Dave Norris and his writings on the Belgian Bible Students

With articles like “The Watchtower Belgian Biblestudents“, “Belgian Biblestudent Deception- 1″, “Belgian Biblestudent Deception- 2″, “Belgian Biblestudies Deception- 3” the blogger Dave Norris who likes us to call “kindergartner” “toddler” or sometimes “spiritual kindergarteners”, he presents a lot of nonsense about our community, clearly showing he does not know much about us nor similar groups, but even worse, does not seem to have a clue about the Bible Student movement and the history of such religious groups as the Bible Students, Christadelphians, Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) and many other non-Trinitarian groups.

On the blog “The Bible & Exposing Cult Error Darkness Into Light” he wants his readers to believe he exposes errors of others but in fact does nothing more than presenting his own errors, ignorance or lack of knowledge.

We do notice we are not the only target or are not spitting the only purpose of his gal. He seems so frustrated in his faith and religion he loves to write a lot about other religious groups instead spending more time to proclaim the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God or to give more information about his own faith group or church.

He calls us a “Spirit of deception” but clearly he throws so much untruth on the net we can not resist in the end to react to it and to let others know some of the incredible untruths that he proclaims as our doctrine. It is therefore very important that we expose these gross lies and clarify our positions. It is because of several of his writings and attacks on us and other their attacks we started in the end to present a new website for unmasking people like him: Please find and look at the new site Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people.

The man, who presents himself as a bully in his mails to us, writes on the internet:

The Watchtower Belgian Bible student movement did precede the actual formation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Charles T Russell was their leader. {The Watchtower Belgian Biblestudents}

Charles Taze Russell may have been a pupil of John Thomas, the founder of the Brothers in Christ or Christadelphians, but for sure has never been our founder nor our leader.

Ch. T. Russell may be called the founder of the American Bible Students and of the International Bible Students, but is neither the founder of the Free Bible Students (who discarded many of the teachings of the American Bible Student founder Charles Taze Russell) nor from Belgian Bible Students nor the founder of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Russell never was a Jehovah’s Witness, like Mr. or the adolescent Norris wants his readers to believe. In case Mr. Russell would present himself to become a Jehovah’s Witness he would even not be accepted by that organisation.

An other fault which Mr. Norris does is to say we are associated with the Jehovah’s Witnesses Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society which is at all not so. We do have no association with that publication institute nor with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society Organisation be it of Brooklyn, New York, Pennsylvania or of Canada or even of any other states like Australia, nor with the JW Organisation. For clarity the Belgian Bible Students have nothing to do with the Jehovah’s Witness nor with any of their other organisations or missions.

It is not because we do believe in the same One True God, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah, that we would belong to one and the same Church.

We too may come from hundreds of ethnic and language backgrounds, and may, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, have the same goal to praise and honour Jehovah God being united by common goals. The same as those lovers of God, we too want to do our best to imitate Jesus Christ and are proud to be called Christians. As followers of Christ Jesus we take his command to go out in the world as a serious matter and like the JW we too witness for Jehovah, each of us regularly spending time helping people learn about the Bible and God’s Kingdom. Because we witness, or talk, about Jehovah God and his Kingdom, some may confuse us with those other people who have the same goal as us and are known as Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Opposite claims by Mr. Norris, we have very clearly presented our history to him, which can be found more extensively on the net. As such we find again a gross misrepresentation of the facts, him writing on the net:

I wish the Belgian Biblestudents would be honest with me about their history as they have not been.

I do admit that they were right about Charles Russell not beginning Jehovah’s Witnesses. He was a false prophet nevertheless and they can’t get around that. Woe to the foolish Prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing.{The Watchtower Belgian Biblestudents}

Though after this writing he continues

Biblestudents are a deceptive group under their leader Charles T Russell who is the founder of the Watchtower and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The group Christadelphians have a lot to do with this movement. Imposters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived. They are presently deceivers because they were being deceived by Charles Russell whom they hold up as their leader. {Belgian Biblestudent Deception- 1}

and repeats

They claim to follow the Bible but they deny the Triune Godhead. As I said in another report before Russell founded Bible students he began the Watchtower with the basic Jehovah’s Witnesses Doctrine in force. {Belgian Biblestudent Deception- 1}

Who is the deceiving person or spirit in this case?

He then presents a whole of prophesies we supposedly would have believed or followed, which is totally untrue and we even do not get any idea where he gets it form we would have hold fast on such prophesies when we ourselves always clearly say it is no man given, even not Christ Jesus, to know when the end times are coming, though we agree we can see the signs, we can never say an exact date. We, like nobody, according to us, can ever give a correct date on it.

We want our readers to know we do have nothing to do with prophesies of the Jehovah’s Witnesses nor ever would have believed in such a date setting.

Prophecies which may have been made by the JW but never by the Belgian Biblestudents (like Dave Norris and some other bloggers on the net want their readers to believe).

Mr. Norris also wants his readers to believe in high and low that we

are almost like the New Apostolic Reformation with a prophecy accuracy rate of 20%. {Belgian Biblestudent Deception- 2}

and asks his readers to examine for themselves, but giving a photograph of a Watchtower which is even not the Zion’s Watchtower of the American Bible Students nor our old magazine Zion’s Wachttoren (19th and 20th century publications) and not at all a magazine of our community, but a publication by the WTBTS.

Though Mr. Norris in his previous writing said he understood Russell was not the founder of the JW he again presents him as a prophet for the JW and worse of all also for us, which is against our teachings, we only are recognising such prophets as those declared by the Word of God, namely Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadia, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaiah, Haggai, Zecharia, Malachi and Jesus, considering many others as false prophets.

Mr. Norris also wirtes

Biblestudents don’t believe in the hell that Jesus talked about and yet they say they follow Jesus. {Belgian Biblestudent Deception- 2}

which is again a lie, we believing in sheol or hell, like Jesus was for three days in hell and also talked about hell.

Continuously that blog writer from the so called exposing Christian error site wants to associate us with the JW and again giving wrong dates concerning our history.

In 1879 he began the perversion of Jehovah’s Witnesses but under a different name. The Biblestudents didn’t start until 1876 and they themselves told me that when they said Russell was their founder. His organization wasn’t yet called Jehovah’s Witnesses but the obvious poisonous theology was in place. {Belgian Biblestudies Deception- 3}

A painting depicting the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. – Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830, Gustaf Wappers (1834), (Museum of Fine Art, Brussels)

After the Battle of Waterloo (1815) several Students of the Bible living in the region of France its Low Countries got a more nationalistic feeling and when the Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons had meetings in Rheims or Paris they wanted to make it clear they came from the Gallic (Gaul) or Belgica or Côtes Lorraines region or the plain of Flanders, and the Kempenland (French: Campine) and did not consider themselves any more to be part of the Nord–Pas-de-Calais or le Nord (North of France) region with Cambrai where also several Bible Students had found their home in a very hostile area for non-Trinitarians and/or Protestants. After the States-General in Brussels voted in favour of secession and declared independence the small state Belgium was formed and with it also the “Belgian Bible Students”, which at that time, may have had most of it members in the Famenne, Sambre, La Louvière, Borinage and Hainaut region, long before Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), or Pastor Russell, the American Christian restorationist minister from Pittsburgh, was born. It were such sincere students of the Bible who made it possible to get one of the first major Bibles in the French language circulating in the region and had one which was printed in Mons. There in Mons can still be found a copy of the first Gutenberg Bible (1455) which was used as a base (unfortunately incomplete). It was Canon Edmon Puissant (1860-1934) who came into possession of this copy in 1926.

 

D Norris telling a lot of nonsense in several articles on what he calls on Belgian Biblestudies, though our community is called Belgian Bible-students and has nothing to do with Ch.T. Russell as so called founder and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Though we do agree Ch.T. Russell’s writings circulated and still circulate amongst us and got several of his and other brethren their English writings translated in French, Swiss German and Dutch by our community. In the early 20th century Russell even came to visit our community.

Next he presents an article on Armstrong false prophecy as a ‘Next’ article containing false prophecies of Herbert W Armstrong marking him as a false prophet, as if we would also follow this man.  This article is followed by “Belgian Biblestudies Deception- 4” were he keeps dragging on with prophecies of some one we do not have as our leader, what he keeps others to believe. And than he asks

Here are two more of Charles Russell’s false prophecies. What amazes me is how Belgian Bible students can justify this? {Belgian Biblestudies Deception- 4} {find our reaction if he publishes it}

And he keeps disbelieving that Russell was not our founder, as if we, as community would not know our own history and he knowing it much better than serious history writers or serious encyclopaedia.

But the Belgian Biblestudents still speak very highly of their founder Charles Russell despite all his false prophecies. Examine also the references for the false prophecies. They’re in the very same Bible studies that the Belgian group supports. Are they as blind as their founder was? I will have more in part 5. {Belgian Biblestudies Deception- 4}

Nowhere shall you find prophecies made by Russell or any other person which we would say you have to believe. We also do not know where he gets it from that we would hold Charles Russel‘s “Studies in the Scriptures” in such high regard. (Perhaps he assues that because we also took care for a translation and distribution of this work in our regions.) {Belgian Biblestudies Deception- 5} {we asked him also} Again he wants to do that Russell is the founder of our community and writes

the founder of this group as this book is full of lies and false prophecies. Worse still the Belgian Biblestudies group backs thiss book to the hilt. They know what’s in here and they believe it. {Belgian Biblestudies Deception- 5}

Dave Norris his continual misleading of the internet-public with attacking plus false sayings and making false connections in several of his articles, a.o. in his series Belgian Biblestudies Deception – {picture fragment from Belgian Biblestudies Deception – 6}

After a reaction we made on 2018 August 10 19.35 pm about having our name right we noticed he suddenly changed the title of his series.

In Belgian Biblestudents Deception- 7 Mr. Norris keeps telling untruths, now saying JF Rutherford otherwise known as Judge Rutherford

took over when Russell died as head of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. {Belgian Biblestudents Deception- 7}

Judge Rutherford being jailed for sedition against the Armed Forces is considered by Mr. Dave Norris a sign of him and Non-Trinitarian pacifists to be losers

Mr. Dave Norris in his series Belgian Biblestudents Deception- 8 all the time bringing in matters of prophesies in which we do not believe but which he wants to have his readers come to believe they are part of our teachings (which they are not at all)

Also when looking at the lies he writes about other denominations one an wonder what Mr. Norris his agenda really is?!? Problem would be in case many of his readers would consider his writings as bringing the truth about us and those other denominations.

Clearly he twists the truth and does as if we changed our teachings, but again uses material from an other  denomination to have it look as if it is ours.

Mr Norris looking at the New World Edition of the Bible which Jehovah’s Witnesses cherish, presenting it in his article Belgian Biblestudents Deception- 8 as if it is ours + asking to look at the changes

Mr. Norris also wants to give the impression when people read certain books, they are taken by those books and agree with everything what is in those books. He might perhaps follow everybody whose books he reads and may be limited in his amount of reading books and papers, only concentrating on what he agrees with. His knowledge about us and other groups he tries to pull down, shows clearly enough he did not do enough research and did not read enough about those groups, their leaders and teachers, often having no clue at all about their teachings, the same as with us. Or, in case he knows what our and their teachings are and what the background is of those groups he writes about, then it is clear he wants to spread fake news (therewith wanting to be popular in these times of someone speaking all the time of fake news) or does not mind to bring all sorts of inaccuracies to bring damage to those societies or communities.

Belgian Biblestudents Deception- 8 by D Norris on Exposing Christian error -about JW + Cd + false prophecies ~~~ Russell never made his own Bible or Scripture or never made our Holy Scriptures, like Norris wants his readers to believe.

Mr. Norris has also clearly a different view of what a cult is than what the state or a court would consider a cult or a sect. We can assure all his and our readers they do not have to worry that we would try to lure them in a sect and like certain churches do, then demand money and oblige them to stay with us. Every body is free to come and free to go in our churches (ecclesiae).

Only if one wants to join our community (as a member) we ask the candidate to believe in God as the Only True God and to believe that through God His only begotten beloved son salvation has come upon mankind and that this man of flesh and blood is the way to God and now the mediator between God and the people and is our high priest for God.

Psalms 83:18 (AKJV)
18 That men may know that you, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, are the most high over all the earth.

Romans 10:13 (AKJV)
13 For whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Matthew 3:16-17 (AKJV)
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, see, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting on him: 17 And see a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

John 14:6 (AKJV)
6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.

1 Timothy 2:5 (AKJV)
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Hebrews 12:24 (AKJV)
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things that that of Abel.

Hebrews 3:1 (AKJV) Hebrews 3
1 Why, holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

Hebrews 6:20 (AKJV)
20 Where the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Clearly the intentions of Mr. Dave Norris can be seen in his many articles against Catholics and all sorts of Protestants, Emergent Church, Extreme Prophetic Movement, Hebrew Roots Movement, but also Judaism. Main churches also do not escape his acid pen. But Non-Trinitarians seem to work on him as a red cloth on a bull. He not only writes about them a lot of lies but also has no decency when they write to him in a polite manner. Some of his replies may be lot worse than the once shown here (and therefore we would not make public.).

