BENJAMIN G. WILKINSON, PH.D.

CHAPTER 6

"I have been surprised, in comparing the Revised Testament with other versions, to find how many of the changes, which are important and valuable, have been anticipated by the Rhemish translation, which now forms a part of what is known as the Douay Bible... And yet a careful comparison of these new translations with the Rhemish Testament, shows them, in many instances, to be simply a return to this old version, and leads us to think that possible there were as finished scholars three hundred years ago as now, and nearly as good apparatus for the proper rendering of the original text."f134

THE modern Bible we have selected to compare with the Jesuit Bible of 1582, is the Revised Version. It led the way and laid the basis for all Modern Speech Bibles to secure a large place. On the following passages from the Scriptures, we have examined The Twentieth Century, Fenton, Goodspeed, Moffatt, Moulton, Noyes, Rotherham, Weymouth, and Douay. With two exceptions, these all in the main agree with the change of thought in the Revised; and the other two agree to a considerable extent.

They all, with other modern Bibles not mentioned, represent a family largely built on the Revised Greek New Testament, or one greatly similar, or were the products of a common influence. Therefore, marshaling together a number of recent New Testaments by different editors to support a changed passage in the Revised, proves nothing: perhaps they all have followed the same Greek New Testament reading.

1. <400613>MATTHEW 6:13

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE OF 1611. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

(2) JESUIT VERSION OF 1582: "And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED VERSION OF 1901: "And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

2. <400544>MATTHEW 5:44

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "But I say to you, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and abuse you."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you."

The phrase "bless them that curse you" is omitted from both the Revised and the Jesuit. On this Canon Cook says, "Yet this enormous omission rests on the sole authority of # and B."f135 (That is, on the Vatican Manuscript and the one found in 1859 in a Catholic monastery.) Thus we see that the Revised Version is not a revision in any sense whatever, but a new Bible based on different manuscripts from the King James, on Catholic manuscripts in fact.

3. <420233>LUKE 2:33

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "And Joseph and His mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of Him."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "And His father and mother were marvelling upon those things which were spoken concerning Him."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED; "And His father and His mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning Him."

Note that the Jesuit and American Revised Versions give Jesus a human father, or at least failed to make the distinction. Helvidius, the devout scholar of northern Italy (400 A.D.), who had the pure manuscripts, accused Jerome of using corrupt manuscripts on this text.f136 These corrupt manuscripts are represented in the Jesuit Version of 1582 and are followed by the Revised Version of 1901.

4. <420408>LUKE 4:8

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "And Jesus answering, said to him, It is written, Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "And Jesus answered and said unto him, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."

The expression, "get thee behind me, Satan," was early omitted because Jesus uses the same expression later to Peter (in <401623>Matthew 16:23) to rebuke the apostle. The papal corrupters of the manuscripts did not wish Peter and Satan to stand on the same basis. Note again the fatal parallel between the Jesuit and Revised Versions. We were revised backwards.

5. <421102>LUKE 11:2-4

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "And He said to them, When you pray, say, Father, sanctified be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Our daily bread give us this day. And forgive us our sins, for because ourselves also do forgive every one that is in debt to us, And lead us not into temptation."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Father, Hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we ourselves also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation." This mutilation of the secondary account of the Lords prayer needs no comment, except to say again that the Jesuit Version and the American Revised agree.

6. <441342>ACTS 13:42

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "And as they were going forth, they desired them that the Sabbath following they would speak unto them these words."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "And as they went out, they besought that these words might be spoken to them the next Sabbath."

From the King James, it is clear that the Sabbath was the day on which the Jews worshipped.

7. <441523>ACTS 15:23

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "And they wrote letters by them after this manner: The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "Writing by their hands. The Apostles and Ancients, brethren, to the brethren of the Gentiles that are at Antioch and in Syria and Cilicia, greeting."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "And they wrote thus by them, The apostles and the elders, brethren, unto the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, Greeting." Notice in the Jesuit Bible and Revised how the clergy is set off from the laity. Not so in the King James.

7. <441607>ACTS 16:7

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "And when they were come into Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia: and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "And when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not."

