A good friend of mine sent me this link recently (http://queenjamesbible.com) and wanted to know my thoughts.
Thoughts were preceded by a number of emotions: Sadness... Anger... Frustration... Contempt... Resignment.
Sadness because this world is free falling into a misguided abyss that is twisting God's Word for its own selfish purpose.
Anger because this world is increasingly accepting false gospel as truth.
Frustration because so many of us Christians let this stuff pass by... or worse, support it.
Contempt for those who are selfish enough to think they can rewrite the inspired Word of God to suit their cause.
Resignment because the slippery slope has created an avalanche of disdain for what Christianity really is... and many Christians unwittingly helped push it along.
If there's any better example to illustrate why I don't support a gay agenda, I haven't seen one. There are so many directions and qualifiers I'd like to get into to set my point up here, but this would turn from a blog to a book.
But the arrogance it takes to think they can change the Bible is astounding. And scary.
The Queen James Bible editors are slick. But, one major flaw is in using the KJV as the gold standard of Biblical interpretation. So, instead of going to the source, they reinterpreted a version of Bible. They looked for ways to twist meaning and words to suit a specific cause. But, they only changed 8 verses. That right there should raise an eyebrow.
They went in with an agenda. If their effort was honest, they'd have gone verse by verse, looking to remove ANY 'ambiguity'... not just homosexual ambiguity.
It's like a science experiment. Scientists don't go out to prove a theory or point. They go out to DISprove it. When they can't, they they know they are on to something. If they go in with a specific agenda, the results are tainted in favor of a certain bias, thus invalidating the entire process.
That's what these editors have done. They went in to 'clarify' specific points for their own purpose. Instead of re-translating, they decided to re-interpret... and there's a massive difference between re-translating and re-interpreting.
Twisting the Bible to remove 'homophobic' verses is about as arrogant as I think humanity can get. We don't like something? Change it to fit our needs. If you're going to change it... Just don't believe it at all.
I'll address 'homophobic' in a bit, but Isaiah 5:20-21 says, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!"
Galatians 1:6-10 says, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."
God's Word is infallible. You can argue all you want about how it was put together by man, yadda yadda yadda... End of the day, if you are a born again Christian, you believe by faith that God's Word is true. Not parts of it. Not the pieces you like. But the whole thing. There is no picking and choosing. That also means you need to know it well enough to understand context of Old vs New Testaments. Or contexts of verses against other verses. Because if you don't, how can you tell when it's being twisted by people who know what they're doing?
I find it ironic people blame the media for taking certain quotes or soundbytes out of context when so many are so willing to do the same (and much worse) with the Bible!
Now to homophobia. Good grief, that may be the term I hate more than any other.
A phobia is a fear. People fear spiders. Snakes. Clowns. The closest to homophobia there is might be gay-agendaphobia, because it getting scarier and scarier.
Anti-gay doesn't even cover it because that infers we do not accept or love those people. We do (or should.)
I'll say it as plainly as I can:
I love gay people.
But just because you love someone doesn't mean you support everything they do. You wouldn't let your 3yr old child play in a busy street. They think it's ok, but you know better and you love them enough to pull them back in the yard. You don't let your child eat ice cream for breakfast (everyday :) ) because it's unhealthy.
I'm not homophobic. I ain't skeered. I'm not even anti-gay. I love them as people. I've known many. But, as a Christian, I am NOT willing to classify their world-view as Biblically acceptable.
You see, there's a reason I (and most Christians) don't support a gay agenda and it has nothing to do with hate. Sure, there are some people out there who DO hate gay people, which I think is sad. But, saying all Christians hate gay people is like saying all white people are racist. That's just not the case, but makes for a good headline.
To support something means to endorse it. As Christians, supporting a gay agenda equates to endorsing it. And if we are to follow the Bible, we simply can not do that.
Somewhere along the way, people who aren't Christians have decided how Christians should think and behave. Non-Christians have decided to redefine 'love' to meet their needs. To Christians, by definition, God IS love. So, how can a non-Christian have any idea what love truly means to a Christian?
What the secular world wants to hear is it is ok to sin. Actually, what they WANT to hear is sin ISN'T sin.
If you don't believe in the Bible, then that's a completely different argument and there's no common ground here because we aren't even discussing from the same perspective. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything here since I'm not even discussing my own thoughts on homosexuality at length.
But the agenda they are force-feeding society is dangerous.
Dangerous how? Well, for one, they have gotten powerful enough to try to change the Bible. And some people are clearly letting them. That's pretty dang bold, if you ask me.
I heard a quote long ago that has proven true in every instance I've tried applying it: What one generation tolerates, the next embraces.
Isn't it time we start tolerating a true view of what Christianity is supposed to be?
I'm not saying gays are bad people. We are ALL bad people. From a moral perspective, I've known some gays who were nicer and had more integrity than some Christians I know. But, let's be clear... being good means very little. By any definition, no one is good enough to get themselves into Heaven. Not one.
Sin is sin. Lying is wrong. Murder is wrong. Cheating on your taxes is wrong. Adultery is wrong. Getting drunk is wrong. Stealing paper from your office is wrong. Refusing to help the poor is wrong. Smoking crack is wrong. Watching porn is wrong. Homosexuality is wrong.
The difference between all these? Homosexuality is the only one that is trying to define itself as normal and ok. Trying to convince us it's not wrong.
I'm not getting deep into the 'choice debate.' I DO know it's a choice to engage in homosexual acts. I know there are MANY gay Christians who have chosen a life of celibacy over having gay sex. Just as I know there are many Christians who do not/did not have sex until they were married. Heck, I am one of them. (No sex before marriage... not the gay sex part. :) )
But letting sin redefine our concepts of right and wrong is evil and twisted. And just because the majority think something is ok doesn't make it so.
The danger in a gay agenda is this: Supporters want to remove the idea that homosexuality is not wrong. By preaching 'equality, acceptance, etc' they want a world view that looks past their choices.
But it doesn't stop there. It can't. You can't stop an avalanche. It can only stop itself once it's done all the damage it's going to do.
The gay agenda wants a world where twisting the Bible to remove 'homophobic' verses affirms their world view. That's what is so scary.
This Queen James Bible wants us to somehow connect the fact that King James I was bisexual... and since the King James Bible was written from his command, that that somehow means homosexuality is ok? What sense does that connection make??
What is painful is how moral relativism has now trumped Godly truth.
There is no ambiguity. Concealing the truth (by changing the words) doesn't change the truth. All it does is hide it from those seeking it. And as the verses I mention above outline, there's a price to pay for that.
The Queen James Bible isn't really the problem. It's a symptom of a much larger one. An insidious coup to turn upon its head the very ideal Christianity is built on. Love. Knowing we are sinful. Accepting that we need help. If you're willing to deny something as sin, how can Christ forgive it?
That's the danger, folks.