An example of the way Mr. Dave Norris answers people who wrote to him

An example of the way how Mr. Dave Norris react to people when they ask him to show the link for the article he talks about in a previous reply, him writing: “I linked to an article from Wikipedia it clearly states your history. Russell did many false prophecies as in his successor Rutherford Hayes. You need to Bone up on your history.” And we having stated that there is no such page in Wikipedia telling about the history of the Belgian Biblestudents.

Though we can only find

Proof of “Belgian Bible Students” Wikipedia page not existing on 2018 August 11

 

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Preceding

Charles Taze Russell and what he started

Was Russell and Rutherford “Illuminati”?

Jesse Hemery and the The Goshen Fellowship

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (WBTS) main groups that broke away

Different approach in organisation of services #1

Different approach in organisation of services #2

Different approach in organisation of services #3

Belonging to or being judged by

Jehovah’s Witnesses Circuit Assembly and a Pillar to freedom

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Please find also to read

1. International Biblestudents Association
2. International Bible Students Association
3. International Bible Students Association
4. Jehovah’s Witness
5. Charles Taze Russell
6.  Dawn Bible Students Association
7. Italian Bible Students Association in Hartford, CT Christian Millennial Fellowship
8. What are Brothers in Christ
9. Who are Christadelphians
10. Against the anti Jehovah people
11. Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people
12. Aim of Unmasking anti Jehovah people
13. Joseph Rutherford with the iron glove
14. To remove the whitewash of the Jehovah Witnesses as being the only true Bible Students and Bible Researchers
15. Follower of Jesus part of a cult or a Christian
16. Faith coming by hearing and sent preacher gift from God
17. Jehovah steep rock and fortress, source of insight
18. Confrontation by people telling lies to force others to avoid the targetted groups
19. For those who do everything to stop the work of Christadelphians
20. Who cries out against a hearty and uncompromising castigation of error
21. re-frame obligation into conscious choices
22. Christianity primarily a matter of imitation

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When Jesus speaks of obedience, he is speaking of a lifestyle of devotion to that which garners his devotion. Jesus’ disciples obey him by keeping what he keeps, and holding on to that which he holds… with a steadfast dedication. Once again we see our definition of a disciple emerge:

Necessity to imitate the Jewish master teacher Jeshua or Jesus Christ, following his commandments trying to become like him, is what the Belgian Bible Students do.

Related

1. 4 attacks on Jehovah’s Witnesses churches linked -25k reward offered
2. Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses preach?
3. Romans 8:12-17 – Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ
4. Brothers in Christ – bond in Christ
5. Loving One Another
6. 1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16 – Facing the challenges of ministry
7. 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
8. Get to Know Your Sources
9. Illogical thinking is extraordinarily widespread
10. Untruth…
11. Stubborn Things
12. The Truth And The Untruth Lay On The Same Level.
13. The Death of Truth: Indications of Untruth in Trump’s Age
14. First Principles: Falseness of Tongue Leads To Falseness of Heart
15. How accurate is your knowledge? What you read, see, hear, and say…
16. To the Compulsive Liar
17. The Value of Truth
18. Myths About Net Neutrality
19. Lovers of God are Better Lovers
20. Part 1 – Your Relationship with God
21. 6 Priorities You Need
22. Four – Understanding Our Purpose, p. 126 Jesus came to be what the original Adam was supposed to be: the very “image” of God.
23. Four – Understanding Our Purpose, p. 128
24. Six – Understanding the Holy Spirit, p. 176
25. Six – Understanding the Holy Spirit, p. 178
26. Imitating Jesus — From the new book Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)
27. Following Jesus requires you to grow up
28. Proclamation
29. Ep. 4 – Jehovah’s Witnesses
30. Notes on the Proclaimers Book
31. Some Prophetic Speculations
32. Jehovah’s Witness Myopic View Of Jesus (I)
33. Jehovah’s Witnesses and False Prophecies
34. Dance me to the end

Vliegend spaghettimonster en Gelijke behandeling voor elke overtuiging

N-VA-voorzitter De Wever reageerde laconiek op de terug opgelaaide discussie rond de hoofddoeken

 “Ik sluit me aan bij de leer van het vliegend spaghettimonster en stuur mijn kinderen naar school met een vergiet op hun hoofd. Gelijke behandeling voor elke overtuiging”, zo liet hij weten via Twitter.

Een devoot lijkende Bart De Wever. Is hij een geb dje aan het doen naar zijn Spagettiemonster?

Hij en zijn partijgenote Darya Safai sturen juist op ongelijkheid en op beperking van vrijheid van godsdienst. Hun trawanten en gelijkgezinden in Nederland beweren wel dat onze democratie valse democratieën zijn geworden, maar zij hebben er mee aan opgebouwd om de mensen in hun vrijheden te beperken. Zij zijn ook de oorzaak dat bepaalde politiek partijen ondemocratische maatregelen troffen en zelfs cordon sanitaires oprichtten, wat helemaal ondemocratisch is. Ondertussen vinden wij een opkomende groep van populistische en dictatoriale politiekers die meer en meer kiezers rond hun vingers kunnen wikkelen met allerlei valse stellingen en bangmakerij.

Bangmakerij is één van de hoofdpunten waarop uiterst rechts blijkt te drijven. Ze stellen de islamieten als een onmeedogenloos verschrikkelijk onoverwinnelijk dodend monster voor. Zij beweren dat die Islamieten de heersers over de wereld zullen worden maar vergeten hierbij na te denken hoe het zou komen dat die Islamieten dan iedereen tot dat Islamietisch geloof zouden doen krijgen. Zij beweren wel dat dit met geweld zal gebeuren. Maar de kruisvaarders hebben met hun verschrikkelijke terreurdaden en verkrachtingen bewezen dat de pogingen van de moordende Katholieken van de inquisitie en daarna, alsook de protestanten in Duitsland, dat verplichte bekering niets opleveren. In Duitsland kan men zo steden vinden waar de bevolking zelfs tot vijf keer van geloof is veranderd wegens de onderdrukking opgebracht door de aanvallende en bedreigende overheersers. Bekering door geweld levert uiteindelijk niets op.

Trouwens moet men vragen stellen over het geloof van diegenen die als de wind omkeren van geloof. Men kan enkel tot een verschuiving van een voorgaand geloof komen als er in dat voorgaande geloof onvoldoende geloof was. Daarom zouden de rechtsen die zo bang zijn dat iedereen Moslim zou worden er beter aan doen het Christelijk geloof te prediken waar zij zo van beweren daartoe te behoren. Maar doordat zij duidelijk laten zien dat zij het Christelijk geloof niet in hun hart dragen gaan zij niemand tot dat Christelijk geloof kunnen bekeren. Integendeel zien wij nu dat hun daden en de pedofiele daden van de priesters en zelfs bisschoppen, juist meer mensen doen afstappen van het katholicisme. Hun hele negatieve houding en het over één kam scheren van een geloofsgroep doet mensen inzien hoe bedriegelijk die zogenaamde christenen wel zijn. Vooral als ze de geloofsleer van de Katholieken vergelijken met wat er in de bijbel staat komen velen er op uit dat zij voor jaren bedrogen zijn. Het in de luren leggen door die Katholieke Kerk heeft nu geen windeieren gelegd, maar rotte vis, die hen doet wegvluchten naar een geloof dat over één Ware God spreekt. Spijtig genoeg nemen die wegvluchters van het Christendom niet de moeite om de Christenheid te vinden en te komen in te zien dat er in de Christenheid genoeg denominaties zijn die wel Die Ene Ware God aanbidden en zich niet houden aan valse menselijke leerstellingen.

Velen vergeten duidelijk hoe Constantijn de Grote er zelfs slaagde om een grote groep ‘gelovigen’ tot de valse Drie-eenheidsleer te krijgen en hoe die trinitarische christenen verkracht, gemoord en geplunderd hebben alsook de mensen onderdrukt hebben met allerlei valse leerstellingen om hun Katholiek geloof te verspreiden. Vele van de schreeuwers die beweren christenen vredelievende godsvruchtige gelovigen te zijn, vergeten al dat kwaad aangericht door geloofsgenoten en zijn denkelijk ook niet op de hoogte van wat de kruisvaarders hebben aangericht alsook wat de inquisitie voor kwaads heeft aangericht.

Christenen horen volgelingen van Christus te zijn (vandaar de naam) maar de meerderheid van de christen noemenden volgen helemaal niet de leer van Jezus Christus en aanbidden zelfs niet de God van Christus maar hebben Jezus Christus als hun god genomen. daar is het overgrote probleem een ook de sleutel tot de angst van velen. Omdat hun geloof niet degelijk gestoeld is op Schriftuurkennis en niet voldoende onderbouwt is, is hun geloof ook zeer wankel, als men echt wel kan zeggen dat ze gelovig zijn. Velen beweren Christen te zijn maar geloven niet echt in God en kennen zelfs de Naam van God niet. Wel kijken ze uit naar al de heidense feesten zoals Halloween, Kerstmis en Pasen en eerste communie en plechtige communie, terwijl zij hun geloof niet echt beleven en weinig of niet naar de kerk gaan.

Velen vergeten dat het Mohammedanisme zulk een opstoot mag beleven doordat er juist zo veel ongoddelijkheid of secularisme heerst.

Indien al die mensen die zich christen noemen werkelijk de bijbel zouden lezen en volgen zou er helemaal geen reden hoeven te zijn voor hen om bang te zijn voor de Moslims want dan zouden zij de enige Ware God gemeen hebben en zouden zij kunnen aantonen dat Jezus de weg naar God is om alzo de Moslims naar het christelijk geloof te brengen.

Jan Blommaert in zijn artikel over Karl Popper en de “paradox van de tolerantie” merkt op dat

Omwille van het tolerante karakter van de democratie, zo klinkt het, moeten bepaalde strekkingen en interpretaties van de Islam verboden worden, moeten de volgelingen ervan als gevaarlijk (of “criminogeen“) worden beschouwd, mag men de organisaties die deze leer zouden aanhangen aan grondige veiligheidsinspecties en constante surveillantie onderwerpen, mag men individuen die men tot die strekking rekent de toegang tot het land ontzeggen of ontnemen, mag men hun elementaire burgerlijke vrijheden afnemen, en mag men uitzonderingswetten en -maatregelen nemen om dit gevaar een halt toe te roepen. {De echte paradox van Popper}

In onze kinderjaren moesten de vrouwen in de rooms-katholieke kerken steeds een bedekt hoofd hebben als zij buiten huis kwamen en moesten in de kerk zelfs regelmatig een sluier dragen en meisje een hoofdoek. Nu nog bestaat het gebruik dat vrouwen een mantilla dragen bij een pontificale audiëntie. In vele West Europese landen kan men nog katholieke zusters in habijt vinden alsook zusters die een sluier dragen in het openbaar. Ook in bepaalde zogenaamd ‘conservatieve’ maar ook in ons aanverwante gemeenschappen, verzoekt men nog steeds vrouwen in de dienst een hoofddeksel te dragen. Hoofdbedekking in christelijke erediensten komt vandaag anno 2018 nog steeds voor bij meerdere reformatorische kerken, bepaalde Doopsgezinden of Baptisten, bij verschillende broederverenigingen, alsook bij de Broeders in Christus of Christadelphians en bij de mennonieten. In oosters-orthodoxe kerken bedekken ook nog steeds alle vrouwen het hoofd. Bij de oudgelovigen mag dit uitsluitend een hoofddoek zijn, bij de andere oosters-orthodoxen mag het ook een sluier zijn.

Hoe onze ouders en voorouders mochten gaan zwemmen en wij als jongetjes zelfs ook onze ledematen voor een groot deel bedekt moesten houden.

Vreemd genoeg kon men in Frankrijk in 2016 nonnen helemaal gekleed en gesluierd op de stranden vinden terwijl wij als gewone burgers zelfs niet met onze korte broek en t-shirt op het strand mochten lopen omdat wij te gekleed waren. Ook mocht er niemand met burkini in zee behalve de grote sterren zoals Madonna. Van ongelijkheid gesproken.

Hoe wil men gelijkheid bekomen als men ouders het recht verbied om te bepalen wat hun kinderen moeten geloven en hoe zij moeten gekleed lopen?

De wijze waarop Darya Safai te keer gaat in debatten laat ons een zeer gefrustreerde dame zien die duidelijk over hoop ligt met haar opvoeding en hoe haar ouders haar behandeld hebben. Zij vergeet echter dat niet alle ouders hun kinderen zo overheersend dwang opleggen. Omdat zij misschien in een omgeving is opgegroeid waarbij zij zich erg belemmerd voelde moeet zij nu niet anderen gaanbelemmeren om zich te uiten zoals zij willen. Het is totaal verkeerd te denken en getuigd van onderschatting van de eigen wil van de kinderen, dat jongeren niet zelf over hun eigen klederdracht zouden kunnen of mogen beslissen.

