"Best" Text?

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:

Eccl 7:29 Hey, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices.

2Cor 4:2 We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways; we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

2Peter 1:19 (RSV) And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,
21 because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

2Peter 1:19 (KJ21) We have also a more sure word of prophecy, unto which ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts,
20 knowing this first: that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in olden times by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Notice the "slight" discrepancies above between the Revised Standard Version rendition of II Peter 1:19-21.....compared to the King James 21 rendition of the same Bible-verses reference?

But in fact those differences are not so "slight" after all. The words are obviously not exactly the same, and moreover thus not containing precisely identical meaning (singular) and meanings (plural)!

That is not because of the generally-well-accepted fact that the meanings and definitions of English-language words is constantly in flux, and certain English words which meant a certain idea back in the days of Chaucer and maybe even Shakespeare now have a completely different or significantly-different meaning.

That is partially because the two dissimilar renditions are based upon discrepant-against-each-other New-Testament Greek texts.

Generally speaking, the King James-type Bible versions (e.g. The King James Version, The King James 21 Version, the New King James Version, the Wesley New Testament Version, the New Life Version, etc.) are VERY closely based upon the "Received Text" or Authorized (Textus Receptus) text - perfectly portrayed in the Scrivener/Trinitarian Greek Text of the New Testament....in stark contrast to the Nestle, Westcott-Hort, Aland-Metzger, United Bible Society, and discrepant-among-themselves continuously-being-reedited variant and significantly corrupt Greek texts.

You the reader might wonder on what basis I make such tenacious claims of ABSOLUTELY-truthful Greek Text in one case, while adamant in proclaiming ASSURED-falsity of the other texts.

Before I get to that, you the reader should realize that I am not going to be inclusive in accepting any book of Old-or-New-Testament-presumed Apocrypha in my canon of the Sacred-66-books Holy Bible. There are some [clearly-cultic and not simply 'sectarian' or 'denominational'] catholics, episcopalians, anglicans, and others who [mis]-consider such PSEUDO-scripture to be part of the canon of the Bible.

My disdain and disgust against such vile and despicable wicked ones has no limit. What I have lamentably heard of the Apocrapha imposed on my ears has sounded like false doctrine somewhat resembling Scripture, but instead imitative rehash and plagiarism against authentic Scripture already written by the Lord's true Jews, and therefore nothing but irritating tripe having the distinct aura of being authored by some non-Christ-centered pseudo-jewish islamic renegade perhaps masquerading as a genuine Bible-verses author....as damnable as the accured heretics who support such satanic verses and wrongly consider them secondarily canonical or "subcanonical" along those lines.

Now, what is contained in the main text of an English bible translation claiming to be an edition of The HOLY BIBLE is vital as to what the editors of that translation consider to be the one and only valid translation from whatever Greek text (based upon whatever Greek "manuscripts") they used to make up the translated English text of their particular bible.

Many times in most English translations the editors put quasi-"scholarly" footnotes in the side columns and/or at the bottom of the pages for variant possibilities.

Whenever we the readers of such footnote-containing bibles encounter such literature, we should be extremely suspicious and even question the main text, being that the editors obviously are not sure themselves of the correct, one-and-only true and precise meaning of the Greek text they based their prose upon.

Let's get one thing clear: No one can rightly have it BOTH ways. Like with traffic lights, it is either red (which means: STOP and do not continue through the intersection).....or green (which means: GO and continue through the intersection). Not only enraged horn honking and police arrests probably will occur for not doing things that and only that way, but lethal vehicle collisions and possibly fatal injuries will likely happen. True, there is also the transition color yellow, but such is a dangerous condition requiring either speeding up or slowing down to clear the intersection, and it is only temporary for God-only-knows how long in duration.

[Non-scholarly] footnotes are an intolerably-inadequate phenomenon of yellow-traffic-light noncertainty and apprehension. A sure resolution has not yet happened which needs to eventually happen (whether sooner or later). It is NOT a satisfactory situation to stay with nor be content with!

