Issue Date: 12/9/2025

Just One Little Change

Hi Friend, 👋

This is the second-to-last email of our King James Defenders series! Today, we're looking at another common, but critical, objection used by the publishing comapnies - that "one little change" doesn't change anything at all. 

Can words taken out of a single Bible verse change an entire doctrine—the doctrine that Jesus Christ is God?

According to Jesuit-educated Norman Geisler:

“…none of these (variant readings) affect any basic doctrine of the Christian faith.”

But let me tell you about a man named Russell.

📅 The Start of a Movement

Russell was drawn to a Bible study during a time when they said Jesus was coming back. Of course, He didn’t, and that shouldn’t surprise you.

People started coming up with excuses for why Jesus didn’t return. Some said the doctrine was right, but the year was wrong. In my case, one prophetic magazine even rewrote a vital date to explain the “delay.”

Russell’s group faced something similar—but he was bolder. He split off and started his own Bible study.

📚 Trusting Scholars Over God’s Word

At my Bible college, they promoted the 1901 American Standard Version (ASV), saying it was better than the King James and more scholarly. Before that was the English Revised Version (1881), also scholarly, using Westcott and Hort’s Greek text.

Russell loved the scholarship in these versions—but he trusted the scholars more than God’s preserved words in English: the tried-and-tested King James Bible.

He trusted them so much that he abandoned the doctrine that Jesus Christ is God because of what was in one verse.

⚠️ The Critical Passage: 1 John 5:7-8

Russell wrote about it himself:

"The only text in Scripture which was ever claimed to prove… that the Father, Son, and Spirit are one, is a portion of 1 John 5:7, 8. This … is acknowledged by all Trinitarians to be a 'forgery.' So undisputable is this, that the translators of the 'Revised Version' ... omit the clause without note or comment..."

But the truth is: there are many scriptures that testify the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are God—one God.

The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Ghost is God—but each is distinct.

📖 The Verse in the King James

In the King James Bible, 1 John 5:7-8 reads:

"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."

In the Revised Version, it says:

"And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one."

Notice what’s missing? ✅ The explicit mention of the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost—poof! And with that, the clear teaching of the Trinity disappears.

💡 The Consequence

Russell dropped the Trinity because of this one passage. His students did too. And over the years, millions of people followed the same path.

Even worse, his movement didn’t die with him. His Bible study eventually split into so many groups that his successor gave it a new name based on the ASV rewrite of Isaiah 43:10.

You know them today as… Jehovah’s Witnesses.

🙏 The Takeaway

Can words removed from a verse remove an important doctrine? YES! Ask Russell.

We must not change Scripture to fit our doctrine. Instead, we need to align our beliefs with what God clearly says in His Word.

The complete history of the Bible

Proponents of new Bible versions specialize in creating confusion, including arguments about the "oldest" or "best" manuscripts. Learn the real story behind the preserved Bible.

Learn more >

"Surpassed My Expectation"

 

"I expected to read a historical background of how we got the Bible. Before reading the book, I knew that Samuel Gipp is KJV Only. What I didn't know was all the research and wealth of information that went into the book. It's not as much a history book as it is a book containing pro KJV evidence. I was fascinated as I read through the material cover to cover. This book is definitely for people who enjoy Biblical research."

 

 — L. T. (Verified Buyer)

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