Meerderen mogen dan wel denken dat Moslims andersdenkenden niet verdragen, maar dat hoeft hen er niet toe te brengen om ook intolerant te worden naar anders denkenden en anders gelovigen. Juist met kinderen niet te leren dat er verschillende godsdienstovertuigingen zijn en dat er verschillende uitingen zijn van geloof neemt men de kansen weg om een gezonde pluralistische maatschappij te worden. Dit is natuurlijk wat uiterst rechts niet wil, dat wij een gezond samenlevende multiculturele maatschappij zouden worden.

In zulk een samenleving wil Safai haar kinderen niet groot brengen, ook al komt zij denkelijk zelf uit een immigrantenfamilie, wil zij nu migranten beperkingen opleggen welke hun eigenheid moet wegnemen.

In pleidooien voor een hoofddoekenverbod, bijvoorbeeld, verklaart men dat die hoofddoek niet past in een samenleving zoals de onze waarin mannen en vrouwen gelijk zijn en iedereen respect geniet. Waarna de #MeToo golf ons duidelijk maakt dat we de eigen samenlevingen fors overschatten wanneer het op feitelijke gendergelijkheid en wederzijds respect aankomt. {De echte paradox van Popper}

merkt Jan Blommaert op.

Safai wil meisjes, jonge vrouwen en vrouwen in het algemeen het recht weg nemen om zelf te beslissen wat zij zullen dragen. Hierbij ontneemt zij de gelijkheid van keuze voor de vrouw. Als speeltuigje van de N-VA en extreem rechtsen duwt zij zo de vrouw verder in het hoekje, ook door de kansen weg te nemen dat die vrouwen met hoofddoek werk zouden kunnen vinden, mits het voor hen verboden zal zijn om in het openbaar of openbare functies een hoofddoek te dragen en zo zich te kleden zoals zij hun geloof interpreteren.

Iraans-Belgische tandarts en vrouwenrechtenactiviste Darya Safai (Teheran, 7 april 1975)

De uit Iran ontvluchtte tandarts en vrouwenrechtenactiviste mag dan wel in haar thuisland goede acties ondernomen hebben om het recht van de vrouw te verdedigen, maar is verkeerd te denken dat hier in België de mensen hetzelfde denken en handelen als in Iran. Het mag duidelijk zijn dat zij sporen draagt van de Irak-Iranoorlog die zij als zevenjarige mee maakte en waarbij ze regelmatig moest gaan schuilen bij bombardementen die ook dierbaren om het leven bracht. Ze beweerd ook van jongs af aan als meisje gevoelens van onderdrukking en onrechtvaardigheid te hebben ervaren, wat haar uitzinnig gedrag van vandaag ook mee bepaald. Naar eigen zeggen  zi het haar ervaring in de streng islamitische Iraanse samenleving die de kiemen van haar vrouwenrechtenactivisme deden ontstaan.

Safai beschrijft België als

“het land waar ze zich opnieuw vrij is gaan voelen”.

maar lijkt nu die vrijheid te gebruiken om islamitische families te onderdrukken als wraak voor haar geleden verdriet.

volgens haar gebruikt de Islamietische gemeenschap dezelfde verspreidings- en onderdrukkingsmethodes als in haar geboorteland. {Salafistische sprekers ook in Antwerpen welkom} Zij lijkt ook erg ingenomen met de apartheid die ingebakken is in de Islam en de vrouw andere plaatsen toebedeeld in een bijeenkomst ruimte. Zij kent natuurlijk niet de situatie hier in België in de jaren 1940-1960 waar dat voor ons hier ook heel normaal werd gevonden, brouwen links en mannen rechts in de kerk.

Voor Safai is er in België al lang een indoctrinatie bezig in koranlessen en lezingen, in de moskee, op sociale media, tot zelfs in onze scholen. Hierbij kan men de vraag stellen hoe het zo ver kan komen dat het in scholen zou plaats grijpen?!

Zij beweerd dat er zelf zedenpolitie hier in België zou rondlopen die indien ze moslims betrapt terwijl ze naar muziek luisteren, in de auto of zelfs thuis, dat dit voor hen zware gevolgen zou hebben. Nochtans zien wij genoeg moslims met oortjes in hun oren en met radio’s vol ‘bleirende’ islamitische, Marrokaanse of Turkse muziek  alsook met hevige rapmuziek die oorverdovend staat te brullen. Vreemd dat er dan daar niets tegen gedaan wordt en mensen dan niet hoeven te klagen van die vreselijke muziek.

Sietoebie denkt dat Darya Safai als markante stem in het islam­debat, ons wil wakker schudden.

“Ongelooflijk dat sommigen nog ­altijd zeggen dat de aanslagen niets met de islam te maken hebben.” Het sharia-gevaar is volgens haar veel dichter dan we denken. En ­erger: we onderschatten het. {Darya Safai – [Stof tot nadenken]}

Sietoebie en anderen mogen inzien dat er het islamisme is maar mogen dat niet verwarren met de politieke islam gebaseerd op de sharia, welke een verwerpelijke ideologie mag genoemd worden. Net zoals het nazisme en het stalinisme, is het nu met het neo-Nazzisme, Alt Right en andere extreem rechtse bewegingen onze samenleving aan het aanvallen.  En hierbij is Safai zulf in de handen van de verkeerde mensen gevallen en wordt er van haar handig gebruikt gemaakt voor een politieke agenda die ons onze vrijheden wil ontnemen en ons terug in een dictatoriale staat wil brengen waar geen plaats is voor democratie, vrijheid van meningsuiting, vrijheid van godsdienst of een multiculturele maatschappij.

Safai vergeet dat wij hier in het Westen een heel andere ingesteldheid hebben dan in het Oosten. Ook vergeet ze dat in West-Europa de meeste Europeanen al een mengvolk zijn maar die wel in hun Nationale en Europese tradities verworteld zijn. Wij ontkennen niet dat er ook in België vrouwen zijn die onderdrukt wordne. Maar dat gebeurd niet enkel bij Moslims maar ook bij atheïsten en zelfs bij mensen die beweren Christen te zijn. Onderdrukking van een ander mens is van alle tijden en zal niet zo vlug uitgeroeid worden.

Indien meer mensen ware God liefhebbende mensen zullen worden zal er minder verdrukking zijn. Dat zou Christenen zeker er moeten doen naar streven dat zij meer met hun geloof op straat komen en meer openbaar zullen prediken. In belgië en Nederland zien wij namelijk heel weinig mensen de opdracht van Jezus navolgen om uit te gaan en het evangelie te gaan verkondigen. Waar zijn al die verkondigers?

Safai maakt mensen bang voor mensen zoals de schrijver van dit artikel, die ook een baard heeft. Zij zegt

De boodschap: pas op voor de mannen met lange baarden en djellaba? {Darya Safai – [Stof tot nadenken]}

Goed dat zij zelf toegeeft

“Niet elke moslim is een potentiële islamist.
Diversiteit is mooi, ik kan zelf ook nog altijd serieus genieten van het Iraanse eten, de muziek en onze oudste en mooiste traditionele feesten. Maar als een cultuur of geloof vrouwen discrimineert of onderdrukt, dan is dat onaanvaardbaar. Dat vloekt met onze universele waarden.” {Darya Safai – [Stof tot nadenken]}

terwijl zij vergeet dat zij alle pogingen onderneemt om hier de ouderlijke keuzes te onderdrukken alsook het recht om naar eender welke school te gaan. Namelijk vergeet zij dat indien diegenen die een hoofddoek willen dragen of diegenen die volgens hun religie een hoofdbedekking moeten dragen en niet toegelaten worden in het Gemeenschapsonderwijs of in een Christelijke school, dan naar een eigen Joodse, Islamietische, Hindu of andere privé school moeten gaan waar er dan juist eigen ideologieën en indoctrinatie kan gebracht worden. Dat waarvoor zij eigenlijk zo bang is werkt zij nu in de hand. Zo is het ontoelaatbaar in dit land dat de Sikhs in Sint-Truiden nu geen school kunnen lopen in hun omgeving doordat er een hoofdbedekkingsverbod is. Joden zijn nu ook verplicht geworden om meerdere kilometers per dag af te leggen of om bij familie in te wonen ver van huis, om naar een school te gaan waar hun kippa is toegelaten. Dit pas zijn onmenselijke toestanden onze 21ste eeuw maatschappij onwaardig. Tegelijkertijd drukt het die onschuldige kinderen in een hoekje waar zij door ‘hun eigen scholen’ makkelijker geïndoctrineerd kunnen worden en juist misschien veel over andere godsdiensten en culturen niet zullen te leren krijgen, wat in het Belgisch onderwijs normaal wel voorzien is en degelijke scholen wel degelijk aan brengen.

We moeten onze kinderen juist weerbaar ­maken, ook en zeker kinderen uit islamitische gezinnen, door hen juist verschillen gewoon te laten worden en te verduidelijken. door juist te doen of er geen verschillen zijn maakt men de kinderen zwakkere en leert men hen niet met andere culturen omgaan. Alsook leert men hen dan niet om kritisch te kijken naar hun eigen religie en die religie van een ander noch leert men hen te beseffen wat de verschillen zijn in de variëteit van culturen en leert men deze niet naar waarde schatten.

Mevrouw Safai met haar bondgenoten doen er zeker niets aan om wijsheid te verspreiden (wat zij zo graag zou zien gebeuren). Wel is zeer duidelijk dat zij als een potentaat

“de opvoeding van ons nageslacht zelf in handen nemen.”

terwijl zij eigenlijk bedoeld dat zij en haar trawanten de opvoeding van anderen wil bepalen en dat iedereen naar hun eisen zal moeten plooien.

Toch beweert Safai

Tegelijkertijd moeten we onze democratie weerbaar maken tegen alles wat haar bedreigt. We mogen nooit toelaten dat islamisten de instrumenten van de democratie gebruiken om haar te ondermijnen.

Hierbij uit het oog verliezend dat zij en extreem rechts voor het ogenblik juist alles in het werk stellen om de democratie de nek om te draaien. Zij willen ook een eenheidsstaat voor het Kaukasisch ras met enkel plaats voor beperkte waarden en normen opgelegd in hun traditie, waarbij zij indruisen tegen veel wetten van God, maar waarbij hun wet boven alle wetten wordt gesteld.

Duidelijk genoeg laat De Wever zijn uitspraak zien hoe weinig hij in de Goddelijke Schepper gelooft en hoe weinig hij met godsdienstbeleving inzit. Voor hem mag zogezegd iedereen geloven in wat hij wil, maar waarom zijn zij, zijn politieke beweging en de andere politieke beweging Vlaams Belang zo hevig bezig om bepaalde gelovigen de mond te snoeren.

Uit de cijfers die Vlaams Belang onlangs in handen kreeg, blijkt dat er van januari tot november vorig jaar 186 keer een vrouw slachtoffer werd van verkrachting en hierbij doen ze alsof het allemaal om islamieten gat terwijl het juist hoofdzakelijk over blanke Belgen gaat. Er waren ook 3.732 vrouwen het slachtoffer van slagen en verwondingen, 201 van aanranding, 53 van doodslag en 8 van moord. De statistieken maken wel niet duidelijk om hoeveel unieke vrouwen het gaat of waar de geweldplegingen plaatsvonden – op straat, thuis of elders, alsook zeggen ze niets over de religie of de bevolkingsgroep waar die gebeurtenissen plaats vonden. Toch wil de partij ze gebruiken om de Moslims als zwart schaap te verdrijven uit hun witte kudde.

Zij die zich Christen willen noemen zouden best eens in eigen hart kijken en onderzoeken of zij de vredeshouding van Jezus wel aannemen en de agapè liefde ook wel uitdragen.

