from all appearance of evil." NKJV,
NASV and RSV change "appearance" to
"FORM."2 TIMOTHY 2:15 - KJV reads, "Study to
shew thyself approved unto God". NKJV and
NASV change "Study" to "BE DILIGENT."
NIV and RSV change "Study" to "DO
YOUR BEST."EXAMPLES OF CHANGES IN THE TEXT OF THE
OLD TESTAMENT INCLUDE:PSALM 79:1 - the word "heathen" in the
KJV is changed to "NATIONS" in the NKJV,
NASV and NIV.ISAIAH 11:3 - the entire phrase, "And
shall make him of quick understanding" in
the KJV is eliminated in the NKJV, NASV,
NIV and RSV.ISAIAH 66:5 - the wonderful phrase, "but
he shall appear to your joy" in the KJV disap-
pears without explanation from NKJV,
NASV, NIV and RSV.ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF SIGNIFICANT WORD
CHANGES WOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING
REFERENCES: Matthew 4:24; 6:13; 7:14; 20:20;
Mark 4:19; John 14:2; Acts 17:29; Romans 1:18;
Philippians 2:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 Timothy
6:5,10,20; Hebrews 2:16; 10:14; James 1:15;
1 Peter 1:7.A STRIKING AND SIGNIFICANT WORD CHANGE
INVOLVES CHANGING "corrupt" TO "PED-
DLING" in 2 Corinthians 2:17. The original KJV
correctly says, "For we are not as many, which
corrupt the word of God...." But the NKJV,
NASV, NIV, and RSV, change "corrupt" to "PED-
DLING." Is there any great difference between
PEDDLING (selling, or making a gain of) the Word
of God and CORRUPTING (adulterating) it? Of
course there is, and one does not have to be a
Greek scholar to decide which word is correct.
When this warning was given in the 1st Century,
was there any way for people to PEDDLE (make a
gain of) God's Word? Of course not - they were suf-
fering for it. The warning clearly refers to COR-
RUPTING God's Word, something that was common
then as it is now. Only in our day has it ever been
possible to PEDDLE (make a gain of) the Bible. With
its huge profits from the sale of corrupted Bible ver-
sions, the Thomas Nelson Publishers is both COR-
RUPTING AND PEDDLING GOD'S WORD!DR. JERRY FALWELL, A MEMBER OF THE NKJV
OVERVIEW COMMITTEE, GIVES THIS NEW BIBLE
HIS UNQUALIFIED ENDORSEMENT, stating that
"It PROTECTS EVERY THOUGHT, EVERY IDEA,
EVERY WORD, just as it was intended to be under-
stood by the original scholars." THIS SIMPLY IS
NOT TRUE! As already pointed out, words have
been changed and with those changed words have
come changed thoughts and ideas.SOME WILL ARGUE THAT THE CHANGES NOTED
DO NOT AFFECT ANY FUNDAMENTAL BIBLE
DOCTRINE. WE STRONGLY DISAGREE. IS NOT
THE VERBAL INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES
A FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE? Is not EVERY WORD
of the Bible important? Jesus Christ said, "Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew
4:4. He also said, "Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my words shall not pass away."
Matthew 24:35. Since Christ is concerned about
EVERY WORD, we should also be concerned about
EVERY WORD and raise a voice of protest whenever
"scholarly sleight of hand" is discovered in any
modern Bible version, including the NKJV.IN RAISING STRENUOUS OBJECTIONS TO THE
"CHANGED WORDS" OF THE NKJV TEXT, we are
NOT referring to those changes which properly
update old English verb forms without changing
the meaning, i.e., removing "est" or "eth" from
verb endings. Neither do we refer to updating the
old English pronouns "thee," "thou" and "thine"
where they refer to individuals. We do consider it a
tragic mistake to eliminate the use of "Thee,"
"Thou" and "Thine" where these refer to Deity.
There is a disturbing trend these days toward strip-
ping God of His Majesty both in word and deed.
