A Look at Gnosticism and the NIV

8/7/2019 A Look at Gnosticism and the NIV

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A look At Gnosticism And The NIV

By Alfred Chompff

This article is titled, The Gnostics. One criticism that has been leveled at my sermons is this. Theysay: People are turned off from listening to my sermons because I dare to mention names of churches

and names of denominations. They say: I should not have to mention names. I should just preach thetruth, and after a while people will be able to recognize a false gospel because they have been hearingthe truth so many times. They say: It is like a bank teller who can feel a false 10 dollar bill because they

know what a real 10 dollar bill feels like, because they have felt it so frequently. Now, is that really so?

For example, take:

The Gnostics

Have you heard about the Gnostics?

Most of you have probably heard the name Gnostics. Many of you have read in a commentary that

the Epistle to the Colossians an the First Epistle of John were written to refute the teachings of theGnostics.

But what do you know about the Gnostics?

What did they teach?

And here you probably will say: Nothing. I have searched in my personal library, but I found almost

nothing about the Gnostics. Bible dictionaries and commentaries and books about Systematic Theologydo not give any summary of what the Gnostics were. This subject is passed over as unimportant. It is

only in the last 10 years or so that you can find a lot of information about the Gnostics on the Internet.

But most of it is presented as a curiosity, only from a historical perspective, and not much of a threat to

todays churches. We dont do those childish things any more. We are now much wiser.

Well, is that really so?

Are we much wiser, or are we ignorant about the dangers of Gnosticism?

Today I will show you that the warning against the Gnostics is not much of a warning withoutmentioning names. The warning is real, and the danger of falling into it is very great.

The word Gnostic comes from the Greek verb ginosko, which means to know, or to be taking in

knowledge. Or you can derive it from the noun gnosis, which means knowledge, or a seeking to

know. The Gnostics were a group of individuals who considered themselves as an elite group thatknows it all. Their headquarters was in Alexandria, Egypt, where they had collected an enormous

library.

What doctrines did the Gnostics teach?

They claimed to understand God and Salvation perfectly. They believed that they themselves were

spirit, while all other people were soul and body. They believed that all matter was evil, and thereforethe world produced from evil matter and possessed by evil demons cannot be a creation of a good God.

Therefore they were willing for Christ to be the creator as long as it was agreed that He was an inferior

god. Therefore they denied the reality and the necessity of the Atonement of Christ, and they claimedthat Christs body was an illusion. They did not believe that Christ really came in the flesh. They

rejected the Old Testament and its God Jehovah.


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They were obsessed with a cult of angels, from which they derived the concept of guardian angels.

They were obsessed with the concept of man, and of God, and of the world through religious

experiences. They allegorized all the teachings of Scripture in order to achieve a strange conformity

between Gnosticism and Christianity. The Gnostics worked hard on destroying the Person of Christ ascoequal to God, and as having both a human nature and a Divine nature. Therefore we recognize that

the Apostles in their letters were warning the churches against the influence of the Gnostics. We read

that in 1 John 2:22, from which we can see their struggle against the Gnostics of the 1st century.

1 John 2:22

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? (Which means the anointed One, spoken ofin the Old Testament.) He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.

1 John 4:2-3

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh isof God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this

is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the

world.

Is this a dire prediction that the spirit of Gnosticism will prevail until the end of time?

I believe so, and I will show you that in this article.

1 John 5:1

Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begatloveth him also that is begotten of him.

Now turn to the right to 2 John 1:7

2 John 1:7

For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

And let me quote to you one verse from the Epistle to the Colossians 2:18

Colossians 2:18

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding

into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

Proud Gnostics, worshipping angels.

Does that ring a bell for these days?

In my summary of what the Gnostics believe have you recognized some of the things that are going ontoday in the church and in the world?

Baal worship in the Old Testament days was almost impossible to stamp out. Amazingly, the worshipof Baal persisted for more than 1500 years. God showed this as a warning how the Gnostics are almost

impossible to stamp out in the New Testament period of time. For example, the 19th century Germanwriter and philosopher Goethe was strongly influenced by Gnostic ideas.

