Issue 17.4

Glad TidingsGlad TidingsGlad TidingsGlad Tidings

Volume 17, Issue 4 July/August 2013

Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;

Psalm 103:2-3

2

Glad Tidings Glad Tidings Glad Tidings Glad Tidings is published six times per year by

Living Hope

International Ministries

458 Old Niskayuna Road,

Latham, New York 12110

USA

Office 518.785.8888

Fax 518.785.1990

E-mail [email protected]

Website www.LHIM.org

Glad Tidings is mailed free to anyone who requests it. Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise noted.

Something To Consider ............... p.3

by Vince Finnegan

Seek Yahweh:

A Hebrew Gospel Of Matthew ..... p.4

by John Cortright

Healing Part 1................................ p.6

by Vince Finnegan

The Word:

More Than just The Bible ........... p.8

by Cheryl and Matthew Elton

Be Reconciled ............................. p.12

by Mary Ann Yaconis

Translating The Holy Spirit ........ p.14

by Sean Finnegan

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July/August 2013

3

Understanding Yahweh should be our lifelong desire and pursuit. A common worldview of God is He

can do anything He desires to do because He is the Almighty. Such a view, although popular, is not

consistent with Gods description of Himself in the Scriptures. Indeed, Yahweh is almighty God with a

definite biblically defined holy character to which He eternally stays unwaveringly consistent. Unlike

people, He does not change who He is based upon the influence of others, situations, or

circumstances. He made man to have self-determination (free will) which man often uses in a way that

limits Gods actions in relationship to him.

Gods calling has always been by grace and is a reciprocal arrangement in that man must respond to

the call by obedience to His commands. The calling of God is not a forcing, manipulating, or coercing,

rather a loving invitation that must be responded to by a freewill choice. The called must respond, and

God will even help us to respond the right way if we ask for His help. However, we must choose.

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live

Throughout the Old Testament, the blessing of God flourished to those called by His grace; yet, man

still had the responsibility to answer with obedience. In our time called the administration of grace,

have things changed? Today, do we just receive the blessings of God regardless of behavior? Is it the

administration of grace because everything pertaining to God is free without any self-determination or

responsibility? Has the way God deals with humanity changed?

The four Gospels and all of the church epistles authoritatively answer these questions. God has not

changed, and the way He honors mans free will has not changed. Salvation is available to humanity by

the accomplished work of Christ and not by mans works this is grace. However, grace does not mean

we are not required to have faith and the corresponding works always connected with faith. Salvation

is a gift, but it is not forced upon people. We must accept the gift by operating our free will to have

Jesus as Lord in our lives.

The undeniable reality of Gods dealings with man is that of free will. The original design of man was to

be like God, and that included the ability to think, reason, and choose (hence free will). Too often when

people experience some type of calamity, they question God based upon the wrong view that He can

do anything He wants and therefore should have intervened. A more appropriate response rather than

judging God in difficult times would be to ask for His help and consider the possibility that our choice

may have had something to do with the problem.

God bless,

SOMETHING TO CONSIDER:

Self Determination

4

N o early Hebrew

translations of the

New Testament

are known. If such manuscripts

did exist, we would have

tremendous enlightenment

regarding the name of God in

New Testament times.

Although no such manuscripts

exist, writings of early church

fathers indicate that the Gospel

of Matthew was originally

written in Hebrew.1

Papias (130 AD)

Matthew wrote the oracles in

the Hebrew language, and

every one interpreted them as

he was able (Eusebius, Church

History, 3.39.16)

Irenaeus of Lyons (170 AD)

Matthew also issued a written

Gospel among the Hebrews in

their own dialect. (Irenaeus,

Against Heresies, 3.1.1)

Origen (200 AD)

The first was written by

Matthew, who was once a

publican, but afterwards an

apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was

prepared for the converts from

Judaism, and published in the

Hebrew language. (Eusebius,

Church History, 6.25.4)

Eusebius (315 AD)

For Matthew, who had at first

preached to the Hebrews, when

he was about to go to other

peoples, committed his Gospel

to writing in his native

tongue. (Eusebius, Church

History, 3.24)

Jerome (382 AD)

Matthew, also called Levi,

apostle and aforetimes

publican, composed a Gospel of

Christ at first published in Judea

in Hebrew for the sake of those

of the circumcision who

believed, but this was

afterwards translated into

Greek, though by what author is

uncertain. The Hebrew itself

has been preserved until the

present day in the library at

Caesarea. (Jerome, On

Illustrious Men, 3)

No copies of this Hebrew

version of Matthew exist. The

Greek language had an

enormous impact in Judea in

both Second Temple and

rabbinic times. As far as we

know, however, Hebrew

remained the primary language

of literary expression. The

Qumran scrolls demonstrate

that Hebrew was the original

language of most of the works

written in Judea between the

period of the Maccabees and

the destruction of the temple in

70 CD.2 For years, it had been

commonly believed that

Hebrew was not spoken in

Jesus day and that the

vernacular of Palestine was

Aramaic. However, since the

discovery of the Dead Sea

Scrol ls, scholars have

reconsidered this supposition as

these texts are overwhelmingly

Hebrew, not Aramaic. Many

other discoveries from Judea in

the last 50 years have also

confirmed the extensive use of

Hebrew in the land of Judea in

the early first century.

The New Testament bears

witness to this truth as well.

Some have thought the

following uses of the word

H e b r e w s h o u l d b e

understood as Aramaic.

However, there is a very good

possibility that the Scriptures

mean exactly what they say and

that the language was indeed

Hebrew.

John 20:16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher).

John 19:20 Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. Acts 21:40; 22:2 When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to

(Continued on page 5)

Seek Yahweh: By John Cortright

A Hebrew Gospel Of Matthew

5

them in the Hebrew dialect, saying, And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he said, Acts 26:14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

If this is the case, then it seems

altogether reasonable to

believe that some of the New

Testament writings, especially

those written to Jews living in

Israel, would have been written

in Hebrew. Although there are

no known early Hebrew New

Testament manuscripts, a

complete Hebrew Text of

Matthew was produced in the

fourteenth century by a Jew

named Shem-Tob. This copy of

Matthew is part of a larger

Hebrew writing known as Even

Bohan or The Touchstone.

