Are or were you a Bible college student?
If so, was your experience in Bible college
like my own?
After you view this video, feel free to let me know
in the comment section.
Hi, I'm David Daniels from Chick Publications.
When I came to Bible college, I wanted to serve my Lord 24/7 --
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Just like I still do now.
I am so totally blessed.
Anyway, when I came to Bible college
in February 1981, Pacific Christian College
was all about one goal.
And right away in class, they stated that goal,
to equip servant leaders to disciple the nations.
It was talked about everywhere and even painted on a central wall.
One of the scriptures they focused on was the Great Commission,
found in Matthew 28:18-20.
Here it is, the right way, in the King James Bible.
18 "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Amen."
My teachers said, "In the original Greek
it doesn't say "Go."
It says, "Going," as in "While you are going..."
Then they said that the next words
should be translated, "make disciples of all nations,"
not "teach all nations."
They taught us that the King James word "teach"
was wrong.
They taught us that the King James Bible
was an alright translation for those days,
but now in the light of modern scientific research,
their translation just doesn't measure up.
But they didn't stop there.
Over time my professors ridiculed the King James,
even at times when I would check and
one or more of their favorite versions said the very same thing!
Somehow only the King James was to blame.
The others were just "alternate readings."
What was going on here?
As I've told you before, my teachers said
that all translations are 99 2/3% the same, and yet
somehow the King James was simply awful, horrible,
no good, very bad, and something no one should read
in this day and age.
My Greek professor even called it "criminal!"
Did you have the same experience I had?
And if not in Bible college, maybe in your study group
or even in a church service?
It's pretty widespread.
And this was going on in the 1980s!
But now let me answer the question: Should the King James have said
what the modern scholars and Bibles say?
Or are the King James words
actually correct?
Full disclosure: I was a top student
in New Testament Greek in Bible college,
and I passed straight into advanced Greek at Fuller Seminary.
In addition, I studied Linguistics with SIL-Wycliffe
and continued studying manuscripts of various kinds right up to today.
And right now, of course, the modern fake,
the Codex Sinaiticus.
I'm not ignorant about the Greek.
Our advanced Greek course at Fuller was focused on seeing
how people will teach a rule of Greek,
but then they will quickly break it, whenever the scripture
gets in the way of their personal theology.
For instance, we went over Matthew 28:19.
The truth is, you don't simply
translate a Greek participle by adding an "-ing" to a verb.
When you do that in English, you can wrongly change the meaning
of a word, or even an entire doctrine, like "being saved"
in 1 Corinthians 1:18.
There's a reason why it says "Go" in the King James --
and most Bibles, for that matter.
It's because that big Greek word, poreuthentes in that context
simply means "Go!"
But what about "make disciples"?
Why do modern versions change it from the simple King James word
"teach"?
Let's think this one through.
How do you make someone a disciple?
If a disciple is a student, a "learner," how do you make him or her learn?
You've heard the old saying, "You can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make him drink."
Well, you can lead a student to your classroom,
but you can't make him think, either.
But there are things we can do.
That's where how we teach comes in.
With a horse, we can offer it salt.
If the horse licks the salt, it will become thirsty
and want the water.
Then he'll probably drink.
Problem solved.
If I teach well enough, and excite the student
with the right questions, he or she might actually
want to learn.
The command, "make disciples" misses the whole point.
God told us to teach and preach.
That's our responsibility.
We are not in charge of their response.
That's their respons-ibility.
We cannot make disciples, any more than we can
make people saved.
It's an impossible task for any human being.
But we can teach.
And we can preach the word, providing them with
God's offer of forgiveness of their sins
and eternal life, if they will trust the shed blood
of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to pay for their sins.
Again, that is our responsibility.
And translations -- and teachings -- that change those words
are simply irresponsible.
You know what the last 36 years of study have shown me?
They've shown me how the words were already
translated correctly in English in the King James Bible.
We are to go, teach all nations, baptizing them and ...
here's what to teach, from verse 20:
"Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you:"
How do we do that?
Take another Greek class?
Praise God, no!
We have the scriptures!
BUT: the modern professors will tell us the scriptures in our hands
are not enough!
No -- we would have to trust a man, to tell us what God really said.
And you know how they do it?
They tell us, "You cannot understand the Bible
until you know the original Greek.
Sometimes even preachers do this.
They say we must learn the ancient holy "original Greek"!
Then that will unlock the true secrets of God in the Bible.
You too, can know "the holy language of the ancients."
You too, can become a priest to your people!
You know why?
Because then you'll feel able to "correct the Bible,"
just like they do.
The truth is, people who spend their time
"correcting the Bible" have little time
to learn the Bible.
And why would they?
They refuse to believe the Bible!
They believe only the sacred secrets
of the "original Greek"!
A new Bible just came out, promising to give secrets
from the "original Greek"!
It's so hypocritical.
They tell us the King James English words --
of our own language -- are too hard for us.
But then they push us to learn a 2,000-year-old
mostly dead language, Koine Greek, as if that's simpler?
It's like someone who studies the Greek
now has a special magic, just like Catholic priests
who learned Latin.
But let's go back to the "go" and "teach."
Where did this "going" and "make disciples" come from?
Not from the 1300s through the Reformation:
Wycliffe, 1380s: "Therfor go ye,
and teche alle folkis" Tyndale, 1534:
"Go therfore and teache all nacions"
Cranmer, 1539: "Go ye therfore,
and teach all nacions" Geneva, 1557:
"Go therefore, & teach all nations"
Bishops, 1568: "Go ye therfore,
& teache all nations" King James, 1611:
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations"
Do you see?
Through the centuries these Bible believers
knew it means "Go and teach."
So what about "Going" and "make disciples" ?
How did it change?
First, it was the Jesuits who introduced,
in the Rheims 1582 New Testament: "Going therfore
teach ye al nations"
And guess what?
It was (surprise, surprise) Westcott and Hort in the 1881
Revised Version that introduced:
"Go ye therefore, and make disciples of
all the nations"
God told us to teach.
And we can only teach: What we know;
No more than we know; After we know it
Don't go to the Greek to try to dig for nuggets.
God placed them in His preserved words, for all to see.
There are two verses that tell us what to do with the words of God.
And both of them were changed by modern scholars.
Here they are in the King James:
John 5:39 "Search the scriptures;"
2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Search and study.
Then we can go and teach.
But that can only happen, if we first
have a Bible we can believe.
I do.
Do you?
God bless you, and have a wonderful day.