Perhaps you have heard the imperative: "Either pee, or get off the pot!" We cannot indefinitely lollygag, lingering in anti-scholarly limbo for long.

Worse yet, and to add to the distressing and noxious confusion, footnotes contain weaselword semantics such as the blurbs: "....the oldest manuscripts...," "....the most reliable manuscripts....," "....only a few Latin manuscripts....," "...the most ancient manuscripts...," etc. etc. ad nauseum.

Let's think logically. Does "older" always mean more accurate? "Older" "science" and the "manuscripts" thereof [errantly] presumed that the Earth was flat and the solar system was geocentric instead of heliocentric.....but which older falsities were proven false by NASA's newer, newly-discovered, and/or newly-created "manuscripts" (whether on parchment, paper, computer hard disks, or sundry modern scientific equiment).

And which of the above-stated anti-Galileo ridiculously-geocentric "manuscripts" vs NASA documents are thus "more reliable?" Which of the above are not reliable at ALL? And if the new scientific manuscript was written only in English or Latin instead of Greek, whether or not perused and used by the honorable Antiochian disciples, faithful Medieval monks, plus genuine-scholars Erasmus or Beza or Elzevir or Stephanus, does THAT make it wrong? Of course not.

Incidently, how is antiquity and the age of objects measured? By some big mouth's mere guess or some blatantly-arrogant pompous-ass-platitude presumption?

Honest and studious creationist scientists have for some time realized that radioactive dating cannot be relied upon for age evaluation because of the non-known amounts of initial starting quantity, then mixing and later addition of radioactive isotopes to samples being measured for age determination, even though it does seem to realistic scientists that decay rate of radioactive isoptopes is and always has been constant, as it the speed of light:

Ps 93:1 The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength. Yea, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
Ps 96:10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns! Yea, the world is established, it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity."

Prov 24:3 By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established;

Isa 45:18 For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the LORD, and there is no other.

The verses above are incentive for both you and I to disassociate away from and not talk with fools who deny Intelligent Design in accord with:

Ps 10:4 In the pride of his countenance the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, "There is no God."
Ps 14:1 To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good.
Ps 53:1 To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none that does good.
Isa 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

Rom 1:20 Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse;

The apparent age of things depends upon comparisons with references known to factually be of a certain age in time past. For example, to see old and worn, poor-quality, black-and-white photos dated with dates within years ranging throughout the 1800s, we can made fairly-certain age approximations. Not always, however:

Gen 27:20 (paraphrased) But Isaac said to his [lying feel-and-smell-like-Esau] son [Jacob], "How is it that you have found [hunted meat] so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the LORD your God [i.e. deceitful Rebekkah] granted me success."

Joshua 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." And they went, and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there.
2 And it was told the king of Jericho, "Behold, certain men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land."
3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring forth the men that have come to you, who entered your house; for they have come to search out all the land."
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them; and she said, "True, men came to me, but I did not know where they came from;
5 (paraphrased) and when the gate was to be closed, at dark, the men went out; where the men went I do not know [yeah sure]; pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them."
6 But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.

Joshua 9:3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,
4 they on their part acted with cunning, and went and made ready provisions, and took worn-out sacks upon their asses, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended,
5 with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes; and all their provisions were dry and moldy.
6 And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; so now make a covenant with us."
7 But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?"
8 They said to Joshua, "We are your servants." And Joshua said to them, "Who are you? And where do you come from?"
9 (paraphrased) They said to him, "From a very far country [oh yeah] your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt,
10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth.
11 And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, 'Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, "We are your servants; come now, make a covenant with us."'
12 (paraphrased) Here is our bread; it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey [yah sure you betcha], on the day we set forth to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and moldy;
13 (paraphrased) these wineskins were new when we filled them [of course], and behold, they are burst; and these garments and shoes of ours are worn out from the very long journey [tell me more]."
14 So the men partook of their provisions, and did not ask direction from the LORD.
15 And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
16 At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them.
17 And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriathjearim.
18 But the people of Israel did not kill them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders.
19 But all the leaders said to all the congregation, "We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.
20 This we will do to them, and let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we swore to them."
21 And the leaders said to them, "Let them live." So they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the leaders had said of them.
22 Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, "Why did you deceive us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' when you dwell among us?
23 Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God."
24 They answered Joshua, "Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; so we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing.
25 And now, behold, we are in your hand: do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us."
26 So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel; and they did not kill them.
27 But Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to continue to this day, in the place which he should choose.

