Hi friend,

Can a single Greek letter change the Gospel from being about God’s grace to being about man’s goodness?

Yes — and it already has in many modern Bibles.

Let’s take a look at Luke 2:14 and see how this tiny change turns the message of Christ’s birth upside down.

📖 What Did the Angels Really Say?

In the King James Bible (and Bibles from the Antiochian, or northern manuscript stream), Luke 2:14 reads:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

The key word here is “eudokia” — a Greek word meaning "good will" in the nominative case. That means it is the subject of the sentence. In this verse, God’s good will is directed toward mankind.

This means peace is offered to all people, not just to some select group. It reflects verses like:

“For God so loved the world that he gave…” (John 3:16)
“Not willing that any should perish…” (2 Peter 3:9)

It aligns with the whole message of the Gospel: God’s offer of salvation is available to all, not just a worthy few.

✏️ A Tiny Change with Big Consequences

But in Bibles based on the Alexandrian manuscripts (the southern stream), one tiny letter is added to the word eudokia — a final sigma ("s" in English), turning it into eudokias.

That one letter changes the word’s case from nominative (the subject) to genitive (possessive).

Now the verse becomes something like:

“Peace among men of good will”
or
“Peace to those with whom he is pleased.”

Suddenly, peace is not for everyone. It’s only for those with good will or those with whom God is somehow already pleased — implying some kind of worthiness.

Different translations say it in slightly different ways:

“Men of good will” – Douay-Rheims, Rotherham
“With whom he is pleased” – ESV, NASB, NLT, RSV
“On whom his favor rests” – NIV, New Jerusalem Bible, NRSV

But the message is the same: God’s peace isn’t for everyone, only for a certain group.

⚠️ Why It Matters

This single-letter change creates several serious theological problems:

Romans 3:23 says “All have sinned...”
So how can there be people with “good will” or with whom God is “well pleased”?
The only person God says He is “well pleased” with in Scripture is Jesus Christ (at His baptism and transfiguration).
Are we really saying there are people as pleasing to God as Jesus?

This twist opens the door for a man-centered gospel — one that says some people are inherently “better” or more acceptable to God, rather than recognizing that all have sinned, and all need grace.

🧍 My Personal Testimony

Early in my Christian walk, this version of Luke 2:14 influenced how I understood sin. At Bible college, I was taught that:

People aren’t born in sin (rejecting the doctrine of Original Sin)
Humans are basically good but do bad things
Salvation was about being forgiven for what we did, not who we are

This led me to retranslate parts of the book of Romans, changing key words like “righteousness” to “acquittal.” It sounded fair, even modern. But it wasn’t biblical.

I was making a man-centered Bible, not a God-centered one.

And it all started with one Greek letter.

🧪 Works vs. Grace: A Battle in One Verse

Romans 11:6 puts it clearly:

“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace…”

But in Alexandrian-based Bibles, even this verse is altered. The second half is removed, erasing the warning that works cancel out grace.

These aren’t just academic differences. These are doctrinal attacks that slowly shift people’s thinking away from:

Grace → toward effort
God’s gift → toward man’s merit
The Saviour → toward self-help

🧭 The Importance of the Right Bible

Once you start changing the text of Scripture — even one letter — where do you stop?

That’s why it’s so important to stick with the Bible God preserved — the King James Bible, based on the Antiochian (northern) manuscripts passed down by faithful believers, not altered by scholars in Alexandria or Rome.

💧Which Stream Are You Drinking From?

The two manuscript streams have two very different foundations:

🧭 Antiochian (KJV): Salvation by grace alone, offered to all
⚠️ Alexandrian (modern versions): Grace only to the "deserving" few

Choose carefully. One letter may seem small, but it can completely change the message of the Gospel.

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4)

Every word matters — even one letter.