The substitution of the common pronouns "You"
and "Yours" for "Thee," "Thou" and "Thine" which
have historically been used to refer to Deity both in
the Scriptures and the Hymns of the [local] Church, only
helps pave the way for further attempts of sinful
men to bring God down to their level rather than
exalting Him in every way possible.ACTUALLY, THERE ARE ONLY A FEW OLD ENGLISH
WORDS USED IN THE ORIGINAL KJV where, due
to the passage of years, different words are now
used to express the original meanings. Such changes
have been incorporated into the NKJV but do not
change original meanings. We refer to verses such
as 2 Thessalonians 2:7 where "letteth" is updated
to "restraineth"; or, Psalm 4:2 where "leasing" is
updated to "lying"; or, 1 Thessalonians 4:15 where
"prevent" is updated to "precede"; or Matthew
19:14 where "Suffer" is updated to "let" (meaning
allow or permit). However, in other instances, it is
difficult to understand how the NKJV scholars
thought they were updating and clarifying the KJV
as, for example, when they substituted "minas" for
"pounds" in Luke 19:13; or, "satraps" for "princes"
in Daniel 3:3; or, "black cummin" for "fitches" in
Isaiah 28:27.THE DUPLICITY OF THE NKJV PUBLISHERS,
TRANSLATORS AND ENDORSERS GREATLY IN-
CREASES THE POSSIBILITY OF BELIEVERS BEING
DECEIVED. The word "duplicity" is used advisedly.
Webster's Dictionary defines "duplicity" as: "de-
ception by pretending to feel and act one way
while acting another." Consider the following facts,
all of which are fully documentable.THE DUPLICITY OF THE THOMAS NELSON PUB-
LISHERS is clearly evidenced by their expressed
concern and stated desire to "PRESERVE THE
AUTHORITY AND ACCURACY...of the original King
James" Bible. Yet, Nelson is the largest publisher
of Bibles in the world and publishes eight of the
nine modern versions including the iniquitous Re-
vised Standard Version produced and copyrighted by
the apostate NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES.
If the Thomas Nelson Publishers were genuinely
concerned about the purity of the Scriptures, would
they continue printing the RSV and other corrupted
modern versions?THE DUPLICITY OF THE NKJV SCHOLARS IS
ALSO A MATTER FOR CONCERN AND CON-
SIDERATION. Although each scholar was asked to
subscribe to a statement confirming his belief in
the PLENARY, DIVINE, VERBAL INSPIRATION OF
THE ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPHS (none of which
exist today [on Earth]), the question of whether or not they
also believed in the DIVINE PRESERVATION OF
THE DIVINELY INSPIRED ORIGINALS was not an
issue as it should have been. Dr. Arthur Farstad,
chairman of the NKJV Executive Review Commit-
tee which had the responsibility of final text ap-
proval, stated that this committee was about equally
divided as to which was the better Greek New Testa-
ment text -- the Textus Receptus or the Westcott-
Hort. Apparently, none of them believed that either
text was the Divinely Preserved Word of God. Yet,
all of them participated in a project to "protect and
preserve the PURITY AND ACCURACY" of the
original KJV based on the TR. Is not this duplicity of
the worst kind, coming as it did from supposedly
"evangelical" scholars?FURTHER DUPLICITY IS REVEALED IN THE PREF-
ACE OF THE NKJV and in a 16-page history of the
KJV printed at the end. On page vi of the preface,
NKJV readers are given the following erroneous
information: "There is only one basic New Testa-
ment used by Protestants, Roman Catholics, and
Orthodox, by conservatives and liberals." THIS IS
SIMPLY NOT TRUE! There are two basic New Testa-
ment texts - the Divinely preserved Textus Recep-
tus from which the original KJV was translated and
the Satanically corrupted Westcott-Hort Text (and
its revisions) which form the basis of all other mod-
ern Bible versions.NKJV READERS ARE FURTHER MISINFORMED
AS TO WHY THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL KJV AND ALL THE
MODERN VERSIONS. On page vi of the preface,
NKJV readers are "assured that the most important
differences in the English New Testament of today
are due, not to manuscript divergence, but to the
way in which translators view the task of transla-
tion." AGAIN, THIS SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE. Impor-
tant differences in the English New Testament of
today ARE DUE to "manuscript divergence" (over
5700 differences exist between the TR and W.H.
