Where Is the Word of God?

Bill Brinkworth

One of the most important, yet most controversial topics concerning the things of God, is do the English-speaking people still have the inspired (God-breathed), preserved Word of God with them today? Many shrug this topic off as a subject to be discussed only by preachers or Bible scholars. It is, however, very important to all.

If we do not have all the words of God, how do we know that John 3:16 is accurate? Was something added or removed from the verse? Are we really saved, as the Words we have been trusting for salvation may have been altered? Do we really know how God wants us to live as the verses that give God’s directions to us may also have been changed? If the reliability of God’s Word is questionable, we cannot know anything about God’s will and way for sure.

It is essential that we absolutely know that what we read in the Bible is what God has commanded. We must know we have the entire, word-for-word, preserved, God-breathed Word of God. We must be able to wholly trust all of it.

With the availability of over 250+ translations and versions, and each teaching something different, how can one know where the real Word of God is? A very complex subject cannot be completely answered in this brief article, but some facts can be revealed in making it easier to discern where the Word of God is today:

The Old Testament has been preserved by the Jews in the Masoretic, Hebrew-language text long before Christ. The New Testament writings were collected and originally compiled in the Greek Textus Receptus. These two testaments were precisely translated by godly men through history. In 1611, a collection of some of the most godly translators took these texts, compared them with other books, and assembled what today is known as the King James Bible. Later as the English, written language became consistent, the KJB (also called the KJV) went through corrections, mostly spelling, and is the King James Bible we have today. The Word of God has its inspiration preserved in today’s King James Bible.

However, there have always been those that have corrupted and changed God’s Word.

Eve did. She added that she was not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, when God only said not to eat of its fruit (Gen. 2:17, 3:3).
Satan got Eve to doubt God’s commandments (Gen. 3:4).
Another Gospel was preached even during the time of the first churches (II Cor. 11:4, Gal. 1:6-7).
Some added their traditions to the Gospel (Mark 7:13).
Some corrupted God’s Word (II Cor. 2:17).

Today the same spirit that has always been around to confuse readers and to alter what God wanted all to know is still perverting God’s Word. Although there are many renditions, most have a different origin than the KJV. They have their roots in the Latin translations of the Sinaitic manuscript (331 A.D., rediscovered in 1844 A.D.), the Vaticanus text (around 331 A.D.), the Latin Vulgate, and other writings1. The influencers and authors of those texts were men such as Origen, whose writings reflect his beliefs that Jesus Christ was a created being and did not have eternal existence as God; Eusebius who introduced tradition into his works; and others who were not dedicated to preserving God’s word exactly as it was written. They all interjected their philosophies, rather than accurately translate what was already written.

These texts were used as the foundation for most of the 250+ perversions of God’s Word. Because the original root-texts were corrupt, there is no way that the translations from them can ever be accurate. That is why most modern versions have words changed, added, and deleted. They convey doctrines that the writer, or the religious organization he is writing for, wants taught rather than what the preserved Word of God says.

It does not even make sense that:

Until the influx of modern perversions started around 1881, man had been without a copy of God’s Word.
That many of the liberal translators, some of them with poor Christian testimonies, unsound beliefs and some denying major doctrines of the Bible (the deity of Christ, hell, Christ’s blood atonement, etc.) would be used to give us God’s Word; rather than those spiritual, intellectual giants that helped bring the English world an accurate translation of God’s Word in 1611.
God would give us a new version that contradicts itself and the preserved manuscripts in many places.
That God, who is not a God of confusion (I Cor. 14:33 ) would allow those that are honestly seeking Him to be confused without having a sure way of knowing what He wanted him to know.

It does make sense:

That we still have the perfect copy of God’s Word, just as He promised: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8
That no one should add, alter, or remove His Words (Deut. 4:2, Prov. 30:6, Rev. 22:19).

Today, we have the same Words as given by Moses, David, kings, prophets, apostles, and other men God used to preserve His Word. We do not have to doubt if we have it all. God’s Word has been preserved and is still available to all that seek it. It is found within the pages of the King James (1611) Bible.

1 Ray, Jasper J. God Wrote Only One Bible, Eugene, Oregon, Eye Opener Publishers, 1983

“The claims of many of the pervertors of the Word of God are to make the Bible easier to read and understand. Yet, today there are fewer that read it, and fewer yet that understand it.”

You may also want to read:
"Untrue Statements about Modern Bible Translations and Versions
Examples of Changes in Different Bible Versions

This article was featured in The Bible View #365.