Why I Distrust Most Modern Bibles: Introduction

For those who may not know, I have gone back and forth between the 1599 Geneva Bible and the Authorized Version of 1611 (also known as the KJV, using the 1749 revisions) for the past two or so years. Before that time, I had not really considered my Bible carefully, and not just because I didn't read it (being a sorcerer and all). As of this writing, I seldom touch any other translation except to study their issues.

There are three major issues with all the "modern" Bibles that I have studied thus far:

1. They are based on the Alexandrian texts, which are less accurate and less reliable than the Byzantine for any number of reasons
2. They are perverted by "textual criticism", which allows the translation team to take all kinds of liberties with the text (including omitting entire verses)
3. They are predominately paraphrases, obfuscating the original textual basis of their scriptures

I will have to tackle each of these issues individually, likely with multiple posts, but there are the issues in a nutshell. As always, I encourage you to check for yourself as to the veracity of my claims (though I do not encourage anything that the Scripture forbids). In closing, here are a few of my favorite verses removed or downplayed through textual criticism:

• Matthew 17:21
• Matthew 23:14
• I John 5:7-8 (this is among the worst, as they changed the numbering of verses to hide the omission - compare the KJV with the NIV for an obvious example)
• Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:2 (modifications to the Lord's prayer you probably never realized were there in the NIV)
• Matthew 9:13 and Mark 2:17 (same verse, two books)
• And, of course, John 8:1-11 (the woman caught in adultery), which the "earliest and most reliable (read: Alexandrian) texts" omit