The Week of Prayer Issue of Adventist World
Yesterday, I received the Week of Prayer Issue of Adventist World the principal author of which was Hans (Johanne) Heinz, PhD. I believe brother Heinz's article for the "first Sabbath" made some very good points.
- "Every man, woman, and child should read the Scriptures for himself or herself. Do not depend on the minister to read it for you. The Bible is God's Word to you." I couldn't agree more.
- "And Christ has made this Word so plain that in reading it no one need stumble." Amen! And I suppose that would include children.
- "Rather than comparing scripture with scripture, they set human wisdom as the arbiter between what is relevant and what is not." That happens all the time. Several different Bible versions are compared and it's left to the minister or doctor of the law to choose which is the correct reading when there are obvious contradictions between them. If you disagree with this, you need to read the other pages on this site again.
A great example of this is the feminist movement in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Church as a body for the third time voted against the ordination of women. Notwithstanding this, the Division, Union and Conference where I attend church has been in rebellion against that decision. In 1 Samuel 15:23 it says "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft" but not many seem to care. In the original English in The Acts of the Apostles on page 303 it says, "Paul had been enabled to communicate lessons of divine wisdom, which met the necessities of all classes, and which were to apply at all times, in all places, and under all conditions" but I've heard excuses about how things were different back when Paul described the qualifications of an elder. I'm not going to list texts because both feminists and ministers are well aware of them all.
It's a bit strange that the ordination of women elders was even brought up for a vote given the fact that there is less in the Bible to substantiate the obligation to pay tithe in the Christian era than there is for the plain prohibition against the ordination of women elders. Yet I doubt tithe paying will ever come up for a vote. Emblazoned on the cover of the October 2017 issue of the Columbia Union Visitor were the words "meet 40 women pastors serving in the Columbia Union." A favorite Seventh-day Adventist text is found in Malachi 3:8-10 where is says in part, "bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse" and that they were "cursed with a curse" for robbing God. Where does that leave those responsible for the diversion of tithe to finance the illegitimate office of ordained women ministers?
- "If we would not build our hopes of heaven on a false foundation we must accept the Bible as it reads and believe that the Lord means what He says." That is why I don't believe it's a small thing that new Bible versions attempt to take the sin out of homosexuality and make various texts vague or even false.
- Dr. Heinz notes that "the historical-critical method minimizes the need for faith in God and obedience to His commandments" and he urges "Adventist Bible students to avoid relying on the use of presuppositions and the resultant deductions associated with the historical-critical method." On page 474 of The Acts of the Apostles Ellen White says, "As in the days of the apostles men tried by tradition and philosophy to destroy faith in the Scriptures, so today, by the pleasing sentiments of higher criticism, evolution, spiritualism, theosophy, and pantheism, the enemy of righteousness is seeking to lead souls into forbidden paths." That sounds pretty much like what brother Heinz was saying.
- Brother Heinz says "God has given us a mandate from heaven to be defenders of His Word." If, as it says in Psalms 12, the words of the Lord are "pure words" I think it unlikely you should be calling ANY of the post year 1611 translations of the English Bible God's words as they certainly are not pure words. I have been absolutely amazed at the responses to some of my discussions with various persons regarding the corruptions in the new Bibles. Some of these discussions in various forms have been with Seventh-day Adventist ministers and Sabbath School teachers. They don't seem to care. One of them assured me with confidence that he wouldn't use a Bible that says Satan is dead (i.e., turned to ashes) which is clearly stated in Ezekiel 28 in the new Bibles, yet he continued, last I knew, to teach his Sabbath School class using it. I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. One was under the impression that the American Standard Version was OK; well, it's not much better than the New Revised Standard Version that received the imprimatur of the Roman Catholic Church.
- Dr. Heinz gives very good advice when he says "now is the time to develop total faith, confidence, and trust in the Word of God." Yes, you should do that but be sure it's the real Word of God and not some counterfeit with poison mixed in it.
Brother Heinz started well but for subsequent week of prayer articles he used such bibles as the New International Version (NIV) which is the worst I've looked at and the New American Standard Bible (NASB) which is also very bad. What are they teaching at Andrews University where he received his PhD?
This issue of Adventist World also had a section for children in which the International Children's Bible (ICB) was used for texts. In the preface it says the team that worked on it had translation experience on the NIV, NASB and the New King James Version (NKJV). In Job 14:4 you can read that nothing clean will come out of an unclean thing and they want to feed that stuff to children? These Bibles were born as a result of higher criticism which, as brother Heinz noted, is not to be trusted. You can find the names of the translators of the King James Bible. What you will find in the preface of the ICB is that the translation "team" consisted of the World Bible Translation Center and "twenty-one additional, highly qualified and experienced Bible scholars and translators." Most of the names of those on the translation committee and their denominational affiliations are undisclosed. Rest assured, most if not all of those members on the translating team do not subscribe to Seventh-day Adventist theology.
The ICB is an edition of the New Century Version (NCV) that has been gussied up with color pictures to make it attractive for kids. According to a chart on the back of mine the reading level of the King James Bible is grade 12 (wrong by the way), the Living Bible is grade 8, the NIV is grade 7 and the ICB grade 3.
Just to illustrate how simple the ICB is to read consider the following text:
"There is one God and Father of everything. He rules everything. He is everywhere and in everything." Ephesians 4:6.
That is VERY easy reading and it's New Age and pantheism. That, of course, is not the only corruption in the ICB; if you wish to know more, look up other texts mentioned on this web site.
Though not mentioned in the aforementioned issue of Adventist World, this is a good place to mention another so called Bible that's out to seduce your kids, i.e., The Clear Word for Kids written by Jack Blanco, Th.D., retired dean of Southern Adventist University. Some will argue that it's not a "Bible," it's a paraphrase. No, it's being marketed as a "Bible" at the Adventist Book Center, and in the introduction to the "Dear Young Reader" it says, "This paraphrased Bible was written especially for you!"
Consider the following texts and then decide which is the most "clear" and appropriate for kids. These texts are supposed to explain why "flames and hot coals" were used by God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrha.
From Genesis 19:4-5, "After they finished eating, there was a knock on the door. Some men from the city were there to invite the visitors to come to a neighborhood party. They said to Lot, "Bring your guests and come with us, and we'll all have a good time."" This abomination called a Bible has so mangled up the Word of God it's hard to tell which verse is which and says God burned people up for inviting visitors to a party.
Genesis 19:4-5 in the ICB reads, "Before bedtime, all the men of the city surrounded Lot's house. These men were both young and old and came from every part of Sodom. They called to Lot, "Where art the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to have sexual relations with them."" I think that is a bit more clear than The Clear Word for Kids.
And from the King James Bible, "But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter. And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us that we may know them." I am aware that you will need to explain to your children what "know" in this context means or you can wait until a pedophile educates them.
I'm sure some will protest that the King James Bible is too hard for children to understand. Give this some LONG hard thought. The problem isn't with children but with adults who were probably raised reading corrupt Bibles for the very little time they spent with any Bible. If a child was raised in Finland, that child would learn a language much more complicated than English. Ditto for a child raised by Russian parents. Learning the English of the King James Bible is child's play compared to learning Finnish and Russian.
"But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make the wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:14-15.
Those scriptures were NOT redacted and reworded by the wisdom of man and WERE of benefit to a child.
Read brother Heinz's article for the first Sabbath. What he says in that article is true. It's too bad he didn't practice what he preached in the rest of his articles.
© Martin J. Lohne 2017. Written 11/3/17.