Shem-Tob made this

translation, not to support

Christianity, but as a Jew he

wrote this as a polemic, written

to refute Christianity. The

original document contained

many polemical insertions used

by Shem-Tob as arguments to

support Judaism against the

Christian doctrine. What text

did Shem-Tob use to make this

Hebrew translation? George

Howards excellent analysis

provides strong evidence that

this translation did not come

from an existing Greek text,

but more likely was a

translation of an earlier

Hebrew manuscript.3

One particular note of interest

is in Howards appendix on

The Divine Name and Shem-

Tobs use of the Hebrew letter

h (Heth), which is a

shortened form of msh

(HaShem or The Name). The

term HaShem is one of the

common surrogates spoken by

Jews today when reading the

name of God. This use of the

Hebrew letter h appears 19

times in Shem Tobs translation

(Mt 1:22, 24; 2:13, 19; 3:3;

4:7, 10; 5:33; 15:8; 21:9, 12, 42;

22:31, 32, 37, 44; 27:9; 28:2, 9).

An examination of the majority

of these references reveals

that this is often a quote from

the Old Testament and is

clearly a reference to Yahweh.

The Greek texts use the word

kurios; the Syriac versions

use the word myra; Latin is

domino; and in English, it is

translated as Lord. However,

in three instances there is no

corresponding Greek, Syriac,

Latin, or English equivalent.

The Name simply appears in

Shem-Tobs Hebrew version.

The three references are as

follows:

Matthew 15:8 Thus h

[HaShem] said, because this

people,

Matthew 22:32 I h

[HaShem], am the God of

Abraham,

Matthew 28:9 Jesus passed

before them saying: May h

[HaShem] deliver you, then

they came near to him, bowed

down

This begs the question, Why

would Shem-Tob, a Jew of the

strictest sense, add a usage of

Hashem, representing the

sacred Name, to a text where it

did not exist in the first place?

Howard states, The conclusion

that seems inescapable is that

Shem-Tob found the Divine

Name already in his gospel

text, having received it from an

earlier generation of Jewish

tradents. He permitted the

Divine Name to remain in the

text perhaps because he was

(Continued from page 4)


Papias (130 AD) Matthew wrote

the oracles in the Hebrew

language, and every one

interpreted them

as he was able

6

Healing Healing Healing Healing Part 1Part 1Part 1Part 1 By Vince Finnegan

F aith is one major compo-nent for receiving healing since, according to Hebrews 11:1,

faith is the substance of things

hoped for, the evidence or con-

viction of things not seen. Jesus

teaches that even with faith as a

mustard seed, You shall say to

this mountain, 'Move from here

to there,' and it shall move; and

nothing shall be impossible to

you, Matthew 17:20. Since faith

begins with hearing the Word,

according to Romans 10:17, this

first article on healing will be de-

voted to reviewing the Scriptures

that tell us God wants to heal.

Does God want me well or

sick? To hear some talk, they

imply that Gods will is for

them to receive sickness. We

often think and say things to

comfort ourselves when we

do not understand what is

going on. We make things up

to feel better. Frequent com-

ments about sickness are

God is using this sickness

for greater profit; God has

a purpose for everything that

happens; If it is Gods will, you

will be healed. However, the

immediate relief that such popu-

lar clichs may provide is often

minuscule in comparison to the

damage caused in the end that

of doubting Gods love, purposes,

and integrity. That which was

intended to be a blessing might

end up an eternal curse.

Mans starting point was Para-

dise wherein he enjoyed per-

fectly healthy bodies and minds

intended to last forever. The be-

lievers destiny in the end is to

return to Paradise with its eter-

nal glory. Yahwehs resolve for

humankinds eternal wellbeing

has never altered even though

the circumstances have drasti-

cally changed. The understanding

of the big picture, the eternal

plan, should convince us that

Yahweh wants His people to be

healthy and blessed in every way.

Yahweh instituted a covenant

with Israel in which He promised

to take care of them as they

obeyed His commands. Consider

the following verses:

Exodus 15:26 "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD [Yahweh] your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His command-ments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD [Yahweh], am your healer." Exodus 23:25 and 26 - "But you shall serve the LORD [Yahweh] your God, and He will bless your bread and your water;

and I will remove sickness from your midst. "There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

In subsequent articles, we will

look at our responsibility to re-

ceive the healing that Yahweh

desires to provide, but in this arti-

cle I want to focus on the fact that

God desires to heal His people.

Deuteronomy 7:15 "The LORD will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known

Psalms 91:9-16 For you have made the LORD [Yahweh], my ref-uge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent "Because he has loved Me, there-fore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in

trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. "With a long life I will satisfy him... Psalms 103:2 and 3 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Psalms 107:20 He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.


7

unsure himself about what to do

with it.4 By the 14

th century,

Jewish tradition had completely

restricted the use of the name of

God. Shem-Tob, being a fervent

Jew, would not have added the

Name to a Christian manuscript.

He would, however, have been

careful not to write the name and

instead use the common Jewish

surrogate, msh (HaShem) or in

shortened form h.

Perhaps one day, more discoveries

will be found that would provide

insight into the use of Hebrew in

New Testament writings. If that

were the case, then the name,

Yahweh, could be seen in the texts

and not the ambiguous title

Lord. When reading the words

of Jesus speaking about his Father

in the Hebrew tongue, we would

see him boldly declare Gods name

in the Shema, the Jewish

statement of faith:

Matthew 22:36-38 Rabbi, tell us which is the greatest commandment in the Torah. He said to him: Thou shalt love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. This is the first. (This is a rendering of George

Howards translation of Shem

Tobs Hebrew Gospel of Matthew,

replacing the Hebrew letter h

with the name of God, Yahweh,

rather than the ambiguous

surrogate Lord or the Jewish

substitute HaShem.)


Seek Yahweh: A Hebrew Gospel Of

Matthew Continued...

Jesus always did the will of his

Father, so everything he said and

did was as God wanted done and

said. Jesus was Gods will in

manifestation, and he often

healed many people.

Matthew 4:23 and 24 Jesus was throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with vari-ous diseases and pains, demoniacs, epi-leptics, paralytics; and He healed them.

