Not all Bibles are the same. Some translators have racked their brains over how to translate statements, style and, above all, meaningful content into the respective national language. The reformer Martin Luther is of course one of the pioneers in German-speaking countries. When translating the New Testament he stuck to the Greek majority text (Textus Receptus). One of the most outstanding exotic works of our time is the Textus Sinaiticus, the basis of “scientific textual criticism”.
Inhalt / Content
From Textus Receptus to Nestle-Aland
The following essay focuses on the Bibles in the German language. But the concept of the sometimes massive Bible changes and Bible falsifications is also used in English-speaking areas. Detailed examples of English Bibles can be found here and here.
After Luther’s translation and the Vatican version (Codex Vaticanus) faced each other for centuries, some “resourceful people” went to work and looked at the original Greek texts for the New Testament according to “scientific” criteria.. Led by Eberhard Nestle at the end of the 19th century and then by Kurt Aland from the 1960s. While Nestle did not use the original Greek texts as a basis, but various variants of existing translations, Aland compared Nestle’s results with the original texts and other individual manuscripts. The result is the so-called “Novum Testamentum Graece” (Nestle-Aland). In the further modifications, among other things, a focus was on reliability and readability.
Ease of reading or misrepresentation?
In principle, there is nothing wrong with adapting the respective translations to a modern reading. However, it becomes critical when some fundamental statements are either twisted or omitted entirely. A fairly clear guide can be seen from the changes and omissions in the new Bible translations. On the one hand, the translations in individual areas must be brought into accordance with the Catholic catechism (e.g. Catholic Trinity, immortal soul, presence of saints as spirits at the Eucharist, etc.) and on the other hand, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, dethroned in the course of ecumenism and reduced to a kind of privileged person, a simple prophet or an ordinary religious founder.
As part of the ongoing ecumenism (Oikumene = inhabited entire earth) the goal is compatibility with other religions (e.g. Islam, Judaism). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and his Father are also incompatible with, for example, Buddhism. Hence, the effort to remove personality and install a kind of pantheism, coupled with a strong pinch of “New Age” philosophy.
“Special case” – The Codex Sinaiticus
The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the outstanding basic texts. A find near Mount Sinai. Celebrated as “the oldest basic text found” and since then the basis for “text-critical” Bible scholars. The “sensational” find is not just individual excerpts from scripture, but an (over) complete Bible, from the Old Testament, New Testament and Apocrypha, written in ancient Greek.
One of the special features of this “Sinai Bible” is the enormous number of differences from the Textus Receptus (e.g. King James Version, Luther 1912). More than 14,000 deviations. “Even” compared to the Vatican version, thousands of deviations can be counted. The Textus Sinaiticus is therefore also considered to have a certain exclusivity.
“Majority text” not without reason
The majority text (Textus Receptus) was given this name for a simple reason. More than 5,000 identical copies of this writing have now been found. While other finds, even though they may be older in origin, represent only a small minority, if not individual specimens. This also applies to the discovery at Mount Sinai. The originals, i.e. the manuscripts from the authors such as Matthew, Mark, John and Paul, no longer exist or have not yet been discovered. The world currently only has copies of different ages available.
Forgers, or “scholars” with an idiosyncratic interpretation of the Gospel, have not only existed recently. The Old Testament was eagerly redesigned and interpreted in the Alexandria area. Science knows such a result with the Septuagint. An edition that not only deviates from the majority text, but is even self-contradictory (Info). But today’s “science” stands on exactly such foundations..
Climatic conditions
The discovery at Mount Sinai illustrates another fact. While the identical copies of the majority text were found predominantly in the Mediterranean region, the individual, some older, writings come from the Alexandria area or in the Mount Sinai area. Paper or papyrus survives much longer in bone-dry areas than in wetter areas of the Mediterranean. It is therefore obvious that the chances of older finds are greater in desert areas than in temperate climate zones.
The older, the more correct?