But can we also see Gnostic ideas in the church today?

1. The Promised Seed


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In this Epistle to the Galatians God shows us that we need to read the Bible very carefully. Each word

and each letter of each word is significant.

Who is the Seed of Abraham?Are these all the descendants of Abraham?

God says, NO! Pay attention! The word Seed is not plural, but singular. Do not replace the wordSeed by descendants, because that is wrong.

Galatians 3:16

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as

of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Is it not clear that God intended the word seed to refer to the Lord Jesus Christ, and not to anyone

else?

The singular word seed occurs many times in the Bible. It occurs 57 times in Genesis.

Is it not clear that God wanted us to see the relationship between Galatians 3:16 and many of the verses

in Genesis?Is it not clear that we are forbidden to change the word seed into the word descendants, because

that is not what it means?

For example, let quote two verses, Genesis 3:15 and Genesis 21:12,

Genesis 3:15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; He shall bruise

thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Genesis 21:12

And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thybondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy Seed be

called.

Is it not clear that in these two verses Christ is in view, because Gal 3:16 says so?

And yet, when we open the NIV, which is the most popular Bible these days, we read there in Genesis

3:15 & Genesis 21:12

Genesis 3:15 (NIV),And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush

your head, and you will strike his heel.

Genesis 21:12 (NIV),

But God said to him, Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever

Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned

In both verses the word seed is left out. In Genesis 21:12 seven words have been left out and tenwords have been added. And yet, the NIV does show the word seed in Galatians 3:16. The authors of

the NIV have deliberately changed the Old Testament prophecies in such a way that they cannot be

connected with the Holy Spirits announcement of the fulfillment of the promise and the prophecies. Bynot translating the word seed in Genesis 3:15 and in Genesis 21:12, and instead thrusting in this place

the word offspring, the NIV erases all the relationships between Genesis 3:15 and Genesis 21:12 with

Galatians 3:16.


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God the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, declares the original promise was in the singular Seed.

Those using the word offspring are using a word that refers to children, which is considered to be

plural. By using deliberately the word offspring is to misrepresent what God said, By this action they

have destroyed entirely the statement here that this was not of many, but of one Seed, in the singular.

God the Holy Spirit carefully preserved the original prophecy, writing in all three verses the word

seed, not seeds. And God the Holy Spirit was preserving those Scriptures through the centuries sothat it was still written in the singular when the Apostle Paul was to refer to it, for the Holy Spirit knew

that He would announce the fulfillment of the prophecy through the Apostle Paul in the 1st century AD.

In the face of this marvellous Divine preservation, now these bold authors of the NIV carelessly ordeliberately make it impossible for their readers to recognize and rejoice over Gods care for this

precious prophecy and its fulfillment.

Were not these learned men aware of the words in Gal 3:16, and that the basic meaning in all three

places was seed?

Of course they were aware of this. You will recognize their work as a Gnostic perversion. Remember,the Gnostics rejected, or belittled the OT prophecies for the purpose of attacking the Deity of the Lord

Jesus Christ. They had no need for a Jesus who was also God Himself. For example, let me bring up

one more verse to this accusation. Matthew 1:25,

Matthew 1:25And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

The people who produced the NIV also doubted the Virgin Birth of Jesus. Therefore the NIV says,

Matthew 1:25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Jesus.

Was Jesus Marys firstborn son?

From the NIV you would not know if Jesus was the firstborn. What mountain of evidence must have

been piled up against the word firstborn that it must be excluded from this verse! But the facts arethat in every Greek manuscript the words firstborn son are found, except in the ancient manuscriptsoriginating from Alexandria. It shows the evil work of the Gnostics in Egypt, who desired to remove

any word that would imply the Deity of Jesus Christ. So they changed it to a son, as if His was only a

common birth. The willfully blind textual critics would have us believe that the word firstborn hasbeen sinfully added to every Greek, Syriac and Latin manuscript in all places in the inhabitable world.