Matthew 9:35 - Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Luke 4:40 While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. Acts 10:38 ...He [Jesus] went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed....

All those who came to Jesus and

received healing had faith that

God wanted to heal them. Only

one time did someone (a leper)

say what so many today say If

you are willing, you can heal

me. Jesus quickly and authorita-

tively responded as is recorded in

Matthew 8. He said: I am

willing; be cleansed, and imme-

diately he was healed. The Scrip-

tures convincingly communicate

the will of God to heal. We

should never utter the faith-

destroying words that are often

spoken If it be Your will.

Thinking such as this eliminates

faith in God to heal and any

responsibility on our part to take

godly action. We become fatal-

ists. In the next article, we will

revisit some of these verses and

focus on our responsibility to

receive the gift of healing.


1 All Church Father quotes are

translated by Ernest Cushing

Richardson. From Nicene and Post-

Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol.

3. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry

Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Litera-

ture Publishing Co. 1892.) Revised

and edited for New Advent by Kevin

Knight.

. Downloaded on

2/22/2013

2 Shaye J.D. Cohen, From the Mac-

cabees to the Mishna (Westminster

John Knox Press, Louisville, KY,

Copyright 2005) Page 32

3 George Howard, Hebrew Gospel

of Matthew (Mercer University

Press, Macon Georgia, Copyright

1995), Part Two, Analysis and Com-

mentary, Pg 153-234

4 Ibid., pg 231

8

The Word: More Than Just The Bible By Cheryl and Matthew Elton

I n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. -John 1:1 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. -Matthew 4:4 NKJV So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. -Romans 10:17 NKJV And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; -Ephesians 6:17 NKJV

These are well-known verses of

Scripture that demonstrate the

importance of the word. To most

Christians, the word simply

means the Bible. They mentally

insert Bible into all of the above

verses when they read word.

When we hear In the beginning

was the Word, and the Word was

with God, and the Word was

God, we might picture a Bible

floating in space with God. We

hear Man shall not live by bread

alone, but by every word that

proceeds from the mouth of

God, faith comes by hearing,

and hearing by the word of God,

and takethe sword of the

Spirit, which is the word of God,

and our minds again insert

Bible: We live by the Bible,

have faith by hearing the Bible,

and fight the devil with the Bible.

But is this really what these

verses mean?

In the early church, few people

had access to the Scriptures, and

even if they did, most didnt

know how to read. If faith comes

by hearing and hearing by the

Bible, it would be difficult for

most early Christians to have

faith. If man lives by every word

that comes out of the Bible, it

would likewise be challenging for

most early Christians to live out

their faith.

Is there more to the word than

just the Bible?

The New Testament was trans-

lated from Greek, and word can

take on several different mean-

ings depending on which Greek

word it was translated from. Its

worth gaining a clearer under-

standing of the Greek words

logoslogoslogoslogos, graphegraphegraphegraphe (grah-fay), and

rhemarhemarhemarhema (ray-muh).

The Architects vision The Architects vision The Architects vision The Architects vision

God, from the beginning of time,

has had a vision for the world and

for His Kingdom. This overarching

plan, reasoning, or vision is

expressed by the Greek word

lgoslgoslgoslgos (Strongs 3056). It is a

decree, mandate, or order; what

is declared, a thought, declara-

tion, aphorism, a weighty saying,

a dictum, a maxim.

Logos is used 316 times in the

New Testament. It does not refer

to the written Scriptures, but to

the eternal plan and purpose of

God, existing from the beginning

and becoming manifested to us in

the person of Jesus Christ.

John 1:1 reads: In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God and the logos was God. Then in John 1:14, Jesus is the logos

made flesh: And the logos became flesh and dwelt among us.

John 1 isnt saying that scrolls or

Bibles were floating around in

heaven at the beginning of time.

Rather, it means that from the

beginning God had a supreme

plan for His Messiah and His King-

dom. He had a big picture in

mind. This supreme plan that was

in Gods mind from the beginning

finally came to fruition with the

coming of His Son, Jesus Christ

(the Word became flesh), and is

continuing today.

As we explore the words graphe

and rhema, Id like to do so in the

context of an illustration in which

well see how logos, graphe, and

rhema work together. When an

architect is hired for a building pro-

ject, he must start with a clearly

defined vision (logos) of the end

result. This vision serves as the

basis for all other methods of com-

munication relating to the project.

The architect then draws up writ-

ten blueprints detailing every as-


9

pect of the building. These

sketches and instructions serve to

guide the contractors as they

start working.

Each step of the building process

is still incomplete in expressing

the architects vision. Only the

finished building will express his

full intentions.

Think of God as the Architect and

us as His work crew. He guides

our steps as we endeavor to work

on His building (His Kingdom). He

has a clear vision of every detail,

and He communicates His vision

to us so we can build according to

His specifications.

The Scriptures The Scriptures The Scriptures The Scriptures ---- our blueprint our blueprint our blueprint our blueprint

The word graphgraphgraphgraph (Strongs 1124)

describes this concept of the

blueprints. Used 51 times in the

New Testament, it refers to the

written word and is usually trans-

lated as scripture. Its used in

2 Timothy 3:16:

All Scripture (graphe) is given by inspi-ration of God, and is profitable for doc-trine, for reproof, for correction, for in-struction in righteousness: KJV

Most Christians have taken the

Architects blueprints the Scrip-

tures and viewed them as ex-

pressing His full plan and pur-

pose. But as anyone in construc-

tion will tell you, if the architect

were to hand the blueprints to

the builders without any further

communication at all, the plans

would be left to the builders own

interpretation. Without personal,

step-by-step communication and

supervision from the architect,

the building would never be con-

structed exactly as intended. Give

the same set of blueprints to 100

different construction companies

without any other communica-

tion, and youll likely end up with

100 slightly different buildings, as

each interprets the blueprints his

own way. The functionality and

look of the building could end up

quite different from what the

architect originally envisioned!

Unfortunately, this is exactly

what has happened to the Chris-

tian church. God, the Architect, is

building a Kingdom, and His plan

(logos) has existed from the be-

ginning of time. He revealed it to

us in the written revelation of the

Bible, the divinely inspired Scrip-

tures (graphe), which serve as the

blueprint for His Kingdom.

