My dear readers,

Answering Remaining Questions from Calvary Pandan Church Camp 2024 (9)

Question 1: How do I tell a friend (who claims to be a Christian) who says that the New King James Version (NKJV) is the same as the KJV that they are not the same? He says they convey the same message, but only the English is different?

Answer 1: Based on the preface of the NKJV, we can see that the KJV and NKJV are not the same.

The NKJV translators explained the Hebrew texts used in translating the Old Testament — “Daniel Bomberg printed the first Rabbinic Bible in 1516-17; that work was followed in 1524-25 by a second edition prepared by Jacob ben Chayyim and also published by Bomberg. The text of ben Chayyim was adopted in most subsequent Hebrew Bibles, including those used by the King James translators. The ben Chayyim text was also used for the first two editions of Rudolph Kittel's Biblia Hebraica of 1906 and 1912. In 1937 Paul Kahle published a third edition of Biblia Hebraica. This edition was based on the oldest dated manuscript of the ben Asher text, the Leningrad Manuscript B19a (A.D. 1008), which Kahle regarded as superior to that used by ben Chayyim. For the New King James Version the text used was the 1967/1977 Stuttgart edition of the Biblia Hebraica, with frequent comparisons being made with the Bomberg edition of 1524-25. The Septuagint (Greek) Version of the Old Testament and the Latin Vulgate also were consulted. In addition to referring to a variety of ancient versions of the Hebrew Scriptures, the New King James Version draws on the resources of relevant manuscripts from the Dead Sea caves.”

The KJV used the Ben Chayyim texts, whereas the NKJV admits that they used the 1967/1977 Stuttgart edition of the Biblia Hebraica (i.e. the Hebrew Bible), the Ben Asher texts used by the modern twentieth-century translations.

The NKJV translators explained the Greek texts used in translating the New Testament – “In light of these facts, and also because the New King James Version is the fifth revision of a historic document translated from specific Greek texts, the editors decided to retain the traditional text in the body of the New Testament and to indicate major Critical and Majority Text variant readings in the footnotes. Although these variations are duly indicated in the footnotes of the present edition, it is most important to emphasize that fully eighty-five per cent of the New Testament text is the same in the Textus Receptus, the Alexandrian Text, and the Majority Text.”

The New Testament is only eighty-five per cent similar to the Textus Receptus, which is what the whole NT of the KJV is based on.

Before the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century by Johannes Gutenberg, the powerful Roman Catholic Church had embargoed the Bible from the people for more than one thousand years. With the invention of the printing press, the costs of books became affordable to the general populace. Coupled with the Bible (written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek) being translated into the people's languages, especially the English translations, the Word of God spread across Europe which the devil could not stop. The translated Word of God was in the people's hands for the first time. Sarcedotalism within Christendom came to an end. The Word of God could be read, studied and obeyed, and doctrines based upon traditions rather than God’s Word were challenged and rejected if they were not according to the Holy Scriptures.

The best way to stop the spread of God’s truth was to drown the truth with translations of the Bible using spurious Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts. These spurious translations need not be full of errors, for the devil knows that the fewer the errors (i.e. the closer they are to the most accurate and faithful translation), the more acceptable they would be to the undiscerning and gullible. This ploy, with few errors in the translations, worked marvellously from the end of the nineteenth century to the twentieth century A.D.

The KJV was translated and completed in 1611 A.D. This was the Bible's most faithful and accurate translation in English based on the perfectly inspired and preserved Hebrew and Aramaic texts for the Old Testament (Masoretic Texts) and the Greek Texts for the New Testament (Textus Receptus). By the end of the nineteenth century, the spurious texts of Westcott and Hort were used for its first modern translation, known as the English Revised Version, based upon a different Greek text. From that moment, all modern translations including the NKJV employed different texts from the KJV's trusted Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts.

Many professing believers think that it is not a big deal as long as “most” of the Word of God is found in any translation of the Bible and the gospel is present. They do not mind a few errors, further claiming that these errors (in some cases no more than 1% of the Bible) are only in numbers and names of people and places. There are 783,137 words in the KJV. 1% equals 7,831 errors! This is equivalent to the following books – 1 and 2 Thessalonians (1837, 1022 words), Titus (896 words), 1, 2, 3 John (2517, 298, 294 words), Jude (608 words), Philemon (430) – a total of 7902 words. How can any born-again believer accept one per cent of errors when it is certain he will refuse to accept a bowl of noodle soup that has a small fly in it?

Question 2: Are fasting and praying still biblical and practical when you need to make a request to God?

Answer 2: Christ taught the doctrine of fasting in His sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6:16-18: “¹⁶ Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ¹⁷ But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; ¹⁸ That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” Christians will fast as the word “when” indicates. A believer who fasts desires to spend a longer uninterrupted time in prayerful communion with God. When we examine our daily routine, we see that it is interrupted throughout the day by eating. The longest uninterrupted time we can spend with God in prayer is about 3 to 5 hours, depending on our meal times. If a heavy heartfelt burden consumes the believer, instead of eating he will use the time to plead for God’s mercy, the way King David did when his son was gravely ill (cf. 2 Sam 12:15-23). Fasting is not a mechanical exercise that is done ritualistically or routinely. It is a spontaneous desire to spend time with God in prayer because of a heavy burden and pleading to know God's will.

Question 3: Understand that we need to give 10% of our earnings as tithes to the Lord. How about remaining 90%? Is remaining 90% considered as "freewill offering" that require us to give in supporting rental of an auditorium for church services, full-time staff's salary, etc? What if the church has enough cash reserve for all these expenses?

Answer 3: All that we have come from the Lord. The meaning of “tithe” is ten per cent. In Old Testament times, the firstfruits were designated for the priests and their families as the Israelites gave to the LORD. Tithes from the rest of the harvest were given to God, and designated to the Levites and their families. In this way, the priests and Levites could focus on studying and teaching God’s Word to the twelve tribes. In the New Testament, the tithes will be used to support evangelism (to extend God’s kingdom), to defend the Faith, and to support God’s people. The remaining ninety per cent is for the worshipper’s personal use, for his physical and spiritual well-being to help him and his family grow in the Lord, and to become better witnesses for Christ and more mature believers. The tithes will be carefully managed by the Board of Elders who are supposed to be the most spiritual people in the church.

There is no need for God’s people to give of their ninety per cent to help with church expenses.

The BOE (10%) and all believers (90%) will answer to the Lord on the Day of Judgment for how God’s tithes and offerings have been used. Hoarding is a sin because it is trust in Mammon and not in God.