Thou Hast Magnified Thy Word

Above All Thy Name

Dedicated to all who love and long for the precious, preserved Words of Truth:

"ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Can you say with confidence that your faith is based on the infallible word of God? Were the Scriptures compiled by a messy group of councils and revised by a multitude of scribes? Is it true that there are errors and contradictions in the Bible and its manuscripts? Are there any corrupted copies of Scripture? Do you know for certain that the version of Scripture you read is a copy of God's preserved Word?

The facts and history of the preservation of Scripture are the foundation of our faith upon which depends our eternal destiny. Without His Word, the human race would have no knowledge of God. We must have full assurance that we are indeed reading the true and pure word of God.

The Bible's power, feared by its enemies, precious to those who love its precepts, is the power to transform those who submit to its claims. The written words of Scripture have had a greater influence on this world than any other literary work the planet has ever seen. They have changed the course of nations, and altered history in ways that will only be comprehended in eternity. The Bible is the revelation of God's love for the human race. It contains the treasures of eternal riches. "In His Word, God has committed to men the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience." ¹ Though every power of hell and demons has been arrayed against this book, "in a most wonderful manner it was preserved uncorrupted through all the ages of darkness. It [bears] not the stamp of man, but the impress of God."² "The Bible, and the Bible alone, is to be our creed ... all who bow to this Holy Word will be in harmony. Our own views and ideas must not control our efforts. Man is fallible, but God's Word is infallible. Instead of wrangling with one another, let men exalt the Lord. Let us meet all opposition as did our Master, saying, 'It is written.' Let us lift up the banner on which is inscribed, The Bible our rule of faith and discipline."³

We may be told that which is absolutely true, the essential truth of God; yet if we doubt it, and as long as we doubt it, we never can know it. Therefore, doubt is only the open door to ignorance.

Further, we may be told that which is completely false, an outright lie; yet though we believe it, however implicitly, we never can know it. This is for the simple reason that it is not true. It is impossible to know what is not true.

Therefore there are just two things which are essential to knowledge - Truth and Faith.

Truth and faith are the two essentials to knowledge: and the first of these in order is truth. This is because however implicitly we may believe that which is not true, we never can know it. Therefore, since that which is believed must be true in order to be known, it follows that truth is the first essential to knowledge. And since even the sincerest truth, when told, cannot be known without our believing it, it follows that the second essential to knowledge is faith. Truth and faith, therefore, working together—the truth believed—is the way to knowledge.

This can be illustrated by an experience familiar to almost all. It is the truth that A is A. We believed this truth, and thus, and thus only, we know that A is A. If we had not believed that truth when we were told it, we would not now know that A, B, C, D, etc., are what they are; and had we never believed this, we never could have known it. If we had asked for proof as a basis for belief, we never could have had it, and so never could have believed, and so never could have known this fundamental thing in all literary knowledge. We could have had no proof, apart from itself, that A or any other letter of the alphabet is what it is.

There is proof of this, but the proof is in the letter itself; and by believing it, by receiving it for what it is we obtain the knowledge; and in this knowledge and by experience we obtain the proof. For in each of the letters of the alphabet there is a value which responded to our belief: a value which has never failed and which never will fail us. We know that each of the letters is what it is: and all the philologists, philosophers, and scientists in all the world could not convince us that any letter of the alphabet is other than it simply is. And yet the means by which we know this is simple belief of a simple, and simply-told, truth.

This illustration does not stop here. The first two letters of the Greek alphabet are Alpha and Beta. Dropping the "a" from Beta, these two Greek letters give us our word Alpha-bet. This word "Alphabet" signifies all the letters of the English language. How is this, when the word itself is derived from only the first two letters of the Greek language? It comes in a very simple way. When we in our language wish to ask whether a person knows, or we wish to say that a person does not know, the alphabet, we most commonly do not ask: "Does he know the alphabet?" nor, "Does he know the A B C D E F G H I J KL M N, and so on through to "Z?" but we ask, "Does he know the ABC's?" or we say, "He does not know his ABC's." The Greeks did the same: When they wished to express the same thought, they did not say, "Does he know the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon," and so on to "Omega?" but simply, "Does he know the Alpha Beta?" or, "He does not know the Alpha Beta." And this Greek abbreviation of the whole list of the letters of that language into only "Alpha Beta" comes down to us with the dropping of the "a" from Beta; and so becomes our word "Alphabet," the abbreviation of the whole list of the letters of our language.

