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Question #10
QUESTION: What does this statement mean? "The King
James Bible was good enough for the Apostle Paul, so it's good
enough for me."
ANSWER: This statement is usually made in a sarcastic
manner in order to embarrass Bible believers in their belief. The
FACT is, the King James Bible WAS good enough for Paul. (See
Question #11) But for now I'd like you to see that it was the only
Bible that Luke would use.
EXPLANATION: In Acts 1: 1,2 Luke makes the following
statement: "The former treatise have I made, 0 Theophilus, of
all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in
which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost
had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had
chosen:"
"The former treatise" is of course the Gospel of Luke which
Luke wrote to a believer named Theophilus. Theophilus was
apparently an early Christian who had never personally met the
Lord while He was on this earth. Considering, though, that he was
the recipient of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the
Apostles, he was most certainly one of the best informed.
Luke, in what may have been a passing comment, in the second
verse of Acts chapter one, rings the death blow to the famous
Nestle's Greek New Testament and also the New American
Standard Version. Luke states that his "former treatise" told of all
that Jesus began to do, and continued, "until the day in which he
was taken up." The things which Jesus began to do are first
recorded in Luke 2:41-52 in which He was left behind in
Jerusalem when Joseph and His mother left to return to Nazareth.
This correlates with Acts 1:1. Luke's gospel is the only one of the
four gospels which records any of Christ's actions prior to His
baptism at the age of thirty years old. (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:9
and John 1:29-34)
Luke's gospel ends with Christ being "carried up into heaven "
in Luke 24:51. This correlates with Acts 1:2 "Until the day in
which he was taken up."
Thus, Luke states that his gospel begins with the earliest acts of
Christ and ends with His ascension. Therefore, any Greek
manuscript or manuscripts, no matter what their age, containing the
Gospel of Luke which omits either of these accounts is not
authentic. In an examination of the 23rd Edition of Nestle's Greek
Text we find that the Greek words, "Kai anepheroto eis ton
huranon," "and was carried up into the heaven" are not found in
this text.
The footnote in the critical apparatus indicates that the authority
for removing this phrase is no more than manuscript (MS)
Sinaiticus, D, one majuscule MS known as number 52 and one
5th century palimpsect (a MS which has been erased and written
over top of). The phrase "and carried up into heaven" is found in
B, C, E, F, G, H, L, S, T, V, Y, Z, Delta, Theta, Psi, and Omega
plus papyrus p75, and most remaining witnesses. Yet on the basis
of only two MSS the conservative scholars of the secret Lockman
Foundation have omitted this phrase from Luke 24:51 in the New
American Standard Version (NASV). Hence, the NASV is not
truly a reliable translation. In fact, of most modern versions, only
the "liberal" scholars of the Revised Standard Version (RSV)
agreed with the "conservative" scholars of the NASV in omitting
the phrase. Thus the known Communistic liberals of the RSV and
the conservatives of the NASV are in full agreement that Christ
did not ascend bodily into heaven.
So we see that if Luke, the writer of the Gospel of Luke and the
book of the Acts of the Apostles, could examine a King James
Bible and a New American Standard Version he would declare
the New American Standard Version a fraud and promptly
proclaim the King James Bible as authentic.
Well, quite frankly, if it's good enough for Luke, it's good
enough for me.
