Sin: Intellectual Error - Part 1

In preparation for this discussion, previous topics have related to the now acknowledged errancy of all versions of the Bible(s) read today brought about by conspiring men of old. Previous to that I have spoken at length to the error brought to doctrines by men from the Middle Ages using pagan philosophies. Where so much of the Bible has previously been extracted, pagan philosophies become necessary to sustain the tenets of sola scriptura in our day. Much as the cement of a retaining wall requires rebar to hold it together.

Lest no one misinterpret, the Bible was never meant to be the end all and be all of God's word, closed to His wisdom for the past 1500 years. As noted in Protestant topics in Blogstream, most discussion ignore the edict that the Bible stands alone and explains itself. This would be good is the Protestants had other scripture. But they commit error in going to the wisdom of man and earn a just curse for doing so.

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For the great mainstream of average Christians it is enough in naming sins and insisting the congregation to avoid the worship of idols, steer clear of profanity, Sabbath sacrilege, adultery, temple prostitution, and theft. But there are some sins that are not so easily recognized. Most members are not even prepared to commit these sins. Perhaps both members and pastors hardly think they are sins at all! But presumably everybody would agree that the actions are undesirable.

The seventeenth-century French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche, shows wisdom in pointing out the cause of the sins of individuals. In Volume III of his Recherche de la Verite, chapter one, he wrote: "Error is the cause of human misery; it is the insidious principle that has shaped the evil in our world; it is error that has given birth and preserves in our collective souls all the evils that afflict us. We should not hope for true and solid happiness except in working seriously to avoid it."

Although adultery and sodomy, theft and murder are commonly regarded as overt actions, their beginnings are in our thinking. Sin is to often the result of intellectual error. Scriptures plainly teach it. For example:

• "It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways" (Psalm 95:10).


• They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. (2 Nephi 28:14


• "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23 ).


• "As he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7).


• Satan doth stir up the hearts of the people to contention concerning the points of my doctrine; and in these things they do err, for they do wrest the scriptures and do not understand them. (D&C 10:53)


• "The heart is deceitful above measure and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9).


• And my vineyard has become corrupted every whit; and there is none which doeth good save it be a few; and they err in many instances because of priestcrafts, all having corrupt minds. (D&C 33:4)


• "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries..." (Matthew 15:17).

These verses are supported by many concrete instances in the Old Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, provide the evidence that sin is at first mental and only afterward overt.

Likewise, righteousness is also intellectual at first and only later seen in conduct. 2 Peter 1:2-8 is a passage many Christians seem never to have read. It begins with Peter’s prayer beseeching God for blessings of knowledge, where as his marvelous power has given us everything, pertaining to godliness through knowledge. We even acquire divine nature by means of God’s promises which we must know and understand. In escaping the lusts of this mortal world, we should diligently add knowledge of the spirit to our faith, without Godly bestowed virtues we would otherwise find ourselves barren in the knowledge of Christ. And in not returning to the pure intellect of God, we substitute the wisdom of man.

Evidence of where the Orthodox Protestant is today and after the Crucified Christ, The Jew can be found in the most basic of scriptural, even biblical discussions. Beginning ever so economically, Heb 5:8 ends a somewhat milky discourse on Jesus Christ on how Christ was made perfect through suffereing. (Still unknowable by so many Christians of our day)

Hbr 5:8-14 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk [is] unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, [even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Rarely have these verses received serious attention excepting for LDS circles.

Hebrews 5:12-6:3 rarely receives serious attention either. In these verses God rebukes some of us who could become teachers but who refuse to prepare ourselves with true knowledge, playing with the word of righteousness like a baby. We should. We should go to college, it tells us.

The following continues the warning for a total dependence upon the closed canon Bible in any translation.

There is always the deceit, treachery, and sham. Can you imagine the shock and withering despair in watching your husband intimately embrace another man, or your wife intimately embrace another woman? Or, perhaps you are suspicious only and searching, you find your husband’s or wife’s profile on http://gay.com . There are an estimated 1.7 million to 3.4 million American women who once were or are now married to men who have sex with men. Tens of thousands of women are associated with support groups to help them cope. And it is written that they are becoming younger and younger as their men become more and more embolden.