Yet, many Christians assume and

live as if Gods communication to

us stops there. If the Bible is the

totality of Gods Word and if God

does not communicate with us

outside of the Bible, then we are

left on our own when it comes to

interpreting it. We now have thou-

sands of different denominations

and groups, each interpreting the

Bible in slightly different ways.

It wasnt meant to be this way. At

the Last Supper, Jesus told his

disciples that he would be leaving

them, and there was more they

would need to know to continue

his work.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will

teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. -John 14:26 NKJV However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own author-ity, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. -John 16:13 NKJV

Jesus knew that his time had

come and he would soon face

death, resurrection, and ascension

into heaven. He knew that he

would soon leave the earth to sit

down at the right hand of God and

would no longer be physically pre-

sent to speak to his disciples in

person. Yet the things he needed

to communicate to them were

sadly incomplete at that time!

I still have many things to say to

you, but you cannot bear them

now, Jesus said in John 16:12.

Also, John tells us in John 21:25

that the Bible records only a small

fraction of Christs ministry: And

there are also many other things

that Jesus did, which if they were

written one by one, I suppose

that even the world itself could

not contain the books that would

be written.

Jesus clearly said there is much

more to the Architects vision

than he could communicate to his

disciples during his brief time

here on earth indeed, much

more than could be written down

in the Gospels! All the things Je-

sus spoke about and showed

them during his years on earth

were but a fraction of the en-



10

tirety of Gods Kingdom vision or logos. Fortunately, Jesus assures us that the Architect isnt going to leave us with only a set of blueprints. Instead, He has sent a job fore-man (the holy spirit) to guide us and instruct us, communicating to us every detail we need to carry out the work.

Gods voice for us today Gods voice for us today Gods voice for us today Gods voice for us today The instruction (revelation) we receive from the holy spirit is Gods rhrhrhrhmamamama (Strongs 4487) an-other Greek word translated word. Rhema means that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken; word; any sound produced by the voice and having definite meaning. Rhema is the personal, relevant, conversational, relationship word. It is God in Jesus Christ in us through the holy spirit. It is the Lords voice for each of us, just as it was for Samuel. Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. -1 Samuel 3:1 NKJV

We read that the word of the Lord was rare in those days. This doesnt mean there was a short-age of scrolls. It means the spo-ken rhema revelation of God was unusual. In the Old Testament, it was not often that God would pour out His spirit on someone that they might prophesy or would reveal Himself in a dream or a vision. But today, in the post-Pentecost church, God has graciously poured out His holy spirit on all who believe. On the day of Pente-cost, Peter quoted what had been prophesied by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,Your young men shall see visions,Your old men shall dream dreams. -Acts 2:17NKJV

A deeper level of meaning A deeper level of meaning A deeper level of meaning A deeper level of meaning A proper understanding of these words logos, graphe, and rhema reveals a new and deeper level of meaning on how God commu-nicates. This is not at all to dimin-ish the greatness of His written word, the Scriptures. God expects us to read and learn the Scrip-

tures to understand Him. How-ever, the Scriptures are only a portion of what He desires to communicate to us. Lets revisit the verses at the be-ginning of this article with the new understanding of word.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word [rhema] that proceeds from the mouth of God. -Matthew 4:4 NKJV While most Christians think this is talking about the importance of knowing the Bible, the Greek word used here is not graphe but rhema, meaning the spoken reve-lation of God. In the context of Matthew 4, Sa-tan was tempting Jesus in the wilderness to turn stones into bread. It is often assumed that Satan was tempting Jesus to sin. But nowhere in the Bible does it say it is wrong to turn stones into bread and eat them. If Jesus had done this, he would not have vio-lated any commandment written in Scripture. Christs answer to Satan, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every rhema that proceeds from the mouth of God, is essen-tially saying that the spiritual revelation of God His daily in-struction to our lives through the holy spirit is more important than physical food. God had not yet instructed Christ to eat. Al-though he was extremely hungry, Jesus remained obedient to Gods spiritual revelation. He walked in perfect fellowship with his Father



The Word: More Than Just The Bible Continued...

11

and followed the Fathers instruc-

tions every step of the way. (John

5:19 Most assuredly, I say to

you, the Son can do nothing of

Himself, but what He sees the

Father do; for whatever He does,

the Son also does in like manner.)

Jesus would have rather starved

to death than do anything out-

side of the Fathers rhema in-

structions for his life. Jesus didnt

live by bread alone or by the Bi-

ble alone (graphe, the written

word because on that basis

alone, the temptation would

have been fine!), but instead he

lived by rhema the Fathers

daily, personal instruction.

We can do the same.

Other key Other key Other key Other key rhemarhemarhemarhema verses verses verses verses

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word [rhema] of God -Romans 10:17 NKJV

Most people think this is talking

about the Bible. Yet, word in

this verse is rhema the spoken

utterance or revelation from God.

If faith came solely by hearing the

written Scriptures, surely graphe

would have been used. God is

telling us that the way to grow

our faith is to recognize and fol-

low His personal, present voice in

our lives.

How exciting this is! We are to

have a personal, present relation-

ship with God through Jesus

Christ, walking and talking with

Him throughout the day (all rela-

tionship involves communication).

Surely this time spent in relation-

ship with Him will grow our faith,

as He gives us His daily revelation

bread to guide our way.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word [rhema] of God; -Ephesians 6:17 NKJV

This usage of word has been

interpreted as the Bible for too

long! Simply quoting Bible verses

will not stop the devil hes

heard it all before! What Satan

doesnt have access to, which we

do, is the rhema of God the

relevant, personal word via the

holy spirit through which the Lord

guides our steps.

Its interesting that of all the

pieces of armor mentioned in

Ephesians 6, only one is an offen-

sive weapon the sword of the

Spirit the rhema of God. His per-

sonal revelation instruction to us

will defeat the devil every time.

Knowing about God vs. Knowing about God vs. Knowing about God vs. Knowing about God vs.

knowing Godknowing Godknowing Godknowing God

A key lesson we can take away

from our study of word is that

theres an important distinction

to be made between knowing

about God and knowing God. The

Pharisees had great intellectual

knowledge about God and the

Scriptures. They memorized

every law and prided themselves

in what they believed to be their

superior understanding and han-

dling of the Scriptures.

