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BIBLE MISTRANSLATIONS
SUPPORTING CALVINISM

by Jacques More



I was angered recently, when again I discovered another bible mistranslation associated with Calvinism!

So, I thought to put together in one article a latest list of these, with a simple or a full explanation why this is so. Where my mention is simple, I also link or refer to the fuller work proving the fact of mistranslation.

This list will not be exhaustive, but is a good indication of a pattern that bible teachers and leaders of churches need to take note of.
              Recognise these?

       Election by God (of God)
       Such as should be saved - KJV
       Many are called, few are chosen*
       Elect* X20
       Chosen* X15
       Ordained to eternal life - KJV
       His purpose
       Those who, by God's Grace, had believed - NLT
       All the day's ordained for me were written in your book
       before one of them came to be
- NIV
       Elect according to the foreknowledge of God*

Some of these are blatant twisting of the rendering in favour of the pernicious dogma. This is done either by the reordering of words or, adding of words or, verb tense modification. Others may have been due to lack of appreciation of the real meaning of words due to lexicons not providing a true picture of meaning, as in the case of "elect".
Some may have been by a default of, an absence in, the appreciation as to what the passage could mean otherwise.
       So that, some of these appear as deliberate mistranslations whilst others not so.
       Some by mistake; others deliberate.

Election by God (of God)
The latest I found is "election by God" ("election of God" KJV).
I was researching and putting together an article on the word "election" from the Greek word EKLOGÉ in the bible.

As I looked at 1 Thessalonians 1:4 we find,

knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.

But, in 2 Thessalonians 2:13b we read within,

. . . brethren beloved by the Lord . . .

Now, if you look carefully, but for the sole exception of the words "God" and "Lord" the Greek here is identical in both passages.

So that what 1 Thessalonians 1:4 actually renders is,

Knowing, beloved brothers by God, the decision of yours.

1 Thessalonians 1:4 JM

Since the Greek Grammar of ADELPhOI ÉGAPÉMENOI HUPO ThEOU "beloved brothers by God" is identical to ADELPhOI ÉGAPÉMENOI HUPO KURIOU "brethren beloved by the Lord", except as already mentioned for the words "God" and "Lord", then every bible with "your election by God" for 1 Thessalonians 1:4 (or, "of God" KJV) is true in that *OR* true in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 with "brethren beloved by the Lord", but *not* both. [You choose?]

       Think about it. It is simple inconsistency.

Either one of the two is wrong in every one of those bibles or, the Greek translation is incorrect. But since the Greek is identical, it is the bible rendering in your very hand that is in question.

For more on this passage and all the other "election" passages
See my article:
SO, WHAT IS THIS "ELECTION" BUSINESS IN THE BIBLE?
A look at the translation of the Greek word EKLOGÉ

Such as should be saved - KJV
In the KJV we read this in Acts 2:47,

. . . the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

In the NKJV and NIV,

. . . those who were being saved.

In the YLT,

. . . those being saved . . .

The verb "to save" is in the Greek tense as follows SÓZOMENOUS which is a participle, a verbal adjective. The tense is one part and the agreement with a noun is the adjectival part. The -OUS agrees with the TOUS "the ones".

I mention all this because since the tense is unchanged, when we find the same verb in the same tense participle, but a different adjective ending and *in the same bible version*(KJV), surely the tense appreciation "should" be the same, right?

The rendering of 1 Corinthians 1:18b in the KJV is,

. . . but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

This is not really different to the NKJV and NIV if you consider the continuous element in the older English of the simple "are saved",

. . . to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The Greek here is SÓZOMENOIS where the tense is the same as Acts 2:47, but the adjective part is -OIS which agrees with TOIS "to/for the ones".

Since the same tense and the same verb is in play, is the KJV correct in Acts 2:47 or in 1 Corinthians 1:18?
It can't be both.

For more on this passage
See pages 151-156 of chapter
Such as should be saved of my book
Serious Mistranslations of the Bible.

*Many are called, few are chosen
All the listed texts above with the asterisk symbol* are covered in this section.

The word "chosen" here in the New Testament (NT) is 1 of 7 like it from the Greek word EKLEKTOS. All other occasions of this Greek word EKLEKTOS are rendered by every occasion of the word "elect" in the NT, in many (most) bible versions. The Old Testament (OT) counterpart to this word is the Hebrew word BACHIR and is found only translated by EKLEKTOS in the Septuagint (LXX - the bible Jesus and the apostles are read as quoting in the NT). So the LXX translators saw no difference between these two words.