It has been acknowledged that a large percent of married men who engage in homosexual activity do so for the fantasy and consider themselves heterosexual. Surprise, surprise . Stories of brokered marriages that are maintained in spite of homosexual excursions by either spouse or both, are always cloaked in respectability and “honesty”, when both partners deeply offend the institution and God. The secret is maintained by the offended to protect the offender.

“In the 16th century, Queen Anne of Denmark had eight children with King James I of England, known not only for the King James Bible, but also for his devotion to male favorites, one of whom he called ‘my sweet child and wife.’" So, with the New International Version of the Bible so soft on Sodomy, one can only wonder how soft the King James Bible became as a consequence of King James, himself, being Gay.

The air has left my lungs with this revelation. Any thoughts? Anybody? Is it making any better sense why in these latter days The God of Abraham has provided us ongoing scripture? He must be so saddened and enraged by the filth we have spread before Him and continue to reveal to His eyes.

And although we may not be offending Him in this manner, how guiltless can we safely be? Please, don’t talk to me of the perfect mercy available to us as we wallow in this sort of sin. I don’t want to see it.

Well, here we go. Anticipating the new HBO series to replace the Sopranos is going to be special. So much of what HBO has been doing has been so well researched and always setting a new standard. We’ll get to the new series a bit later.

Another HBO original series Deadwood has really surprised the Bishop family. We have nearly lost interest in the Sopranos as a result. The dialogue has been so entertaining, absolutely remarkable following the different characters.

It has be a blast continuing the adventure in visiting blogs dedicated to Deadwood. There was some dispute prior to the arrival of “Mr. W.” as to whom has been the most evil. Then there has been the wonderment of the bathtub lady in the opening credits. We are so glad it isn’t Deadwood that is being terminated.

But where can HBO go to replace a blockbuster like the Sopranos; my goodness.

Well, you probably have heard. I think it’s going to be a blast. Big Love starring Bill Paxton as the challenged polygamist Utah husband of three is a series produced by Tom Hanks. Reviews indicate this is not going to be about a lot of sex. But this is going to be an education for America.
A meaningful dialogue will be initiated about a subject more difficult to breach than same sex marriage. The increasing left leaning Orthodox Christianity has brought homosexuality into the mainstream with churches and a Bible. Now do you think polygamy is going to stay on the TV and have no effect on American culture? (I'm giggling).

What has me really chuckling is Big Love 's sharpest move. Making the viewer identify with husband Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton), who comes across not as an exploitative patriarch but as a decent man stretched to the limit by his attempts to do the right thing by these women and their families. WOW, how bout that for breaking LDS stereotypes. From the street, each house looks separate, but their backyards join to create an alternate moral reality. Further, Bill's wives don't exactly fit the polygamous stereotype of sisterly love and obedience either. Bill is a scarce commodity and each of them what a piece of him. That particular feature will cause some anguish for those who wish to demonize this Old Testament lifestyle.
The expectation among the naive will be that polygamy involves some sort of obedience trial where the women turn into obedient lambs and lose their own minds. Not.

I am mostly looking forward to this new HBO original series because the dialogue the series will produce in the rest of America will be quite entertaining. Deadwood is the dialogue within; Big Love is the dialogue without.
Mrs. Bishop's favorite movie of all time is “Paint Your Wagon” where Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin star in something of an LDS spoof where Polygamist roles are reversed. And come to think of it, in that movie the viewer was made to identify with the poor husbands trying to do the right thing by her. Some of you might be interested to know that my wife loves the movie no less after becoming LDS than before.

I can't wait for the August premiere......How bout you?

The following topic proves that the New International Version of the Bible has been written to deny original Biblical doctrines in support of the gay and lesbian political agenda. Blogging Orthodox Protestant ministers at Blogstream find themselves too comfortably under the covers with them to offer any denial of the evidence posed here. Nor are the clergy and Protestant practitioners eager to stand against the gay lobby here. Nor can one be found who believes in Bible inerrancy as set forth during the Protestant Reformation. Sola Scriptura declares that the Bible is sufficient unto itself and inerrant. This is not to say that only the original manuscripts were without error, but the KJB was inerrant, complete and closed. This is apparently no longer true.

Although the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has compassion for gay and lesbians throughout the world, we assert that those who openly engage in this abomination cannot be members in good standing in our Church. This should not be particular distressing to them given Protestant denominations will overlook the abomination and even facilitate the translation of scripture so as not to offend you.