Nevertheless, bogged down by

legalism and concerned mainly

with the outward appearance,

they lacked any real relationship

with God! Jesus saw through the

faade and said to them in Mat-

thew 23:25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but in-side they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. NKJV

We certainly dont want to be like

the Pharisees. We should desire

to know God personally and walk

with Him every day. If we want to

know our Heavenly Father, we

must begin by looking to Jesus

Christ because God is most fully

revealed in His Son. Hebrews 1:3

tells us:

Who [Jesus] being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His per-son, and upholding all things by the word [rhema] of His power. NKJV

In John 14:6 Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. NKJV

From our brief study of rhema, its

clear that God desires a living re-

lationship filled with daily com-

munication with us. This dynamic,

active relationship with God is

made possible only through Jesus

Christ. The holy spirit has been

given so we can receive Gods

daily rhema instruction in our

lives. Jesus is calling us into a rela-

tionship with him so that through

him we will know and experience

God. As we learn to hear the

voice of the Lord by way of the

holy spirit, we learn to know God

and His will for our lives.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. -John 10:27 NKJV


12

O ne of Jesus seemingly radical teachings (recorded in Matthew chapters 5 through 7) stresses that

the law regulated outward behav-

ior, but what Jesus promoted as

more important is the condition of

the heart.

Matthew 5:21-24 You have heard that the ancients were told, YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER and Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, You good-for-nothing, shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, You fool, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore if you are presenting your offer-ing at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

Jesus tells us that not dealing with

anger in a godly manner could lead

to hatred which could lead to fiery

hell. Not a comforting thought.

Anger seems to be such a close

friend to so many easy to come

by, quick to act, and devastating in

its results.

There are two parts to this situation

with anger that Jesus is mentioning.

One time is when we ourselves are

the angry ones, and the other time

is when another is angry with us.

Lets first take a look at being angry

with others.

Luke 17:1 He said to His disciples, It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come!

The words for stumbling blocks

here have also been translated

offences in the King James Ver-

sion. Offences will come, but WOE

to those who cause these of-

fences! Angry outbursts startle

people. They cause the recipient of

them to feel hurt, frightened, de-

fensive, and that they need to strike

back to save themselves. Others

react by retreating and avoiding the

angry person at all costs. Anger

comes from the heart.

Proverbs 4:23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.

We cultivate seeds of anger in our

hearts when we have emotional

wounds that we have not resolved.

These could be feelings of unwor-

thiness, sadness, fear, failure, not

being safe or loved, and many

more. Instead of recognizing these

emotions and allowing God to heal

our hurts, we hide them and

protect ourselves by getting angry

to push people away, make them

afraid of us, and basically to leave

us alone. It generally works because

no one wants to approach an angry

person. It just isnt pleasant at all.

The second part is someone being

offended or angry at us. Luke 17:1 is

very clear that we are not to be the

stumbling block to someone. Our

actions that cause someone to be-

come angry, whether we think we

did something wrong or not, are not

in question. We are to seek recon-

ciliation from the one offended as

quickly as possible. Now, this can be

difficult for a couple of reasons.

One is that we want the person who

hurt and offended us with anger to

know just how rotten, mean, and

nasty the outburst was and how

really very hurt we are! How dare

they!! We might even bring up the

Christian card and say something

like, If you really are a Christian,

you wouldnt have said those

things. Ouch. The heart that Jesus

is talking about with reconciliation

is one of love. Love covers a multi-

tude of sin. It is more important to

reconcile than to be right or wrong.

This is the radical part of being a

Christian. The way most people set-

tle arguments is to determine finally

who was right and who did the

wrong thing, and, brother, that one

who did wrong better grovel and

apologize a lot! Not so with the love

of God.

Another reason we find reconciling

difficult is that our pride gets in the

way. We have the thought that for

some reason, even if I am wrong, I

dont need to apologize and recon-

cile. It is up to the other person to

do the apologizing. This thinking is

contrary to what Jesus says. Still an-

other reason is that we think that

magically the fuss will be over in

time, and then we can be friends

again without any discussion or re-

pair. This thinking is far from the

truth. These offenses that are not

resolved add up and add up in our

hearts. Then we find we are very

quick to anger because of what we

have held in our hearts. I am not


Be Reconciled By Mary Ann Yaconis

13

generally about to think of murder-

ing someone because of a single

offense! But, if I have held this of-

fense and that offense and yet an-

other day after day after dayit

adds up to murderous rage.

Romans 14:19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the build-ing up of one another.

The only way to pursue peace is

humbly to reconcile. Possibly when

you try to reconcile, the other will

lash out again. There is a great possi-

bility of becoming angry all over

again at what is said. This is where

we have to rely on the precepts of

the Word in our heart and

the holy spirit so that we do

not sin. We can say to the

person only that we will

search our hearts to see if

these things are so and to

apologize for causing the

pain. If we have in fact

done these things, we ask

for forgiveness.

Matthew 5:25-26 Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the offi-cer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

Jesus stated that the one who

caused the offense is to seek out the

one offended. Many times, the one

offended is so hurt that it is difficult

to be the one to reach out and rec-

oncile. Either way, both being obedi-

ent to the Scriptures could actually

find one coming towards the other

on their way to reconcile and meet

with open arms and tears of joy.

If we have difficulty with angry out-

bursts that just seem to be so quick

to happen, we need to have God

search our hearts, and we need to

begin an inventory of stumbling

blocks that we have held in our

hearts. We need to face them and

allow healing of these wounds. If

we have caused pain for others with

our rants and rages, we need to

seek out friends and family and

apologize and/or ask for forgive-

ness. Repentance comes as we are

mindful that we are quick to blow

up and to stop ourselves as we start

to feel the anger rise. It is easier to

stop a tractor trailer at ten miles

per hour than at 60.

If we have loved ones around us

that frequently have anger towards

us, we as mature Christians do not

let it steal our peace.

Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Our fleshly nature urges us to de-

fend ourselves with more angry

words. However, if there is no one

to fight with, then it is not a fight.

