Undeniable Proof the ESV, NIV, NASB, Holman Standard, NET etc. are the new "Vatican Versions"
Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth..is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit...and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication...Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins Revelation 17:2-5; 18:2-4
I have a copy of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece 27th edition right here in front of me. It is the same Greek text as the UBS (United Bible Society) 4th edition. These are the Greek readings and texts that are followed by such modern versions as the ESV, NIV, NASB, Holman Standard AND the new Catholic versions like the St. Joseph New American Bible 1970 and the New Jerusalem bible 1985.
If you have a copy of the Nestle-Aland 27th edition, open the book and read what they tell us in their own words on page 45 of the Introduction. Here these critical Greek text editors tell us about how the Greek New Testament (GNT, now known as the UBS) and the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece grew together and shared the same basic text.
In the last paragraph on page 45 we read these words: "The text shared by these two editions was adopted internationally by Bible Societies, and following an agreement between the Vatican and the United Bible Societies it has served as the basis for new translations and for revisions made under their supervision. This marks a significant step with regard to interconfessional relationships. It should naturally be understood that this text is a working text: it is not to be considered as definitive, but as a stimulus to further efforts toward defining and verifying the text of the New Testament."
There it is folks, in their own words. They openly admit that this text is the result of an agreement between the Vatican and the UBS and that the text itself is not "definitive" - it can change, as it already has and will do so in the future, and is not the infallible words of God but merely "a stimulus to further efforts".
The United Bible Societies Vice-President is Roman Catholic Cardinal Onitsha of Nigeria. On the executive committee is Roman Catholic Bishop Alilona of Italy and among the editors is Roman Catholic Cardinal Martini of Milan. Patrick Henry happily claims, "Catholics should work together with Protestants in the fundamental task of Biblical translation [They can] work very well together and have the same approach and interpretation ... This signals a new age in the church." - Patrick Henry, New Directions in New Testament Study (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1979), 232-234.
Here is the United Bible Societies own website where they announced in March of 2013 the news of the new Pope Francis' longtime support of the UBS.
United Bible Societies welcomes Pope Francis | United Bible Societies
United Bible Societies welcomes Pope Francis
MARCH 15, 2013 - The election of Pope Francis, a long-time friend of the Bible Societies, is an encouragement to United Bible Societies (UBS) to work even harder to make the Bible available to everyone.
Bible critics (none of whom believes that any Bible in any language IS the complete, inspired and 100% historically true words of God) often attack King James Bible believers for using a Bible with "Roman Catholic" roots. For example Doug Kutilek's article Is the King James Version a Roman Catholic Bible? Recently I was at a Christian Forum on Facebook and I got more than a couple of remarks like: Well, we can thank the Catholic church for the King James Bible or you wouldn't have the KJV without the RCC. They sponsored Erasmus (RC scholar) who rushed the manuscripts which are the basis for the the KJV.
Their argument goes something like this: the Textus Receptus Greek text was edited by Erasmus, the King James New Testament was based upon the Textus Receptus. Erasmus was a loyal Roman Catholic so the King James Bible has strong Catholic roots.
The Vatican Versionists today - ESV, NIV, NASB, NET, Holman etc. cannot deny the fact that the Vatican is directly involved in creating the "interconfessional" text that underlies all their ever changing versions. Why? Because their own Critical Greek text tells them that this is the case. So, in an effort to bring us to the conclusion that "The KJB is just as Catholic as our new versions", they always drag out this Erasmus thingy and hope to lead us down this erroneous rabbit trail.
They ignore the fact that Erasmus never was a practicing Catholic priest; he often criticized many doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church; he died in the presence of his Protestant friends; his books were eventually placed on the forbidden to read list by the RCC and most importantly, no Catholic bible version ever used the Greek text of Erasmus to make up their translations, but ALL Reformation bibles did use Erasmus, Stephanus and Beza as their textual basis.
The King James Bible translators did not even primarily use Erasmus but relied far more on the Greek texts of Stephanus and Beza.
The modern Vatican Version users (ESV, NIV, NASB etc.) use this flimsy and ultimately meaningless Erasmus-Catholic connection as an excuse to justify their use and promotion of their ever changing bogus bibles that not even they believe are the complete and infallible words of God.
As usual, the KJB critics argument is misinformed, deeply biased and misapplied. Learn more about the man Erasmus and his theology here:
What About Erasmus?