This recent corruption strikes at the heart of the integrity of holy scripture. Orthodox Christians are being misled through scripture that teems with error. The New International Version (NIV) had one gay and one lesbian writer who influenced committees in retranslation.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints considers the Bible (KJV) as holy scripture and can be trusted to be accurate to the extent that it is translated accurately. With this Topic we raise a warning to diligent Christians to understand that there has been ongoing corruption of the Bible. The errors are extensive and deliberate. We restrict the errors addressed here to sodomy or homosexual behavior. The source links can be found below and represent a sample of what is available in substantiation of our claims. They should be read prior to commenting on conclusions drawn here.

Profoundly, homosexuals served on and influenced large committees in writing the New International Version of the Bible. The errors that have come as a consequence of their political action have stood without change for over a decade. This should tell us something if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Admitting to Biblical error is not something orthodoxy does. No matter the scandal, all of orthodoxy will not be found to agree on any corrective measure. Thus, all that is left for them is to close the breach with concession, minimization and a light application of deceit.

Evaluating the patterns of heresy in the following comparisons will lead the "inerrant Bible" believer to a clearly troubling bind. Do they renounce their dogmatism in favor of errancy? No, they will not no matter the evidence. Nor can they condemn the New International Version of the Bible in favor of the KJB. Doing that opens the gates of reasonable doubt toward the King James Bible. And the belief that God will always protect “His” Bible from contamination crumbles, as well.

Until Christ's return, those supporting the NIV must sleep with or sympathize with “strange flesh” as a consequence.

Some Orthodox clergy may take the position that although the NIV contains error, "the original" text of the KJB remains intact and errorless. Yet they raise no flags concerning those error and what those errors have brought the their doctrines. The errors identified below are deeply troubling.

http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/twohomosexuals.htm

http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0032.htm

I quote without the need to edit from the sources above:

 

THE FOLLOWING READINGS COMPARE THE KJB AND THE NIV IN SEVERAL AREAS WHERE SODOMY OR HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR IS MENTIONED. Going over these, it is easy to see that sodomy was never considered as a viable concept in the NIV and homosexuality was presented from Dr. Mollenkott's viewpoint. The comments of Dr. Mollenkott are from her book, Is The Homosexual My Neighbor? (abbreviated as ITHMN).

 

GENESIS 19:5 - THE SIN OF SODOM

 

KJB - And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, where are the men which came into thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

 

NIV - They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out so that we can have sex with them."

 

Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 57 ". . . the Sodom story seems to be focusing on two specific evils: (1) violent gang rape and (2) inhospitality to the stranger."

 

[NOTE FROM BRO. CLOUD: The Bible plainly states that the sin for which God judged Sodom was connected with gross and strange immorality. 2 Peter 2:7 refers to Sodom's "filthy conversation." The same Greek word is translated “wantonness” in Rom. 13:13 and 2 Pet. 2:18. Jude 7 refers to Sodom’s fornication and "going after strange flesh." God did not send fire upon Sodom for its inhospitality.]

 

LEVITICUS 18:22 - SODOMY

 

KJB - Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination.

 

NIV - Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman: that is detestable.

 

Author’s note: There is quite a degree of difference between the meaning of the words “abomination” and “detestable.”

 

LEVITICUS 20:13 - SODOMY

 

KJB - If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them.

 

NIV - If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them has done what is detestable. They must be put to death: their blood will be on their own heads.

 

Mollenkott, ITHMN, pages 110 through 121 - “Dr. Mollenkott argues that this is part of the ceremonial laws, and as such, are to be disregarded by the Christian. She places this act on the same level as wearing clothes of two different materials.”

 

DEUTERONOMY 23:17 - SODOMITE

 

KJB - There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

 

NIV - No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute.

 

JUDGES 19:22 - SODOMY

 

KJB - Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.

 

NIV - While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him."

 

Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 57 - "Violence -- forcing sexual activity upon another -- is the real point to this story."