People have their opinions because

of what they perceive. We dont

know what the other person is

thinking. Only when things are calm

and peaceful can we discuss what is

going on to figure out, in most

cases, that nothing was wrong in

the first place. It was merely a mis-

understanding.

The basic example for reconciliation

is that we have all sinned against Yah-

weh. What leads us to repentance?

Romans 2:4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

Yahwehs kindness reaches into our

hearts and constrains us to desire to

love and be at peace with Him and

with others. God has no bar-

riers of anger with us. He has

reconciled us. Yahweh did

not do anything wrong. We

are the ones who are to seek

forgiveness from Him. We

are to do the same with oth-

ers. We are to pursue those

whom we have offended and

those who have offended us

in a spirit of peace and hu-

mility to settle the issue. Re-

member the next time you

start to get angry and have

an outburst:

Luke 17:1 He said to His disciples, It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come!

Remember that Yahweh reconciled

you to Himself even with all the

foolishness and sin you commit. This

thought constrains us not to sin with

anger. Reconcile with your brothers

and sisters in Christ and others, if

possible. What a wonderful world

this would be!


...Yahweh reconciled you to Himself even with

all the foolishness and sin you commit. This thought constrains us not to sin with anger.

14

T he Bible is not a book, and it was not written in English. It is actually a collection of sixty-six books,

written in three ancient lan-

guages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and

Greek. Since most of us do not

read these archaic languages, we

depend on translations of the

Bible to encounter Gods holy

Scripture. In fact, translators

have historically held incredible

power to influence millions of

Bible-readers over the ages.

Many impressive developments

have occurred in the field of tex-

tual criticism1 and lexicology

2

over the last century. Today, we

can access dozens of English

translations, Greek interlinears,

and lexical aids online for free. In

no other age have Christians had

better access to biblical tools for

personal study than today. Even

so, rather surprisingly, many Bi-

bles contain wild distortions, es-

pecially on texts related to dog-

mas long ago etched in the stone

of infallible tradition. The unin-

formed Christian walking into a

local bookstore sees dozens of

Bibles lining the shelves and picks

the one that best meets his or her

needsthe Green Bible, the Ex-

treme Teen Bible, the American

Patriots Bible, the Catholic Holy

Bible, the Archeology Study Bible,

the Life Application Study Bible,

and so on. The number of trans-

lations produced in the last sixty

years is even more impressive.

Although most of these versions

stay relatively true to the original

Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek in

most places, nearly all of them

still have significant blind spots

that subtly lean readers towards

a traditional understanding of

who God is.

In what follows I intend to expose

one of the smoking guns of text

tampering as it relates to the holy

spirit. I am interested in exposing

one of the most flagrant

(mis)translation practices found

in virtually all English Bibles: ren-

dering impersonal Greek pro-

nouns as personal in English

when referring to the holy spirit.

What I present here is neither

sectarian nor ground breaking.

Anyone who can read Greek can

verify what I am saying. To start

with, I will present a list of key

texts that reference the holy

spirit using pronouns in English

translations. Every one of these

texts is an example where one of

the very best and most literal

English versionsthe NASB

chose to use personal pronouns

to refer to the spirit. Yet, in every

case the Greek words are actually

neuter!

*See Chart on page 15

As we can see from these texts,

the Bible consistently employs

neuter (not masculine) pronouns

to refer to the holy spirit. We will

return to see how other English

Bibles translate these clear verses

in a moment. First, we need to

consider what the translation

committees themselves set for

standards.

Translator StandardsTranslator StandardsTranslator StandardsTranslator Standards

Since most people do not have

any way of testing how trustwor-

thy a Bible is, they depend on

what the translation committees

say they intended to accomplish.

Here I will quote from just a few

of the most popular Bibles in cur-

rent bookstores to show what

their translation philosophies are:

The Lockman Foundation (NASB)4

The New American Stan-

dard Bible translation team

adhered to the literal phi-

losophy of translation. This

is the most exacting and

demanding method of

translation, and requires a

word-for-word translation

that is accurate and pre-

cise, yet easily readable.

This philosophy of transla-

tion follows the word and

sentence patterns of the

original authors so that the

reader is free to under-

stand God's message as the

Holy Spirit leads.

First published in its com-

pete form in 1971, the

NASB is excellent for Bible

study because it aims at a

precise translation of the

original Hebrew, Aramaic,

and Greek. As such, it ren-

ders, where practical, the

original order of words and

phrases. In passages where

this literalness produces

unacceptable English, the

translators used modern


Translating the Holy Spirit By Sean Finnegan

15

John 6:63 [NA273] John 6:63 [Literal] John 6:63 [NASB]

pi pi,

the spirit is that which gives life,

the flesh does not benefit any-

thing

It is the Spirit who gives life;

the flesh profits nothing

John 7:39 [NA27] John 7:39 [Literal] John 7:39 [NASB]

pi pi pi pi

but this he spoke concerning the

spirit which those who believed on

him [were] about to receive

But this He spoke of the Spirit,

whom those who believed in

Him were to receive

Acts 5:32 [NA27] Acts 5:32 [Literal] Acts 5:32 [NASB]

pi pi .

and we are witnesses of these words

and the holy spirit which God gave

to those who obey him

And we are witnesses of these

things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those

who obey Him.

Acts 8:15-16 [NA27] Acts 8:15-16 [Literal] Acts 8:15-16 [NASB]

pi pi pi pi pi pi pipipi

who, having come down, prayed for

them so that they may receive holy

spirit; for it has not yet fallen upon

any of them

who came down and prayed for

them that they might receive the

Holy Spirit. For He had not yet

fallen upon any of them

Romans 8:16 [NA27] Romans 8:16 [Literal] Romans 8:16 [NASB]

pi pi .

the spirit itself testifies together

with our spirit that we are children

of God.

The Spirit Himself testifies with

our spirit that we are children of

God,

1 Corinthians 2:12 [NA27] 1 Corinthians 2:12 [Literal] 1 Corinthians 2:12 [NASB]

pi pi

but we did not receive the spirit of

the world but the spirit which [is]

from God

Now we have received, not the

spirit of the world, but the Spirit

who is from God

1 John 5:6 [NA27] 1 John 5:6 [Literal] 1 John 5:6 [NASB]

pi , pi .

and the spirit is that which testi-

fies, because the spirit is the truth.