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Voorgaande

Voorbereiding op het belangrijkste weekend van het jaar 2018

Christians, secularism, morals and values

Secularism in France becoming dangerous for freedom of religion

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Aansluitende lectuur

1. Nieuwkomers, nieuwelingen, immigranten, allochtonen en import
2. Overdracht van mening te vrijwaren
3. Religie en samenleving één geheel
4. Werk maken van Godsdienstvrijheid
5. Staat Europa voor vrijheid van godsdienst
6. Motie over Godsdienstvrijheid
7. Wat moet men nog geloven
8. Politici handig gebruik makend van immigranten en jihad angst
9. Het gevaar om niets te doen tegen de oorzaak en de kwaal
10. Moeten Christenen over zich heen laten walsen
11. Europa berispt de godsdienstvrijheid beperkers
12. Boerka moet weg uit Frankrijk
13. Verbod veruiterlijking van overtuiging
14. Trinitarische zendelingen die Joden tot Christus willen brengen
15. De familie Palache, Joden en Ontroerende onzin
16. Voor Joden dezelfde positie als ieder volk
17. At the closing hours of 2016 #2 Low but also highlights
18. 2016 in review Politics #1 Year of dissonance
19. Is Europe going to become a dictatorial bastion
20. On French beach French police forces woman to undress in public
21. France and the Burkini
22. Where’s the Outrage Over Nun Beachwear? – The Daily Beast
23. You are what you wear
24. Does Banning Face Veils Help Us Fight Terrorism?
25. French showing to the whole world their fear and weakness
26. “Burkini” Ban Accomplishes Nothing Positive
27. Islamism Rises from Europe’s Secularism
28. Women in France running with naked bosom all right but with covered bosom penalised
29. Not limiting others but sharing peace with all

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Gerelateerd

1. Niet normaal – over identiteit & vrijheid
2. Multiculti is de dood van de vrijheid!
3. De florerende antidemocratie in Nederland
4. Het Democratisch deficit
5. Het is onmogelijk om Christendom en Islam,de Bijbel en de Koran met elkaar te vergelijken!
6. Het Oost-Europees Anti-Populisme is openlijke terugkeer naar de dictatuur
7. Schorem voor democratie
8. CTM 2018: Vrijheid als gist voor cultuur?
9. Darya Safai [Stof tot nadenken]
10. Wat moet men nog geloven.
11. Dr.helmut kohl dissertation – Het is triest dat een groot deel van de bevolking ontrouw is aan de godsdienstvrijheid als het om moslims gaat, vervolgt Scheffer.
12. Bommel weggaat. Zeer betrokken bij godsdienstvrijheid @harryvandesp #bahai
13. Groot uitdagings vir nuwe regering in Nederland
14. Als je hoofddoek maar goed zit! . . .
15. Special: Hoe doe je een hoofddoek om?
16. Zeeperpaper  Your daily news wire for  2018-feb-19
17. Geert Wilders: “Our democracies have become fake democracies.”
18. “Burkini” Ban Accomplishes Nothing Positive
19. The Hypocrisy of the Burkini Ban
20. Religious Dress in Catholicism
21. Identity in Amsterdam
22. Belgian Television has achieved a milestone in pro-hijab propaganda: “schools shouldn’t interfear with basic religious rights by banning hijab”
23. Western women turn a blind eye to Iranian struggle
24. Iran Banishes Women From Tehran Football Match Attended by FIFA Chief
25. ‘Humiliating’: Iranian women excluded as Syrian women watch World Cup qualifier in stadium
26. ‘It won’t get better’ – Iranian activist Darya Safai on footballers’ ban for playing Israelis — RT Sport
27. Western Feminists Snub an Iranian Heroine

Valse profeten en leraren als roofzuchtige wolven in schaapskleren #6 Valse leraren en geestelijke hoererij

Erg genoeg en spijtig genoeg moeten wij vast stellen dat de grote meerderheid van christenen ver afgeweken zijn van het Ware Geloof.

Als men weet dat Dé Allerhoogste Goddelijke Schepper zich aan de mens openbaar heeft gemaakt, zich zelf een volk heeft gekozen en hen duidelijk heeft gemaakt dat Hij hun Enige God hoort te zijn, waar geen afbeeldingen van mogen gemaakt worden en die niet duld dat andere godheden aanbeden worden of zaken worden afgesmeekt, dan zien wij bepaalde kerken waar men wél beelden van hun god aan de muur heeft hangen en waar ook beelden van mensen hangen, die ze heiligen noemen en waar zij wél dingen van afsmeken of hopen dat zij bepaalde dingen voor hen kunnen verwezenlijken, ook al zijn ze al lang geleden gestorven. Aan die kerkgemeenschappen kunnen wij zien dat zij afgeweken zijn van de teksten die zijn overgeleverd door de mannen van God, de profeten en Bijbelschrijvers of Schriftstellers.

Opmerkelijk is ook dat wij vele kerkgemeenschappen zien waar men eerder de woorden van de schrift heeft aangepast aan hun leven en hun tijd in plats van zich aan te passen aan de woorden van de Bijbel en hun leven op te bouwen zoals de eerste christenen probeerden naar Jezus leerstellingen te leven en God te dienen op de wijze dat God verlangt.

Uit de Schrift komen wij te weten dat er een tijd zal komen waar het kaf en het koren duidelijk zichtbaar zullen worden en van elkaar gescheiden zullen worden. Valse leraren zullen ontmaskerd worden. Het onderscheid tussen de groepen zal steeds duidelijker worden (Openb. 18:1, 4) De Universele Kerk zal meer en meer haar ware gezicht gaan laten zien. De Bijbel spreekt van Babylon de hoer en van de duivel die meer en meer heviger te keer zal gaan. De satans of tegenstrevers van God zullen meer en meer gepikeerd geraken dat er meer verkondigers opduiken die Gods Waarheid verkondigen. De Schrift vertelt ons namelijk dat het één van de tekenen der eindtijd zal zijn dat er meer verkondigers het Goede Nieuws zullen komen te verkondigen en alle moeite zullen doen om anderen ook heet licht der waarheid te laten zien.

Die instelling die zogezegd de ware kerk moest zijn zal ontmantelt worden door vele schandalen, waarbij het letterlijk hoereren ook blootgelegd zal worden. De laatste jaren doken er dan ook meer en meer schandalen in de Rooms Katholieke Kerk op.

Sinds de 19de eeuw gingen veel meer gewone mensen bewust de bijbel onderzoeken en zich aan te sluiten bij andere Bijbelonderzoekers. Deze Studenten van de bijbel vormden geloofsgemeenschappen met namen als Bijbelstudenten of Bible Students of wensten te verwijzen naar hun broederschap met Christus of aan te tonen dat zij onderdeel maakten van de Stad van Jezus Christus, Christadelphia of van een broederschap als Filadelphia of Christadelphians of Broeders in Christus.

Onder de Bijbelonderzoekers waren er die de leiding namen om te sturen en ondersteuning te geven aan diegenen die er bewust van waren van de noodzaak en belangrijkheid van het predikingswerk. Zij gingen de nadruk leggen op een persoonlijk aandeel aan de prediking van het Koninkrijk. Getrouwe christenen vonden het belangrijk om van deur tot deur te gaan om de Waarheid te verkondigen.

Naar de jaren zestig toe van de vorige eeuw werden vele christelijke leiders zo bang voor de naam van God dat zij er zelfs op stonden om die Heilige naam beter weg te laten. Zij die van God hielden en beseften hoe belangrijk die Naam wel is gingen verder om die Naam te verkondigen. Meerdere groepen zetten zich in om Gods Naam uit te dragen. Zo zijn de Getuigen van Jehovah wel de meest gekende groep van Bijbelonderzoekers. Die uitdragers van de Naam van God werden als om meer geschoffeerd. Op allerhande manieren wenst men ze nog steeds zwart te maken. Hiertoe worden vele leugens uit de kast gehaald om hen zwart te maken en om met hen te spotten. Andere niet-trinitarische bewegingen worden te samen met hen op dezelfde lijst van ongewenste ‘sekten’ geplaatst.

In het Christendom zitten de Universele Kerken, van het katholicisme en Protestantisme, nog lekker hoog op hun troon. Zo hoog gezeten en aanzien als de Grote Kerk en als Rijke Kerk en Politiek sterke kerk, zien zij zich nog onaantastbaar. Als koningen en koninginnen kunnen hun leiders nu nog zetelen, zoals in de Schrift vermeld.

„Ik zit als koningin, en ik ben geen weduwe, en ik zal nooit rouw zien” (Openb. 18:7).

Die grote instellingen in het christendom voelen zich inderdaad nog erg zeker. Zij zijn zelfs in de veronderstelling dat ze ’als een koningin zitten’ op de klasse van politieke leiders. Op dit moment zijn degenen die door het onkruid worden afgebeeld in Jezus parabels niet bepaald aan het wenen. Maar daar komt binnenkort verandering in.

Aan de hechte samenwerking tussen diegenen die leiding hebben in het christendom en de politieke leiders komt binnenkort een eind

Eeuwenlang hadden protestantse denominaties verwezen naar het Babylon uit Bijbelse profetieën, met de vinger wijzend naar de Rooms Katholieke Kerk. De vele Bijbelonderzoekers kunnen ook als een strekking in het protestantisme aanschouwd worden, maar in tegenstelling tot vele protestanten houden zij niet aan een drievoudige godheid maar aanbidden zij slechts één Ware God, de God van Israël. Met de jaren gingen meer Bijbelonderzoekers geleidelijk beseffen dat vele kerken van het christendom bij het hedendaagse Babylon horen. Dit omdat ze allemaal leugens onderwijzen zoals o.a. de leer van de Drie-eenheid.

Al in 1891 werd bijvoorbeeld in het derde deel van Millennial Dawn over Gods verwerping van het hedendaagse Babylon gezegd:

„Het hele systeem — een systeem van systemen — is verworpen.”

Er werd aan toegevoegd dat iedereen

„die het niet eens is met haar valse leerstellingen en gebruiken nu opgeroepen wordt om zich van haar af te scheiden”.

Die afscheiding is ook waar Jezus en zijn apostelen naar wezen … het niet van de wereld zijn … het durven afstand nemen van populaire maar valse leerstellingen. Dat afstand nemen van die kerken waar niet kosher wordt geleefd is voor zeer veel mensen zeer moeilijk. Het grotendeel van de mensen wil ook vasthouden aan de gangbare tradities en is ook bang om anderen te laten merken dat zij zich hebben aangesloten bij een kleine kerkgemeenschap die er de voorkeur aan geven om constant met dat Woord van God bezig te zijn.

De Bijbelonderzoekers leerden en leren nog steeds, dat geloofsgenoten waar mogelijk voor aanbidding bij elkaar moeten komen. Voor ware christenen is het niet genoeg om valse religie te verlaten zij moeten zich ook gaan verenigen met anderen die het Ware Geloof willen aanhouden. Zij moeten beseffen dat men niet op zichzelf moet blijven en in zijn eentje moet zitten de Bijbel te lezen of te studeren. Men moet beseffen dat het belangrijk is om ook samen te komen om deel te nemen aan ware aanbidding.

In de Nieuwe Wereld beseften vele uitwijkelingen van Europa hoe kerken hen misleid hadden en hoe zij meerdere dingen hadden moeten aan nemen omdat het zogezegd onbegrijpbaar was voor een mens en omdat het een dogma was. De in de 19de eeuw rondtrekkende bijbelonderzoekers voelden aan hoe opbouwend hun bijeenkomsten waren die zij in de verschillende nederzettingen konden bijwonen.

In juli 1880 bracht broeder Russell bijvoorbeeld verslag uit van een rondreis die hij had gemaakt om lezingen te houden. Hij vertelde hoe opbouwend alle bijeenkomsten waren geweest. Vervolgens spoorde hij de lezers aan om briefkaarten op te sturen over hun vooruitgang. Sommige daarvan zouden in het tijdschrift gepubliceerd worden. Het doel?

„Laat ons allemaal weten (…) hoe de Heer jullie voorspoed geeft, en of jullie geregeld samenkomen met hen die hetzelfde kostbare geloof hebben.”

Russell met een groep Bijbelonderzoekers in Kopenhagen (1909)

De Bijbel bestuderend kwamen meerdere mensen tot meer inzicht dat de beschrijving die de bijbel van Babylon de Grote geeft, past bij de valse religie als geheel, als een collectief lichaam. Hoewel de duizenden godsdiensten die de wereld telt niet officieel één wereldorganisatie vormen, zijn ze wat hun doel en daden betreft onafscheidelijk verbonden. Zoals door de immorele vrouw in Openbaring wordt afgebeeld, heeft de valse religie een reusachtige invloed op regeringen. Net als een vrouw die zich niet aan haar huwelijksgeloften houdt, heeft de valse religie zich geprostitueerd door verbintenissen aan te gaan met de ene politieke macht na de andere.

„Overspeelsters, weet gij niet dat de vriendschap met de wereld vijandschap met God is?”,

schreef de discipel Jakobus.

„Al wie daarom een vriend van de wereld wil zijn, maakt zich tot een vijand van God.” — Jakobus 4:4.

Op vele plaatsen waar Bijbelonderzoekers kwamen verkregen zij weerstand en werden zij regelmatig beschimpt. Vandaag zijn zij nog steeds een bespotte groep, waarvoor velen graag een ommetje maken of de deuren niet openen, om niet te moeten spreken met zulk iemand.

Johannes 15:19: 19 Als jullie een deel van de wereld zouden zijn, zou de wereld aan jullie gehecht zijn als iets van haarzelf. Omdat jullie geen deel van de wereld zijn+ maar ik jullie uit de wereld heb uitgekozen, daarom haat de wereld jullie.+

Geen deel uit makend van de wereld is voor de Bijbelonderzoekers of Bijbelstudenten belangrijker dan ongehoorzaamheid aan God Zijn Woord. Voor ons is de liefde voor God het voor op liggende.

1 Johannes 2:15: 15 Heb de wereld niet lief en ook de dingen in de wereld niet.+ Als iemand de wereld liefheeft, is de liefde voor de Vader niet in hem.+

Wij beseffen dat onze weg niet altijd makkelijk zal zijn doordat onze voorkeur voor de vriendschap met God niet zo veel vrienden van deze wereld zal opleveren. Wij beseffen dat wij om vrienden van God te zijn, ons moeten losmaken van elke emotionele gehechtheid aan de huidige goddeloze wereld, en dat wij ons moeten ontdoen van al de valse leerstellingen.