A simple, but also naive, logic is that “the older, the more correct” applies. This is neither automatically the case nor is it logical. If more than 5,000 identical copies are dated from the late 4th century, and a single different edition is dated to the beginning of the 4th century, is there any logic in this that the older edition therefore has the truthful content?
Simple example: You find an old newspaper from 1955 and the report it contains about the character and political “successes” of a rather untalented painter from Austria in the German-speaking area. A short time later you find a newspaper from the same publisher from 1938 with a report on the character and political “successes” of the same Austrian. It is obvious that the two reports will be completely different. Does the 1938 edition describe the truth just because it is older than the 1955 edition?
Unfortunately, modern editions of the Bible today use the practice of using the statements of one of these individual finds in the running text and in the “best case” the majority text is still mentioned in the footnote, if at all. Most people today are satisfied with simple statements like “the oldest find” and then believe that they know the supposed truth. Simple structures, simple world view.
A chance find as ordered
Incidentally, the Textus Sinaiticus was found in 1844, purely by chance, in a trash can in a monastery complex. This reads almost like an intact passport on the rubble of a dusty building that has just imploded. 1844 is also a very significant year in which Charles Darwin completed the first manuscript of his book “The Origin of Species” (published in 1859), the Bahá’i Universal Religion was founded, and a special event also took place from a biblical perspective (Info). Therefore, at the start of the “scientific textual criticism” of the Bible, Sinaiticus came at exactly the right time.
As with other topics, reality is much more complex than what is often portrayed in a blatant, naive and simple way. Another very strong indication that the Textus Receptus is the truthful original text lies simply in the fact that this original text has not been able to be eliminated to this day, despite the war that has been waged over centuries. There are also “rumors” about the term “poisonous viper” found by the Jesuits for the Textus Receptus. This can safely be seen as a seal of quality in favor of Textus Receptus.
The return of the Textus Receptus
To atheists and New Agers it may seem like just another coincidence of “cosmic providence”, but to believers it is clearly God’s work:
During the centuries of tyrannical dominance of the Roman Catholic Church, only the clergy were allowed to quote from their own version of the Latin Vulgate. To the common people in Latin, it goes without saying. The Textus Receptus was practically not used, which also goes without saying.
The majority text was most widely distributed in the Middle East, i.e. in the catchment area of the Eastern Church with its headquarters in Constantinople. This church was hostile to the Bishop of Rome. In the western Rome area, only individual ethnic groups had the original copies, such as the Waldensians. Pope Innocent III, who is now exuberantly celebrated, led a massive campaign of destruction against them. The genocide was unfortunately successful for Rome.
In 1453, the Ottomans brought a lasting end to the Eastern Roman Empire. Constantinople became Istanbul. This conquest set in motion a mass exodus to the west. Also included is the Textus Receptus. The majority text thus reappeared in the Rome area, more or less uncontrolled by the Vatican. The scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam, active in Protestant Basel, Switzerland, collected these newly arrived writings and compiled them. He was finished with this in 1516. Only around a year later, Martin Luther posted the 95 theses on the gate of the castle church in Wittenberg. Book printing was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440. Luther’s basis for his Bible translation was the compilation of the Textus Reptus by Erasmus. The story began.
For some it’s pure coincidence, for others it’s God’s intervention.
“The Holy Grail”
It is entirely understandable that a real war is being waged over the statements of the Bible. The Roman Catholic Church has not succeeded in eradicating the gospel. Even today, this extremely arrogant institution claims the exclusive right to interpret the Bible. If the destruction didn’t succeed, then a flood of new textual statements in the form of “modern Bibles” and this at the same time “reformatting” people’s thinking.
The Nestle-Aland text, with the Textus Sinaiticus as an important reference, seems to be a kind of “Holy Grail”. Criticisms against Nestle-Aland Bibles are aggressively shot down, while the emphasis on Textus Receptus is branded as heresy. These Bible editions based on Sinaiticus are even expressly recognized by the Church of Rome. Signs enough not to allow such idiosyncratic books with thoroughly Gnostic content to come into your home.