But, there is no reasonable case for this Greek word to mean "selected, chosen, elect" when read in the LXX. The Greek word translates in the LXX many Hebrew words associated with "top quality" and "the best", with no exception. So that when all the facts of this are in view, there is no case for Jesus or the apostles who read and quoted the LXX, to have meant anything else. With that in view all lexicons are incorrect that suggest another meaning for the Greek word EKLEKTOS or the Hebrew word BACHIR. There is no original historical basis for "elect" or "chosen" as a rendering of EKLEKTOS.

What you find in the LXX basically is something like this: the fat cows that came out of the Nile in Pharaoh's dream which Joseph interpreted are EKLEKTOS cows (Genesis 41:2); the fat kernels of wheat are EKLEKTOS wheat (Genesis 41:5); Young men - guys in their prime and thus best pick as soldiers - EKLEKTOS (2 Kings 8:12; Lamentations 1:15; 5:13; 14); pleasant land - EKLEKTOS land (Jeremiah 3:19); highest branches - EKLEKTOS branches (Ezekiel 17:22); choice silver - EKLEKTOS silver (Proverbs 8:19); with the pure You will show Yourself pure - EKLEKTOS . . . EKLEKTOS (2 Samuel 22:27; Psalm 18:26); and many more.

So that this famous passage becomes,

Many are called, few have mettle.

Matthew 20:16 & 22:14 JM

NB. Bibles not using the Greek Received Text do not have this section in Matthew 20:16.

Robert Young accurately shows this correct translation in several places in his Literal version of the Bible, instead of "elect" he renders EKLEKTOS well here,

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the choice [EKLEKTOS] sojourners of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to a foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied!

1 Peter 1:1-2 YLT

Quite a difference from,

Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect
[EKLEKTOS] according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

1 Peter 1:1-2 NKJV

So, as you can see "elect according to the foreknowledge of God" is another mistranslated passage in the list.

For more on this truth in regards to EKLEKTOS you can see it all for yourself freely online with some effort and time, here is the link to a full list of where EKLEKTOS can be found in the LXX.

Or, you can see all the research work done in the exhaustive:
Deleting ELECT in the Bible (544 pages)
Or, in concise and summary form including
an alternative rendering for every affected passage:
The Companion - Deleting ELECT in the Bible (144 pages)

For all correct uses of the word "chosen" in the NT see my article
SO, WHAT IS THIS "ELECTION" BUSINESS IN THE BIBLE?
A look at the translation of the Greek word EKLOGÉ

Ordained to eternal life - KJV
Appointed - NKJV
"all who were appointed for eternal life believed" (NIV)

The Greek verb TASSÓ is here. Here it is in 1 Corinthians 16:15b,

they have DEVOTED themselves to the ministry of the saints

NKJV (EMPHASIS mine)

"devoted"

(NIV)

they have ADDICTED themselves to the ministry of the saints

KJV (EMPHASIS mine)

to the ministration to the saints they did SET themselves

YLT (EMPHASIS mine)

The Greek in full for Acts 13:48b "And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed" is,


KAI
And

 EPISTEUSAN 
they believed

    HOSOI    
as many as

    ÉSAN    
they were

TETAGMENOI
TASSÓ

EIS
into

ZÓÉN
life

AIÓNION
everlasting

Note that the full conjugation of the verb "to be" in this tense is as follows:

GREEK English
ÉMÉN I was
ÉS or ÉSTHA you were (singular)
ÉN he, she, it was
ÉMEN or ÉMETHA    we were
ÉTE you were (plural)
ÉSAN they were


With the above in view of "devoted" or "addicted" or "set", this makes Acts 13:48 read as,

And they believed, as many as they were ADDICTED into life eternal

And they believed, as many as they were DEVOTED into life eternal

And they believed, as many as they were SET into life eternal

Or, we could look at Acts 15:2 for the verb TASSÓ.

they DETERMINED that Paul and Barnabas

KJV, NKJV (EMPHASIS mine)

they ARRANGED for Paul and Barnabas

YLT (EMPHASIS mine)

Or, Luke 7:8,

I also am a man SET under authority

KJV (EMPHASIS mine)

...PLACED...