God houd niet van valse aanbidding en zij die van God houden willen God niet tegen de borst stoten. Naleven van God Zijn geboden is veel belangrijker dan het na leven van mensen hun leringen en regels.

De diverse „christelijke” en heidense sekten die deze wereld rijk is maken er aanspraak op organisaties te zijn die de ware aanbidding beoefenen. Maar in haar zucht naar macht en materieel gewin heeft ze vriendschappelijke betrekkingen aangeknoopt met de heersers van deze wereld, en „de koningen der aarde hebben hoererij met haar bedreven”. Haar onreine, smerige handelwijze in verband met haar hoererij is in Gods ogen verfoeilijk en heeft tot veel bloedvergieten en grote benauwdheid op aarde geleid (Opb 17:1-6; 18:3). Derhalve zal God het voor hoereerders bestemde oordeel aan haar voltrekken: vernietiging. (Opb 17:16; 18:8, 9).

Laat iedereen beseffen dat wij best de valse leraren links laten liggen en dat wij de woorden in de Bijbel nemen zoals zij er staan. Als er dus “zoon van God” staat, laat ons dan ook lezen en denken “zoon van God” en niet zoals velen u proberen diets te maken dat u (zou) moeten geloven dat het om een “god de zoon” gaat. Als u volgeling van Christus wil zijn, dus een christen zijn, moet u de zelfde God aanbidden als Jezus en moet u zijn leerstellingen volgen en niet deze van die zo vele mensen die als zogenaamde theoloog de bijbel duidelijker zouden kunnen maken dan God Zijn woord zelf.

Besef ook dat als u zich laat dopen en opgenomen wordt in het Lichaam van Christus, dat dit inhoud dat u zich bereid voelt om onder Christus Jezus te staan. Bij zulk een overgave in een doop hebt u dan ook als christen aan Jehovah opgedragen om zodoende onder de Gave van Genade in het nieuwe verbond te zijn opgenomen. Zij die zich als christen uit geven en valse leerstellingen aanhouden en zich met het huidige samenstel van dingen verontreinigen, plegen geestelijk overspel.  (Jakobus 4:4.)

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Voorgaande

Valse profeten en leraren als roofzuchtige wolven in schaapskleren #1 Stromen van gelovigen

Valse profeten en leraren als roofzuchtige wolven in schaapskleren #2 Een Zoon als gids en Geschriften als leidraad

Valse profeten en leraren als roofzuchtige wolven in schaapskleren #3 Van een bepaalde wereld zijnde

Valse profeten en leraren als roofzuchtige wolven in schaapskleren #4 Ambitieuze mannen, verdraaide woorden en akkoorden met wereldleiders

Valse profeten en leraren als roofzuchtige wolven in schaapskleren #5 Valse leraren en afvalligen

Andere aanpak in de organisatie van de diensten # 3

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Aanverwante lectuur

1. Wetenschappers, filosofen hun zeggen, geloven en waarheden
2. Filosofen, theologen en ogen naar de ware kennisgever van bestaan van God
3. Bedenkingen: Gods eigen Volk
4. Joodse Wetten en Wetten voor Christenen
5. Kerkshoppen: “Arrogant tegenover kerklidmaatschap”
6. Benedictus XVI treedt af
7. Christelijke, geestelijke zaken kunnen leiden tot hoogmoed
8. Kerkzijn in een ik-gerichte tijd
9. Jongmense wil nie meer sit en luister nie
10. De Ware Kerk
11. Kleine gemeenschap in ongeïnteresseerde wereld
12. Intenties van de ecclesia
13. Stichter van een beweging
14. Wie kan zich beroepen op C.T. Russell
15. Biblestudents & T.C.Russell
16. Bijbelonderzoekers en Russelism
17. Bijbelonderzoekers, Bijbelstudents, Jehovah Getuigen, Russell en denominaties
18. Bijbelonderzoekers niet steeds Getuigen van Jehovah
19. Volharding en Bijbelstudenten
20. Christadelphia
21. Is uitleg over christadelphians op Katholieke website correct
22. Goed Nieuws brengen met en door voorbeeld
23. Is de Beleidvolle Slaaf van de Getuigen van Jehovah Gods enige instrument
24. Niet alle Getuigen behorend tot Getuige van Jehovah
25. De naam van Jehovah gebruikend maar geen getuigen met die naam
26. Bijbelvorsers uitkijkend om meerdere lezers te bereiken
27. Eenheid van spreken onder de loep genomen
28. Een terugblik op Christadelphianisme en de Broeders in Christus in België
29. Gebed ter bescherming en versterking van de verkondigers van het Goede Nieuws
30. Belangrijkheid van Gods Naam
31. Gods volk onderweg – Het leven in de gemeente
32. Redding, vertrouwen en actie in Jezus #9 Omgang met anderen
33. Verzoening en Broederschap 3 Verenigen onder de Hoeksteen
34. Verzoening en Broederschap 4 Deelgenoten in Christus
35. De Ekklesia #10 Addendum 1: een moderne theocratie?
36. Is God een Drie-eenheid
37. Heilige-drievuldigheid of drie-eenheid

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Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #5 Further steps to women’s bibles

In the Wild West women took care their children got a knowledge of the Word of God. In the growing states of the New World the oral tradition of the Word of God ensured the Gospel-readings spreading.

For millennia prior to the invention of writing, which is a very recent phenomenon in the history of humankind, oral tradition served as the sole means of communication available for forming and maintaining societies and their institutions. Moreover, numerous studies — conducted on six continents — have illustrated that oral tradition remains the dominant mode of communication in the 21st century, despite increasing rates of literacy. {Encyclopaedia Britannica}

The States got some very strong ladies, creating schools and congregations where women told in their own words what was written in the Holy Scriptures. In the early nineteenth century, at the European continent and in the colonies where the largest, most influential churches like Catholics and Church of England reigned, they like Presbyterians, and the Episcopalians (or Anglicanism and Episcopal Church in the United States of America) forbade women to preach. In the New World women proved their necessity for leading everything in good directions. Searching the bible and having met people from different denominations many came to conclusions which made them to form newer groups. In a small number of those denominations, particularly the Congregationalists, the restrictions on women’s religious speech became challenged. Professor of Religions in America and the History of Christianity in the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, Catherine Brekus whose works have included a history of female preaching in America, entitled Strangers and Pilgrims: Female Preaching in America, 1740 – 1845 (1998) and a history of early evangelicalism based on a woman’s diaries, entitled Sarah Osborn‘s World: The Rise of Evangelicalism in Early America (2013), writes.

“Anti-authoritarian, anti-intellectual, and often visionary, they deliberately set themselves apart from the ‘worldliness’ of established churches by insisting that God could choose anyone — even the poor, uneducated, enslaved, or female — to spread the gospel.”

She briefly traces the story of evangelicals — especially Free Will Baptists, Christian Connection, northern Methodists, African Methodists, and Millerites — who allowed women to preach.

Benjamin Randall (1749-1808) main organizer of the Freewill Baptists (Randall Line) in the Northeastern United States.

Inspired by the preaching of the lay exhorter Benjamin Randall in New Hampshire that Free Will Baptist Association was formed in 1782. By 1780 the various Baptist groups had formed around 450 churches, a number exceeded only by Congregationalists with about 750 and Presbyterians with some 490. With the disappearance of a Puritan orthodoxy at the beginning of the eighteenth century the Congregational churches, whose ideas were based on the priesthood of all believers, developed by Robert Browne and Henry Barrow, and were Calvinist in tone, had opened the way for women preaching and for people telling with their own words what was written in the Bible.

The gradual collapse of state religious establishments after ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1789 served Baptist purposes, and by 1800 they had become for a while the largest denomination in the nation, with almost twice as many adherents as the second-ranked Congregationalists. Those Baptists supported the creation of colleges, seminaries, tract societies, and missionary agencies. Educated leaders provided the impetus for the creation in 1814 of a General Missionary Convention, soon called the Triennial Convention, to sponsor home and foreign missions. Before long, it had allied itself with other agencies to promote publication and education. Several groups considered themselves to be a continuation of the first church where followers of Christ, men and women tried to bring people to God and have them baptised by immersion, the only true form of Christian baptism. At the end of the 20th century it would be the pressure of the major trinitarian Baptist groups, like the 13.9 million Southern Baptist Convention which would make the non-trinitarian Baptists looking for other congregations, but still leaving 26,7 million U.S.A. Baptists.

Brekus notes how fearing the colonies’ established churches had “quenched the spirit” by requiring college education for ministers, evangelicals said

“God could communicate directly with people through dreams, visions, and voices,”

and appealed to Joel’s promise (quoted by Peter at Pentecost) to invest

“female preaching with transcendent significance. Whenever a woman stood in the pulpit, she was a visible reminder that Christ might soon return to earth.”

Yet influenced by the wider culture, they did not think the Bible sanctioned their equality with men in Church, home, or political life. Rather than seeking ordination and settled pastorates, they remained itinerate evangelists. So, these biblical feminists were caught between two worlds — too radical to be accepted by evangelicals, but too conservative to be accepted by women’s rights activists. {Christian Reflection; A Series in Faith and Ethics}

Waves of Irish Presbyterians flooded into the middle and southern colonies, which tolerated their religious beliefs, and flowed into the unoccupied western regions. Some were established congregations who brought their ministers with them; most immigrated as individuals or in small family groups and were followed by clergymen. But the Presbyterian Church in England, re-established in 1844, was reported to have only 76 places of worship in 1851 — one-fifth the number of quaker meeting-houses. {J. A. Cannon; The Oxford Companion to British History; 2002}
A Plan of Union with the Congregational associations of New England that existed from 1792 until 1837 was disrupted when the Old School Presbyterians, favoring separate denominational agencies for missionary and evangelistic work, prevailed. The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions was then established.

The P.C.U.S.A split in 1837 to become New School Presbyterians and Old School Presbyterians.

Placing great importance upon education and lifelong learning the Presbyterians and their missionary schools also prepared others to think about the Word of God and to spread it around.

Several men and women brought their notes to the bible words and also did not mind when preaching to quote freely from the bible. In this way the Americans got used to an easy fluent language to tell about God His sayings and wonders.

Gradually, the evangelicals’ educational systems, church organizations, and worship styles became more like those of churches that had been established and wealthy in the colonial era but many Bible students, followers of Dr. John Thomas and of Charles Taze Russell continued to spread the Word of God in their own words and in Bible fragments translated to American English in tracts and magazines.

The Christadelphians offered people the Wilson’s polyglot translation for free. When Benjamin Wilson died in 1900, his heirs inherited the plates and copyright. When they were approached by Charles Taze Russell, then president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, he via a third party obtained the copyright, and at some later point, the plates. The Society published the Diaglott in 1902, and later had the type reset for publication on its own presses in 1927, with an additional printing in 1942.

Much discussion went on between the other Bible-student parties involved in the first edition and still using the version in their churches or ecclesia. Unto the exclusiveness to reprint the polyglot for public release the Christadelphians and Wilson his church had to keep reproduction only for their own members.
In 2003 the MiamiChurch of the Blessed Hope with support from Christadelphians in the United Kingdom and the United States published their own edition, with a new preface, and where pleased the Emphatic Diaglott at last came home again.

Christadelphians, Watchtower Biblestudents and others looked at the return of Christ, a terrible war where nations would get against many other nations, but also were aware that Jerusalem would be restored after some time.

Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843–1921) American theologian, minister, and writer whose best-selling annotated Bible popularized futurism and dispensationalism among fundamentalist Christians.

From English and Puritan descent the American orphan Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843–1921) converted to evangelical Christianity through the testimony of a lawyer acquaintance. He came under the mentorship of James H. Brookes, pastor of Walnut Street Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, a prominent dispensationalist premillennialist. He also attempted with limited success to take charge of Dwight L. Moody‘s Northfield Bible Training School, and served as superintendent of the American Home Missionary Society of Texas and Louisiana; and in 1890, he helped found Lake Charles College (1890–1903) in Lake Charles, Louisiana and in 1914 founded the Philadelphia School of the Bible in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (now Cairn University)

Scofield’s premillennialism seemed prophetic.

“At the popular level, especially, many people came to regard the dispensationalist scheme as completely vindicated.”

Scofield Reference Bible, page 1115. This page includes Scofield’s note on John 1:17, which some have interpreted to mean that Scofield believed in two means of salvation.

The first bible translation, since the Geneva Bible (1560), to bring a commentary on the biblical text alongside the Bible instead of in a separate volume, also attempted to date events of the Bible in its second edition (1917) eight years after its first edition. This Scofield Reference Bible, published by Oxford University Press in 1909 contained the entire text of the traditional, Protestant King James Version, and became a widely circulated study Bible edited and annotated by this American Bible student Cyrus I. Scofield, whose notes teach futurism and dispensationalism, a theology that was systematized in the early nineteenth century by the Anglo-Irish clergyman John Nelson Darby, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren (Christian brethren, or Darbyites) and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren, (who like Scofield had also been trained as a lawyer).