Please read the entire article, but briefly some of relevant points that should be noted are: Erasmus published his printed Greek text in 1516. This was prior to the beginning of the Reformation in 1517 when Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany. There WAS no Reformation or any official Protestants at this time. Aside from a few persecuted minorities like the Waldenses in the remote Alps, the Catholic church was the only game in town. Even Wycliffe and Tyndale were nominal Catholics. He dedicated his Greek text to the Pope, but this was most likely a political move to get his Greek text accepted and it ultimately did not do him any good at all. It was soon said by the Catholics that Erasmus laid the egg and Luther hatched the chickens. His books and writings were soon banned by the Pope himself. Erasmus examined hundreds of Greek manuscripts from all over Europe. He was familiar with virtually every variant reading we know of today. He was NOT limited in his knowledge of Greek readings by the alleged ten manuscripts he used to put together the New Testament Greek text. His Greek text, along with the minor revisions of Stephanus and Beza became the basis for the New Testament texts of all Reformation Bibles. The King James Bible translators worked primarily with Beza's fifth edition of the Greek Traditional text of 1598. Luther was a Reformer from outside the Catholic church, while Erasmus believed he could reform it from the inside. Erasmus himself wrote against many of the abuses and excesses of the Catholic church and the celibacy of the priests. He rejected the typical Roman Catholic interpretation of Matthew 16:18 establishing the papal primacy and he began to teach baptism by immersion AFTER conversion. There is no record of him ever officiating as a Catholic priest and he died in Switzerland in 1536 surrounded by his Protestant friends.
What is called the Textus Receptus was NOT the basis for the Catholic Bibles, but rather for the Reformation Bibles like Luthers German Bible, the French Olivetan, the Italian Diodati, the Portuguese Almeida, the Spanish Reina Valera, the English Geneva Bible and of course the King James Holy Bible. The Catholic church never did approve of the Textus Receptus. In fact, the Council of Trent (1545-1564) branded Erasmus a heretic and prohibited his works. In 1559, Pope Paul IV placed Erasmus on the first class of forbidden authors, which was composed of authors whose works were completely condemned.
The King James Bible translators themselves did not even primarily use the Greek text of Erasmus for their magnificent translation, but rather the Greek texts of Stephanus and Theodore Beza, though all three are in basic agreement.
(more to come)
Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth..is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit...and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication...Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins Revelation 17:2-5; 18:2-4
I have a copy of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece 27th edition right here in front of me. It is the same Greek text as the UBS (United Bible Society) 4th edition. These are the Greek readings and texts that are followed by such modern versions as the ESV, NIV, NASB, Holman Standard AND the new Catholic versions like the St. Joseph New American Bible 1970 and the New Jerusalem bible 1985.
If you have a copy of the Nestle-Aland 27th edition, open the book and read what they tell us in their own words on page 45 of the Introduction. Here these critical Greek text editors tell us about how the Greek New Testament (GNT, now known as the UBS) and the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece grew together and shared the same basic text.
In the last paragraph on page 45 we read these words: "The text shared by these two editions was adopted internationally by Bible Societies, and following an agreement between the Vatican and the United Bible Societies it has served as the basis for new translations and for revisions made under their supervision. This marks a significant step with regard to interconfessional relationships. It should naturally be understood that this text is a working text: it is not to be considered as definitive, but as a stimulus to further efforts toward defining and verifying the text of the New Testament."
There it is folks, in their own words. They openly admit that this text is the result of an agreement between the Vatican and the UBS and that the text itself is not "definitive" - it can change, as it already has and will do so in the future, and is not the infallible words of God but merely "a stimulus to further efforts".
The United Bible Societies Vice-President is Roman Catholic Cardinal Onitsha of Nigeria. On the executive committee is Roman Catholic Bishop Alilona of Italy and among the editors is Roman Catholic Cardinal Martini of Milan. Patrick Henry happily claims, "Catholics should work together with Protestants in the fundamental task of Biblical translation [They can] work very well together and have the same approach and interpretation ... This signals a new age in the church." - Patrick Henry, New Directions in New Testament Study (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1979), 232-234.
Here is the United Bible Societies own website where they announced in March of 2013 the news of the new Pope Francis' longtime support of the UBS.
United Bible Societies welcomes Pope Francis | United Bible Societies
United Bible Societies welcomes Pope Francis
MARCH 15, 2013 - The election of Pope Francis, a long-time friend of the Bible Societies, is an encouragement to United Bible Societies (UBS) to work even harder to make the Bible available to everyone.