Greek texts) AND the divergent views of the
scholars who produced the various translations.AS A CROWNING CLIMAX OF DUPLICITY AND
INCONSISTENCY, THE EDITORS OF THE NEW
KING JAMES BIBLE make the following incongruous
statements on pages 1234 and 1235 of the King
James history printed at the conclusion of the
NKJV text:"THE TENDENCY OF RECENT REVISERS HAS
BEEN TO REMOVE WORDS AND PHRASES
FROM THE TEXT OF SCRIPTURE, based on
the most recently discovered extant manu-
scripts. In using the Greek text underlying
the King James Bible, these words and
phrases were retained. And, in those few
places where the majority of the manuscripts
did not support a word or phrase, that fact
could best be indicated in a footnote. (The
New Testament of the New King James Ver-
sion shows in its footnotes those places
where the MAJOR TEXTUAL TRADITIONS
DIFFER from the language of the King
James Bible.)"IT WAS THE EDITORS' CONVICTION THAT
THE USE OF FOOTNOTES WOULD EN-
COURAGE FURTHER INQUIRY BY READERS.
THEY ALSO RECOGNIZED THAT IT WAS
EASIER FOR THE AVERAGE READER TO
DELETE SOMETHING HE OR SHE FELT WAS
NOT PROPERLY A PART OF THE TEXT, than
to insert a word or phrase which had been left
out by the revisers."WILL THE NEXT MODERN BIBLE BE THE "DO IT
YOURSELF VERSION"? This would be a distinct
possibility if the advice of the NKJV editors in the
two preceding paragraphs were to be followed. In
effect, they are saying, "Let each reader decide for
himself what portions, verses, phrases and words
should be included in God's Holy Word." The
NKJV footnotes, far from being helpful, are an
invitation to disobey the plain command of God not
to add to or take from His Word. Deuteronomy 4:2;
Revelation 22:18, 19.
--
"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." (Deuteronomy 4:2)
"(18)For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (19)And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." (Revelation 22:18- 19)
THE PRESERVATION OF GOD'S DIVINELY IN-
SPIRED WORD IS CLEARLY SET FORTH in Psalm
12:6, 7. "The words of the LORD are pure words: as
silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven
times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt
preserve them from this generation for ever." God
has fulfilled His promise through the Textus Recep-
tus and the original King James Version. Those
who replace the original KJV with the NKJV will
have been duped into accepting a Bible which still
bears a respected name but one which has placed
"readability" above purity.THE TRANSLATORS OF THE ORIGINAL KING
JAMES BIBLE HAD A DISTINCT ADVANTAGE.
They were able to use their vast knowledge of
ancient languages and translation abilities prior to
the time when the deadly virus of so-called "Higher
Criticism" infected the whole field of scholarship.
False teachers boldly dissected God's Word with
the "tools of scholarship" in order to reconstruct it
according to their own speculations and presump-
tions. The result is a pseudo-intellectual aura in
which no one can be sure of anything. IT'S TIME TO
GET BACK TO THE PURE WORD OF GOD WHERE
FAITH PREVAILS AND DOUBT IS VANQUISHED!OUR PLEA TO GOD'S PEOPLE IS TO REJECT THE
NEW KING JAMES BIBLE and continue preaching,
teaching, memorizing and meditating upon the
pure, unadulterated, Divinely preserved milk and
meat of God's Holy Word -- THE ORIGINAL KING
JAMES AUTHORIZED VERSION Of 1611 upon
which God has so evidently placed His stamp of
approval over a span of nearly four centuries!F. E. A.
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