NKJV, YLT (EMPHASIS mine)

"set" is a common rendering for TASSÓ in the LXX.

In Galatians Paul tells us,

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

Galatians 6:7-8

If you sow to the Spirit - (that is) do not consciously sow to the flesh: carnal desires - then, you *set* yourself up to receive what you hear of the gospel and thereby believe.

For more on this passage, see the online article
Acts 13:48
or, the related video entitled
Quick Answers to Calvinists Acts 13:48

His purpose
In Romans 8 we read in most bible versions,

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

This is followed by what Calvinists have called "the golden chain" (of verbs and actions by God):

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined . . . whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Romans 8:29-30

God they say, foreknew from "eternity past" every one in the group of individuals they call "the elect" and it was "His" purpose as per Romans 8:28 to make every one of these "the called" and thus also exclude all those not foreknown as elect.
       There is no "His" in any Greek text here.
This is why the translator places that word in italics. But this is a Calvinist addition.
       Here is the literal YLT reading of Romans 8:28,

And we have known that to those loving God all things do work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose;

Romans 8:28 YLT

This "purpose" is the Greek PROTHESIN. It is the word used for the "showbread" which was on the presentation table (Exodus 40:4, 22-23; Luke 6:4) with or without the word "table" or "bread" in the Septuagint, thus is understood as the "showbread" in those contexts and its core meaning of "showing" is thus seen (see Appendix 6 on PROTHESIS in Serious Mistranslations of the Bible ). It is about something "showing".
       The deal is, there was something God had seen and was "showing" to God, the very "purpose" (Romans 8:28) in the heart searched by God, as Paul mentioned in the (very) preceding verse:

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:27

The heart searched revealed the intent, the purpose of that man's spirit, as that (would be) saint.
       In Romans Paul mentioned his own spirit,

. . . God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit . . .

Romans 1:9

Paul spoke of his own spirit having purpose. So that Paul's mention of "what the mind of the Spirit" (Romans 8:27) and, knowing that all early manuscripts of Greek in uncial (in capitals) are like that throughout, then the translator's use of the capital "S" for the word "Spirit", making the reader think this is the Holy Spirit in view, is misleading. The man's spirit, having been searched is in view here. It is the purpose in that heart in view; not God's heart. It is not God's heart being searched here.
       But God also has a purpose, but not of the kind mentioned in Calvinism (the "golden chain" limited to the elect chosen by God), but instead, as is mentioned in the missing portion within the quote above of Romans 8:29-30. Here is God's explicitly mentioned purpose in view in the passage:

. . . to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Romans 8:29b

God wants sons like Jesus from among men, out of all those who He finds by searching their hearts: the man that has that longing for what is right (Romans 2:15 "in their hearts"). So that we see this predestination in Romans 8 is conditional on what God found in the heart.

For more on this passage I recommend
PAUL'S TEACHING OF CONDITIONAL PREDESTINATION

Those who, by God's Grace, had believed - NLT
In the NLT we read about "those who, by God's grace, had believed". This verse involves the teaching and encouragement of Apollos to believers in Achaia.

Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to go. They wrote to the believers in Achaia, asking them to welcome him. When he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those who, by God's grace, had believed.

Acts 18:27 NLT

In the NKJV this reads,

. . . he greatly helped those who had believed through grace;

Acts 18:27

Not really changing much in the meaning (and idea in Calvinism) that the belief of these believers was due to God's "grace".
       The literal YLT gives us,

. . . did help them much who have believed through the grace,

Acts 18:27 YLT

The ongoing text informs us what is "the grace" in view:

for powerfully the Jews he was refuting publicly, shewing through the Writings Jesus to be the Christ.

Acts 18:28 YLT

Apollos' gift of teaching, is the grace in view. The Greek is clear in the three words present "through the grace". Luke who wrote Acts was a companion of Paul in his journeys and Paul uses this phrase like this too:

For I say, through the grace given to me . . .

Romans 12:3

And,

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us . . .

Romans 12:6

The gift of teaching of Apollos is in view, as was Paul's gift in view (in his mention); nothing more.