And at the same time they would have us believe that God has chosen the Gnostic heretics to preserve

His precious words.

How ridiculous!

However, I want you all to be aware that in almost all the new versions of the Bible:

Words Identifying Christ as God Are Stolen Away

I am focusing on the NIV, because it is by far the most popular these days. But these attacks on the

Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ are permeating most other versions that have been produced in the 20th

century. The amazing thing is that so many have jumped on the bandwagon of the NIV, discrediting theKing James Bible and discrediting the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus said in:


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The patristic fathers were insistent on calling Jesus God. The Gnostic opponents were insistent on

calling Jesus a created being, or at best an inferior god. John chapter 1 became the battleground,

because it contains so many references to Christ as God. Valentinus, a 2nd century Gnostic, devised the

clever theory that the Word and the Son of God were not the same person. The Gnostics referred toChrist as the Beginning, the first of Gods creation, and Valentinus referred to Him as the Only

begotten God. In their lexicon the Word was a god. Gnostic lies never die. The Mormons and the

Jehovahs witnesses still refer to Christ as a god. But the fact is that only 7 Egyptian manuscripts havethe Only begotten God, whereas 2000 manuscripts have the Only begotten Son.

The critics of the King James Bible have put their trust in Egypt. Is it not more logical to put your trustin the rest of Christendom where the Only begotten Son appears in every manuscript all over the

inhabitable world? They should have done so especially after knowing that Alexandria was the center

of the Gnostic movement. It is logical, from the common use of language, that God is eternal, and

therefore God cannot be begotten. But if they trust the 7 manuscripts created in Egypt more than thethousands of manuscripts throughout the world, then you know that there is something wrong here.

They trust the words preferred by the Gnostics, and the Unitarians, the Mormons, and the Jehovahs

Witnesses. I am not exaggerating the facts. The United Bible Society, which is the organization thatproduced the NIV, listed as their authorities: Valentinus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, all three of

them Gnostics who believed Christ was a created being.

In John 4:50 the Lord Jesus healed the sick son of a nobleman. Jesus was at Cana of Galilee, the son

was sick at Capernaum. Then we read in Verse 50,

John 4:50

Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spokenunto him, and he went his way.

How did the translator of the NIV mishandle this verse?

John 4:50

Jesus replied, You may go. Your son will live. The man took Jesus at His word and departed.

When Jesus said, your son lives He said it in the present indicative case. Right at that moment theson was alive, and the man believed that his son was alive at that moment. To put into Jesus mouth,

your son will live changes the meaning altogether, for this means that the man must go and see if

what Jesus said was true. Jesus knew all, being both omniscient as well as omnipotent, He could and

did make the son well. And the man believed that Jesus could and did do this at that moment. This isnot a case of seeing is believing, but of having faith in things not seen. We have here also a

demonstration of changing the present for the future changes what God wrote. When the NIV writers

say, your son will live they are denying the omniscience of Jesus when He declared at that moment,your son lives. This subtle change in the tense takes away both the omniscience and the omnipotence

of Jesus, and also denies that Jesus can create faith in a man before the man can see whether or notwhat Jesus said is true.The Bible teaches of itself the:

3. Plenary and Verbal Inspiration

Plenary means full. The Bible says of itself that it is the FULL and verbal inspiration of God.

2 Peter 1:21

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were

moved by the Holy Ghost.


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Literally, holy men of God spake, having been borne along by the Holy Ghost. In other words, when

the Apostles and Prophets wrote Scripture their hands were moved by God the Holy Spirit. The words

we read in the original Hebrew and Greek were the words God wrote. Moreover, God told us that thesewords were given by the inspiration of God, for He said in:

2 Timothy 3:16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,

for instruction in righteousness:

All Scripture is profitable like that. But when we have a Bible that has been adulterated by the Gnostics

then the doctrine of the Plenary and Verbal Inspiration of God cannot be taught. That Bible

is not FULL, and it is certainly not inspired by God. God is not pleased when we use a cursed book.Why would it be a cursed book? It is because God spoke in the Bible about the sin of:

Adding and Taking Away Words (Revelation 22:18-19)

We have seen in several verses how the Gnostics focused on destroying the image of Christ as coequal

God. How successful they have been in their evil design to dethrone Christ in the Scriptures. Even if

Satan planned it, and the Gnostics executed his plan, it is doubtful that they would believe that one dayin the 21st century those same adulterated, corrupted manuscripts would be elevated to such a height

that Bible version after Bible version would appear with their falsified scriptures intact in many places

of the new Bible versions of the 21st century. They were no dummies, those Gnostics. By introducingjust small changes here and there, by leaving out a word and adding a few words here and there, they

were able to have Christians doubt the Virgin Birth of Christ, or His sinlessness, or His omnipresence,

and so on. And most of all, the Deity of Christ has been put in question.

Gods words are precious, and especially precious are those verses which assure us that Christ is

coequal God, ever existing, without beginning or end. Because of this it is important that that everylover of Christ and His Word must be alerted to what is being done in the new versions, each new one

being more corrupt than those that went before. And having been informed, it is essential that all truebelievers spread the message that the Scriptures are being stolen away from them, under the guise of

having a new version in the language of the people. Especially the NIV is the great offender in thiscase. What we see in practice is an application of adding and taking away from the Word of God. We

read in

Revelation 22:18

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall addunto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

Revelation 22:19

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away hispart out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

God did us a big favor by giving us this warning. God said it because God knew that there would bemany people who would try to draw attention to themselves by adding or by taking away from Gods

words. The sad part is that those who follow their leaders into error are themselves subject as well to

the plagues written in this Book. What are those plagues written in this Book? The smoke of theirtorment ascendeth up forever and ever. Why would God assign such a stiff penalty for something that

we might call a misdemeanor? It works this way. The Bible is given to us by God, and it portrays a

word-image of Christ. The moment we add to the Bible, or we take away from the Bible, we have

changed the image of Christ, and we have produced another god, an idol that cannot save. And so, it


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leaves people unsaved, who are instructing other people, who also remain unsaved, and so on. It is in

this way that God will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the 3rd and 4th generation

of them that hate Him. It is a fact of Scripture that unsaved people hate God, and God hates them.

When did it all start?When was the beginning of this avalanche of new Bible versions, and critics of the KJ Bible?

Well it really started in 1881 when the Gnostic manuscripts were revived by two Roman Catholic

Professors from Cambridge, by the names of Westcott and Hort. These two disbelieved the Deity of the

Lord Jesus Christ and created the Revised Version of 1881, which was not a revised version, but acompletely new translation from the Gnostic manuscripts from Alexandria. So when your Pastor stands

up in front of the congregation and touts the NIV as being the best translation, he is being an

intellectual idiot because he is using a cursed book. If you have been duped by your seminary trained

Pastor into using a Gnostic Bible, then you need to change back to the KJ Bible, or else you will beusing a book from Hell.

And when you have changed back to the KJ Bible you can enjoy:

Gods Great Gift to Us

Think on these verses and meditate on these. When we are tempted and are troubled by earthly

troubles, we look to Jesus for help. When the Lord Jesus was tempted in the wilderness He said thesewords to our comfort:

Matthew 4:4

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

What is the effect of those words from the mouth of God?

Paraphrased God says they are for our benefit, so that we may overcome our troubles and may grow inthe faith. God says in:

Romans 10:17

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

This is a fundamental principle, so let us be careful in handling the Word of God. Let us remember to

speak the Word of God honestly.

2 Corinthians 4:2But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of

God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every mans conscience in

the sight of God.

This is how we must speak and handle the Word of God, with meekness and fear. Therefore we give

thanks to God that He has given us so great a gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, and has given untous the ministry of reconciliation among those whom He intended to save. We read in:

1 Thessalonians 2:13

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God whichye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which

effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift, and pray that the Holy Spirit of Truth will guide us into

all truth. AMEN.

A Look at Gnosticism and the NIV

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