It is the Spirit who testifies,

because the Spirit is the truth.

16

English idioms and indicated

the literal renderings in

marginal notes.

The Biblical Studies Foundation

(NET)5

The NET Bible is a completely

new translation of the Bible

with 60,932 translators

notes! It was completed by

more than 25 scholars ex-

perts in the original biblical

languages who worked

directly from the best cur-

rently available Hebrew, Ara-

maic, and Greek texts. Turn

the pages and see the

breadth of the translators

notes, documenting their

decisions and choices as they

worked. The translators

notes make the original lan-

guages far more accessible,

allowing you to look over the

translators shoulder at the

very process of translation.

This level of documentation

is a first for a Bible transla-

tion, making transparent the

textual basis and the ration-

ale for key renderings

(including major interpretive

options and alternative

translations). This unparal-

leled level of detail helps

connect people to the Bible

in the original languages in a

way never before possible

without years of study of

Hebrew, Aramaic, and

Greek. It unlocks the riches

of the Bibles truth from en-

tirely new perspectives.

Committee on Bible Translation

(NIV)6

the translators were united

in their commitment to the

authority and infallibility of

the Bible as Gods Word in

written formThe first con-

cern of the translators has

been the accuracy of the

translation and its fidelity to

the thought of the biblical

writers. They have weighed

the lexical and grammatical

details of the Hebrew, Ara-

maic and Greek texts.

National Council of Churches

(NRSV)7

Many of us pay scant atten-

tion to the Bible translation

we use, and yet we all want

the most accurate and read-

able translation available for

our study and devotional

use. That Bible translation is

the New Revised Standard

Version (NRSV). Widely rec-

ognized by scholars and reli-

gious authorities as the most

accurate translation, it is also

the direct successor of the

beloved King James Bible,

following in that Bibles tradi-

tion of elegant, readable

prose. As a literal translation

rather than a paraphrase, the

NRSV leaves interpretation in

the hands of the reader.

Notice how they are all committed

to accuracy of translation. None of

them indicates that their commit-

ment is first to a creed or tradition

over and above reliable transla-

tion. As a result, we should see

these versions rendering the texts

I listed above using impersonal

pronouns, since that is what the

Greek says. Lets see how they do.

Putting the Translations to the TestPutting the Translations to the TestPutting the Translations to the TestPutting the Translations to the Test

Imagine someone jumps online

and accesses the most popular

and well received translations to

investigate the meaning of Acts

5:32 and they check a bunch of

translations:

*See Chart on page 17

After seeing that eighteen of

these nineteen translations per-

sonalize the holy spirit by capital-

izing Spirit (most capitalize

Holy as well) and that seventeen

out of the nineteen use who or

whom to refer back to holy

spirit, what would someone con-

clude? Of course, he or she would

go with the majority. Besides, the

only translations that differ on this

point are the Jehovahs Witnesses

New World Translation (NWT) and

the Roman Catholics New Ameri-

can Bible (NAB)the very two

sources that evangelicals and

Protestants are trained never to

trust! In fact, the New World

Translation does not even appear

on major Bible websites and com-

puter programs, so access to it is

limited. What is so shocking is

that the Greek very clearly reads

the holy spirit whichwhichwhichwhich God gave.

There is no ambiguity or confusing

grammar to cloud the question. It

is as plain as day, and any first

year New Testament Greek stu-

dent could easily verify it.

The most frustrating aspect of this



Translating the Holy Spirit Continued...

17

Nestle Aland 27th Edition Greek Text (NA27) New Jerusalem Bible (NJB)

pi pi .

We are witnesses to this, we and the Holy Spirit whom

God has given to those who obey him.'

King James Version (KJV) New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy

Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."

New World Translation (NWT) Contemporary English Version (CEV)

And we are witnesses of these matters, and so is the holy spirit,

which God has given to those obeying him as ruler.

We are here to tell you about all this, and so is the Holy

Spirit, who is Gods gift to everyone who obeys God.

Revised Standard Version (RSV) New Living Translation (NLT)

And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit

whom God has given to those who obey him."

We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit,

who is given by God to those who obey him."

Amplified Bible (AB) Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

And we are witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit is also,

Whom God has bestowed on those who obey Him.

We are witnesses to these things; so is the Ruach HaKo-

desh, whom God has given to those who obey him."

New American Bible (NAB) English Standard Version (ESV)

We are witnesses of these things, as is the holy Spirit that God has

given to those who obey him."

And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy

Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."

New American Standard Bible (NASB) The Message (MSG)

"And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him."

And we are witnesses to these things. The Holy Spirit,

whom God gives to those who obey him, corroborates

every detail.

Todays English Version/Good News Bible (TEV) Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

We are witnesses to these thingswe and the Holy Spirit, who is

God's gift to those who obey him.

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit

whom God has given to those who obey Him."

New International Version (NIV) New English Translation (NET)

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom

God has given to those who obey him."

And we are witnesses of these events, and so is the Holy

Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."

New King James Version (NKJV) Todays New International Version (TNIV)

"And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him."

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy

Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."

18

chicanery is that these transla-

tions mislead honest-hearted men

and women who simply want to

read and understand the Scrip-

tures. What is more, most Bible

readers implicitly trust the schol-

ars who produce translations in

the same way that most people

trust doctors or school teachers.

This is partly due to the impres-

sive verbiage we saw above in

their translation philosophies.

The NASB team adhered to the

literal philosophy of translation

and required a word-for-word

translation that is accurate and

precise, yet, they literally did not

translate the word as which.