For more on this I recommend my chapter on Acts 18:27
in the book Serious Mistranslations of the bible

All the day's ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be - NIV
This passage comes from Psalm 139.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:16 NIV

This gives the idea that all the days of one's life are known by God, let alone under His control and fully purposed by God before one is born: A very Calvinist perspective. The NLT is like the NIV too.
       The NKJV is not much clearer:

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

Psalm 139:16

The KJV and YLT help us see what is in view. They follow the flow of the context about God making man in the womb.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:16 KJV

But days are not mentioned here. They are in the YLT,

Mine unformed substance Thine eyes saw, and on Thy book all of them are written, the days they were formed -- And not one among them.

Psalm 139:16 YLT

This reading was first brought to my attention in a KJV margin note which read, "Or, what days they should be fashioned". So what is in view is the days of when all the members of one's body are formed in the womb of one's mother; nothing more. This fits fully within the context and the internal explicit words "in continuance were fashioned" about the elements of the substance within the womb in view "when I was made in secret" (Psalm 139:15).

For more on this I recommend the chapter Psalm 139:16
In my book Serious Mistranslations of the Bible.

To Conclude
I am not aware of any passage of scripture correctly translated that supports Calvinism or any of the tenets of that system under the TULIP acronym: (T) Total depravity or Total Inability, against God's view that man is able as in Genesis 4:7; Ezekiel 18; et al - (U) Unconditional election, against God's express mention it is man's choice and not His as in John 3:19; Exodus 32:33; et al - (L) Limited atonement against the total inclusion in the atonement provision mentioned in Colossians 1:19-20; et al - (I) Irresistible grace, against Jesus' express mention which emphasises God's own Self control in Matthew 23:37 - (P) Preservation of the saints, against the reality of departure in Romans 11:22; 1 Timothy 4:1; et al.

I have found no passage correctly translated and read fully in context that can be used as support for Calvinism.

As Satan quoted Scripture at Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4; Luke 4), but was countered with more scripture, so all Calvinism is based on texts, some mistranslated as shown, and these (mis-)used out of context and added to others of the same kind also out of context. So is the norm of all the teaching by demons (1 Timothy 4:1). These deceiving spirits have been involved here from the outset and they continue regularly to reinforce all their dogma. Their influence is that the dogma *must* be worshipped and placed forward as a holy cow frequently [see my article Making an idol?] and it is a divider of believer from believer in Christendom. The early church, instead, universally taught free will, until Augustine that is, who began the teaching of man being so disabled that his will is bound to an alleged inherited fallen nature and unable to contribute to salvation, without God first enabling that man to repent and to have faith. Up till Augustine all taught that man had ability and the individual is the one who chose whether to be a sinner and to remain one, as attested by scripture in context (Genesis 4:7; Ezekiel 18; et al). This means that for 3-400 years there is no record of any such teaching in the Church (again in context). During the 16th century reformation this Augustine dogma was identified as a banner to rally to, and then was so supported by the writing of John Calvin that the name Calvinism has been attributed to it.

Calvinism makes God into a contradictory Person and blasphemes His character giving Him the blame for all evil actions in the world: every single one of them. Calvin wrote "What we must prove is that single events are ordered by God and that every event comes from his intended will. Nothing happens by chance." (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book I, Ch. 16, Section 4). Whilst Scripture is clear that only good gifts come directly from God "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (James 1:17) so that no darkness is directly attributable to God whatsoever, since "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5). God is clear in His own words that "I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images." (Isaiah 42:8): In Calvinism God decreed every act of false worship to false gods.

Shouldn't that make all saints angry too?

It is because deceiving spirits are involved that good and sincere believers have been caught in the snare of this dogma and most do not realise that this is something that will be burned up when they face their Lord, as Paul said:

If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

1 Corinthians 3:15

For the disparity between Augustine of Hippo and the early church on free will,
See the online article
The Early Church and Predestination
With ongoing links to quotes of 17 early church writers.

See also a summary of their difference by a Professor of Church History here:
The Early Church: Original Sin - Fallen nature - Man's part in salvation

This is in contrast to Augustine's new dogma
Augustine's letter to Jerome on souls of babies
 



Ref. M.046

Unless otherwise stated Bible quotes are from
The New King James Version

© copyright Thomas Nelson Inc. 1979, 1980, 1982
___

Marked JM is the author's own rendering

Marked YLT is the Young's Literal Translation
___

NIV is from The Holy Bible, New International Version

Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, formerly International Bible Society
___

Marked NLT is Holy Bible, New Living Translation

Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation
___

© copyright Jacques More 2020. All Rights Reserved.



INFORMATION On copying & on giving



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