A Special Bible. Really.

It is a universal truism that members of the body of Christ desire deeply for others to be enlightened by God's truth. When someone says, "Oh, I get it!" it means a human being has received the gift of eonian life, and I was there when they were shown the truth. That is worth a great deal.

Speaking personally, I would rather participate in the work that brings a person to a knowledge of the truth than win the Mega Millions or Powerball. I honestly prefer eonian life for a former stranger over a life of luxury for myself and my loved ones. Winning millions would ultimately just provide cash to fund the evangel; while I would handle a few personal items, my absolute priority would be supporting resources like this website.

ANYWAY...

I recently had the opportunity to share a wealth of information with a friend. He was going through a difficult time in life, and our conversations naturally turned toward God and His purposes. When he asked what I believed, I presented him with a copy of the Concordant Literal New Testament (CLNT) and shared the evangel—the pure truth without all the baggage poured into the Bible by the traditional Christian church.

He balked. He did read the CLNT and confirmed that it presented exactly what I had shared, but he missed the point of a literal translation, making a revelatory comment that exposed his mindset.

Harold wrote:

"What I am realizing is that if you want to have a universal (reconciliation) view, you kinda have to have a different Bible."

My response:

Actually, you are correct. The versions of Scripture that carry the clearest indicators of God’s sovereignty and Christ’s victory look very different from the industry standards that have hidden truth behind mistranslations. (check out this video that highlights a few errors)

Click Me

Most common versions are produced to satisfy the theological and financial frameworks of the organizations funding them. They are often "translated" to maintain denominational doctrines. It sounds crazy, but they have a system to support, and it leads to a form of institutional "confirmation bias"—it isn't necessarily malicious; it is just what people do, especially when their superiors mandate it.

In contrast, the most revelatory, literal versions are translated objectively first, and then the resulting doctrine is extracted from the text. They rely on literal translation principles with minimal textual variations from the best ancient manuscripts.

That is why I encourage you to utilize every research tool available to search out the original words and their singular meanings. Consider the example I showed you with the word pistis (faith) in Acts 17:31, where it is translated as "assurance." The only time the word "faith" conflicts with standard church doctrine is the precise moment it gets conveniently switched out.

When a literal translation does not match "acceptable" mainstream versions, the discrepancy itself isn't where you should focus your energy. The vital questions are: Which one is closest to the meaning of the original languages? Which one shows GOD to be bigger, better, more loving, and more truthful? Which one more accurately reflects the best manuscripts we have? Scripture isn’t ultimately about us, but it is the only vehicle we have to know and understand God.

Additionally, Harold asked:

"All the verses about faith, repentance, keeping commandments, picking up your cross, and following... what does a searcher do with all of those? Scripture talks about those who believe, entering the narrow gate, following examples, obedience, making choices in our circumstances... HOW IS THAT RESOLVED?"

My response:

First, I have a minor clarification: I do not believe in "Universalism." That term carries a specific set of beliefs, most of which I argue against. Traditional universalists often ignore clear passages regarding punishment and attribute salvation merely to God being a "nice guy" rather than to His absolute grace. Many also assume Christ simply died in our place as a substitute. No—He died to actually remove the penalties for sin and offense. A mere substitutionary death would mean the one who died just stayed dead. Christ accomplished something definitive: He removed sin. Universalism says He tried; the scriptural evangel says He succeeded.

I simply believe all the passages in the Scriptures are true in their proper context and toward their intended recipients. I am just a believer. Simple.

To show you what this kind of belief solves, consider God's instruction to Jonah to warn Nineveh. I do not feel personally called to go to Nineveh to preach because God never delivered that duty to me. However, because of that historical account, I do believe Christ was in the tomb (not the grave) for three days and three nights, just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish. Because I take the text literally, I don't have to mental-gymnast a way to squeeze three days and nights between a Friday afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday morning resurrection like standard church tradition tries to do. Believing exactly what is written clarifies what people normally consider "problems."

Everything in the Scriptures is true, but just like the mandates given to Jonah or Moses, specific admonitions are context-specific. To put it simply:

All of the mail is FOR us, but it is not all addressed TO us.

I am not called to follow the Mosaic Law. God has placed a law in my heart and directs me by my conscience; Scripture notes that we can be a law unto ourselves. Everything concerning human choice, divine sovereignty, and God's absolute control is right there in the text to be believed or ignored—but the truth itself cannot be changed.

That was it... I always feel a driving need to emphasize that the Scriptures are entirely true. God speaks to us directly through them, and we need to believe Him regardless of what the clergy claim.

Now that I've laid it all out, and given how much coffee I drank earlier, I really shouldn't add fuel to an already wired system... but the desire to keep pushing the truth out there is always incredibly strong.