Part 3
All Bibles come from ONE of TWO different manuscript sources
As the saying goes "all that glitters is not gold", anything called a Bible is similarly not the word of God and it is up to us to find the real thing. In order to identify what is genuine and what is a forgery, the solution becomes obvious when we realise that there are only two manuscript sources. Indeed, although there are several hundred different English translations of the New Testament, there are only two sources for all these Bibles and they can all be traced back to one of two families of manuscripts - the Majority Text or the Minority Text. And many of the Bible translators who favour the Minority Text are themselves acting as counterfeiters and have fraudulently divided the two families of manuscripts into four categories, but this division tries to hide the fact that there are only two categories, families. Three of the categories originate from Alexandria and one from Antioch.
The word of God is under constant attack, even before it was finalised by the disciples under the guidance of God, there were forgeries in circulation. The reason for all these false versions of the Bible is based on three things:
The devil's plan to try to shatter people's trust in God's Word through false doctrines (Romans 1:25).
The devil's plan to create doubt about what God has said (Genesis 3:1) and thus make people doubt the Bible.
Evil, selfish people's love of money (1 Tim. 6:10). By constantly changing the translation, copyright protection can be obtained and a new Bible version can be sold again and again, which means more money for the publisher and book publishers.
"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." - Psa 12:6-7. (KJV)
Manuscript sources
1. The Majority Text originates from Syria
The Majority Text which geographically originates from Syria, Antioch comprises about 99% of the over 5,000 extant manuscripts that exist today. These manuscripts were used by the translators of the King James Bible in 1604-1611 and the manuscripts have a high degree of correspondence with each other.
According to the Bible, the word of the Lord was published from Antioch, Syria. In Acts 13, Saul (Paul) (verse 9) becomes part of the church in Antioch (verse 1). "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.", this is what God said (verse 2. Holy Spirit). They preached in several places (but nowhere in the Bible is it mentioned that they were near Egypt) and in verse 49 we can read: "And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region." This is the key to understanding which line of manuscript sources is to be trusted according to God.
What does God think of Antioch? E.g. that it is a place from which a man of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom came, and was appointed over the work of the Church (Acts 6:3-5). It is also the place where believers were first called 'Christians' (Acts 11:26). It is a place where the first great awakening of the Gentiles occurred (Acts 11:19-21). It is a place where many people were brought to the Lord (Acts 11:22-24). It is the place where God established as the headquarters of His Christian Church (Acts 11:25, 26). It is the place where God brought His prophets, signifying His blessing upon Antioch, while the world was in distress (Acts 11:27, 28) = Positive.
2. The Minority Text originates from Egypt
Are these the oldest texts?
The Minority Text is also called "The Critical Text" and originates geographically from Egypt, Alexandria and comprises about 45 texts, representing less than 1% of the extant manuscripts today:
The Codex Vaticanus (Codex B) was found in 1481 in the Vatican Library in Rome. In the Gospels, 749 complete sentences and 452 clauses are omitted, plus 237 other words, all of which are found in hundreds of other Greek manuscripts. The total number of words omitted in the Codex Vaticanus in the Gospels alone is 2,877 compared to the majority text. Despite this, Codex Vaticanus is praised as a valuable treasure. Codex Vaticanus has reportedly, been dated to the 3rd century, but whose scientific evidence for this claim is completely lacking. "In short, we cannot be sure of any precise dating or place of origin of Codex Vaticanus, nor, despite scientific efforts, can its history be traced before the 15th century." - Professor J. Neville Birdsall.
The Codex Sinaiticus (Aleph) was found in Saint Catherine's Monastery, which is Catholic and also under the administration of an Egyptian Governor. Most of today's Bibles have changed many Bible verses because of this discovery of an allegedly "ancient" manuscript from the 3rd century AD. See the book: Is The "World's Oldest Bible" a Fake? And the book: "Who Faked the "World's Oldest Bible?" - Chick Publications. Author David W. Daniels presents evidence that Sinaiticus, is in fact a 19th century forgery. And also shows the visual revelation that came about when an international group, who carefully photographed every page of Sinaiticus in high quality, published the Codex B images online. For the first time, biblical scholars and students were able to see the entire manuscript together, side by side. With their own eyes, they are shocked to see that some of the pages are white and look quite new, while others have been darkened to make them look very old. How is this possible if they are all from the same old Bible? Moreover, Sinaiticus is filled with errors, crossings out and contradictions.
Codex Alexandrinus, along with Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, are the three primary manuscripts that form the basis of modern Bible versions, and they have a high degree of disagreement with each other and a clear connection to Catholicism. And Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, the two main Alexandrian manuscripts, do not even agree with each other in over 3000 places (3036+); in the Gospels alone:
Gospel of Matthew (656+).
Gospel of Mark (567+).
Gospel of Luke (791+).
Gospel of John (1022+).
The manuscripts published in Alexandria, Egypt are not the word of God but manipulated writings, influenced by false religion and pagan philosophy. These manuscripts were generated by Origen, the founder of a school of philosophy, in Alexandria, Egypt and other like-minded people. This is something the Bible also warns against:
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” - Col 2:8. (KJV)
Distribution of manuscript sources for the Bible
1% - Minority text (about 45 manuscripts)
99% - Majority text (about 5000 manuscripts)
As a testimony, which of these two manuscript sources is more trustworthy?
