Chapter 17
Subtle Catholicism
The great majority of Protestants do not discern the
subtleties of the new translations. Yet many changes have been made
which are specifically designed to support Roman Catholic errors. Tobias
Mullen, Roman Catholic bishop of Erie, Pennsylvania, wrote,
It will be perceived here, that the variation
between the Catholic Version and the Revision [The Revised Version] is
immaterial, indeed no more than what might be found between any two
versions of different but substantially identical copies of the same
document. Quoted in B.G. Wilkinson, Our Authorized Version
Vindicated, 204
It will be seen that this close similarity of the
Catholic and the new versions was not a coincidence, but of deliberate
design. Yet most of God’s people appear to be quite oblivious to the
peril inherent in these new versions. Let us examine a few instances.
Confess your faults one to another. James 5:16 KJV
Therefore confess your sins to each other. James
5:16 NIV
Therefore confess your sins to one another. James
5:16 NEB
Confess therefore your sins one to another. James
5:16 ASV
The alteration of the word faults to sins
seems innocent enough at first glance, but is it? Not to the Roman
Catholics is it! The Roman Catholic Dublin Review of July 1881
had this to say, speaking of the same translation in the Revised
Version:
The Apostles have now power to "forgive" sins and
not simply to "remit" them. "Confess therefore your sins" is the new
reading of James 5:16. Quoted in Ibid., 206
Further, the Scripture has also been altered to
uphold the papal blasphemy of the Mass. Compare the verses below:
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth
and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 1
Corinthians 11:29 KJV
For he who eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment
on himself if he does not discern the Body. 1 Corinthians 11:29 NEB
For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing
the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 1
Corinthians 11:29 NIV
It will be noted that the new translations
consistently omit the word unworthily. This word is most
important, for it places the emphasis of the verse where the Lord
intended it to be—a warning to those who, while unbelieving or without
proper solemnity and gratitude, participate in this sacred ordinance.
The Catholic omission, on the other hand, transparently seen in the
translation of the New International Version, provides grounds for the
Roman Catholic error of transubstantiation—that the bread is actually
Christ’s body.
It will also not surprise the astute reader to learn
that strong biblical evidence concerning the resurrection at the Second
Coming is distorted.
I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall
stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Job 19:25-26 KJV
Let us compare this body of truth with the rendering
of one modern translation:
But in my heart I know that my vindicator lives and
that he will rise last to speak in court; and I shall discern my
witness standing at my side. Job 19:25-26 NEB
We could be excused if we doubted that this was the
same text of Scripture. It would, further, be revealing to examine the
rendering of portions of this verse in other translations. It will be
seen that among the diversity one common thread is present—a denial of
the "latter day upon the earth"—the Second Coming. We quote the various
translations equivalent to "and that he shall stand at the latter day
upon the earth."
And that he shall stand up at the last upon the
earth. Job 19:25 RV
And he, the last, will take his stand on earth. Job
19:25 Jerusalem Bible
And as the next-of-kin he will stand upon my dust.
Job 19:25 Goodspeed’s Translation
Worse follows, for replacing the positive proof that
we see God, not as bodiless spirits, but in real physical flesh, many
new translations support the same Catholic error of the soul,
unencumbered by a body, seeing God, thus utterly reversing the truth. We
shall observe some of the translations of Job 19:26. Read them
carefully.
And after this my skin is destroyed. And without my
flesh, I shall see God. Job 19:26, The Holy Bible containing the Old
and New Testaments: An Improved Edition, American Baptist Publication
Society
This body may break up, but even then my life shall
have a sight of God. Job 19:26 Moffatt
And after my skin has thus been destroyed, then,
out of my flesh I shall see God. Job 19:26, the New Berkeley Version
And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed,
then without my flesh shall I see God. Job 19:26 ARV
These translations, and many others, deliberately
distort the plainest words of the Hebrew text to support the pagan error
concerning man’s state in death. Surely with Dr. Edgar we can exclaim:
It is certainly a remarkable circumstance that so
many of the Catholic readings in the New Testament, which in
Reformation and early post-Reformation times were denounced by
Protestants as corruptions of the pure text of God’s Word, should now,
in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, be adopted by the
Revisers of our time-honoured English Bibles. Dr. Edgar, Bibles of
England, 347-348
The variation in the translation of Hebrews 9:27 will
at first appear totally inconsequential. Let us examine these
translations, for in them is a most subtle and deliberate attack upon
the crucial doctrine of the end-time judgment.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but
after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27 KJV
And in as much as it is appointed unto men once to
die, and after this cometh judgment. Hebrews 9:27 RV
The significant change is the omission of the
adjective the before the word judgment. This is not just a
careless matter in one translation alone. Some others are cited.
And after death comes judgment. Hebrews 9:27 NEB
And after that to face judgment. Hebrews 9:27 NIV
But after this, judgment. Hebrews 9:27, American
Bible Union Version
And after this cometh judgment. Hebrews 9:27 ASV
With judgment following. Hebrews 9:27, Berkeley
Version
(Death being followed by judgment). Hebrews 9:27,
The Twentieth Century New Testament
Nothing remains after this but judgment. Hebrews
9:27, Knox Translation
But is the omission of the really significant?