Milligan, who echoed the theology of the Revisers, says: "<441607>Acts 16:7, where the striking reading the Spirit of Jesus (not simply, as in the Authorized Version, "the Spirit") implies that the Holy Spirit had so taken possession of the Person of the Exalted Jesus that He could be spoken of as the Spirit of Jesus."f137

9. <450501>ROMANS 5:1

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "Being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace toward God by our Lord Jesus Christ."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "Being therefore justified by faith, let us (margin) have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

"Beginning in the Spirit is another way of saying being justified by faith."f138 If, therefore, the phrase, "Being justified by faith," is simply a beginning, as the Catholics think, they feel justified in finishing with "let us have peace." The Reformers saw that "let us have peace" is a serious error of doctrine, so Dr. Robinson testifies.f139

11. <461547>1 CORINTHIANS 15:47

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "The first man of earth, earthly; the second man from heaven, heavenly."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven."

The word "Lord" is omitted in the Jesuit and Revised Versions. The Authorized tells specifically who is that Man from heaven.

12. <490309>EPHESIANS 3:9

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "And to illuminate all men what is the dispensation of the Sacrament hidden from worlds in God, who created all things."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "And to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God who created all things."

The great truth that Jesus is Creator is omitted in both the Jesuit and the Revised.

13. <510114>COLOSSIANS 1:14

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "In whom we have redemption the remission of sins."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "In whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins."

The phrase "through His blood" is not found in either the Jesuit or American Revised Versions; its omission can be traced to Origen (200 A.D.), who expressly denies that either the body or soul of our Lord was offered as the price of our redemption. Eusebius was a devoted follower of Origen; and Eusebius edited the Vatican Manuscript. The omission is in that MS. and hence in the American Revised Version. Moreover, Jerome was a devoted follower of both Origen and Eusebius.

The phrase "through His blood" is not in the Vulgate and hence not in the Jesuit Bible. Here is the fatal parallel between the Jesuit Version and the American Revised Version. This omission of the atonement through blood is in full accord with modern liberalism, and strikes at the very heart of the gospel.

14. <540316>1 TIMOTHY 3:16

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "And manifestly it is a great Sacrament of piety, which was manifested in flesh, was justified in spirit, appeared to Angels, hath been preached to Gentiles, is believed in the world, is assumpted in glory."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the spirit, Seen of angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory."

What a piece of revision this is! The teaching of the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ upheld by the King James Bible in this text is destroyed in both the other versions. The King James says, "God" was manifest in the flesh; the Revised says, "He who." "He who" might have been an angel or even a good man like Elijah. It would not have been a great mystery for a man to be manifest in the flesh.

15. <550401>2 TIMOTHY 4:1

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "I testify before God and Jesus Christ who shall judge the living and the dead, and by His advent and His kingdom."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom."

The King James in this text, fixes the great day of judgment as occurring at the time of His appearing, and His kingdom. The Jesuit and Revised place it in the indefinite future.

16. <580721>HEBREWS 7:21

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec)."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "But this with an oath, by him that said unto him: Our Lord hath sworn, and it shall not repent Him: Thou art a Priest forever."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "(For they indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an oath by him that saith of him, The Lord sware and will not repent Himself, Thou art a priest forever)."

The phrase "after the order of Melchisedec" found in the King James Bible is omitted in the other two versions.

17. <662214>REVELATION 22:14

(1) KING JAMES BIBLE. "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

(2) JESUIT VERSION. "Blessed are they that wash their stoles: that their power may be in the tree of life, and they may enter by the gates into the city."

(3) AMERICAN REVISED. "Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city."

This passage, in the King James, gives us the right to the tree of life by keeping the commandments. The passage was changed in the Rheims New Testament. It was restored by the Authorized, and changed back to the Rheims (Jesuit Bible) by the Revised.

We might continue these comparisons by using other passages not here given. We prefer to invite the reader to notice other instances as they present themselves in later chapters.

NOTE The heat of the fierce battle over the Jesuit Bible in 1582 had not yet died down when thirty years later the King James of 1611 appeared. Both versions were in English. This latter volume was beneficiary of the long and minute searchings which the truth of the day underwent.

Any thought that Catholicism had any influence over the King James Bible must be banished not only upon remembering the circumstances of its birth but also by the plea from its translators to King James for protection from a papish retaliation. We find in the preface to the King James Bible the following words:

"So that if, on the one side, we shall be traduced by Popish Persons at home or abroad, who therefore will malign us,... we may rest secure, ... sustained without by the powerful protection of Your Majestys grace and favor."