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[Distributed by Way of Life Literatureâs Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Copyright 2000. These articles cannot be stored on BBS or Internet sites and cannot be sold or placed by themselves or with other material in any electronic format for sale, but may be distributed for free by e-mail or by print. They must be left intact and nothing removed or changed, including these informational headers. This is a listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Our goal is not devotional but is TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. If you desire to receive this type of material on a regular basis, e-mail us, give us your name, address, and the name of the church you are a member of, and request to be placed on the list. Please note that this is not a free service. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and each subscriber is expected to participate. To unsubscribe or to submit a change of address, send your name and the request to fbns@wayoflife.org. This is not an automated list. Changes in the database often require two to four days to activate. Some of these articles are from O Timothy magazine. David W. Cloud, Editor. O Timothy is a monthly magazine in its 17th year of publication. Subscription is $20/yr.  Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org. The End Times Apostasy Online Database is also located at this site.]

Updated October 3, 2000 (first published September 19, 2000) (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - The Fundamental Baptist Fellowship (F.B.F.) is quickly adopting the modern versions that remove dozens of verses from the Bible and that are based upon the undependable critical Greek New Testament fashioned by Westcott and Hort in the late 1800s. The head of the F.B.F. is Pastor Rodney Bell of Tabernacle Baptist Church, Virginia Beach, Virginia. He used to stand for the King James Bible but has bowed to the intense pressure from Bob Jones University and others not to make an issue of this important matter. They lambaste defenders of the King James Bible and undermine the KJV with modern textual criticism, yet they cry foul when men speak out in defense of the KJV and warn against the modern version position.

The following information is from Evangelist Chuck Cofty, who used to be the executive director of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship and taught at Rodney Bellâs school:

The Calvary Contender dated July 1, 2000, reported that the FBF approved in it's standing resolutions during itâs national meeting that next yearâs FBF national meeting is set for the First Baptist Church of Troy, Michigan, pastored by Dr. Mike Harding. A dear friend of mine, Evangelist Paul Freeman, wrote to Dr. Harding to confirm this information and to query Dr. Harding about his known position on the text. Here is the answer verbatim that Evangelist Freeman received from Dr. Harding:

"We do use the New American Standard in our pulpit, and we are fundamentalists, and we are not ashamed. If you will read the enclosed book, From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man, I think you will be enlightened as well. Sincerely, Pastor Mike Harding."

This is, as many of you know, a first, as the FBF has never before met in a church that did not use the old and trusted King James Bible. I remember as executive director of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Dr. Bellâs instructions to me that no meeting was to be held in churches using a different text. Strange now that most of these men and their schools talk about using the "loved and revered" King James Bible in their pulpits but teach the critical text in their class rooms and will now take the national FBF meeting into a church that uses a different text. Without doubt this meeting is sanctioned by the president of the FBF, Dr. Rod Bell, and is in keeping with his latest flip flop on the Word of God. I view with extreme concern this planned direction of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship....the once, but now supposed, "cutting edge" of militant fundamentalism. All good fundamental men with an old fashioned stand on the Word of God should disassociate themselves with this national meeting and the fellowship itself.

Rejoicing in my Saviour
Chuck Cofty, D. D. Major, USMC, Ret.
Evangelist from Dixie
704-543-7986 (voice), chuckcofty@juno.com (e-mail), www.cometocalvary.org/chuckcofty  (web site)

The following information is from Aubrey E. Mapp:

Brother Cloud, I am a former student of Tabernacle in Virginia Beach. I moved out here from Sun & Shield Baptist Church in Tucson, Arizona (many miles by faith). I am writing to let you now that I made a mistake by coming to Tabernacle last year. Well, maybe I should say, "God meant it for good." I am sure that you are aware that Dr. Walter Allen Yoho is going to be the new dean at Rod Bellâs school. Yoho has several books out, one of which is "The Only Book God Ever Wrote" (Manahath Press: Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania). This book recommends two of the modern versions. Note the following quote:

"But now with some fifty English translations having now been produced in this Twentieth Century (some of which are inferior), the man on the street or the average person in the pew is apt to throw up his hands in bewilderment, exclaiming: ÎHow do I know which to use?â This confused friend of ours we would not leave without some kind counsel. (1) Every translation must be evaluated in terms of the clear criteria of both its accuracy and its readability. (2) Seek the advice of a competent scholar or pastor whom you trust. (3) I would like to recommend three translations in particular, namely, the King James Version, the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, and THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION" (Yoho, The Only Book God Ever Wrote, p. 67).

