The Andrews Study Bibles

"Early in my youth I was asked several times, Are you a prophet? I have ever responded, I am the Lord's messenger. I know that many have called me a prophet, but I have made no claim to this title. My Savior declared me to be his messenger." Selected Messages Book One page 32.

"For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come." Matthew 11:10-11, 14.

"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, who ye delight in: behold he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." Malachi 3:1.

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." Malachi 4:5.

King James Bible - "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7. The NKJV has changed "soul" to "living being" as has the NIV. The RV95 says "ser viviente" which means the same thing as "living being." The Reina Valera Gomez (RVG) translation, which is probably as close as you'll come to an uncorrupted Spanish Bible, has "alma" in this verse which means soul. The Andrews University Scholar in a footnote affirms that the verse should say "living being" rather than soul. If the Andrews University Scholar is to be believed, a key text used by Seventh-day Adventist ministers who wish to show that a "soul" means an entire living human being and not some immortal separate entity that escapes the body and goes to either heaven or hell at death, has been made worthless. Oh, and guess what? According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary (unabridged) one of the meanings of "soul" is, "human being : person." For the Andrews University Scholar to say God's Word should say "living being" instead of "soul" is either lack of understanding of English or scholarly subterfuge.

New International Version - "When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose." Genesis 6:1-2. This verse is obviously saying that the "sons of God" were something other than human. This supports the New Age doctrine in which some believe aliens copulated with our human ancestors. The Seventh-day Adventist Andrews University Scholar says in a footnote "sons of God. Most likely the righteous and God-fearing descendants of Seth." Not only is it "most likely" the case, it WAS the case that God's real Word was speaking of the marriage of God fearing descendants of Seth with those that had rejected God. I have to say, maybe I shouldn't have assumed the scholar was a Seventh-day Adventist. The NKJV and the RV95 don't have a problem in this verse.

New King James Version - "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name LORD I was not known to them." Exodus 6:3. This same bible quotes Eve as saying, "I have acquired a man from the LORD" in Genesis 4:1. The NIV does the same thing but in different wording. The RV95 retains the Jehovah of the King James Bible. The note by the Andrews University Scholar provides no explanation for the contradiction in these verses in the NKJV and NIV. "Light. Depth. Truth." is the description of the Andrews Study Bibles in the front of those bibles. I don't think so. "Darkness. Shallowness. Lies." would be a more appropriate description. Replacing Jehovah with Lord in Exodus 6:3 has further ramifications more complex than will be dealt with on this site.

King James Bible - "And he said unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?" Mark 7:18-19. The NIV says "Jesus declared all foods clean," the NKJV says the food "is eliminated, thus purifying all foods, and the RV95 says all foods were declared clean by Jesus. In all three bibles an Andrews University scholar has added a footnote that says Jesus wasn't declaring all foods suitable for eating. What the footnotes say is true but that is NOT what the bibles the footnote are in say. Perhaps they don't understand that "purging" means getting rid of and does NOT mean making ANYTHING clean. There is NO problem here in the King James Bible. The discussion isn't even about clean and unclean foods; it's about ceremonial hand washing.

King James Bible - "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." 1 Corinthians 9:27. The King James Bible is speaking of self-control; of making the body subject to the higher power of the mind. The NKJV says, "I discipline my body," the NIV says, "I strike a blow to my body" and the RV95 says, "sino que golpeo mi cuerpo" (but I hit my body). The NIV and RV95 are clearly speaking of physical mortification of the body, i.e., penance. The NKJV reading, "I discipline my body" could mean self-control but it could also mean penance. The scholar's explanation in a footnote is that, "Giving up one's rights in order to save others requires the same type of self-control and discipline found in sports." That is true but I know of no sport in which one purposely strikes their own body. Yes, I know you get hit in contact sports but you're not hitting yourself.

© Martin J. Lohne 2019. Written 9/27/19.