 

I KINGS 14:24 - SODOMITES

 

KJB - And there were sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

 

NIV - There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

 

[NOTE FROM BRO. CLOUD: The rendering “male shrine prostitutes” is an interpretation as is the rendering “sodomite.” According to Strong’s, the Hebrew term is “qadesh, kaw-dashe'; from H6942; a (quasi) sacred person, i.e. (techn.) a (male) devotee (by prostitution) to licentious idolatry.” In the Authorized Version this Hebrew word is translated “sodomite” and “unclean.” The term “sodomite” was brought over from the Geneva Bible. Many older Bible dictionaries connect sodomy with homosexuality. Eadie defines Sodomite as “not dwellers in Sodom, but practisers of unnatural lust--the sin of Sodom (John Eadie, A Biblical Cyclopedia, London: Charles Griffin, 1872). This sin was consecrated in many Eastern kingdoms.” The People’s Bible Encyclopedia by Charles Randall Barnes (1903) says: “The sodomites were not inhabitants of Sodom, nor their descendants, but men consecrated to the unnatural vice of Sodom (Gen. 19:5; comp. Rom. 1:27) as a religious rite.” Note that Barnes connects the sin of sodomy with the homosexuality described in Romans 1:27. Hastings (1898) says: “The term ‘Sodomite’ is used in Scripture to describe offences against the laws of nature which were FREQUENTLY connected with idolatrous practices” (emphasis ours). Note that Hastings did not claim that the offences against the laws of nature were restricted solely to idolatrous temple worship. The term “sodomy” in these passages probably did refer, at least in part, to homosexuality connected with immoral pagan religions. The problem with the NIV translation is that it LIMITS this sin to that particular connection rather than allowing the larger meaning of homosexuality in general. It also creates the confusion that the practice of sodomy in the Old Testament and the sin of Sodom itself was limited to male prostitution.]

 

I KINGS 15:12 - SODOMITES

 

KJB - And he took away the sodomites out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

 

NIV - He expelled all the shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of the idols his fathers had made.

 

I KINGS 22:46 - SODOMITES

 

KJB - And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.

 

NIV - He rid the land of the rest of the shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa.

 

II KINGS 23:7 - SODOMITES

 

KJB - And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

 

NIV - He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the Lord and where women did weaving for Asherah.

 

Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 59 & 60 - "Most scholars agree that in the fertility religions of Israel's neighbors, male cult prostitutes were employed for homosexual acts. The people who loved and served the God of Israel were strictly forbidden to have anything to do with such idolatry, and the Jewish men were commanded to never serve as temple prostitutes."

 

MATTHEW 11:24 - JUDGMENT UPON SODOM

 

KJV - But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for thee.

 

NIV - But I tell you it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.

 

LUKE 10:12 - JUDGMENT UPON SODOM

 

KJB - But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.

 

NIV - I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for you.

 

Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 59. "Jesus refers to Sodom, not in the context of sexual acts, but in the contents of inhospitality." And on page 71, she expands this thought with "the idea of a life long homosexual orientation or 'condition' is never mentioned in the Bible."

 

ROMANS 1:26 & 27 - HOMOSEXUALITY

 

KJB - For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections; for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And like wise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in lust one toward another; man with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

 

NIV - Because of this, God gave him over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

 

Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 62 - "The key thought here seems to be lust, 'unnaturalness,' and, in verse 28, a desire to avoid the acknowledgment of God. But although the censure fits idolatrous people with whom Paul was concerned here, it does not seem to fit the case of a sincere homosexual Christian. Such a person loves Jesus Christ and wants above all to acknowledge God in all of life, yet for some unknown reason feels drawn to someone of the same sex, for the sake of love rather than lust. Is it fair to describe that person as lustful or desirous of forgetting God's existence?"

 

I CORINTHIANS 6:9 - REJECTION OF HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR

 

KJB - Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind…

 

NIV - Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolators nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders...

 

Here we would point out that this is the only place in the NIV where the word "homosexual" occurs. It is not clear from the context if this means heterosexuals who abuse homosexuals or homosexuals who abuse each other. See Dr. Mollenkott's explanation in the 1st Timothy comments following.

 

[NOTE FROM BRO. CLOUD: We also see that the New International Version replaces the “effeminate” of the KJV with “male prostitutes.” The word “effeminate” in the KJV is from the Greek word “malakos,” which Strong defines as “soft, i.e. fine (clothing).” The Greek word appears three times in the New Testament, and in the Authorized Version it is translated “effeminate” one time (1 Cor. 6:9) and “soft” two times (Matt. 11:8; Lk. 7:25). The New International Version translators had no authority to translate this word as “male prostitutes.” They have replaced the New Testament term “effeminate,” which aptly describes male homosexuality in general, with the term “male prostitutes,” thus diluting and perverting the meaning of the passage.]

