LCMS-WELS-ELS-ELDONA Reject Inerrancy by Embracing the NIV-ESV Greek Text

The LCMS-WELS-ELS-ELDONA sects reject the ancient truth of Biblical inerrancy by embracing the NIV and ESV translations. 

These apostate factions get along well with ELCA because they share the same foundation - the modernized Greek text butchered by Hort-Wescott and further abused in its new disguise as the Nestle-Aland text. 

The traditional or received text (Textus Receptus for Latin 101 veterans) is not only consistent throughout, but exists in other forms as translations, church father quotations, and lectionaries. A lectionary can be dated one century and yet have a tradition going much earlier. As everyone knows - or should know - the publishing of Scripture is far more rigorous than ordinary books. 

Hort and Tiscendorf really wanted to derail the traditional text, so they took exceptions and made them the new norms. I have some interesting quotes about Hort's attitude and methods. In short, he did not reveal his new text until the English revision came out that matched it, 1881. Blowback was enormous because - suddenly - the Greek New Testament was quite different. 

This is a brief description of how this happened. Hort hated the traditional text and decided that later versions were identified by lots of extra words and verses. He liked the Vatican example (conveniently called Vaticanus) because so many words were missing. 

Here is the thinking - a manuscript gets more verbose over time, so we must find the original, clean copy. But that is nonsense. Apart from the overwhelming evidence behind the traditional text, there is this common sense answer to Hort. When we are writing or copying, what happens when an odious or troublesome term or event comes up? We avoid to edit that out or use circumlocutions. When one Yalie was told he would experience the worst pain in his life during one procedure, he explained, "It was everything they promised."

So - if an anti-Trinitarian does not like to equate Jesus with God, he will omit God and substitute a pronoun. 1 Timothy 3:16 is an example. And, the text may be worn and faded, which can yield the same result. 

Mark 16:9ff is beautifully in harmony with Matthew and Luke. One example of a manuscript dropping the ending has become faux-canonical already in the LCMS. (Seminex won!) In various modern translations, the ending is dropped to the footnote area or marked as dubious. "Some ancient witnesses say..."

There are hundreds of examples of this finessing, always reducing the text and its clarity.

Very few clergy know enough Greek to spot this, to follow the evidence, to care about the results. But the denominations and higher education have simply excluded anything KJV from the list. That is why Attempted Murder will be written to explain this so even a District President can understand.

Two fake doctors say, "And then we will remove the ending of Mark and still make a ton of money!"

KJV Best and TLH Best versus NIV-Only, ESV-Only, Praise Band Only

 

The Fuller Seminary faculty would like to thank LCMS, WELS, and ELS for their financial support.

I am studying the text and translation issues as I finish the Walther book. I noticed a lot of references to "KJV-only," which is always a pejorative term. Any argument for the KJV is reduced to guilt by association - that KJV-only crowd. Ptui.

I have used a lot of translations for various reasons. I am a KJV-best proponent. I appreciate the KJV updates because of their emphasis on the correct text and precise translation principles. However, I like the KJV because it reminds the best of that group and does not change. 

Readers may be somewhat aware that the attitude toward the New Testament text is Nestle-Aland-Only. That Greek text is not much different from the Hort-Wescott Greek, but is vastly different from the traditional text, often called the Textus Receptus. 

The Nestle-Aland even brags about defeating the traditional text. And they have. No college, seminary, or denomination (with a few exceptions) will allow a King James Version to be used. The KJV has been delisted and no longer exists as an option - and that includes all modernized versions - New KJV, KJV21, Modern KJV, etc.

The WELS lazybones bought or leased a translation, changed a few words, and called it the WELS translation (Evangelical Heritage Version). It appears to use the traditional text. They could have picked the KJV or a modernized one to sell, but no - to prove their love of plagiarism, they touched up what was already done and called it theirs. I give papers like that a zero for academic dishonesty.

Showing up with a KJV is like going to a Cubs game wearing Cardinals gear! How could you even think of it? And yet, the KJV is based on the Tyndale, based on Luther's Bible. That is just one more indication that LCMS-WELS-ELS have jettisoned Luther for good. 

If someone has a better translation of the original text, I am in favor, but not if the wording is changed for each edition. 

The same applies to The Lutheran Hymnal, which could be improved in some areas. However, the "conservative" Lutherans keep making their hymnals worse and more Calvinistic.

"Tuition special at Fuller and Willow Creek. Whee! Be sure to ask for Thrivent matching funds."

Bulbs Are Encased Flowers

Grape hyacinths cost about a dime each and they multiply.

Bulbs arrived just before the rain, so we had a chance to plant some and have them watered. The daffodils are primary, because

Critters do not eat daffodils or dig them up to plant elsewhere. I am talking about squirrels. 

In spite of vows, pledges, and promises, I bought a bag of strange purple tulips for the diabetes doctor and a few iris to try out a rainbow collection. Those two are subordinate to the daffodils. I was only going to buy daffodils. Tulips in Springdale? - neve again. Iris? - never bought them before. That comes from swooning over all the photos and not facing the task of digging.

Lest I forget, I bought a bag of grape hyacinths, which are not hyacinths or grapes - but cost 10 cents each. They can be included in a drift or two of daffodils. Like the buttercups, as Ranger Bob calls them, they will multiply over time. Tulips fade.

I watered the initial planting area for two hours, one day before planting. When we began digging the next day, the soil seemed as dry as before. However, the clay soil was dug and the daffodils planted, with fresh mulch on top to mark the planted area. Do not laugh - the mulch is a good cover and a horticultural bookmark.

Last night we were starting to fall asleep when clouds began booming. I said, "Ahhh." Mrs. Ichabod asked anxiously, "What's wrong?" I said, "Nothing. The rain is watering the newly planted bulbs, just what I wanted."

We had the initial threats of the storm during the Military Gardening Group meeting, attended by Ranger Bob, PFC, Sassy and me. We saw a rabbit duck under the Hosta leaves when it started to rain. Bob has the eyes of a hunter, so he spotted the rabbit first. I told him, "My people have eyes that are bad for hunting, good for accounting."

Ranger Bob got his dozen daffodils. I showed Bob and PFC the daffodil box. They could not believe it.

Our vet tech neighbor came by, so we were talking flowers and bulbs. "Need some daffodils?" She said, "I haven't shopped for them yet." That is when people bypass the purchase. Store bulbs are usually not that good. Not everyone is blessed with gardening catalogs and emails arriving daily. I made the purchase months before with that in mind. "I could use a few," she said about the bulbs just inside the door. "You should get a dozen." Her eyes lit up. Bulbs impress with a mass of color.

The idea is to have bulbs and flowers for everyone to enjoy. Unless there is a specific order and a known prices, I give the extras away. The lawn crew got a dozen daffodils to take home, too. 

Daffodils will come up in the early spring, flower, and fade before mowing/weed-eating time. Anyone can plant them in the lawn, mowing the first time once the greens are faded. 

Bee balms were cut back, so they began growing again.