John Nelson Darby (1800–1882) Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren.

In 1867 ex curate in the Church of Ireland parish of Delgany, County Wicklow, Darby had presented a translation of the New Testament which he revised for the editions in 1872 and 1884.  He declined however to contribute to the compilation of the Revised Version of the King James Bible. After his death, some of his students produced an Old Testament translation based on Darby’s French and German translations in which we may see Darby’s dependence on W. H. Westcott’s Congo vernacular Bible, Victor Danielson’s Faroese work and the Romanian Bible published by G.B.V. and Dillenburg, Germany (GBV)

It was after 25 years serious research that in 1881 the British bishop, biblical scholar and theologian, and Bishop of Durham, Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901) with Irish-born theologian and editor Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828–1892) had presented their “New Testament in the Original Greek” on the believe that the combination of Codex Bezae with the Old Latin and the Old Syriac represents the original form of the New Testament text. Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort their Greek translation was used as the base fro many later translations.

The Revised Version of the New Testament translators, 1881.

They also were asked to become translation committee members for the Revised Version which in the United States was adapted and revised as the “Revised Version, Standard American Edition” (better known as the American Standard Version) in 1901.

Those translations using the advanced knowledge of the newly found ancient manuscripts and better insight in the old language, received until today opposition from fervent “King James Only” people. Up to today those King James only people say that is the only worthy and true Bible, also forgetting that other people who speak an other language than would be deprived of God’s Word in the Bible. Those KJV-only people complaining that the or a new translation did not base their text on the 1611 KJV forget that it should not be based on that text but on the most original bible manuscripts we can find. The last straw is that many who swear by only the KJV itself do not use themselves the original version and worse even do not know what print edition they use and that this has many differences against the 1611 edition.

Problem with those KJV-only believers is that they want to have their church doctrines still confirmed in the new translations though those versions using the Name of God where it was placed, makes it clear about whom is spoken and about who speaks, so that no confusing is being made between God and Jesus and shows clearly that it are two different characters. Therefore, it mostly are ardent trinitarians who do not want to accept versions which come closer to the original ancient writings, because this way people believing in the Trinity may come to see that it is a human doctrine and not a Biblical doctrine, and as such they may come to see that the non-trinitarian churches are much more following God’s Word than their church want them to believe.

Lots of KJV-only people also do not want to have the real translation or a synonym for a word they use wrongly, like sheol or the hell which just means the grave or sepulchre, but when a bible translation like the NIV translates it with the “grave” they consider an attack on the KJV word of “hell” they understanding it to be a place of eternal doom and torture.

The KJV-only people believe that this English translation of the Authorised King James Version should never be changed, but do not see or forget that they themselves use also a changed version and not the original 1611 first version.

A staunch Seventh-day Adventist missionary, theology professor and college president was even more stepped on his toes when the Bible Students of the Zion’s Watchtower dared to bring out a modern English translation based on that Westcott-Hort translation and on the Greek texts of Nestle, Bover, Merk and others.

Not only women and children had asked for a less archaic Bible translation.

On December 2, 1947 a “New World Bible Translation Committee” was formed, composed of Jehovah’s Witnesses who professed to be anointed.

The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released at a convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Yankee Stadium, New York, on August 2, 1950. The translation of the Old Testament, which Jehovah’s Witnesses refer to as the Hebrew Scriptures, was released in five volumes in 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, and 1960. The complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was released as a single volume in 1961, and has since undergone minor revisions and standing strong between the 55 new English translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures which were published between 1952 and 1990.

They also reproduced The Greek transliterations for the Christian Greek Scripture portion of the Bible from the Westcott and Hort text in The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures (1969).

While critical of some of its translation choices, , associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S.A., Jason BeDuhn called the New World Translation a “remarkably good” translation, “better by far” and “consistently better” than some of the others considered. Overall, concluded BeDuhn, the New World Translation

“is one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available”

and

“the most accurate of the translations compared.”

in his 2003 book, Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament, which has generated considerable controversy for highlighting cases of theological bias in the translation process, by which, he argues, contemporary Christian views are anachronistically introduced into the Bible versions upon which most modern English-speaking Christians rely.

BeDuhn noted, too, that many translators were subject to pressure

“to paraphrase or expand on what the Bible does say in the direction of what modern readers want and need it to say.”

On the other hand, the New World Translation is different, observed BeDuhn, because of

“the greater accuracy of the NW as a literal, conservative translation of the original expressions of the New Testament writers.”

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures by 2004 had been made available in 32 languages plus 2 Braille editions and two years later already in 57 languages.

The 1984 revised edition of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures richly enhanced accurate Bible knowledge by means of several distinctive features such as the marginal (cross) references, an extensive footnote apparatus, a concordance (Bible Words Indexed) and an appendix. Modern computerization has assisted greatly in preparing these features.

In the New World Translation an effort was made to capture the authority, power, dynamism and directness of the original Hebrew and Greek Scriptures and to convey these characteristics in modern English. They also made an end to the used of  now-sanctimonious formal pronouns thou, thy, thine, thee and ye, with their corresponding verb inflections.

Many trinitarians were not pleased with that translation which tried to give as literal a translation as possible where the modern-English idiom allows and where a literal rendition does not, by any awkwardness, hide the thought, but which also placed in the Hebrew text everywhere the tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH) was notated, printed God’s Holy Name Jehovah. As such God His Name was again visible, like in the ancient manuscripts,  6,973 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and 237 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Though it may be called a pity that they also did not take the effort to put Jesus name right, not going for the Issou or “Hail Zeus“, but printing his real original name Jeshua.

With this word-for-word statement of the original in the hand the real followers of Christ could show those who call themselves Christian, but do follow the human doctrine of the Trinity, where they went wrong in their thinking and could show them that Jesus is the way to God and not God himself.

But in this clear up-to-date contemporary version many churches saw a danger for their followers who could be brought to other thinking than their denomination’s doctrines.

In the previous decades several paraphrased bible book translations had seen the light and many bible students also had used free translations in their pamphlets. This time taking liberties with the texts for the mere sake of brevity, and substituting some modern parallel when a literal rendering of the original makes good sense, had been avoided. Uniformity of rendering has been maintained by assigning one meaning to each major word and by holding to that meaning as far as the context permits. At times this has imposed a restriction upon word choice, but it aids in cross-reference work and in comparing related texts.

In rendering the sense and feel of the action and state of Hebrew verbs into English, it is not always possible to preserve the brevity due to a lack of corresponding colour in English verb forms. Hence, auxiliary words that lengthen the expression are at times required to bring out the vividness, mental imagery and dramatic action of the verbs, as well as the point of view and the concept of time expressed by the Bible writers. In general the same is true of the Greek verbs. Thus, imperfect verbs have been kept in the imperfect state denoting progressive action. Participles have been rendered as participles involving continuous action.

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Preceding articles:

Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #1 Pre King James Bible

Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #2 King James Bible versions

Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #3 Women and versions

Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #4 Steps to the women’s bibles

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Additional reading

1. Codex Sinaiticus available for perusal on the Web
2. Bible Translating and Concordance Making
3. Looking at notes of Samuel Ward and previous Bible translation efforts in English
4. Written and translated by different men over thousands of years
5. Rare original King James Bible discovered
6. King James Bible Coming into being
7. Celebrating the Bible in English
8. TheBible4Life KJV Jubileum
9. What English Bible do you use?
10. The Most Reliable English Bible
11. 2001 Translation an American English Bible
12. NWT and what other scholars have to say to its critics
13. New American Bible Revised Edition
14. The NIV and the Name of God
15. Archeological Findings the name of God YHWHUse of /Gebruik van Jehovah or/of Yahweh in Bible Translations/Bijbel vertalingen
16. Dedication and Preaching Effort 400 years after the first King James Version
17. Hebrew, Aramaic and Bibletranslation
18. Some Restored Name Versions
19. Anchor Yale Bible
20. iPod & Android Bibles
21. Missed opportunity for North Korea
22. What are Brothers in Christ
23. Wanting to know more about basic teachings of Christadelphianism
24. Around C.T.Russell
25. A visible organisation on earth
26. Grave, tomb, sepulchre – graf, begraafplaats, rustplaats, sepulcrum
27. Jesus three days in hell
28. Dead and after
29. Sheol or the grave
30. This month’s survey question: Heaven and Hell
31. Interpreting the Scriptures (Part 5)
32. Leaving the Old World to find better pastures (1)
33. Leaving the Old World to find better pastures (2)
34. Approachers of ideas around gods, philosophers and theologians
35. To remove the whitewash of the Jehovah Witnesses as being the only true Bible Students and Bible Researchers
36. Archaeology and the Bible researcher 2/4

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Further reading

1. The Bible
2. Where was the Bible before 1611? How can we know God endorsed the KJV?
3. Earliest Known Draft of 1611 King James Bible Is Found
4. KJV Onlyism: What It Does And Doesn’t Mean
5. What’s wrong with the New King James?
6. Is it true no doctrines are changed in modern versions?
7. The King James AV 1611 Bible vs. The New International Version
8. King James version (1)
9. King James Version 2
10. I got saved reading the NIV. How can you say it’s no good?
11. Christian Scholars Admit To Corrupting The Bible
12. Why should God’s Word be restricted to English?
13. Some Notes on Bible Translations
14. Which Bible Translation?
15. Is Christianity a paradox?
16. Migration in a context of colonisation
17. The sorrow and burden of it all
18. A Belgian refugee in Maidenhead finds work
19. When the boys come home…
20. Do not be dissuaded by so paltry a matter as a change of time
21. “I often wonder why I joined up”
22. Dedicating the Powner Hall
23. A dinner treat for the Congregational men
24. Church Hill
25. That We May All Be One: World Communion Sunday, 2015
26. History, Empathy, and Race in America
27. Empathy, racial reconciliation, and the study of history
28. “The End of White Christian America”
29. The calling we have in culture
30. A. W. Tozer and the Historic Trinity
31. Tozer’s Critique of Evangelical Christians
32. Corporate Evangelicalism – Where did it come from?
33. Defining Evangelicalism
34. Decline and Fall
35. Fundamentalism Will Kill You
36. Progressive Evangelicals: Who We Are And What We Believe
37. How Evangelicals are Losing an Entire Generation – by Amy Gannett
38. On celebrating diversity within the church
39. Evangelicalism is no longer growing–why?
40. The Scofield Bible—The Book That Made Zionists of America’s Evangelical Christians
41. Becoming a Liberal Christian Part I: High Church and Militant Evangelicalism
42. Reformed Baptists and the Purity of the Church
43. The Westminster Factor
44. Of Polls, Presbyterians, and Seventh-Day Adventists
45. Understanding the Presbyterian Model (Reformed the web)
46. Understanding the Presbyterian Model (Chanty notes)
47. “Episcopals Now Second Class Christians”: Anglicans Demote Episcopalians As Global Christianity Gets More Polarized
48. Am I a Presbyterian?
49. Daniel’s 70-Week Vision Series #18 – Part 94 of Riddles, Enigmas & Esoteric Imagery of Revelation
50. At the resurrection who is left behind?
51. A Thousand Years
52. News brings great joy
53. Confirmation
54. Bible Wars
55. How Trustworthy Are Bible Translations?
56. How I Know The King James Bible is the Word of God
57. King James Only–Refuted part 2
58. King James Only–Refuted (part 3)
59. Ways in which Fundamentalists are discriminated against
60. Between Christians
61. Repentance From Dead Works: 3 – Don’t Forget Good Works Are Dead Works
62. Communion – the most terrifying sacrament in the IFB church
63. Spirit of our times.
64. King James XX
65. I believe the King James Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice.  
66. Is Modern Really Better?
67. How some preachers trick you when defining Greek words!
68. What’s wrong with the New King James?
69. Is it true no doctrines are changed in modern versions?
70. I got saved reading the NIV. How can you say it’s no good?
71. Why should God’s Word be restricted to English?
72. Transilvania în 1865, prin ochii lui Edward Millard – blogul unui duh întarâtat

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Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #4 Steps to the women’s bibles

Not having enough background of the Jewish Koine Greek, or Jewish Hellenistic Greek, the variety of Koine Greek (hē koinē dialektos ‘the common language’) or “common Attic”  found in a number of Alexandrian dialect texts of Hellenistic Judaism, most notably the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible which at the time of the King James Bible‘s first edition was not yet available, as well as Greek Jewish texts from Palestine. This made that lots of words for previous Bible translations and the Authorised Version, where not yet understood properly and of some words they thought it were persons (names) instead of things (nouns) and situations.

Important historical sites of Hellenistic and medieval Judaism. – Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Words and word elements were adopted and adapted into Latin over c.1,500 years, and passed through Latin into many European and other languages, being used in the main for scholarly and technical purposes. The flow into English was at first very limited and largely religious, such as Old English cirice and its descendant church (from kūriakón dôma the Lord’s house).