There have been non-funny non-comical cases of misrepretation, misassumptions, and outright lies concocted by evolutionists to attempt to promote the myth of anti-creationist evolution heresy: mistaking pig body parts as deceitfully-imaginative artist depictions of primative humans, deliberately-tanned fossil bones, and all sorts of deviancies. But it is amazing (in one sense) to see what Hollywood special-effects magicians do trying to rewrite, misrepresent, and misadjust reality, and what we have seen is only the beginning:

Matt 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Mark 13:22 False Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
2Thess 2:9 The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders,
Rev 13:13 It works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men;
Rev 13:15 and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak, and to cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

Great balls of fire! [Un]holy robotics! Diabolical soul-less SuperBot!

Such is characteristic also of those who deceitfully and dishonestly manipulate Scripture manuscripts, presumed scripture "manuscripts," alleged age dating of what is purported to be "ancient" or declared "reliable" by some big-shot dogmatic babbler accidently or ignorantly or deliberately devoid of actual facts necessary for him or her to establish as bonafide truth what they belligerantly beller out in the name of God, scientific fact, and orthodoxy.

Many of those in "churches" and claiming to be "church" people have espoused the New International Version and other modern renditions of what they allege to be so-called "accurate" New Testament translation. But simply because there is a plethoria of majority-use constantly-changing updates and newer revisions of money-costing editions (and obviously against previous editions of such!) does NOT prove veracity. The majority has been known to be wrong:

1Kings 22:8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil." And Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say so."
1Ki 22:9 Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, "Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah."
1Ki 22:13 And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, "Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king; let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably."
1Ki 22:14 But Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak."
1Ki 22:15 And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear?" And he answered him, "Go up and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king."
1Ki 22:19 And Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left;
1Ki 22:24 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, "How did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?"
1Ki 22:25 And Micaiah said, "Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself."

Matt 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
Matt 7:22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
Matt 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen."
Matt 24:11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
Matt 27:13 Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?
Mark 15:4 And Pilate again asked him, "Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you."
Luke 13:24 "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Luke 21:8 And he said, "Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is at hand!' Do not go after them.
Luke 22:65 And they spoke many other words against him, reviling him.
John 6:60 Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"
John 6:66 After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.
John 12:37 Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him;
John 21:25 But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
Php 3:18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Titus 1:10 For there are many insubordinate men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially the circumcision party;
2Pet 2:2 And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled.
1John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.
1John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.

As they say: "What part of many do you NOT understand: the 'm,' the 'a,' the 'n,' or the 'y?' "Many" obviously means: over 50%. Probably WAY over 50%!

Would that include many The-LOVING-God-non-judgmentally-tolerates-sin, Jesus-loves-sinners-as-they-are-and-continue-to-be, "human"-"rights" homogays? "Non-discriminating" "equal"-"rights" feminist sexist? Abortion-homicide choicers committing and not performing [illegal-in-different-jurisdictions and never-really-unquestionably-"legal"] non-"reproductive" women's-health-destroying murder? Porn "artists?" Evolution-heresy pseudo-"scientists?"

The solution:

John 6:6 This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
1Cor 3:13 each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
2Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? --unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
Gal 6:4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.
1Thess 5:21 but test everything; hold fast what is good,
1John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1Cor 2:10 God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
1Cor 2:13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.
Eph 3:5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
1John 3:24 All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.

Jer 28:15 And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.
16 Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD.'"
17 In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?
Acts 5:9 But Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Hark, the feet of those that have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out."