Bible critics (none of whom believes that any Bible in any language IS the complete, inspired and 100% historically true words of God) often attack King James Bible believers for using a Bible with "Roman Catholic" roots. For example Doug Kutilek's article Is the King James Version a Roman Catholic Bible? Recently I was at a Christian Forum on Facebook and I got more than a couple of remarks like: Well, we can thank the Catholic church for the King James Bible or you wouldn't have the KJV without the RCC. They sponsored Erasmus (RC scholar) who rushed the manuscripts which are the basis for the the KJV.
Their argument goes something like this: the Textus Receptus Greek text was edited by Erasmus, the King James New Testament was based upon the Textus Receptus. Erasmus was a loyal Roman Catholic so the King James Bible has strong Catholic roots.
The Vatican Versionists today - ESV, NIV, NASB, NET, Holman etc. cannot deny the fact that the Vatican is directly involved in creating the "interconfessional" text that underlies all their ever changing versions. Why? Because their own Critical Greek text tells them that this is the case. So, in an effort to bring us to the conclusion that "The KJB is just as Catholic as our new versions", they always drag out this Erasmus thingy and hope to lead us down this erroneous rabbit trail.
They ignore the fact that Erasmus never was a practicing Catholic priest; he often criticized many doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church; he died in the presence of his Protestant friends; his books were eventually placed on the forbidden to read list by the RCC and most importantly, no Catholic bible version ever used the Greek text of Erasmus to make up their translations, but ALL Reformation bibles did use Erasmus, Stephanus and Beza as their textual basis.
The King James Bible translators did not even primarily use Erasmus but relied far more on the Greek texts of Stephanus and Beza.
The modern Vatican Version users (ESV, NIV, NASB etc.) use this flimsy and ultimately meaningless Erasmus-Catholic connection as an excuse to justify their use and promotion of their ever changing bogus bibles that not even they believe are the complete and infallible words of God.
As usual, the KJB critics argument is misinformed, deeply biased and misapplied. Learn more about the man Erasmus and his theology here:
What About Erasmus?
Please read the entire article, but briefly some of relevant points that should be noted are: Erasmus published his printed Greek text in 1516. This was prior to the beginning of the Reformation in 1517 when Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany. There WAS no Reformation or any official Protestants at this time. Aside from a few persecuted minorities like the Waldenses in the remote Alps, the Catholic church was the only game in town. Even Wycliffe and Tyndale were nominal Catholics. He dedicated his Greek text to the Pope, but this was most likely a political move to get his Greek text accepted and it ultimately did not do him any good at all. It was soon said by the Catholics that Erasmus laid the egg and Luther hatched the chickens. His books and writings were soon banned by the Pope himself. Erasmus examined hundreds of Greek manuscripts from all over Europe. He was familiar with virtually every variant reading we know of today. He was NOT limited in his knowledge of Greek readings by the alleged ten manuscripts he used to put together the New Testament Greek text. His Greek text, along with the minor revisions of Stephanus and Beza became the basis for the New Testament texts of all Reformation Bibles. The King James Bible translators worked primarily with Beza's fifth edition of the Greek Traditional text of 1598. Luther was a Reformer from outside the Catholic church, while Erasmus believed he could reform it from the inside. Erasmus himself wrote against many of the abuses and excesses of the Catholic church and the celibacy of the priests. He rejected the typical Roman Catholic interpretation of Matthew 16:18 establishing the papal primacy and he began to teach baptism by immersion AFTER conversion. There is no record of him ever officiating as a Catholic priest and he died in Switzerland in 1536 surrounded by his Protestant friends.
What is called the Textus Receptus was NOT the basis for the Catholic Bibles, but rather for the Reformation Bibles like Luthers German Bible, the French Olivetan, the Italian Diodati, the Portuguese Almeida, the Spanish Reina Valera, the English Geneva Bible and of course the King James Holy Bible. The Catholic church never did approve of the Textus Receptus. In fact, the Council of Trent (1545-1564) branded Erasmus a heretic and prohibited his works. In 1559, Pope Paul IV placed Erasmus on the first class of forbidden authors, which was composed of authors whose works were completely condemned.
The King James Bible translators themselves did not even primarily use the Greek text of Erasmus for their magnificent translation, but rather the Greek texts of Stephanus and Theodore Beza, though all three are in basic agreement.
(more to come)