Katharina von Bora (1499–1552) one of the most important participants of the Reformation because of her role in helping to define Protestant family life and setting the tone for clergy marriages.

At the beginning this knowledge of languages was a man’s job, but from the 19th century women began to have their say as well. Lots of Christians have the wrong idea that women in the ancient times had nothing to say. Many also think that in Christianity women played no role at all. they should know that the Set Apart or Holy Scriptures  acknowledges and celebrates the priceless value of a virtuous woman (Proverbs 12:4; 31:10; 1 Corinthians 11:7).

Whilst by the Jews there where not so many women teachers or rabbi’s, from the beginning the master teacher Jeshua had a big heart for them and had many women around him, following him everywhere they could and talking about his actions. The Bible teaches women are not only equals with men (Galatians 3:28), but are also set apart for special honour (1 Peter 3:7). Jeshua also knew how in the past the the priceless value of a virtuous woman was celebrated and insisted those around him to respect the woman also. (Proverbs 12:4; 31:10; 1 Corinthians 11:7).  Not only did the master teacher encourage their discipleship by portraying it as something more needful than domestic service and always treated women with the utmost dignity — even women who might otherwise be regarded as outcasts (Matthew 9:20-22; Luke 7:37-50; John 4:7-27).

“1  After this, Jesus travelled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.” (Luke 8:1-3 NIV)

“38  As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”” (Luke 10:38-42 NIV)

Clearly the listening to Jesus’ teaching was for the rabbi important, because he would not be long with them. for him it was also important that they would know what they had to talk about when he would be gone, because they had to go out into the world and witness about what he had done, and for telling others about the coming Kingdom of God. All those who wanted to be called a disciple or follower of Christ had to witness for him.

“You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.” (Acts 22:15 NIV)

Already from the start women where there with Jesus.  Christ’s first recorded, explicit disclosure of His own identity as the true Messiah was made to a Samaritan woman (John 4:25-26). When he was gone there were also women present in the room when the Spirit came over the apostles.  From then onwards they too were not afraid any more to come out with their beliefs. Soon they too took also their role in the preaching and some of them even became renowned.

“In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor.” (Acts 9:36 NIV)

Often it were women who opened up their house for followers of Christ coming together and to lead the meetings.

“When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.” (Acts 12:12 NIV)

Also when things where not so clear for some they dared to call them with them and explain it so they could better understand the truth. Also women who talked about Jesus but did not know everything well, were helped by the apostles so that they could do a better job.

“13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptised, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.” (Acts 16:13-15 NIV)

Throughout history there have always been faithful women spreading the Word of God.

It might well be that the energetic monk and young theologian Martin Luther, who felt himself to be “a sinner with an unquiet conscience,” was stimulated by the former Benedictine and Cistercian nun Katharina von Bora, who had fled her convent with several other nuns or ‘vestal virgins’, to Wittenberg, and who became, at the age of 26,  his  wife in 1525 (him being 41) and became known as “die Lutherin”.  She became the “boss of Zulsdorf,” after the name of the farm they owned, and the “morning star of Wittenberg” for her habit of rising at 4 a.m. to take care of her various responsibilities, administering and managing the vast holdings of the monastery, breeding and selling cattle, and running a brewery in order to provide for their family and the steady stream of students who boarded with them and visitors seeking audiences with her husband. It can well be that her being at the site of the prosecuted Luther, made him to continue his translation work of the Bible and not giving up his ideas.

In the two following centuries it were women who often took care that the children got to hear the Word of God at home, whilst they were able to hide this sacred book for the persecutors. Those who fled from the European continent to look for a New World also carried with them the Holy Bible in their language or in Latin.

In the 17th century religious groups found their way to the New World and at certain places founded their own colonies so that they could perfectly practice their own faith. Religious liberty for others — a concept Americans would later take for granted — was not part of the Puritans‘ plan. Instead, founding Governor John Winthrop envisioned a model “Citty [sic] upon a hill,” an example of Christian unity and order. Not incidentally, women were expected to play a submissive and supporting role in this society.

Anne Hutchinson, née Anne Marbury

At the Massachusetts Bay Colony a skilled midwife and herbal healer with her own interpretation of Puritan doctrine, challenged the leaders of this “wilderness theocracy,” as Barbara Ritter Dailey describes it.
Anne Hutchinson  [Anne Marbury Hutchinson (1591-1643)] eldest daughter of a strong-willed Anglican priest who had been imprisoned and removed from office because of his demand for a better-educated clergy, had probably inherited the strong will of her father, taking with her a legacy of biblical scholarship and religious independence.

When the Anglican Church silenced one of her favourite teachers, John Cotton, one of England’s outstanding Puritan ministers, one of New England’s first generation, leader in civil and religious affairs, and a persuasive writer on the theory and practice of Congregationalism, left for the colony of Massachusetts in America, Hutchinson became extremely distraught. She finally persuaded her husband to leave for America, so that she could follow her religious mentor.

William Hutchinson was granted a desirable house lot in Boston, and both husband and wife quickly became church members.
When she was criticized for failing to attend weekly prayer meetings in the homes of parishioners, she responded by holding meetings in her own home. She began by reiterating and explaining the sermons of John Cotton but later added some of her own interpretations, a practice that was to be her undoing. As her meetings became more popular, Hutchinson drew some of Boston’s most influential citizens to her home. Many of these were town merchants and artisans who had been severely criticized for profiteering in prices and wages; they saw in Hutchinson’s stress on grace a greater freedom regarding morality and therefore more certainty of their own salvation. But others came in search of a more meaningful and personal relationship with their God. As she attracted followers and defenders, the orthodox Puritans organized to oppose her doctrines and her advocates.

Cotton was chiefly responsible for the exile of Anne Hutchinson, because of her antinomian doctrines, and for the expulsion of Roger Williams.They continued to preach and used their own words. Quoting from the Bible in a non literal way became common practice and would be later taken up in presenting fragments or stories from the Bible. This free telling of Bible stories was also taken up in other languages and was breeding ground for children’s Bibles and freely quoted or paraphrased Bible translations.

The Ritual Dance of the Shakers, Shaker Historical Society

The priests and male clerics mostly kept the bible in their hand and sometimes read some phrases out of it. They still were in the majority, though some ladies walked to the forefront and got followers. It had not all to be literate women who took charge.
An unlettered daughter of a blacksmith who was probably named Lees joined at the age of 22 joined the faith group Shaking Quakers, or Shakers, because of the shaking and dancing that characterized their worship (It originally derived from a small branch of English Quakers founded by Jane and James Wardley in 1747). Ann Lee married in 1762, a union that tradition holds was unhappy and may have influenced her later doctrinal insistence on celibacy. She became the group their accepted leader and was known as Ann the Word or Mother Ann. Although illiterate, she claimed the gift of tongues and the ability to discern spirits and work miracles. She was also convinced of the holiness of celibacy, an idea stemming from her own experience of losing four children at or soon after their birth. In 1774 she led a band of eight to America, where, two years later, at Watervliet, N.Y., the first Shaker settlement in America was founded. The Shaker communities flourished in the mid-19th century and contributed a distinctive style of architecture, furniture, and handicraft to American culture. The communities declined in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The two American converts who followed Mother Ann as Lead Elder — Joseph Meacham (1787–1796) and Lucy Wright (1796–1821) — developed an institutional structure for less antagonistic relations with society.

At that time, a woman’s leadership of a religious group was considered to be a ‘sect leader’ and as a radical departure from Protestant Christianity. Living apart from her husband Elizur Goodrich, she like him committed herself fully to Shakerism and within a decade rose to leadership within the Shakers movement, with the power and authority which women were not allowed in other religions.

Wright was fully aware of our task of witnessing and sent missionaries to preach across New England and upstate New York as well as into the western wilderness, where those preachers recruited proselytes and established new Shaker villages in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana.
Under Wright’s administration, Shakers standardized and increased book and tract publishing for the widely-scattered religious society. Their first statement of beliefs was Testimony of Christ’s Second Appearing in 1810, followed by a hymnal which served much the same purpose in 1813. This way the bible-fragments were brought to the general public in ordinary simple words.

In the early nineteenth century the movement expanded into Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. By the mid-1820s about 4,000 believers lived in sixteen communal villages, usually with residential “Great Houses” surrounded by meetinghouses, barns, mills, workshops, and smaller residences for children and probationary members. A hierarchy of elders and eldresses who had completely abandoned the sinful world were in charge.

Charles Grandison Finney (1792–1875) American Presbyterian minister and leader in the Second Great Awakening in the United States.

In the New World several Female Missionary Societies saw the light and invited men as well as women to proclaim the Word of God.  The Female Missionary Society of the Western District hired in this way Charles Grandison Finney who came to promote social reforms, such as abolition of slavery and equal education for women and African Americans. From 1835 he taught at Oberlin College of Ohio, which accepted all genders and races, opening the way for more women able to read the Bible.

The Christians who believed only in One God and wanted others also to know the biblical truth, saw with dismay how Finney used scare tactics to gain converts.

Across the board, many thought that his habitual use of the words you and hell “let down the dignity of the pulpit.” {Charles Finney Father of American revivalism}

During the 16th and 17th century Anabaptists were heavily prosecuted in Europe because of their view of Jesus his position and man’s position in this world. By the many searchers for the truth lots of them found they could not take on the human doctrines like the Trinity and found that people had to be fully aware of what believing meant and when to commit themselves to the Only One God. From the Low countries many went to America. On the boat-trip they had a very good opportunity to speak about the biblical truth to others form different denominations. also the English doctor John Thomas who as ship’s surgeon on the Marquis of Wellesley, took the occasion to share his ideas with many people on board. When this boat docked in New York, Thomas travelled on to Cincinnati, Ohio where he became convinced by the Restoration Movement (also known as the or the Stone-Campbell Movement) of the need for baptism and joined them in October 1832. Looking for the “church within” we can imagine that people tried also to express themselves freely to show others how they understood the Word of God.

The Restoration Movement developed from several independent strands of religious revival that idealized apostolic Christianity. They were united in the belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. After his bad experience fearing for his life when the boat had nearly sunk, Thomas took his vow to God seriously and went going from one place to another, preaching the Word of God. Many of his followers came to “the Brotherhood”, and started to have meetings in their houses or barns to study the Word of God. For them it was clear that human doctrines and church creeds divide and that real Christians should be under Christ. for them God’s Word was clearly given to all people and the Bible was not to be the matter only for clergy. For them all Christians should take the Bible as their guide and leader and should suppress all divisive doctrines and practices.

One of Thomas his disciples would find enough people interested to print pamphlets and tracts. He also started as a Christian restorationist minister and became better known as Pastor Russell, being the instigator of Russellism or founder of the Russellites, opposite the Thomasites or followers of Dr. Thomas who founded the Christadelphians, Brothers in Christ who took studying the bible as one of their priorities (hence the other name Bible Students).

Dr Thomas also wrote for and was editor of the Apostolic Advocate which first appeared in May 1834, whilst Charles Taze Russell started only in July 1879 with publishing his monthly religious journal, Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence. In 1881 he co-founded Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society with William Henry Conley as president, providing the establishment of an international Bible Student movement. In 1884 the corporation was officially registered, with Russell as president. From then onwards those Bible Students tried to bring Bible fragments in the common language of the day. For them women had also their say and were worthy co-operators to produce articles and to bring bible texts in contemporary American English.

It was his successor as society president, Joseph Rutherford who brought a wide division in the Bible student movement and created the Jehovah’s Witnesses who would work at translating the Word of God, doing a marvellous job, presenting bibles in many languages all over the world, so that nobody would have an excuse he or she could not find a Bible in a language he or she understands.

Mary Jane Patterson (1840–1894)

In 1862 Mary Jane Patterson became the first African-American woman to receive a B.A degree in the New World. She received a recommendation for an “appointment from the American missionary Association as a … teacher among freedmen.” In 1865 Patterson became an assistant to Fanny Jackson Coppin at the Philadelphia’s Institute for Colored Youth (now Cheyney University of Pennsylvania). In 1869 to 1871 Patterson taught in Washington, D. C., at the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth known today as Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.). She served as the school’s first Black principal, from 1871 to 1872. She was reappointed from 1873 to 1884. During her administration, the school grew from less than 50 to 172 students, the name “Preparatory High School” was dropped, high school commencements were initiated, and a teacher-training department was added to the school. Patterson’s commitment to thoroughness as well as her “forceful” and “vivacious” personality helped her establish the school’s strong intellectual standards.
We can imagine by those standards being a Christian life style and good moral where essence.

Already around the turn of the 18th to 19th century women had started wanting to have a stronger voice in the education of children. Also parents started looking more at how to bring up children together in a community. They had seen the public school system starting to develop going away from certain ways of life preferred by them. The spiritual aspect was important and could not be forgotten. Discontented with the new public school system more alternative education developed in part as a reaction to perceived limitations and failings of traditional education. In many of such schools at that time the Bible and Christian life formed an important element of educational basic training. A broad range of educational approaches emerged, including alternative schools, self learning, homeschooling and unschooling.

