Spiritual Mathematics

by Pastor Richard Church

Rev 22:18,19 (KJV) For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

This stern warning appears in the closing verses of God's word. It turns out that it is the fourth such warning given about the Holy Scriptures. Twice in the beginning of the Bible (Deu 4:2; 12:32), once in the middle (Prov 30:5,6), and here at the very end of the Bible we are warned not to add to, nor take away from God's word.

Yet many people today do just what these verses forbid. I recently received a flyer at a local Christian bookstore. At the top, it said, "Which Bible? They're not all the same." The flyer went on to compare different characteristics of various Bibles, such as ease of reading, quality of translation, etc.

Not satisfied to take the word of others, I decided to do a few comparisons of my own. I pulled out my New International Version and set it next to my old King James Bible and started to look up some verses to see how the two most popular Bibles would compare.

First I looked up 1 John 5:7, the clearest verse in the New Testament on the Trinity. Here is this verse from both the King James Bible and the NIV:

1 John 5:7 (KJV) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1 John 5:7 (NIV) For there are three that testify:

Well, I can see that the NIV is much easier to read, but that is only because two thirds of the verse is omitted. And this isn't the only place where things are left out in the NIV. Mat 18:11, Acts 8:37, Rom 16:24, and nearly fifteen other verses, are left out entirely. And many other Bible versions (ASV, RSV, NASB, etc.) are the same. My old King James may be harder to read, but at least it is complete.