God, the Divine Copyright Enforcer, has His ways:

Rev 22:18 (RSV) I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
19 and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

Rev 22:18 (KJ21) For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life and out of the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this book.
20 He who testifieth these things saith, "Surely I come quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Discrepancies again. Horrendous irreconcilable discrepancies. It CANNOT be both ways! Death and eternal-torture damnation to the liars, from Almighty God Himself.

There is frustration among people everywhere, here and there, because of a common misunderstanding about representational government.

Let us propose an imaginary scenario.

Suppose that you (or I) as an individual transported yourself (or myself) to some hospitable-enough planet or moon to temporarily live on. You (or I) had enough air, food, water, electrical power, and sewer facilities for one week, before you or I gratefully returned to Earth.

During that week of solitary existence, you (or I) as a lone person would be under no human government, though you (or I) would still be under the auspices and authority of Creator God, His redemptive Christ Jesus, and whatever previously-learned and remembered moral and survival precepts of His Holy Word the Scriptures.

If you (or I) were completely certain that you (or I) were indeed all alone terrestially, clothes to wear would not be necessary, but might be practical (and available to access, just in case). Many of the directives of the Holy Bible relating to civilized society would not be applicable (though such need not be discarded, forgotten, or ignored).

You (or I) alone would be your (or my) own government. Whatever you (or I) thought or said or did yourself (or myself) would be sovereign - without questioning, adverse competition, or outside attack. You (or I) would need no armed forces to defend your (or my) decisions and actions. No subjection to police, other law-enforcement officers, or courts to follow the restrictions of nor to answer to. There would be no charges of wrongdoing, criminality, or impropriety against you (or me).

If you (or I) believed in creationism, anti-abortionism, anti-homosexuality, or whatever, your (or my) views would be absolute and non-contested law. Your (or my) speech and behavior (as the Almighty allowed) would never be judged nor censored. You (or I) could do whatever you (or I) wanted to, without any statute, prohibitory tradition, prejudice or bias, to stop you (or me). It would be TOTAL freedom and liberty in the ultimate sense and capacity of the word.

IF - however - you (or I) had brought along a woman for companionship and/or assistance, a simple government would automatically occur. Whether dictatorship, facism, nazism, parlimentarianism, socialism, communism, democracy, or theocracy, rulership of one over the other would by default take place.

Whenever two or more people group together, they will not always think nor act the same, nor be "on the same page" together. If both follow the Holy Bible as written, they probably will cooperate and agree most of the time (enough to stay together in their simple government unity and bond). Where there are differences of opinion and ideology, the stronger will have his way over his weaker companion (if she complies enough to remain grouped with him as a governed partner instead of irreconcilably going off and isolating herself away from and against him).

When two or more people group together in a simple or more complex governmental relationship, they can sometimes accomplish more, much more, than they could have as isolated individuals. What one or more persons have can compensate for whatever the other(s) lack, need, want, and would want....and cooperative ventures can be quite phenomenal.

As government gets larger and larger, and becomes comprised of many and then myriads of individuals, far more complex government structures are formed and operate with multi-faceted and generally clocklike orderly precision and functioning. Again, however, the principle of the abundance and unique resources of some contributed to make up for the absences of others is operating for the intense mutual benefit of all.

Keep in mind, though, that - as with mere government of only two individuals - there will be mild-to-severe differences of opinions and interpretations resulting in subtle to overt disagreements theologically, philisophically, economically, politically, agriculturally, scientifically, medically, and in many other diverse and numerous areas of human experience and endeavor.

Those who govern will sometimes be at odds against others who govern; those who are governed will sometimes be in conflict against others who are governed; and sometimes the confrontation is between those who govern and the governed, and vice-versa. In all cases, both parties advise, assist, influence, alter, reorganize, and lamentally sometimes annihilate each other to various extents.

As a result, the seamless fabric of a soverign interdependent nation is woven to coexist in one massive cooperative community, working and playing together in harmony with inclusive diversity benefitting the entire country and each individual within comprising the conglomerate...defending themselves against all outside disruption and interference which would threaten the aggregate.

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