Benjamin Wilson (1817–1900)

In 1840 the English family Wilson though originally Baptists, joined the growing Campbellite movement and moved to the New World four years later. In Geneva, Illinois the family began to distance themselves from the Campbellites. In 1846 Benjamin Wilson wrote his first letter to the other ex-Campbellite John Thomas, as recorded in the latter’s magazine The Herald of the Future Age, agreeing with the Thomas’ views on the immortal soul – the initial cause of his break with Campbell. There is considerable correspondence in Thomas’ magazines from various members of the Wilson family over the next several years.

Just as John Thomas had been re-baptised in 1847, Benjamin Wilson was rebaptised in 1851, marking off a new start from the Campbellites.

The first page of the Complutensian Polyglot

From 1855 to 1869 Benjamin Wilson published a monthly religious magazine, the Gospel Banner, which merged with John Thomas’s magazine, Herald of the Coming Kingdom.

In 1857 the autodidact Biblical scholar Benjamin Wilson presented a first section of a side-by-side two-language New Testament version like the New Testament in Greek and Latin, had been completed in 1514 with the Complutensian printed by Axnaldus Guilielmus de Brocario at the expense of Cardinal Ximenes at the university at Alcalá de Henares (Complutum) and the Antwerp Polyglot, printed by Christopher Plantin (1569-1572, in eight volumes folio). Polyglot means, literally poly or multi tongue or multi lingual, “through tongue” or “many / several languages” and is understood to signify “interlinear.”

In England there had also been a polyglot translation by Brian Walton who was aided by able scholars and used much new manuscript material (London, 1657). It included the Ethiopic Psalter, Canticle of Canticles, and New Testament, the Arabic New Testament, and the Gospels in Persian. His prolegomena and collections of various readings mark an important advance in biblical criticism.

It was in connection with this polyglot that Edmund Castell produced his famous Heptaglott Lexicon (two volumes folio, London, 1669), a monument of industry and erudition even when allowance is made for the fact that for the Arabic he had the great manuscript lexicon compiled and left to the University of Cambridge by William Bedwell. {Free Encyclopedia Wikipedia}

The Bible was also published in several languages by Elias Hutter (Nuremberg, 1599-1602), and by Christianus Reineccius (Leipsic, 1713-51). Ten years before the “Polyglot Bible in eight languages” (2 vols., London, 2nd ed. 1874) the Christadelphians produced the complete two-language Emphatic Diaglott translation, of the New Testament by Benjamin Wilson. For the Greek text he based it on the various Readings of the Vatican Manuscript, No. 1209; the text used by the German rationalist Protestant theologian Johann Jakob Griesbach, who was the earliest biblical critic to subject the Gospels to systematic literary analysis. In this translation the name of God is also restored, so that readers could clearly see about whom was spoke and who said something, the lord Jeshua (Jesus Christ) or the Lord of lords”Jehovah“.

In this Interlineary literal Word for Word English translation ‘Signs of Emphasis’ were given; whilst under each Greek word the English equivalent is printed. In the slim right-hand column of each page is presented a modern English translation as made by Benjamin Wilson. Also a copious selection of ‘References’; many appropriate, illustrative, and exegetical ‘Foot-notes’; and a valuable ‘Alphabetical Appendix’ are given. This combination of important items could not be found in any other book at that time.

Such literal translations made many bible Students to see much things more clearly. Also Charles T. Russell, learned that the inspired Greek Scriptures speak of the second “presence” of Christ, for the Diaglott translated the Greek word “parousía” correctly as “presence,” and not as “coming” like the King James Version Bible. Accordingly when C. T. Russell began publishing his new Bible magazine in July of 1879, he called it Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.

The Christadelphians allowed also the Millenial Dawn Bible Students (later the Watchtower Society) to distribute Wilson’s work widely around the world from 1902. Also the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith and the Church of the Blessed Hope which he founded are still part of the Christadelphian movement which still print this Bible translation.

Bible students form the Zion’s Watchtower suggested that,

Every student of God’s plan, as presented in the Tower, ought to have the aid which the Diaglott affords.

As such this translation became a useful attribute for the later standard Bible of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, The New World Translation.

In 2004, the Abrahamic Faith Beacon Publishing Society brought home The Emphatic Diaglott and re-published a new version of it, working in partnership with The Christadelphian Advancement Trust.

In the homeschooling opposite to traditional Christian schools it were mostly women who took up the job as teacher. Having only bibles in Old English they wanted books in a more contemporary language and put pressure on the existing clergy. From the congregations also came a louder cry to provide them with modern language bibles.

King James Version of the Bible (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Answering that cry from the housewives and teachers in 1870 an invitation was extended to American religious leaders for scholars to work on the revision of the Authorized Version/King James Bible of 1611. In 1871, thirty scholars were chosen by Philip Schaff. The denominations represented on the American committee were the Baptist, Congregationalist, Dutch Reformed, Friends, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Protestant Episcopal, and Unitarian.

In England also there was a request to have a revision and by the Convocation of Canterbury in 1870 two companies were formed, one each for the Old and New Testaments to revise the King James Version. Parallel companies in the United States received the work of the English scholars to return their comments. For those at work it was made clear only a revision and not a new translation was contemplated.

The New Testament was published in England on May 17, 1881, and three days later in the United States, after 11 years of labour. Over 30,000 changes were made, of which more than 5,000 represent differences in the Greek text from that used as the basis of the King James Version. Most of the others were made in the interests of consistency or modernization.

In the traditional churches there was not much interest in the Old Testament, this not fitting in with the accent of their teaching on Jesus, instead of God.

On certain points the English and Americans did not agree. At that time the Americans still gave in to the British revisers and published preferred readings and renderings in an appendix to the Revised Version. In 1900 the American edition of the New Testament, which incorporated the American scholars’ preferences into the body of the text, was produced. A year later the Old Testament was added, but not the Apocrypha. The alterations covered a large number of obsolete words and expressions and replaced Anglicisms by the diction then in vogue in the United States.

As shown above women and the general American public made use to talk about the Bible and to use it at home. The publishers could not ignore their wishes and provided them with some official version which could offer an alternative for the partly published Bible books and for the unofficial translations into modern speech made from 1885 which had gained popularity. Their appeal reinforced by the discovery that the Greek of the New Testament used the common non-literary variety of the language spoken throughout the Roman Empire when Christianity was in its formative stage.

The notion that a nonliterary modern rendering of the New Testament best expressed the form and spirit of the original was hard to refute. This, plus a new maturity of classical, Hebraic, and theological scholarship in the United States, led to a desire to produce a native American version of the English Bible. {Encyclopaedia Britannica}

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Preceding articles:

Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #1 Pre King James Bible

Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #2 King James Bible versions

Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #3 Women and versions

Next: Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #5 Further steps to women’s bibles

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Additional reading

1. Codex Sinaiticus available for perusal on the Web
2. Bible Translating and Concordance Making
3. Looking at notes of Samuel Ward and previous Bible translation efforts in English
4. Written and translated by different men over thousands of years
5. Rare original King James Bible discovered
6. King James Bible Coming into being
7. Celebrating the Bible in English
8. TheBible4Life KJV Jubileum
9. What English Bible do you use?
10. The Most Reliable English Bible
11. 2001 Translation an American English Bible
12. NWT and what other scholars have to say to its critics
13. New American Bible Revised Edition
14. The NIV and the Name of God
15. Archeological Findings the name of God YHWHUse of /Gebruik van Jehovah or/of Yahweh in Bible Translations/Bijbel vertalingen
16. Dedication and Preaching Effort 400 years after the first King James Version
17. Hebrew, Aramaic and Bibletranslation
18. Some Restored Name Versions
19. Anchor Yale Bible
20. iPod & Android Bibles
21. Missed opportunity for North Korea
22. What are Brothers in Christ
23. Wanting to know more about basic teachings of Christadelphianism
24. Around C.T.Russell

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Further reading

1. Jennifer Strauss, ‘The Anabaptist Cages, Münster’
2. The Bible: Kept Pure in All Ages
3. Where was the Bible before 1611? How can we know God endorsed the KJV?
4. AV1611: England’s Greatest Achievement
5. Earliest Known Draft of 1611 King James Bible Is Found
6. Ye King Iames Bible
7. King James Version
8. Thees, Thous, and Wot Nots
9. The King James Bible
10. The King James Bible and the Restoration
11. King James Only? (Ethernal Christ)
12. KJV Only? (Lynn Thaler)
13. KJV Onlyism: What It Does And Doesn’t Mean
14. King James XV
15. Christian Scholars Admit To Corrupting The Bible
16. What’s wrong with the New King James?
17. Is it true no doctrines are changed in modern versions?
18. The King James AV 1611 Bible vs. The New International Version
19. I got saved reading the NIV. How can you say it’s no good?
20. Why should God’s Word be restricted to English?
21. The Attack on the Bible
22. John 3:16 isn’t the gospel that saves men’s souls today
23. New Age Deism
24. New Age Deism: Part Two
25. Inside Orthodox Judaism: A Critical Perspective On Its Theology
26. Mailbox Monday August 29: on Katharina von Bora
27. 11th April 1612. Dangerous Heresy.
28. Book Review: The Reformers and Their Stepchildren by Leonard Verduin
29. women.born.before | 05 feb 1760
30. Settler Colonialism and the Freedom of Religion
31. Searching for Religious Freedom
32. Freedom From and For Religion
33. This Week in History – Kicked to the Curb by a Pilgrim
34. King Survey: Women and Other Puritans
35. The Puritans: Church and State
36. Midweek Blog: Anne Hutchinson, the “Unnatural Woman”
37. Paddling the Hutch: Ned P. Rauch takes the plunge
38. Great Information Wrapped Inside This Human Struggle
39. The Puritan identification with the Bible
40. Despite Roger Williams’ Efforts, Providence Burns in 1676
41. Williams
42. Roger Williams in Art
43. Mass Moments: Roger Williams Banished
44. Research Reading IV
45. Research Reading V
46. History Weekend: The Shakers, pt. 1
47. Quakers
48. Commonwealth – Part Two
49. A Catalogue of Severall Sects & Opinions
50. History of the Anabaptist Head Covering
51. Faith in the Head Covering
52. Persecuted in Revolutionary Baltimore: The Sufferings of Quakers
53. Half an hour in James Watt’s Workshop
54. The Advices & Queries project
55. The Violent Seduction of Thomas Paine by Rocket Kirchner
56. The Last Runaway Review
57. Stantons in America
58. Eber Sherman, ,7th Great-Grandfather
59. Birmingham Quakers and the Spanish Civil War
60. Hidden Nearby: Charles Grandison Finney’s Birthplace
61. Free Charles Finney Book!
62. The reward of fervent prayer, Charle G. Finney
63. Midweek Blog: Charles Finney, Staring at You Until You Join His Revival
64. “Could God Forgive A Man Like That?”
65. Joseph Logan land, 127 acres, Ninety Six District, South Carolina, 1785
66. Alexander Campbell & the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
67. Restoration
68. The Restoration Movement, Acapella & the Trinity
69. The Future of the Restoration Movement, Part 2
70. Charles Taze Russell – “Don’t read your Bible”
71. Apocalyptic Forecasts
72. Women’s History: Mary Jane Patterson
73. Some Notes on Bible Translations
74. What is Wrong with Evangelicals in America?
75. For Us or Against Us: The Politics of the Christian Right & the Shutdown
76. Icon: Tacy Cooper
77. The Secret of Powerful Revivals Are the Intercessors Praying Behind the Scenes
78. Les origines de nos traditions dans l’Eglise : Partie 1
79. Edifying Christian Biographies That Will Bless Every True Christian!
80. A Visit to Pembroke College
81. Hospitality
82. ‘Tis a Gift
83. A weekend away
84. Simple gifts
85. Becoming Visible: Quaker Outreach at Colleges
86. Turbulent Londoners: Ada Salter, 1866-1942
87. A Spicy Letter to Preachers
88. On Church Leadership (an email exchange with Sándor Abonyi of Hungary) – Pt.1: “The First Button”
89. My way is the best
90. ELCA Repudiates the Doctrine of Discovery, Next Up: Mennonite Church USA
91. A glimpse of Missouri’s Amish
92. Freedom of religion
93. Book Review – Recovering the Margins of American Religious History: The Legacy of David Edwin Harrell, Jr. (Waldrop and Billingsley, eds.)
94. Book Review: The Churches of Christ in the 20th Century: Homer Hailey’s Personal Journey of Faith (David Edwin Harrell, Jr.)
95. Churches of Christ – The Road Ahead
96. Some Notes on Bible Translations

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Related articles

• Facts and History of the Bible, Know ‘yer Bible – Mormon a Go Go
• Back in print: Tyndale Bible
• The Middle West hiding in the Middle East – Beyond Foreignness
• Bible Statistics
• How much ‘overexaggeration’ is enough?
• Ancient Jewish scroll now legible
• Thoughts On Classical Education from Martin Cothran – The Reading Mother
• Looking at notes of Samuel Ward and previous Bible translation efforts in English
• Written and translated by different men over thousands of years
• The Bible a book of books

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