The NET boasts that its nearly

61,000 translators notes enable

readers to look over the transla-

tors shoulder and make

transparent the textual basis and

the rationale for key renderings

(including major interpretive op-

tions and alternative transla-

tions). However, when I look at

the footnotes on Acts 5:32, I see

nothing whatsoever indicating

they flat out changed a word to

make their translation more pal-

atable. Ironically, Daniel Wallace

was one of the primary scholars

involved in the NET, and his paper

on this subject exposes this very

issue. The NIV committee stated

that they were committed to the

authority and infallibility of the

Bible as Gods Word in written

form, yet they corrected the in-

fallible Scripture in their transla-

tion to read whom instead of

which. Isnt a correction the

result of an error? But, if Scrip-

ture is infallible, why is the NIV

correcting it? Lastly, the NRSV

claims it is the most accurate and

readable translation and that it

leaves interpretation in the

hands of the reader. Yet, in this

verse (and many others like it), it

obscures the meaning of the text

and does not so much as leave a

footnote indicating their decision.

So if the Greek is clear, why do

nearly all of these translations get

it wrong? Why do all of these

translations think the simple

word (which) is really

(whom)?

Sola ScripturaSola ScripturaSola ScripturaSola Scriptura and Perspicuityand Perspicuityand Perspicuityand Perspicuity

From the time of the Protestant

reformation to today, countless

Christians have embraced the

motto sola scriptura, a Latin

phrase meaning scripture

alone. The idea is that Christians

can find whatever pertains to

faith and piety in the pages of

Scripture without depending on

external traditions or authorities.

This came up quite a bit in the

battle between the reformers

and the established Roman

Catholic Church. The Catholics

claimed tradition was necessary

for rightly interpreting Scripture,

whereas the Protestants argued

people could understand the Bi-

ble without the Church telling

them what it was supposed to

mean. To this day, the mentality

of sola scriptura dominates the

confessions and creeds of most

non-Catholic denominations.

Sola Scriptura is, I think, a very

good idea, but it can be practical

only for the one who is willing to

change his or her beliefs based on

what the Bible actually says. Still,

one will always need external help

from translations, lexicons, cul-

tural studies, etc. To be uncom-

promisingly sola scriptura would

require someone to be able to

read uncial manuscripts fluently

without the aid of Hebrew, Ara-

maic, and Greek dictionaries.

Even so, the sentiment has great

force, and it combines with an-

other idea from the Reforma-

tionperspicuity. Someone who

is perspicacious can accurately see

or grasp a matter. The idea here

is that Scripture is clear and un-

derstandable by nearly everyone.

This mentality puts an incredible

burden on Protestants to find

their doctrines in Scripture. It will

not do to say, Well, the creed

has the following or The

Church teaches that this

means. No, they must show



Translating the Holy Spirit Continued...

19

the teaching in plain Scripture.

This would all work out well

enough if denominations were

actually willing to evaluate their

long cherished creeds in the light

of Scripture, but, of course, they

are not. The whole situation is

doomed from the start, because

the Protestant Reformation did

not start from scratch and ques-

tion each belief based on Scrip-

ture. Sure, there were a few,

highly significant doctrines that

they put on the chopping block of

biblical scrutiny and successfully

eliminated, but many of their

core beliefs were never up for

discussion. For example, they

never allowed the Trinity to be

questioned, and when people did

apply sola scriptura to the

dogma, they found themselves

on the chopping block.

However, now that Catholics and

Protestants are no longer able to

execute their fellow brothers and

sisters on the charge of heresy,

they have had to find new ways

to deal with this thorny problem.

This is precisely where the need

arises for translators to monkey

with the text. The issue comes

down to pressurepressure to

make the Bible conform to the

creed so that we can say the

creed is biblical. The translators

begin with the belief that the holy

spirit is the third person of the

Trinity. As a result, they go

against their own stated transla-

tion principles to change the text

literally from which to

who/whom. Next, a reader

comes along and, on the basis of

all those personal pronouns, con-

cludes therefore that the Holy

Spirit is, of course, a person.

We begin with a creedal belief,

and we end with oneand at the

end of the day, we have proved

nothing.

We should not allow our doc-

trines to determine the text. To

do so is like a doctor who be-

lieves that cancer is the root

cause of all sickness. Someone

comes to him for examination,

and though the patients symp-

toms line up perfectly with the

common flu virus, the doctor

finds ways of convincing himself

that cancer is the true culprit.

Every test he orders comes back

negative, but still he knows in his

bones that chemotherapy is the

right treatment. When transla-

tors see that troubling (which),

they ignore the negative results

for the test of personhood and

merrily capitalize the S on spirit

and put who anyhow. This is a

smoking gun of translation bias,

and it is absolutely unacceptable.

It does the exact opposite of

what all of the translations say

they want to do it injects theol-

ogy into Scripture and limits the

readers access to what the text

really says.

How This Works in Our FavorHow This Works in Our FavorHow This Works in Our FavorHow This Works in Our Favor

The fact that nearly all modern

translations change the text so

that it supports their doctrine

about the third person of the

Trinity is actually evidence that

the Bible does not teach that the

holy spirit is a person. This whole

issue smacks of anachronism. Of

course, neither Jesus nor Paul

would say something like, God

the Spirit or the third person of

the Trinity or three persons in

one essence because this kind of

language did not yet exist! Pneu-

matology slowly evolved into full

blown Trinitarianism over centu-

ries of reflection. It was not until

a.d. 381 that some Christians offi-

cially recognized the holy spirit as

an equal person of God in the

Constantinopolitan Creed. Since

the theologians cannot find any of

this terminology in Scripture, they

tweak the translation to ensure

compliance with their beliefs.

This dastardly act needs to be ex-

posed so that doubt can be cast

on the doctrine of the person-

hood of the holy spirit. These

mistranslated pronouns are like

make-up covering a large pimple.

If we can help people see through

this deception, they just may turn

away from the stubborn decep-

tion that has held sway for so

many centuries and instead sim-

plify their piety and come to wor-

ship the true God and Father of

our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.


7 http://www.nrsv.net/about/about-

nrsv/

6 The NIV Study Bible, (Grand Rapids:

Zondervan 1995), p. xi.

5 http://bible.org/article/preface-

net-bible

4 http://www.lockman.org/nasb/

nasbprin.php

3 The Nestle Aland 27th edition is the

standard Greek text translators use for

the New Testament (same as the

United Bible Societies fourth edition).

2 Lexicons are language dictionaries

that translators depend on to deter-

mine what English word corresponds

to the original.

1 Textual critics compare ancient

manuscripts to each other and figure

out which ones are more accurate.

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Issue 17.4