Where are reliable texts of the Old Testament?
Christianity and Judaism have the Hebrew text as a common Holy Scripture. In Judaism it is called the Tanakh, in Christianity it is called the Old Testament and together with the New Testament they form the Holy Bible. So where do we find reliable texts from the OT? The Bible gives us the answer:
WHAT advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.- Romans 3:1-2. (KJV)
God entrusted his word (oracle) to the Jews, the Hebrew Scriptures. So we do NOT need other manuscripts from unreliable sources such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, who wrote these texts? Nor the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) produced by Rudolf Kittel (1853-1929), the latest version is called Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ). Rudolf Kittel who showed anti-Semitic tendencies and his family ties to Nazism cast his work under a dark shadow.
The hypocrisy of the Apocrypha
No, the Apocrypha is NOT part of the word of God!
Septuagint (LXX), Codex Vaticanus and Sinaiticus; contains the Apocrypha as part of the Old Testament.
To find reliable texts of the Old Testament, we can NOT go to the Greek translation Septuagint (LXX) of the Old Testament either. In the Septuagint, the Old Testament is mixed up with the deuterocanonical writings (or apocrypha) which are not part of the Word of God. The argument that these writings are from the "oldest texts" and are therefore better because they would be closer to the "original text" is not true: Even if these Egyptian texts were now the oldest texts, (which they are not) this would be completely irrelevant, as an old forgery is still a forgery.
These highly valued manuscripts are the reason why words and verses are removed from the Bible text in all modern Bibles; while all these manuscripts contain the Apocrypha as part of; and mixed up with the books of the Old Testament, unlike the Bible text in the 1611 King James Bible which is clearly separated from the Apocryphal books, placed between G. T and N.T. In addition, at the end of Malachi are the words "The end of the Prophets" (see above picture), but most of the Bible translations based on these manuscripts today do not include the Apocrypha. We obviously don't support the Apocrypha, but isn't this a bit strange?
If these manuscripts are the oldest and best texts, why do they include the Apocrypha as part of the canonical text of the G.T.?
And why don't all Bibles based on these so-called "oldest and best texts" include the Apocrypha as part of the Word of God? They have no problem claiming that words and verses missing from these manuscripts do not belong in the Bible. The answer is hypocrisy.
No, the Apocrypha is not part of the word of God. And this also casts a dark shadow over these so-called oldest and best manuscripts. Note also that the Hebrew text does not contain the Apocrypha, which directly shows that these "books" do not belong in God's word as they were entrusted by God to the Jews (Rom. 3:1-2). It is also worth noting that King James I himself rejects the Apocryphal books as he considers them to be linked to Catholicism.
As for the apocryphal books, I omit them because I am not a Papist... - King James I of England (King James I) from his book "Basilikon Doron" (1599).
What does God think of Egypt? E.g. that it is a place where they will kill you and take your wife (Gen. 12:10-12); a place where they will make you slaves (Ex. 1:11-14); a place that God himself calls the "house of bondage" (Ex. 20:2) and the place that Moses calls the "iron furnace" ("the furnace of fire" (Deut. 4:20). It is a place with which God commands his people that their future king should not engage in any commercial trade. He specifically warns them not to buy horses there, and not even to go that way again (Deut. 17:16). It is a place that God spiritually describes the city where His two witnesses (Moses and Elijah, see Rev. 11:3-14, Mal. 4:4-5, Matt. 17:1-3) will be killed by the Antichrist in Jerusalem, during his time (7 years) as world ruler (Rev. 11:8). = Negative.
Choose the right Bible
Choosing the right Bible is much more than just deciding which book to read, it is a crucial heart issue regarding the attitude I should have towards God's word - Do I have the attitude of believers in Antioch who hold fast to God's word, or the attitude of unbelievers in Alexandria; who questioned, changed, corrected, added and removed texts from God's word. The first word the devil said to Eve was "Yea, hath God said," (Genesis 3:1) the devil's goal is precisely to create doubt about what God has said in His word. So the question is, which Bible do you trust?
A Bible whose line of manuscript sources runs from Egypt to Rome = the Minority Text
A Bible whose line of manuscript sources runs from Israel to Syria = the Majority Text
Make sure that your Bible is not full of holes and thus resembles the Bible in the illustration below.
Illustration of a Bible that is missing verses or words.
Are the following verses in your Bible?
Examples of 16 verses in the King James Version that have been completely omitted in modern Bibles (based on the corrupt Minority Text).
Matthew 18:11: "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”
Matthew 23:14: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.”
Mark 7:16: "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mark 9:44: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
Mark 9:46: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Mark 11:26: "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Mark 15:28: "And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.”
Luk 17:36: "Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left."
John 5:4: "For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had."
Acts 8:37: "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
Acts 15:34: "Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still."
Acts 24:7: "But the chief captain Lysias came up on us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands,"
Acts 28:29: "And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves."
Rom. 16:24: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
I Jo 5:7: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."