In common English there is a concise way of saying that a person knows little or nothing of a subject, in the expression, "He does not know the ABC of it." The Greeks had the same, "He does not know the Alpha Beta of it." On the other hand, there is a concise way of saying that a person is thoroughly informed, or knows all of a subject, in the expression, "He knows that subject from A to Z." The Greeks had the same, "He knows that subject from Alpha to Omega" - he knows all there is to be known of it. And this is the basis and the thought in the expression of Christ in the book of Revelation several times, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."

Jesus is the Alphabet of God. As the expression "Alpha and Omega" signifies the whole alphabet, and embraces all there is in the Greek language; and "A to Z" signifies the whole alphabet, and all that there is in the English language; so Jesus Christ, the Alphabet of God, embraces all that there is of the language or knowledge of God. As in the twenty-four letters of the Greek Alphabet from Alpha to Omega there are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in the world of that language; and as in the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet there are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that there are in the world of the English language; so in Jesus Christ, the Alphabet of God, there are "hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge⁵ that there are in the universe of the language of God.

And this Alphabet of God is learned in precisely the same way and with precisely the same faculty as is the alphabet of Greek, or English, or any other language. The Alphabet of God is the truth. We believe that truth and this is how we know that He is what He is. There is proof of this, but the proof is in Himself. By believing this Alphabet, by receiving Him for what He is, we obtain the knowledge; and in this knowledge and by experience of it we have the constant living proof. For in this Alphabet of God, in each letter, yea, in each jot and tittle, there is a value that responds to our faith: a value that never has failed, that never will fail, and that never can fail, to respond to any man's belief of that Alphabet. And to him who thus knows the Alphabet of God, all the philosophers and all the scientists and all the unbelievers in all the world can not prove to him that any part of this Alphabet is not what He is. Indeed, anyone attempting to prove any such thing only thereby reveals the fact that he does not yet know the true Alphabet: he does not yet know his ABC's.

It is only as a little child that we learn—anyone can learn—the alphabet of the English language. Though a man were a thousand years old, and fully possessed of all his faculties, and yet did not know the ABC's—the alphabet of English—he would have to become as a little child in order to learn it, in order to receive the knowledge that A is A: he would simply have to believe it as does the little child, and by believing that each letter is what it is, when he is told, he would know. And if he should refuse to believe this, by this very refusal—by his unbelief itself—he would condemn himself, to the everlasting loss of all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hid in the world of English.

So also it is with the Alphabet of the language and knowledge of God. It is only by believing this Alphabet that any person can ever  know Him. If any one refuses to believe, he cannot know. And whoever does not believe is by this very unbelief condemned to the everlasting loss of all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of  God: all of which lie hidden in the Alphabet of God. For as it is by various combinations of the contents of the alphabet that words are formed, and words express thought; so the manifold combinations of the contents of the Alphabet of God form the word of God, and the word of God expresses the thought of God.

Therefore Jesus Christ announced the eternal principle of true learning when He declared, "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in nowise enter therein."⁶ The little child receives the kingdom of God by simply believing the simple statement of the Word of the kingdom. This is how every one receives, and how every one must receive, the kingdom of English or of any other language. It is how every one must receive the kingdom of God. To receive the kingdom of God, and to know the Alphabet of God, is as easy as to know the ABC's. Therefore to learn, not as a philosopher, but as a little child, is the true way to knowledge. The truth and faith, working together-the truth believed-is forever the true way to knowledge.

The Bible makes the claim to absolute truthfulness and infallibility.⁷ It then provides the internal evidence to verify that claim. Complete harmony through sixty-six books, by about forty different writers, spanning one and a half millennia, would be impossible if the author were not the Holy Spirit. Thus the Bible is a miraculous combination of the human and the divine, just as "God was manifest in the flesh."⁸

Scripture says:

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."

Psalm 119:160 "Thy word is true from the beginning ... "

Proverbs 30:5 "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him."

John 17:17 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

In order for Scripture to make the claim of truthfulness, it must also contain the promise of preservation. For food to be safe and nourishing, it must be preserved from spoilage and contamination. It would not be enough for the food manufacturer to claim that the food was uncontaminated when it left the factory without making provision for its preservation by canning or refrigeration, all the way to the point of consumption by the customer. It is not enough for God to originate a truthful presentation of Scripture, thousands of  years ago, without His ability to protect and preserve that Scripture from corruption, destruction, or contamination. If there were a pure Scripture at one time, it really does not matter unless we have the ability to access that Scripture in its pure, true, and uncorrupted form, in a language that we can understand, without it having been lost, destroyed, or tampered with; and having full assurance that we are indeed reading the true and pure word of God.

