The so-called Living Bible which includes the Living New Testament (also called Reach Out and The Greatest Is Love) is paraphrased by Kenneth Taylor and widely distributed by the World Home Bible League. H you happen to have a copy, I urge you to compare the following references with the King James version. Don’t buy a copy, because it isn’t going to measure up to your expectations if you are accustomed to a version which uses dignified and doctrinal language. Borrow a copy of the paraphrased edition, and compare the following references:
Genesis 4:1; Genesis 6:1–4; Genesis 25:25; Genesis 38:9; I Samuel 20:30; I Kings 18:37; I John 5:4; Romans 8:28–29; Romans 9:13
The language used in the paraphrased edition is sometimes offensive and immodest. I don’t care to quote the exact words used. If you look up the above references you will find ample proof, and, I dare say, you will be shocked.
In Hebrews 11 we read these beautiful words in the King James version: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In contrast, the paraphrased edition says: “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hoped for is waiting for us even though we cannot see it up ahead.”
Also in Acts 13:48 we find a wide difference in the King James version from that of the paraphrased version. In the King James we read: “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” Notice how the doctrine of predestination is ignored in the last part of this verse when the paraphrased edition says, “and as many as wanted eternal life believed.”
In Romans 8:29 the King James version states: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” The paraphrased edition states: “For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him and all along he knew who would—should become like his Son, so that his Son would be First, with many brothers.” Predestination is omitted.
One more quotation from the King James version, Ephesians 2:1: “And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins” shows that regeneration is necessary before a sinner can believe. In the paraphrased edition this is ignored when we read, “Once you were under God’s curse, doomed forever for your sins.”
I have given only a few references. Many more can be found and compared. Do investigate for yourself.
I am convinced that the Living Bible, Reach Out, and The Greatest Is Love should not be used in our homes, schools, and churches. There is a deliberate attempt to distort the Word of God in these modern paraphrased versions. The New Testament paraphrased editions are definitely Arminian as evidenced by the introductory comments and other comments that you will find in these versions.
I was shocked to learn that many of our churches are working along with Project Phillip and distributing The Greatest Is Love to Bibleless homes. Why not distribute the King James version? In the pamphlet entitled “Love” the word “love” is used 32 times and at least five of the text’s quoted give the wrong interpretation. No mention is made of God’s righteousness and justice. In Romans 9:13 we clearly read in the King James version that God does not love the unrighteous (Esau), and in verse 16, that man cannot “will” his own salvation.
Mothers and teachers, perhaps you are asking: “Are these translations or paraphrases so bad? Can’t we accept them as everyday language usage?” Please read all the references I have listed and then ask yourself these questions:
1. Do I want my children or students to read what is a perversion of the best translation of God’s Word?
2. Isn’t God’s Word too sacred to treat it as an ordinary book?
3. Do we depend on the paraphrased edition, or on the Holy Spirit to lead us into the truth as revealed in the best possible translation?
4. Do we realize that as mothers and teachers we are molding the lives of children and students entrusted to our care? (They perhaps are too young to discern, and must be guided and taught that God’s Word is holy, and that the language used must be dignified and God-honoring.)
5. Aren’t we insulting the intelligence of our children and students when we assume that they cannot understand the language used in the King James version? (I am reminded of a college student who approved of using “you” and “your” in addressing God, but did not think it proper to have the pronouns, “ye,” “thee,” “thou,” and “thine” changed in Shakespeare’s plays, because he said, “Then it would lose its beauty!”)
6. Would you like to have the metrical version of our Psalms, as they appears in the Psalter Hymnal, changed so that “you” and “your” ‘is used instead of “ye,” “thee,” “thou” and “thine”?
7. Isn’t God’s Word more beautiful and meaningful than Shakespeare’s plays?
8. Don’t we want to honor Him when we read His revelation to us, by using the best available translation when doing mission work and instructing our children?
Sophia Arens of Holland, Michigan, is a retired Christian school teacher.
Genesis 4:1; Genesis 6:1–4; Genesis 25:25; Genesis 38:9; I Samuel 20:30; I Kings 18:37; I John 5:4; Romans 8:28–29; Romans 9:13
The language used in the paraphrased edition is sometimes offensive and immodest. I don’t care to quote the exact words used. If you look up the above references you will find ample proof, and, I dare say, you will be shocked.
In Hebrews 11 we read these beautiful words in the King James version: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In contrast, the paraphrased edition says: “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hoped for is waiting for us even though we cannot see it up ahead.”
Also in Acts 13:48 we find a wide difference in the King James version from that of the paraphrased version. In the King James we read: “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” Notice how the doctrine of predestination is ignored in the last part of this verse when the paraphrased edition says, “and as many as wanted eternal life believed.”
In Romans 8:29 the King James version states: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” The paraphrased edition states: “For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him and all along he knew who would—should become like his Son, so that his Son would be First, with many brothers.” Predestination is omitted.
One more quotation from the King James version, Ephesians 2:1: “And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins” shows that regeneration is necessary before a sinner can believe. In the paraphrased edition this is ignored when we read, “Once you were under God’s curse, doomed forever for your sins.”
I have given only a few references. Many more can be found and compared. Do investigate for yourself.
I am convinced that the Living Bible, Reach Out, and The Greatest Is Love should not be used in our homes, schools, and churches. There is a deliberate attempt to distort the Word of God in these modern paraphrased versions. The New Testament paraphrased editions are definitely Arminian as evidenced by the introductory comments and other comments that you will find in these versions.
I was shocked to learn that many of our churches are working along with Project Phillip and distributing The Greatest Is Love to Bibleless homes. Why not distribute the King James version? In the pamphlet entitled “Love” the word “love” is used 32 times and at least five of the text’s quoted give the wrong interpretation. No mention is made of God’s righteousness and justice. In Romans 9:13 we clearly read in the King James version that God does not love the unrighteous (Esau), and in verse 16, that man cannot “will” his own salvation.
Mothers and teachers, perhaps you are asking: “Are these translations or paraphrases so bad? Can’t we accept them as everyday language usage?” Please read all the references I have listed and then ask yourself these questions:
1. Do I want my children or students to read what is a perversion of the best translation of God’s Word?
2. Isn’t God’s Word too sacred to treat it as an ordinary book?
3. Do we depend on the paraphrased edition, or on the Holy Spirit to lead us into the truth as revealed in the best possible translation?
4. Do we realize that as mothers and teachers we are molding the lives of children and students entrusted to our care? (They perhaps are too young to discern, and must be guided and taught that God’s Word is holy, and that the language used must be dignified and God-honoring.)
5. Aren’t we insulting the intelligence of our children and students when we assume that they cannot understand the language used in the King James version? (I am reminded of a college student who approved of using “you” and “your” in addressing God, but did not think it proper to have the pronouns, “ye,” “thee,” “thou,” and “thine” changed in Shakespeare’s plays, because he said, “Then it would lose its beauty!”)
6. Would you like to have the metrical version of our Psalms, as they appears in the Psalter Hymnal, changed so that “you” and “your” ‘is used instead of “ye,” “thee,” “thou” and “thine”?
7. Isn’t God’s Word more beautiful and meaningful than Shakespeare’s plays?
8. Don’t we want to honor Him when we read His revelation to us, by using the best available translation when doing mission work and instructing our children?
Sophia Arens of Holland, Michigan, is a retired Christian school teacher.