Different Bible translations
Bible translations according to the Textus Receptus include:
Luther 1545, Luther 1912, Schlachter 2000, Alte Elberfelder (with limitation), King James Version(KJV, English)
The Bible translations after “scientific processing” according to Nestle-Aland include:
Luther 1954, Luther 1984, Luther 2017, Gute Nachrichten, Züricher Bibel 1931, Revidierte Elberfelder, Ökumenische Einheitsübersetzung, Neue Genfer Übersetzung 2003, Neues Leben, Hoffnung für Alle.
The “Volxbibel” is one of the particularly extravagant modern versions of the Bible, which is intended to appeal to young people through the language used. One could argue about taste, but this so-called “Youth Bible” also contains “theological” statements that no longer have anything in common with the original Gospel.
For example Exodus 20:8-10:
Schlachter 2000: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:”
Volxbibel: “Sunday is the day I want you all to relax. This seventh day of the week is a very special day and belongs to God alone. You can work and do your job for six days. But the seventh day is the day of relaxation, which belongs only to God.”
In addition, the following very important thing should be noted: Sunday as the 7th day within the calendar week, or Monday as the first of the week, is still a relatively young phenomenon in Germany and has only been around since March 1975. With DIN 1355 (German Industrie Norm), Monday was assigned the “ordinal number 1” and since then the week has started with Monday. Until then, Saturday was the 7th day and Sunday the 1st day of a new week for centuries. This is how it is still used in the USA, for example, and in many other countries around the world. Thus, according to Exodus 20:8, the biblical Sabbath is Saturday. This puts the shifting of the Saturday to be celebrated to Sunday in a particularly clear light.
The following list is only an excerpt of the changes made so far compared to the original text according to the Textus Receptus. It is clear to see that the majority of these are not efforts to improve fluency and understanding of the text.
Changes / falsifications in German Bibles
Statements in the "modern" versions of the Bible in German, some of which twist the meaning.The verses are translated from German. The changes in the German Bibles may differ from the English language Bibles.
| Textus Receptus Schlachter 2000 | Variant Nestle-Aland | Passage in the Bible |
|---|---|---|
| Greetings, pardoned one! The Lord is with you, blessed one among women! | "You blessed among women" has been omitted | Luke 1:28 |
| And Joseph and his mother marveled at what was said about him. | And his father and his mother wondered... | Luke 2:33 |
| ...and Joseph and his motherdidn't know | ...and his parents didn't know | Luke 2:43 |
| Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God | "but from every word of God" is dropped | Luke 4:4 |
| And Jesus answered him and said: Depart me, Satan! For it is written... | "Depart me, Satan!" is omitted | Luke 4:8 |
| Demons also came out from many, crying out and saying: You are the Christ, the Son of God!... | "the Christ" is omitted | Luke 4:41 |
| This is my beloved son; you should listen to him! | This is my chosen son, hear him! | Luke 9:35 |
| But if your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him | "against you" has been omitted | Luke 17:3 |
| Two will be on the field; one will be taken and the other left. | has been completely omitted | Luke 17:36 |
| And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom! | And he said: Jesus, remember me when you... | Luke 23:42 |
| No one has ever seen God; The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father has enlightened [about him]. | No one has ever seen God; God only who is in the bosom of the Father... | John 1:18 |
| This is he who comes after me, who came before me; and I am not worthy to loosen the thong of his shoe | "who came before me" is omitted | John 1:27 |
| And no one has gone up into heaven except he who came down out of heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven | "who is in heaven" has been dropped | John 3:13 |
| .. we have heard and recognized for ourselves that this is truly the savior of the world, the Christ. | "the Christ" is omitted | John 4:42 |