Scripture says that it endures forever and is even preserved in heaven:

1 Peter 1 :25 "But the word of the Lord endureth for ever ... "

Psalm 119:89 "For ever, 0 LORD, thy word is settled in heaven."

The one name exalted above every name is the name of Jesus:

Philippians 2:9-11 "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

"And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

In all the universe, only God's Word is exalted above the name of Jesus: "for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."⁹

How much reverence should we have for a Word that is exalted above the name of God? The very truthfulness of God himself is staked on the truthfulness of His Word.

Isaiah 66:2 "but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."

Not only has God promised that His Word is true, but also that He would preserve it from the time it was written, through all eternity.

Psalm 12:6-7 "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

"Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever."

So serious is God about the preservation of His Word, that He gives severe warnings against attempts to tamper with Scripture.

Revelation 22:18-19 "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:

"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."

Deuteronomy 4:2 "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you."

Deuteronomy 12:32 "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."

Proverbs 30:5-6 "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

"Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

Though God promised to preserve His Word, the stern facts of history and the unyielding testimony of Scripture prove that attempts have been made to pervert God's Word.

Jeremiah 23:35-36 "What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?.... ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God."

Thus, to fulfill the promise of preservation, the Scripture must contain a way to distinguish between the genuine and the counterfeit. With demonstrable and rather serious differences in so many current versions of the Bible, how can we be certain what is God's true and preserved Word? To this question we will now turn.

Comparing the King James Version in Job 19:26 with the American Standard Version¹⁰ illustrates the problem of someone perverting the Word of the living God.

KJV Job 19:26 "yet in my flesh shall I see God:"

ASV Job 19:26 "then without my flesh shall I see God;"¹¹

Simple logic demands that two opposite statements cannot both be true. One of these two statements cannot be true. Therefore one must be false. The one that is false cannot be God's pure, true, unperverted Word.

To begin the process of discovering clues to reveal the genuine and unmask the counterfeit, let us consider Luke 4:4. In meeting the temptations of Satan in the wilderness, Jesus quotes from the Old Testament passage found in Deuteronomy 8:3.

KJV Luke 4:4 "And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."

Here the Bible testifies that every word is not only important but also necessary to our life. However, the bold words are missing in the NASS, NIV, ASV, CEV, ERV, ESV, GNB, GS, MSG, Mott, RV, RSV, NWT, TNIV, etc.¹¹

Jesus' statement really would not make any sense without the phrase "but by every word of God." Is He making some ridiculously obvious statement that man has to have water and air and fruit and vegetables in order to live-not just bread? Or is He making a spiritual application, comparing the necessity of physical bread to the necessity of eating the Bread of Life? The entire statement must be included in order for the declaration not to seem ridiculous.

Both the Old and New Testaments testify to the fact that there are those who intentionally corrupt the word of God. We have already read Jeremiah's testimony; let us read what Paul says:

KJV 2 Corinthians 2:17 "For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ."

Scripture clearly declares that many were corrupting the word of God, even in Paul's day. We also have extra-biblical evidence that these changes were occurring by the second century: lranaeus states, "Wherefore also Marcion and his followers have betaken themselves to mutilating the Scriptures, not acknowledging some books at all; and, curtailing the Gospel according to Luke and the Epistles of Paul, they assert that these are alone authentic, which they have themselves thus shortened."¹³

If there were individuals and/or organizations that were intentionally corrupting the word of God,¹⁴ they would most certainly not want it widely known that this is what they were doing, for surely people who value God's Word would no longer trust or tolerate their activities. Therefore they would probably try to hide the fact that the Bible predicted their activities by modifying this verse. Indeed this appears to be the case:

NKJV¹⁵ 2 Corinthians 2:17 "For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ."¹⁶

Now peddling and corrupting God's Word are most certainly not the same thing. Is it wrong to sell Bibles? If it is, then the modern Bibles are self-condemned, because it is only the modern Bibles which are copyrighted. A copyright means that no one is legally allowed to duplicate or reprint significant portions without obtaining permission and paying appropriate royalties. Copyrights also mean that the copyright owner owns the words-they are his intellectual property. Does any human being have the right to lay claim to ownership of the words of God? Should people be restricted from making copies of Scripture and distributing it freely? Historically, in U.S. patent law, patents were not allowed to be taken on life, because life is not manmade.¹⁷ If a human copyrights the words, then by definition, they are not the words of God.¹⁸

Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Amos predicted that, one day, there would be "a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD."¹⁹

Since "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,"²⁰ could it be that in this day of the proliferation of Bibles that people are no longer hearing the words of God? Souls are starving for the bread of life in the midst of plenty.

