Expert: Mr. McClellan - 10/11/2008

Question
I read your answer to Sheba, and I would like to ask you, as you have mentioned that not even angels can change what has been written, so my question is, Which Bible is the correct one? Roman Catholic use the one with 73 books where as most available bibles use 66 books, does it mean all others are wrong or is Catholic Bible wrong?

Answer
Hi Jerry,
At the moment I am at work and don't have time to do justice to your question, though the answer is really quite simple, but I will get back to you as quickly as I can. Maybe I'll have a little time after work today, around 10 p.m. my time. I'm in China.
Later.
Mr. McClellan

OK Jerry, I'm at home now and here's the answer to your question. First, the New World Translation, the Living Bible Paraphrased, and The Word are not real Bibles for certain. They are just the doctrines of certain people, the way they mistakenly understand the Bible, written in the form of the Bible. I know, you didn't mention any particular Bibles. I just wanted to make it known to anyone reading this since it isn't private, but I'm not going to try to prove what I said.
Here is a list of web sites where you'll find some interesting material that contain the usual pros and cons about which Bible is the best; most accurate.
1. www.dtl.org/versions/reviews/five-star.htm
2. www.cob-net.org/compare.htm
3. www.av1611.org/niv.html
4. www.bible.ca/b-kjv-only.htm
5. www.believershope.com/Prophecy/etbp/bibletypes.htm
6. www.marananth.ca/bible.htm
7. www.twopaths.com/faq-kjv.htm
8. www.hissheep.org/kjv/which-version-of-the-bible-is-most-accurate.html

Now, you'd have to be a true miracle working prophet of the Biblical God to "know" what the truth is about this, and to be able to have any hope of convincing anyone else on a truly legitimate basis. At least, that's what a person might reasonably think given the disagreements on the topic. Actually, it is possible to know beyond any kind of reasonable doubt if any of them are absolutely correct, or that they are even what the writers of the Bible, all of them, claim according to all of the versions, no matter which one you read.
As I keep telling people, the truth is right in front of everyone, but people "can't see the forest for the trees," as the saying goes.
You can't determine the truth by comparing the versions, for example, because there are no originals, or autographs, to compare them to. It doesn't matter how old a copy is, it could have mistakes. The only way to know if a copy has no mistakes is if there was someone around now to say that a particular Bible is the real and complete word of God, and who could really do actual miracles to confirm that what he said was true. That would settle the matter for most people, I think. There isn't anyone like that around though.
However, if you do take time to carefully compare the few most logically accurate versions, you'll find, if you really have learned to recognize the truth, that the differences are not at all critical kinds of differences. Those people who get all bent out of shape about the differences they find, don't really understand the truth anyway. Here, for example, is one of the differences some people really get upset about. In one of the versions, Mary is called a young woman while she is called a virgin in others. This is not a problem though because as you read, you'll see that Jesus' conception is described as a miracle via a young woman who had not had relations with a man. That's a description of a virgin. A woman getting pregnant in the normal way is not a miracle. That's just "normal."
Does it really matter how much we actually know about how many are in the Godhead? If you read Acts 2, you'll read what Peter and the other apostls preached to a large number of people on that famous Pentecost day. Not one time did they discuss the number of persons in the Godhead, and yet they preached the gospel that Jesus commanded them to preach, that people needed to hear and to respond to. All of the versions say that about 3,000 people repented of their sins that day, were baptized in water according to what Jesus commanded, and, as a result were forgiven, given miraculous gifts at the laying on of the apostles hands and added to the church. [The miraculous gifts, or gift of the Holy Spirit, except for Jesus, his apostles, and Cornelius, were obtained when one or more of the apostles laid hands on a repentent, baptized believer. Then, the Holy Spirit gave them whichever gift it chose to give them.] Today, no miraculous gifts are given to anyone. So, all the fuss over whether God is one or three, etc., is to fuss over something that is not necessary to know in order to be saved. If it had been necessary, Peter and the others would have made that abundantly clear I'm quite sure. What you need to believe and be able to support with reasonable proof is whether or not Jesus died and was resurrected, and that he has been given the right to forgive your sins on the conditions he set forth. It makes no difference whether he was literally God's only son, or if he was just the only son of God that had died as the purchase price for bad debts held by God and that he now owns the right to set the terms for forgiveness of your debt to him. From that point on, it's mostly just the golden rule of "do unto others as you would have others do unto you." There are some specific instructions about the organization of the church, mostly just simple logical things, some discussion about the husband and wife relationship, again just simple logic, some specific mention of right and wrong moral behavior, and a few related things. But, all of it, literally everything that pertains unto life and godliness are covered in the New Testament and are to be guided by the attributes of the Spirit that Christians should possess, a partial list of which is found in 1Cor 13. Aside from such things as that, there are a lot of warnings about false teachers and some specific problems in the early church because of so much immaturity and legalistic thinking among the members. Now, even if an angel comes and says that any of that needs to be changed, don't listen to him. What could you possibly add to "everything that pertains to life and godliness"? Nothing!
Let me ask you something. Could you know the will of God and comply with it without ever reading the Bible, any version of it? Paul said you could. Do you need to hear about Jesus to go to heaven? Not unless you're a sinner, and God does not owe it to you to hear about Jesus. That's a gift if it comes your way, and not something that God is required to see that you get. If God owes it to anyone, then it is a debt, not a gift, and what person can legitimately say that God owes him anything? Is every person a sinner? No! When Paul said that there is none rightous, "no not one," he was speaking hyperbolically because babies are not sinners and neither was Jesus, according to the Bible; all versions of it. There are a lot of other people that would not be counted as sinners too. God is a just God, and if he is not, then he is not worthy of being worshipped. That all die does not mean that they die as a result of their own sins. People die, according to the Bible, because when Adam and Eve did their thing, God repossessed the gift of immortality he had given them on the condition that they obey him, which they CHOSE NOT TO DO, and he decided not to give it to anyone else after that. He didn't and doesn't owe immortality to anyone. That's a gift that you can now have on the terms set forth by Jesus. What are the terms? They are given in every version of the Bible. They all agree on those terms. It doesn't matter which version you read. When it comes to how to become a Christian and how to live a faithful life, all of the "legitimate" versions agree.
So, pick out a good readable version, one that is an actual translation and not a paraphrase. Sure, even translations contain some human opinions from the translators where it's very difficult to exactly translate from one language to another. Try it with Chinese. You'll really find some differences there. But, can the Chinese people be saved by reading a Mandarin Bible? You bet they can. If they can't, then, according to the Bible [all versions of it] they're in a serious amount of trouble. That is, if the Bible is true and the writers of the New Testament were not liars. Is it possible to know for sure? Yes, it is. And that is what my book will explain in a way that no one else, to my knowledge, has ever done right. I'm thinking of naming it, "The Answer."
I hope this helps at least a little.
Sincerely,
Mr. McClellan