| .. because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me | But the will of him who sent me "of the father" has been omitted | John 5:30 |
| and we have believed and known that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God! | .. and realized that you are the saint of God. | John 6:69 |
| .. and when he found him, he said to him: Do you believe in the Son of God? | Do you believe in the Son of Man? | John 9:35 |
| Sanctify them in your truth! Your word is truth. | Sanctify them in the truth | John 17:17 |
| Come see the place where the Lord lay! | "the Lord" is omitted | Matthew 28:6 |
| Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God | "the kingdom" has been dropped | Matthew 1:17 |
| .. he has no forgiveness in eternity, but is subject to an eternal judgment. | .. but is guilty of eternal sin | Mark 3:29 |
| .. shake the dust off your feet as a testimony to them. Truly I say to you, Sodom and Gomorrah will be more tolerable on the Day of Judgment than that city! | highlighted part is missing completely | Mark 6:11 |
| .. I believe, Lord; help me, [to break away] from my unbelief! | "Lord" is omitted | Mark 9:24 |
| where their worm does not die and the fire does not go out. | has been completely omitted | Mark 9:44 |
| .. and come on take this Cross on you and follow me! | "take this Cross on you" has been dropped | Mark 10:21 |
| Gepriesen sei das Reich unseres Vaters David, das kommt im Namen des Herrn!Praise be to the kingdom our father David, that comes on behalf of Lord! | "that comes on behalf of Lord!" has been dropped | Mark 11:10 |
| Take heed, watch and pray! | "and pray!" is omitted | Mark 13:33 |
| There the Scripture was fulfilled, who says: "And he is among the outlaws calculated | has been completely omitted | Mark 15:28 |
| Philip said: If you whole heart believe, so it is permitted! He replied and said: I believe that Jesus Christ the Son God's! | has been completely omitted | Acts 8:37 |
| And he went into Jerusalem with them out and in and proclaimed boldly in Names of the Lord Jesus. | "Jesus" is omitted | Acts 9:28 |
| .. Four days ago fasted I until this hour, and I prayed for the ninth Hour .. | "fasted I" is omitted | Acts 10:30 |
| .. that we are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ .. | "Christ" is omitted | Acts 15:11 |
| Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved become, you and your house! | "Christ" is omitted | Acts 16:31 |
| .. became Paul by the Spirit urged the Jews to testify that Jesus who is Christ. | Paul was urged by the Word .. | Acts 18:5 |
| .. so that all those in [the province] Asia lived, that heard the word of the Lord Jesus | "Jesus" is omitted | Acts 19:10 |
| than those that are full of of all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, Malice; | "fornication" is omitted | Romans 1:29 |
| .. but live for God in Christ Jesus, our Lord!" | "our Lord" has been dropped | Romans 6:11 |
| that but Israel, that after the law of justice aspired to the law of Justice not achieved has. | "of Justice" has been dropped | Romans 9:31 |
| For the [Commandments]: You you shall not commit adultery shall not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not false testimony cast off, thou shalt not desire | highlighted part has been omitted | Romans 13:9 |
| For that is what Christ is for also died and rose again and alive again become that he both about dead as well be lord of the living | "and rose again" has been dropped | Romans 14:9 |
| And my speech and mine Annunciation did not exist in persuasive words human wisdom, but in proof of spirit and strength | "human" has been dropped | 1Corinthians 2:4 |
| For our Passover lamb was slaughtered for us become: Christ. | "for us" has been omitted | 1Corinthians 5:7 |
| and thanked it broke and said: Take, eat! That is my body, that for you is broken; this does to my memory! | And said: (/) This is my body, which is for you (/); this does in my memory! | 1Corinthians 11:24 |
| The first human is from the earth, earthly; the second Man is the Lord out the sky. | "the Lord" is omitted | 1Corinthians 15:47 |
| When it but God that me excreted from the womb and through his grace has called, well-pleased, | "God" is omitted | Galatians 1:15 |
| So you're not like that anymore servant but son; but if son, then also Inheritance of God through Christ. | But if son, then also inheritance through God. | Galatians 4:7 |