Indeed it is. No lesser authority than Canon Farrar, a great supporter
of the modern translators, cited this apparently minor variation as
being one of the most significant alterations made by the Revisers. He
well knew the thinking of Westcott and Hort since he was a member of the
Apostles’ Club at Cambridge University to which they belonged, and he
wholeheartedly supported their Anglo-Catholic bias. Canon Farrar thus
asserted
There is positive certainty that it does not mean "the
judgment" in the sense in which that word is popularly understood. By
abandoning the article [the] which King James translators here
incorrectly inserted, the Revisers help, as they have done in so many
other places, silently to remove deep-seated errors. At the death of
each of us there follows "a judgment," as the sacred writer says.
The judgment, the final judgment, may not be for centuries to
come. In the omission of that unauthorized little article from the
Authorized Version by the Revisers, lies no less a doctrine than that
of the existence of an Intermediate State. Canon F.W. Farrar,
Contemporary Review, March 1882, quoted in B.G. Wilkinson, Our
Authorized Bible Vindicated, 209
Here we note the subtle significance which those who
believe the pagan concept of the immortality of the soul place upon the
deletion of the definite article the. Meticulously and cunningly
Satan constructs his web of deception. The great truth of the mighty
end-time judgment to which this text points is destroyed by the
artifices of those who value the mystery of iniquity.
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. Matthew 5:44, KJV
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you. Matthew 5:44, NIV
Here we notice a most subtle accomodation of Catholic
thought. The missing phrases are "Bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you." Who could be offended by these Christ-given
directions, given in the Sermon on the Mount?
But if we think carefully, we see that Rome is in the
business of cursing and hating heretics, those faithful Christians who
believe the Word of God and accept it as their spiritual guide rather
than the faulted doctrines of men. The word Rome uses is anathema.
It is applied liberally throughout the findings of councils. And of
course they do not want their people to see Christlikeness in those whom
they curse.
Roman Catholicism has ever taught that man may die in
his sins and yet ultimately reach the state of bliss. The whole doctrine
of purgatory supports this concept. The act of performing requiems for
the dead is supposed to facilitate this transition. Many Protestants
have accepted various modifications of this view, some asserting that
God will eventually save all through a worldwide conversion during the
millennium. Dr. Samuel Cox expressed such a belief this way:
The states of being, shadowed forth by the words,
Gehenna, Paradise, Hades cannot, therefore, be final or everlasting;
they are only intermediate conditions, states of discipline in which
the souls of men await, and may be prepared for, their final award.
Cited in B.G. Wilkinson, Our Authorized Version Vindicated, 210
With this mind-set, Dr. Cox was delighted with the
following alteration:
In my Father’s house are many mansions. John 14:2
KJV
In my Father’s house are many abiding places. John
14:2 RV margin
Is the substitution of abiding places for
mansions worthy of our attention? Those who promote the doctrine of
the larger hope (a time of probation after death) certainly
believe so. Other translations offer similar alterations in the text
substituting for mansions such terms as dwelling places (New
English Bible), abiding places (American Bible Union Version), dwellings
(Twentieth Century New Testament) and resting places (Rieu’s
Translation).
Stirling Berry in upholding the substitution of
abiding places claimed that in this term
the contrasted notions of repose and progress are
combined in this vision of the future. Expositor, vol. 3, 2nd
series, 397
Another "minor" alteration which may escape the
notice of a superficial reader is worthy of examination. Speaking
prophetically, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, had referred
to Christ as being the One who would come,
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers. Luke
1:72 KJV
Many new translations have followed the Douay
Translation. Thus one rendition is
To show mercy to our fathers. Luke 1:72 RV
How the papists have rejoiced over the omission of
the word promised! They pointed to this latter translation as
indicating that while Jesus was on earth He was at that time extending
mercy to the forefathers of the Jews who were yet in one of the
intermediary states. Let us note Bishop Tobias Mullen’s exuberance over
the changed translation.
For the text was one which, if rendered literally,
no one could read without being convinced, or at least suspecting,
that the "fathers" already dead needed "mercy"; and that "the Lord God
of Israel" was prepared "to perform" it to them. But where were those
fathers? Not in heaven, where mercy is swallowed up in joy. And
assuredly not in the hell of the damned, where mercy could not reach
them. They must therefore have been in a place between both, or
neither the one nor the other. What? In Limbo or Purgatory? Why,
certainly. In one or the other. Bishop Mullen, Canon, 332
On what pathetically slim "evidence" do papal
apologists base their soul-destroying errors! Yet, subtly, Scripture has
been perverted to bolster their errors.
There is a need for Christians to make decided
efforts to return to that Version of Scripture from which the Roman
Catholic tampering was almost totally expunged. To persist in promoting
faulted translations will seriously damage our ministries and our
capability to present positive truth with certainty. We must not permit
the bait of simpler English to seduce us into accepting a perverted
Scripture.
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