From the OP:
What I "use" also happens to be what I "like;" but what I "like" is irrelevant to the truth.
There are so many errors in this thread, yet so little time. For example,
Rather, scripture is clear that God is no respector of persons i. e. one's persona, one's status. We should behave likewise.
It's very telling that no one in this thread has posted one shred of documentation in support of what is merely his/her opinion. And what does God think about our opinions?
Not even close. For another example, the NIV is printed by Zondervan Publishing, which is owned and copyrighted by Rupert Murdoch. If you want to use more than 500 words from Murdoch's "version," you'll need to get his permission in writing. Murdoch also owns Reuters News Service (#3, behind UPI and AP), and a third of the telecom satellites now circling the globe. He is a billionaire who has graced the cover of Time Magazine and has publicly stated he wants to rule the world. Murdock also owns Fox Broadcasting (the NIV is known as the "Bart Simpson bible"). He's a purveyor of erotica (i.e. a convicted pornographer).
The stylist on Murdoch's NIV translation committee was Virginia Mollencott, an admitted lesbian and witch coven supporter. She authored a book titled "Sensual Spirituality: Coming Out of Fundamentalism." The NIV omits 64,000 words and 17 complete verses from the AV (i.e. "Authorized Version," - the official title of the King James Bible). THIS is the fruit of the corrupt NIV tree...
The scam is to get everyone to buy into the lie that what they already possess, i.e. the AV, is somehow insufficient. So what we have now is the conditioned "shopping mall bibles" mentality, where we see ppl actually BRAGGING about the number of volumes in their "collection" of "per-versions." They've bought the conditioned worldly peer pressured lie that "more is better." They look Godly, but God says they are POWERLESS - "...from such TURN AWAY."
The NIV's introduction gives an address:
International Bible Society
144 Tices Lane
East Brunswick, New Jersey, 08816
I am not sure if that is still a current address. The book, The NIV Story, by NIV member Burton Goodard, can be had through inter-library loans. It has a list of the members of the NIV committee. George Orwell's book, 1984, talked about "Big Brother," and warned that there would be a rewriting of history; this is happening. The NIV is now downplaying the role of stylist Dr. Virginia Mollenkott since she made a public disclosure of her homosexuality, goddess worship theology, use of spirit guides, tarot cards, and the I Ching. [The NASB's Lockman Foundation is also denying the foundational role played by Dr. Logsdon because he came out publicly against the NASB.]
A recent James Dobson newsletter tells of a lesbian who realized that the new bible versions were easier on homosexuality and were actually hindering her need for repentance. The question, "Why does the NIV omit all censuring of the sodomite or effeminate?" is answered by NIV translation stylist Dr. Virginia Mollenkott. Her recent book, Sensuous Spirituality, mentions the "great number of lesbian or gay clergy" who have confided in her "secretly." She readily admits:
1. Her "homosexuality" (p. 12, et al).
2. Her views about "working secretly within the system" (p. 48).
3. Her belief in "lying... deviousness, and downright subversiveness.... Subversion means a systematic attempt to overthrow or undermine..." (pp. 47 - 48).
Is it any wonder that the particulars of homosexual sin are omitted by a version that employed a closet homosexual stylist? In Pat Robertson's February 1994 issue of Christian American, Dr. Mollenkott calls the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition an "abusive parent." Why does she call God an "abusive parent"? She says:
"I can no longer worship in a theological context that depicts God as an abusive parent and Jesus as the obedient trusting child."
Mollenkott refers to god as "she" and her religion as "monism." "The monism [Hinduism] I'm talking about assumes that god is so all inclusive that she is involved in every cell of those who are thoughts in her mind and embodiment of her image."
Her pro-homosexual book, Is the Homosexual My Neighbor?, echoes her NIV's assertion (in 1 Cor. 6:9, Deut. 23:17, 1 Kings 15:12, 22:46, 2 Kings 23:7) that the bible censures only criminal offenders or prostitutes, not "sincere homosexuals... drawn to someone of the same sex." Few "effeminate men" (KJV) are prostitutes or commit criminal offenses of a homosexual nature. Young people desperately need the bible's warning that the "sodomite" (KJV) is engaged in a potentially deadly activity. "Shrine" or "cult prostitution" (NIV, NASB, et al.) is archaic, it is not a translation of the Hebrew, but a subjective interpretation of its meaning.
Also, the book, New Age Bible Versions, documents four new version stylists or translators who admitted, in their own books, their involvement with spiritism, that is, trying to make contact with the dead.
The last and most recent revelation of giving heed to seducing spirits, concerns Dr. Virginia Mollenkott of the NIV. Her book, Sensuous Spirituality, tells tales of her spirit guide and contact with her dead mother. The subtitle, "Out from Fundamentalism," rings like 1 Timothy 4:1 - 2, "Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits." The doctrines of devils which follow includes her admitted involvement with divination through the use of Tarot cards and the I Ching.
Acts 16:16 - 17 tells of another woman "possessed with a spirit of divination." She actually preached the gospel saying, "These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation." Paul did not say, "Well, this is wonderful. This girl must have gotten saved because she is preaching the gospel." Rather, he was grieved and cast the spirit out of her. Evidently, God is not impressed when evil spirits preach the gospel; it is possible for someone to have a spirit of divination, "giving heed to seducing spirits," and also have an "intellectual" understanding of the bible.
We hear much talk these days about "older" and "more authoritative" manuscripts, but we aren't hearing much about the origin of these manuscripts. It is a well established fact that there are only two lines of Bibles: one coming from Antioch, Syria (known as the Syrian or Byzantine type text), and one coming from Alexandria, Egypt (known as the Egyptian or Hesycnian type text). The Syrian text from Antioch is the Majority text (representing over 99% of all known manscripts) from which our King James 1611 comes, and the Egyptian text is the minority text (representing less than 1% of all known manuscripts) from which the new perversions come. (Never mind Rome and her Western text, for she got her manuscripts from Alexandria.)
The manuscripts from Antioch were mostly copied by Bible-believing Christians for the purpose of winning souls and spreading the word of God. The manuscripts from Alexandria were produced by infidels such as Origen Adamantius and Clement of Alexandria. These manuscripts are corrupted with Greek philosophy (Col. 2:8), and allegorical foolishness (not believing God's word literally). The strange thing is that most Christians aren't paying any attention to what God's word says about these two places! Notice, in the Word of God, how the Holy Spirit casts Egypt and Alexandria in a NEGATIVE light, while His comments on Antioch tend to be very positive.
Reader, you will now make a decision whether to continue in the opinions of men, or to seek the truth of the Living God.