 

I TIMOTHY 1:9 & 10

 

KJB - Knowing this, that the law is not made for righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers. For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.

 

NIV - We also know that law is not made for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murders, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine...

 

Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 67 - "Interpretation of these passages depends on two Greek words used in I Cor. 6:9 which have presented a problem for translators in the King James Version, they translated 'effeminate' and 'abusers of themselves with mankind.' In the Revised Standard Version of 1952, they were combined and rendered simply 'homosexuals,' which implied that all persons whose erotic interests were oriented to the same sex were by the very fact excluded from membership in the kingdom of God. But the original intent seems to have been to single out specific kinds of same-sex practices which were deplorable."

 

JUDE 7 - STRANGE FLESH

 

KJB - Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

 

NIV - In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

 

Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 59 - "The 'unnatural lust' thus could, in the context, and in view of the apocryphal texts to which Jude made allusion, refer to a desire for sexual contact between human and heavenly beings."

 

IT WOULD NOT BE FAIR TO SAY THAT ALL THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN PRODUCING THE NIV FAVORED HOMOSEXUALITY AS AN ALTERNATE LIFESTYLE, BUT IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT THOSE WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FINAL WORDINGS WERE AT LEAST SYMPATHETIC TO DR. MOLLENKOTT'S CAUSE. One only has to look at the treatment of sodomy in the NIV to reach this conclusion.

 

While many believe practicing homosexuals can be Christian, there are many others who have a different conviction about what the Bible says about sodomy. For this group, it is hardly acceptable to call sodomites temple prostitutes, nor to think of same-sex relationships as natural. These same people would take a viewpoint that God hates the sin of homosexuality and will bring judgment on those who live this kind of lifestyle.

 

The information presented here is not all inclusive, but is intended to sound an alarm. If the NIV is your Bible of choice, it would be prudent to look closely in other areas as well, for there are many other subjects handled just as loosely as sodomy. Don't take anyone's word for what God says. Check it out! After all, He'll hold you alone responsible.

The following topic proves that the New International Version of the Bible has been written to enable the gay and lesbian political agenda. Orthodox Christian ministers at Blogstream to date have offered no denial of the evidence posed here. My intent in writing this topic is to justify claim that Orthodox Christians are being misled through scripture that teems with error. The only response recieved here has been silence.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints considers the Bible as holy scripture and can be trusted to be accurate to the extent that it is translated accurately. With this Topic we raise a warning to diligent Christians to understand that there has been ongoing corruption of the Bible. The errors are extensive and deliberate. We restrict the errors addressed here to sodomy or homosexual behavior. The source links can be found below and represent a sample of what is available in substantiation of our claims. They should be read prior to commenting on conclusions drawn here.

Profoundly, homosexuals served on and influenced large committees in writing the New International Version of the Bible. The errors that have come as a consequence of their political action have stood without change for over a decade. This should tell us something if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Admitting to Biblical error is not something orthodoxy does. No matter the scandal, all of orthodoxy will not be found to agree on any corrective measure. Thus, all that is left for them is to close the breach with concession, minimization and a light application of deceit.

Evaluating the patterns of bias in the following comparisons will lead the "inerrant Bible" believer to a clearly troubling bind. Do they renounce their dogmatism in favor of errancy? No, they will not no matter the evidence. Nor can they condemn the New International Version of the Bible in favor of the KJV. Doing that opens the gates of reasonable doubt toward the King James Version. And the belief that God will always protect “His” Bible from contamination crumbles, as well.

Until Christ's return, those supporting the NIV must sleep with or sympathize with “strange flesh” as a consequence.

Some Orthodox clergy may take the position that although the NIV contains error, "the original" text of the KJB remains intact and errorless. Yet they raise no flags concerning those error. The errors identified below are deeply troubling.

http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/twohomosexuals.htm

http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0032.htm

I quote without the need to edit from the sources above:

THE FOLLOWING READINGS COMPARE THE KJB AND THE NIV IN SEVERAL AREAS WHERE SODOMY OR HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR IS MENTIONED. Going over these, it is easy to see that sodomy was never considered as a viable concept in the NIV and homosexuality was presented from Dr. Mollenkott's viewpoint. The comments of Dr. Mollenkott are from her book, Is The Homosexual My Neighbor? (abbreviated as ITHMN).



