You know that document that's used to make those
major changes in modern Bibles, the Codex Sinaiticus?
What if I could prove to you that you can't trust it?
What if I could prove it to you, using their own materials,
and asking questions that a third grader could understand?
Would you be interested?
Hi, I'm David Daniels from Chick Publications.
Dr. McReynolds, my Greek professor in Bible college,
told about how he once assigned everyone in a group
to copy the Gospel of John.
What would your professor think, or your teacher,
if he got one paper and it read like this:
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
"And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas
by night unto Berea: who coming thither
went into the synagogue of the Jews."
Did you catch it? That's John 14:6
followed by Acts 17:10.
So he just skipped over 24 chapters of the Bible.
But his job was just to copy John.
What kind of grade do you think he'd get?
An "F," right?
Would your teacher then trust him to copy another book of the Bible,
for his personal use?
What if that guy said, "Oh, I just grabbed a Bible.
I guess it was missing a few pages, but I just copied
what was in front of me."
Would that be a good excuse?
I can hear the teacher now. "Didn't you notice anything
as you read the text? Weren't you reading it
as you copied it? You have to (say it with me)
PAY ATTENTION!"
Exactly.
What if I could show you that the main scribe (writer)
of that famous Codex Sinaiticus did exactly that,
the guy call "Scribe A"?
Let me show you what really happened.
It's right here.
There, on this side of the page.
See it? I'll make it easier.
But I wanted you to see it, anyway.
Ah, here it is. Looks different
in its real color, doesn't it?
Okay, walk through this with me. It's very simple, if we take it slowly.
You can get out your Bibles, if you want.
On the same page, in the same column,
on the same line, he skipped
from 1 Chronicles 19:17 to Ezra 9:9. Like this.
This is what it sounds like in English:
1 Chronicles 19:17 And it was told David;
and he gathered all Israel, and passed over Jordan,
and came upon them, and set the battle in array
against them. So when David had
put the battle in array against the Syrians,
they fought with him.
"...Lord our God, and extended mercy upon us
in the sight of the kings of Persia, ....
Wait. What?
And good ol' Scribe A just kept on his merry way,
copying Ezra and finishing the book!
He didn't even notice that he skipped
from the middle of one book to the middle of a sentence
of a completely different book!
Let me remind you: Scribe A is the same guy
who penned most of the Sinaiticus. That's why he's called Scribe A!
Scribe A is the guy who left out the story of Jesus
and the adulterous woman in John 7:53-8:11.
Scribe A is the guy who took away "Joseph"
from Luke 2:33, and added "his father"
making Joseph Jesus' father, instead of God the Father!
And many other changes and missing words.
Do you trust Scribe A now?
Did he even pay attention? Could he even read Greek?
Or was he just... copying? That's for another time.
How can you trust ANY of the strange readings
of the Sinaiticus now?
Here! I want you to change your doctrines
of who Christ is and what He did for you.
Pay no attention to the messed up Old Testament
by the same guy!
I said I'd make it simple, so let me end with this.
I CANNOT TRUST THE SINAITICUS.
CAN YOU?
Remember, if you cannot trust the Sinaiticus,
then you cannot trust a multitude of changes
in almost every Bible in the world, including new translations by
Wycliffe, SIL and the United Bible Societies,
in any language.
I know what I trust.
God bless you, and have a wonderful day