God Bless,
All for KING JESUS,
Aubrey Mapp

ANOTHER F.B.F. LEADER PREACHES FROM THE NASV

The following information is from Pastor Jim Barker, Bible Baptist Church, Elmont, New York, pastorbarker@juno.com  --

ãDear Bro. Cloud: I appreciate your stand. Another leader in the FBF, Dave Doran (Inter-City Baptist Church, and Detroit Seminary, Allen Park, Michigan), also preaches from the NASV. He is the moderator on the BJU video Fundamentalism and the Word of God.ä

F.B.F. LEADER MARK MINNICK ADVISES HIS CONGREGATION TO USE THE NASV

The following is from William Houck  --

 ãBrother Cloud. I don't know if you have this information yet, but in two Sunday evening services in July of this year, Dr. Mark Minnick of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Greenville, NC, defended the NASV and advised his congregation to use it for their own devotions and study.  I have the tapes of those services. He did state that he would, for the time being, still use the KJV from the pulpit. Is this a coming trend among BJU men? It seems to be more than coincidence that these men are turning from the KJV position after the publishing of the ÎMind of Godâ book. I spent almost a year studying the text issue in almost all my spare time and quite some time since then. I came to the conclusion that no one today in fundamentalism seems to be on a par with the textual experts of even 100 years ago. I prayed in earnest for wisdom, and humility to admit there were men that are much more intelligent and had done much more research than myself. I don't see how one can read John Burgon's books and not see the errors in Westcott-Hort. All one has to do is read Westcott and Hort's own letters to come away with serious concerns regarding their salvation, due to their erroneous doctrine and low regard for God's Word. I was saved out of New Evangelicalism at a fundamental Baptist church. I had used the Westcott-Hort text in my two years of Greek at Wheaton College and was advised to research the text issue for myself. It seems to me that in the pursuit of wanting to be considered Îscholarly,â these BJU men are rejecting the Received Text and taking what they consider the Îscholarlyâ route. It reminds me of New Evangelicalism and their concern for being considered Îscholarlyâ by the modernists. It's sad to see fundamentalism going in this direction.ä

CONCLUDING COMMENTS FROM BROTHER CLOUD

This is a serious matter. The difference between the text underlying the KJV (the Received Text) and that underlying the modern versions is vast. In the New Testament alone, there are over 8,000 word differences between the Received Text and the Westcott-Hort Text (and its revisions such as the Nestléâs text and the United Bible Societies text). More than 2,800 of the words in the Received Text are omitted in the W-H Text underlying the modern versions. That is a vast number of words. It is roughly the number of words in 1 and 2 Peter combined. Do not forget that the Bible is not merely another book; it is Godâs Book. The Lord Jesus Christ said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Mt. 4:4).

Entire verses and phrases are omitted from new versions. There are 17 verses omitted outright in the New International Version--Mt. 17:21; 18:11; 23:14; Mk. 7:16; 9:44; 9:46; 11:26; 15:28; 17:36; 23:17; Jn. 5:4; Acts 8:37; 15:34; 24:7; 28:29; Rom. 16:24; and 1 Jn. 5:7. Further, the NIV separates Mark 16:9-20 from the rest of the chapter with a note that says, "The two most reliable early manuscripts do not have Mk. 16:9-20," thus discounting the authority of this vital passage in the minds of the readers and effectively removing another 12 verses. John 7:53--8:11 is also separated from the rest of the text with the following footnote: "The earliest and most reliable manuscripts do not have Jn. 7:53--8:11." Hence, another 12 verses are effectively removed from the Bible. The NIV questions four other verses with footnotes--Matthew 12:47; 21:44; Luke 22:43; 22:44. THIS IS A TOTAL OF 45 ENTIRE VERSES WHICH ARE REMOVED ENTIRELY OR SERIOUSLY QUESTIONED. IN ADDITION, THERE ARE 147 OTHER VERSES WITH SIGNIFICANT PORTIONS MISSING.

My Greek teacher at Bible school taught that the difference between the Received Text and the critical Greek text is insignificant, that this is a non-issue. That is a strange way to look at the removal or questioning of such a large portion of Scripture. I donât accept it. Both of these Greek texts cannot be the preserved Word of God.

In addition, there are serious doctrinal corruptions in the modern versions. We have documented this in the book Myths about the Modern Bible Versions. In his popular book The King James Only Controversy, James White claims that the critical Greek text and modern versions such as the NIV are more theologically conservative than the Received Text. This false claim is refuted in my book Examining James Whiteâs King James Only Controversy, available from Way of Life Literature.