GENESIS 19:5 - THE SIN OF SODOM



KJB - And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, where are the men which came into thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.



NIV - They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out so that we can have sex with them."



Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 57 ". . . the Sodom story seems to be focusing on two specific evils: (1) violent gang rape and (2) inhospitality to the stranger."



[NOTE FROM BRO. CLOUD: The Bible plainly states that the sin for which God judged Sodom was connected with gross and strange immorality. 2 Peter 2:7 refers to Sodom's "filthy conversation." The same Greek word is translated “wantonness” in Rom. 13:13 and 2 Pet. 2:18. Jude 7 refers to Sodom’s fornication and "going after strange flesh." God did not send fire upon Sodom for its inhospitality.]



LEVITICUS 18:22 - SODOMY



KJB - Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination.



NIV - Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman: that is detestable.



Author’s note: There is quite a degree of difference between the meaning of the words “abomination” and “detestable.”



LEVITICUS 20:13 - SODOMY



KJB - If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them.



NIV - If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them has done what is detestable. They must be put to death: their blood will be on their own heads.



Mollenkott, ITHMN, pages 110 through 121 - “Dr. Mollenkott argues that this is part of the ceremonial laws, and as such, are to be disregarded by the Christian. She places this act on the same level as wearing clothes of two different materials.”



DEUTERONOMY 23:17 - SODOMITE



KJB - There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.



NIV - No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute.



JUDGES 19:22 - SODOMY



KJB - Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.



NIV - While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him."



Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 57 - "Violence -- forcing sexual activity upon another -- is the real point to this story."



I KINGS 14:24 - SODOMITES



KJB - And there were sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.



NIV - There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.



[NOTE FROM BRO. CLOUD: The rendering “male shrine prostitutes” is an interpretation as is the rendering “sodomite.” According to Strong’s, the Hebrew term is “qadesh, kaw-dashe'; from H6942; a (quasi) sacred person, i.e. (techn.) a (male) devotee (by prostitution) to licentious idolatry.” In the Authorized Version this Hebrew word is translated “sodomite” and “unclean.” The term “sodomite” was brought over from the Geneva Bible. Many older Bible dictionaries connect sodomy with homosexuality. Eadie defines Sodomite as “not dwellers in Sodom, but practisers of unnatural lust--the sin of Sodom (John Eadie, A Biblical Cyclopedia, London: Charles Griffin, 1872). This sin was consecrated in many Eastern kingdoms.” The People’s Bible Encyclopedia by Charles Randall Barnes (1903) says: “The sodomites were not inhabitants of Sodom, nor their descendants, but men consecrated to the unnatural vice of Sodom (Gen. 19:5; comp. Rom. 1:27) as a religious rite.” Note that Barnes connects the sin of sodomy with the homosexuality described in Romans 1:27. Hastings (1898) says: “The term ‘Sodomite’ is used in Scripture to describe offences against the laws of nature which were FREQUENTLY connected with idolatrous practices” (emphasis ours). Note that Hastings did not claim that the offences against the laws of nature were restricted solely to idolatrous temple worship. The term “sodomy” in these passages probably did refer, at least in part, to homosexuality connected with immoral pagan religions. The problem with the NIV translation is that it LIMITS this sin to that particular connection rather than allowing the larger meaning of homosexuality in general. It also creates the confusion that the practice of sodomy in the Old Testament and the sin of Sodom itself was limited to male prostitution.]



I KINGS 15:12 - SODOMITES



KJB - And he took away the sodomites out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.



NIV - He expelled all the shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of the idols his fathers had made.



I KINGS 22:46 - SODOMITES



KJB - And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.



NIV - He rid the land of the rest of the shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa.



II KINGS 23:7 - SODOMITES



KJB - And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.



NIV - He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the Lord and where women did weaving for Asherah.



Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 59 & 60 - "Most scholars agree that in the fertility religions of Israel's neighbors, male cult prostitutes were employed for homosexual acts. The people who loved and served the God of Israel were strictly forbidden to have anything to do with such idolatry, and the Jewish men were commanded to never serve as temple prostitutes."



