THE LORD SPOKE (August 23)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Psalm 95-101

What does the Bible have to say about TV?

I will walk in my house
with blameless heart,
I will set before my eyes
no vile thing.
The deeds of faithless men I hate;
they will not cling to me.
Men of perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will have nothing to do with evil. (Ps. 101:2-4)

Okay, so David wasn’t talking about TV. But it fits doesn’t it? What is certain is that he links the heart and the eyes. That which enters through the eye gate has the power of affecting the heart so “be careful little eyes what you see....”

External influences that affect the heart can come from many different sources but the eye is particularly effective (and affective!) because, like a photograph, it records an image that can live in the memory forever. Did you get that? Some mental pictures are never erased. How careful we must be to fill our heart with good things. Whether they come in through the eyes or the ears, whether they are things we read or things we listen to, we must consciously and actively put out the bad and take in only the good. Just look at some of the action words David uses to describe how to do this:

Ps. 101:2 - “I will be careful to...”
Ps. 101:4 - “I will have nothing to do with...”
Ps. 101:5 - “I will put to silence...I will not endure”
Ps. 101:7 - it won’t “dwell in my house...[or] stand in my presence”
Ps. 101:8 - “I will put [it] to silence” and “I will cut [it] off”

That shows a clear pledge and a constant vigilance to not allow the presence of evil in my pursuit of moral integrity. Who is sufficient for such things? Is there any one who can “lead a blameless life” (Ps. 101:2)? You may not be a king with civil powers to put down evil in the way David describes in Ps. 101:6-8. But you are a child of the King who has been granted such powers through the indwelling Spirit. With God’s help - and that’s the key! - you can succeed. So why don’t you ask Him to help you right now?


New Testament: I John 5

You don’t need I John 5:7-8 to prove the Trinity from the Bible. It’s stamped on every page and there are many other places where you will simultaneously find the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in joint activity. For example, look at Matthew 3:16-17 (Jesus’ baptism); John 14:17 (Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit, coming from the Father); I Corinthians 12:4-6 (distribution of spiritual gifts); II Thessalonians 2:13 (Paul’s Trinitarian thanksgiving), and I Peter 1:2 (the involvement of the Trinity in our salvation).

For there are three that bear record [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth,] the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1 Jn. 5:7-8)

The inserted text in I John 5:7-8 is unnecessary. “Inserted text”?? That’s exactly what it is. It’s not found in any Greek manuscript before the 1500's! Some very late Latin manuscripts have it and around 1520 it was back-translated from Latin to Greek. When Erasmus was preparing an eclectic Greek text in 1522 he inserted it at this point but with a footnote that he was suspicious of the text.

Since the King James Version was based in part on Erasmus’ Greek text of the New Testament, the insertion was included and has appeared in many later English versions ever since. However, it may be stated categorically, it is not part of the inspired text even though, based on other Scriptures, it is inspired truth. Though what it teaches is a precious truth, the inclusion of this text constitutes a willful twisting of Scripture. It may be twisting in a good direction, but it’s twisting nonetheless.

There are not many such cases in our English Bibles and those that are there are very well known (e.g. John 7:53 - 8:11 and, perhaps, Mark 16:9-20). It constitutes a strong argument for the student of Scripture to dig deeply and to be knowledgeable of the biblical text. It may also be an argument for learning the original languages, but knowing Greek and Hebrew wouldn’t solve this particular problem. It certainly is an argument for not being dependent on the English text alone (à la the “KJV only” movement).

Simply put, the Bible wasn’t written in English! Therefore any translation is just that: a translation. The moment you allow that, you have the potential for human error. So, even though it can be terribly confusing at times and we could wish for greater uniformity, the fact is that the plethora of English versions is really a blessing in disguise. Assuming that each translator did his homework carefully (and that may be assuming too much), we can benefit greatly from comparing the different translations. Though it may take longer and the process may be messier, the outcome is going to be better and the process will even prove to be beneficial.

Holy Bible, book divine
Precious treasure, thou art mine;
Mine to tell me whence I came;
Mine to teach me what I am.

Mine to tell of joys to come
And the rebel sinner’s doom;
O thou Holy Book divine,
Precious treasure, thou art mine.