Some readers may find it difficult to accept that there have been intentional attempts to change God's Word. In an age when the media has indoctrinated our society with the idea that it would be lunacy to believe in a conspiracy, some might be tempted to think that such an assertion might be dangerously close to the "c" word. Yet, the Bible tells us otherwise:

Ezekiel 22:25 "There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof."

Conspiracy theories will not here be introduced—only documented first hand evidence of a "conspiracy of silence." "In June [Hort] joined the mysterious company of the 'Apostles' .... He remained always a grateful and loyal member of the secret Club, which has now become famous for the number of distinguished men who have belonged to it. In his time the Club was in a manner reinvigorated, and he was mainly responsible for the wording of the oath which binds the members to a conspiracy of silence."²¹

Here we are told, by his son, that the famous Bible translator, Fenton John Anthony Hort, belonged to a secret club whose members were bound by an oath to a conspiracy of silence-an oath Hort himself was responsible for writing.

Is it any wonder that another famous Biblical textual scholar of the day said, "All this ... I frankly avow, to me, looks very much indeed like what, in the language of lawyers, is called 'Conspiracy."'²²

So, here at the outset, are provided a couple of examples demonstrating that, if nothing else, Satan is conspiring against God's Word.

KJV Psalm 22:16 "For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet."

In a most amazing way, Scripture prophesies specific details of the way in which Jesus would die, and the subsequent verses even describe the soldiers casting lots for His vesture.

"In the sufferings of Christ upon the cross prophecy was fulfilled. Centuries before the crucifixion, the Saviour had foretold the treatment He was to receive. He said, 'Dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet. I may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me. They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture.' Psalm 22:16-18."²³

Yet, the Good News Bible removes the prophecy of His crucifixion by saying: "they tear at my hands and feet."²⁴

The New English Bible says, "they hacked off my hands and feet,"²⁵ which directly contradicts another prophecy that not a bone of His body would be broken.²⁶

In KJV Zechariah 13:6 the Bible prophesies that He would be killed by His own people or friends,²⁷ and predicts His manner of death by crucifixion. "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."

But the Good News Bible, again, brazenly removes the prophecy about Christ's crucifixion by putting the wounds in the chest, instead of the hands:

"Then if someone asks him, 'What are those wounds on your chest?' he will answer, 'I got them at a friend's house.'"²⁸

The Living Bible takes the brazen to the preposterous: "What are these scars on your chest? 'These are the scars I received when I was in a brawl with my friend."'²⁹

The Moffat translation goes from preposterous to blasphemous, by putting the scars back on the hands, but claiming they came from a prostitute: "When he is asked, 'Then what are these scars on your hands?' He will answer 'I got these in my harlot's house."'³⁰

The Message changes the blasphemous into clumsy comedy: "And if someone says, 'And so where did you get that black eye?' they'll say, 'I ran into a door at a friend's house."'³¹

This is not Bible translation. This is first degree adulteration-high treason against the government of God. Surely Satan laughs at such mockery of our Savior and mutilation of his Word. Simple logic demands that these widely varying versions cannot all be true. Therefore some must be false. The ones that are false cannot be God's pure, true, and unperverted Word.

Because God promised to preserve the truth and purity of his Word, and yet told us that many would "corrupt the word of God," it becomes imperative to understand how to recognize the genuine from the counterfeit. In order to do that we need to know the pattern of the problem, the extent of the problem, the history of the problem, those causing the problem, and their connections. Once we know who is changing God's Word, the intention becomes clear as well as the pattern the changes will follow. In this manner the mystery can be unraveled, the truth discovered, and the conspiracy of silence broken. Satan's deceptions will be unmasked.

"It is the duty of every faithful servant of God, to firmly and decidedly withstand these perverters of the faith, and to fearlessly expose their errors by the word of truth."³²

This article is excerpted from the book "Above All Thy Name", available through Amazing Discoveries.