MATTHEW 11:24 - JUDGMENT UPON SODOM



KJV - But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for thee.



NIV - But I tell you it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.



LUKE 10:12 - JUDGMENT UPON SODOM



KJB - But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.



NIV - I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for you.



Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 59. "Jesus refers to Sodom, not in the context of sexual acts, but in the contents of inhospitality." And on page 71, she expands this thought with "the idea of a life long homosexual orientation or 'condition' is never mentioned in the Bible."




ROMANS 1:26 & 27 - HOMOSEXUALITY



KJB - For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections; for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And like wise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in lust one toward another; man with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.



NIV - Because of this, God gave him over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.



Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 62 - "The key thought here seems to be lust, 'unnaturalness,' and, in verse 28, a desire to avoid the acknowledgment of God. But although the censure fits idolatrous people with whom Paul was concerned here, it does not seem to fit the case of a sincere homosexual Christian. Such a person loves Jesus Christ and wants above all to acknowledge God in all of life, yet for some unknown reason feels drawn to someone of the same sex, for the sake of love rather than lust. Is it fair to describe that person as lustful or desirous of forgetting God's existence?"



I CORINTHIANS 6:9 - REJECTION OF HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR



KJB - Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind…



NIV - Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolators nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders...



Here we would point out that this is the only place in the NIV where the word "homosexual" occurs. It is not clear from the context if this means heterosexuals who abuse homosexuals or homosexuals who abuse each other. See Dr. Mollenkott's explanation in the 1st Timothy comments following.



[NOTE FROM BRO. CLOUD: We also see that the New International Version replaces the “effeminate” of the KJV with “male prostitutes.” The word “effeminate” in the KJV is from the Greek word “malakos,” which Strong defines as “soft, i.e. fine (clothing).” The Greek word appears three times in the New Testament, and in the Authorized Version it is translated “effeminate” one time (1 Cor. 6:9) and “soft” two times (Matt. 11:8; Lk. 7:25). The New International Version translators had no authority to translate this word as “male prostitutes.” They have replaced the New Testament term “effeminate,” which aptly describes male homosexuality in general, with the term “male prostitutes,” thus diluting and perverting the meaning of the passage.]



I TIMOTHY 1:9 & 10



KJB - Knowing this, that the law is not made for righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers. For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.



NIV - We also know that law is not made for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murders, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine...



Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 67 - "Interpretation of these passages depends on two Greek words used in I Cor. 6:9 which have presented a problem for translators in the King James Version, they translated 'effeminate' and 'abusers of themselves with mankind.' In the Revised Standard Version of 1952, they were combined and rendered simply 'homosexuals,' which implied that all persons whose erotic interests were oriented to the same sex were by the very fact excluded from membership in the kingdom of God. But the original intent seems to have been to single out specific kinds of same-sex practices which were deplorable."



JUDE 7 - STRANGE FLESH



KJB - Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.



NIV - In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.



Mollenkott, ITHMN, page 59 - "The 'unnatural lust' thus could, in the context, and in view of the apocryphal texts to which Jude made allusion, refer to a desire for sexual contact between human and heavenly beings."



IT WOULD NOT BE FAIR TO SAY THAT ALL THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN PRODUCING THE NIV FAVORED HOMOSEXUALITY AS AN ALTERNATE LIFESTYLE, BUT IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT THOSE WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FINAL WORDINGS WERE AT LEAST SYMPATHETIC TO DR. MOLLENKOTT'S CAUSE. One only has to look at the treatment of sodomy in the NIV to reach this conclusion.



While many believe practicing homosexuals can be Christian, there are many others who have a different conviction about what the Bible says about sodomy. For this group, it is hardly acceptable to call sodomites temple prostitutes, nor to think of same-sex relationships as natural. These same people would take a viewpoint that God hates the sin of homosexuality and will bring judgment on those who live this kind of lifestyle.



The information presented here is not all inclusive, but is intended to sound an alarm. If the NIV is your Bible of choice, it would be prudent to look closely in other areas as well, for there are many other subjects handled just as loosely as sodomy. Don't take anyone's word for what God says. Check it out! After all, He'll hold you alone responsible.