| For in Christ Jesus circumcision does not count still uncircumcised something but a new one creation. | "in Christ Jesus" has been omitted | Galatians 6:15 |
| I can do everything through who strengthens me, Christ. | "Christ" is omitted | Philippians 4:13 |
| in which we find salvation have by his blood that forgiveness of sins. | "by his blood" has been dropped | Colossians 1,14 |
| .. Grace be with you and Peace from God ours Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ! | highlighted part has been omitted | 1Thessalonians 1:1 |
| .. Don't you be too before our Lord Jesus Christ at his second coming? | "Christ" is omitted | 1Thessalonians 2:19 |
| But he himself, God, is ours Father and our Lord Jesus Christ guide ours way to you! | "Christ" is omitted | 1Thessalonians 3:11 |
| .. before our God and Father at the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. | "Christ" is omitted | 1Thessalonians 3:13 |
| .. and those who dem gospel of our lord Jesus Christ not obedient are. | "Christ" is omitted | 2Thessalonians 1:8 |
| hence the name of ours Lord Jesus Christ in be glorified to you and you in him, according to grace our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. | "Christ" is omitted | 2Thessalonians 1:12 |
| for which I was assigned as preachers and apostles - I'm telling the truth in Christ and do not lie - , as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and in truth. | "in Christ" is omitted | 1Timothy 2:7 |
| .. looks at the apostle and high priest of ours Confession, Christ Jesus, | "Christ" is omitted | Hebrews 3:1 |
| Behold, I come to your will, O God do | "O God" is omitted | Hebrews 10:9 |
| he will be the crown of receiving life, which the Lord promised to them has those who love him | "the Lord" is omitted | James 1:12 |
| and theirs is darkness keep out of darkness forever. | "forever" has been dropped | 2Peter 2:17 |
| We know we're dating came to life after death are because we love the brothers. Who the brother not love stays in Death. | "the brother" is omitted | 1John 3:14 |
| We love him because he loves us loved first. | "him" is omitted | 1John 4:19 |
| grace, mercy and Peace be with you from God the Father and of to the Lord Jesus Christ, the father's son, in truth and love! | "to the Lord" is omitted | 2John 3 |
| ungodly, which the grace of our God in to practice licentiousness and God, the only one ruler, and ours deny the Lord Jesus Christ. | "God" is omitted | Jude 1:4 |
| I am the be-all and end-all the beginning and the end, says the Lord who is and who was and who is coming, who Almighty. | I am the be-all and end-all the O, (/), speaks the Lord, God, the is and was and who comes, the Almighty. | Revelation 1:8 |
| who said: I am the A and the O, the first and the last! and: What you see, write that in book and send it to the Churches those in Asia are: | highlighted positions have been omitted | Revelation 1:11 |
| And the 24 elders fell down and prayed the on, he lives from eternity to eternity. | And the (/) elders fell down and worshiped (/) | Revelation 5:14 |
| We thank you, oh Lord, God Almighty, the you are and who you were and you come that you on your great power taken you and the assumed royal rule have! | "and you come" is omitted | Revelation 11:17 |
| And fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them. | "from God" has been omitted | Revelation 20:9 |
| These words are certain and verily; and the Lord the God of the saints Prophet, has his angel sent to his servants to show what should happen quickly | .. and the gentleman who God of spirits the prophets, has his .. | Revelation 22:6 |
There is a difference of no less than 3,600 deleted words between the Textus Receptus (New Testament only) and the Nestle 23rd edition. Over 970 words were added. The net difference between Textus Receptus and Neste-Aland shows almost 2,890 deleted words. This means that around two of Peter’s letters have been removed based on the Nestle-Aland variants.
A comprehensive description and detailed explanation (in German) of the “career” of the new Bible versions is available from Rudolf Ebertshäuser. The freely available .pdf “The traditional text of the New Testament and today’s Bible translations” may be reproduced and distributed as a whole. Another version offers 300 concrete examples of these very striking changes to the biblical statements (German) – here.
