A history of the Bible Lesson and Mary Baker Eddy's use of many Bible versions

by Robert Nguyen Cramer (version 5.5.8.1)
KJV and Textus Receptus: history, accuracy, & relevance today (recommended to be read along with this present article)

 

Table of contents
1 Introduction
2 Bible versions owned and used by Mary Baker Eddy
3 Examples of Mrs. Eddy's quoting or borrowing from other Bible versions
4 The Church of Christ, Scientists' use of the Revised Version throughout 1890
5 The continued use of the Revised Version / American Standard Version in the trademarked "Cross and Crown seal" of Christian Science and in the daily Christian Science Monitor
6 The use of several Bible versions in the Christian Science Quarterly up through 1914
7 The past, present, and future use of other Bible versions in The Church of Christ, Scientist
8 Conclusion

 

1. Introduction
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Many of today's students of the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson are unaware that, between 1890 and 1914, Bible versions other than the King James Version [KJV] in the Bible Lessons were officially used at times in the Quarterly and in the Sunday services of Mary Baker Eddy's church in Boston. It is also a surprise to many that nowhere in Mrs. Eddy's published writings did she specify the KJV as the version to be used for reading the Bible Lesson in Sunday or Wednesday services in branch churches or even in The Mother Church, or for privately studying the Bible Lesson at home, or for use in Christian Science Reading Rooms. (For a listing of Bible versions sold in Reading Rooms of Mrs. Eddy's day, browse http://www.bibletexts.com/workshops/7-bible-resources-in-early-csrr.htm.)

Mrs. Eddy does write (S&H 24:4):

She also writes (S&H 139:15):

 

2. Bible versions owned and used by Mary Baker Eddy

 

 

Though Mrs. Eddy overwhelmingly quoted most frequently from the King James Version (sometimes referred to as the Authorized Version [AV] or Common Version [CV]), throughout her writings and publications, she appreciatively quotes from, refers to, and/or uses wording from several other English-language translations. Some of those translations are the following (in chronological order): Wycliffe's Bible (1378-1388), the Revised Version [RV] (1881-1885), the American Standard Version [ASV] (1901), Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (completed 1902), and The Twentieth Century New Testament (completed 1902). In addition to the King James Version, Mrs. Eddy owned many other Bible versions. (See "The Bible Exhibit Historical Collection," published by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, MA, USA, and other sources.)

Some of the Bibles that Mrs. Eddy owned and used are listed below. They are arranged in chronological order according to the date of the first publication of the complete Bible, or alternatively according to the date of the first publication of the complete New Testament.

 

3. Examples of Mary Baker Eddy's quoting or borrowing from other Bible versions
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

 

The following are just a few examples of Mary Baker Eddy's use of other Bible versions and/or her seeing the need to translate some KJV wording into more meaningful and/or more accurate language for modern readers. (The Strong's numbers for the original Hebrew and Greek words appear within the <brackets>. The red underlined words provide links to definitions or other explanations.)

Also noteworthy is Mrs. Eddy's commendation of others' use of various Bible translations to clarify -- or rightly understand -- particular Bible passages. To read an example of this, you can browse Hermann S. Hering's article at http://www.bibletexts.com/articles/s008p291.htm. Mrs. Eddy endorsed this article on the proper reading of 1 John 3:1-3, and she had Prof. Hering's article published in the Christian Science Sentinel.

Most people greatly underestimate Mrs. Eddy's studying of, paraphrasing from, and otherwise borrowing wording from non-KJV Bible versions. All of the Bible versions listed in the references above were owned and used by Mrs. Eddy in her home. For a listing of all of the Bibles known to have been owned by Mrs. Eddy in her home at Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, see The Bible Exhibit Historical Collection (Boston: The First Church of Christ, Scientist, pages 41-45).

 

4. The Church of Christ, Scientist's use of the Revised Version throughout 1890
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It was not until the Old Testament and the New Testament of the RV were completed in 1885 that Mrs. Eddy and the Christian Science church even had available to them an English-language alternative to the KJV that was taken seriously by the Christian public. Prior to the RV's publication, the KJV was virtually the only complete version (with both Old and New Testaments) in common use in English-speaking countries.

When the RV was introduced in its 1881 New Testament edition, it aroused great indignation and outrage among many English-speaking Protestant theologians. Most church leaders considered it to be a scandalous and heretical sacrilege for anyone to use any version except their time-honored KJV. In 1885 the then complete RV, with both Old and New Testaments, was the first major English translation of the Bible in over three hundred years that did not base its New Testament on the Textus Receptus. (To further explore the relationship between the KJV and the Textus Receptus, browse "The King James Version and its dependence on the Textus Receptus" at http://www.bibletexts.com/kjv-tr.htm.) These issues resulted in a serious campaign of opposition to the RV from some very articulate, influential, and outspoken Christian theologians throughout the Protestant world, who were very critical of the RV.

Yet in 1890, only five years after the publication of the complete RV (Old Testament and New Testament), the RV had the distinction of being the first and only Bible version used in the place of the KJV for the "Bible Lessons" that were used in Sunday School and for the Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening church service. The RV was the only version that was used for the Christian Science Bible Lessons, including both the "Golden Text" and "Lesson Text," for one entire year.

From 1888 to 1899 Christian Science Bible Lessons were "adapted to and taken from the International Sunday School Lessons in use in Protestant churches." (Norman Beasley, The Cross and the Crown, NY: Little, Brown, & Co, 1952, page 548.) Before 1890 the "Christian Science Bible Lessons -- International Series" were published in The Christian Science Journal, but in April of 1890 they began being published every three months in a new publication called the Christian Science Quarterly.

"The contents [of the Bible Lessons] consisted of introductory comments and expository notes, along with Bible references and,... 'copious references' to Science and Health." (Ibid., page 549) The references to Science and Health in the "Introductory" comments and in the "Expository Notes" were prepared by a committee of four Christian Scientists. Until 1895 the Sunday morning service in Boston and elsewhere consisted of a sermon prepared by and preached by a Christian Scientist pastor, but in 1895 Mrs. Eddy ordained the Bible and Science and Health to be the pastor of The Mother Church, and the Sunday School became dedicated only to the teaching of children. Beginning in 1895 and continuing to our present day, the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons were systematically used in both the Sunday School and the church services.

As mentioned above, from 1888 to 1899, the Bible texts used in the Christian Science church's Bible Lesson were a taken directly from the Bible Lessons that had been prepared by a multi-denominational International Lesson Committee [ILC]. Although the Christian Science church did not have any representatives on the sixteen-person ILC, the ILC generously allowed the Christian Science church to freely publish in the Christian Science Quarterly the full-texts of the Bible references that the ILC had selected. In the Quarterly the ILC's Bible texts were followed by verse-by-verse comments and cross-references in the "Expository Notes" section of the Quarterly's Bible Lessons. Without any further explanation of its relation to the ILC's work, the April, 1890, Bible Lesson publication from the Christian Science church carried this simple title, "Christian Science Bible Lessons -- International Series."

It was in January of 1890 that the four-person Christian Science Bible Lesson Committee first began systematically using references (page and line numbers, without quoting the text) from Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures in the "Expository Notes" below each "Lesson Text." (As is described below in more detail, it was not until 1898 that the Christian Science Quarterly in its current format began to be published.)

By the beginning of 1891, the KJV had regained its former position as the primary Bible version used at Christian Science services in Boston, although Mrs. Eddy herself continued to keep the RV available for her own study. In 1892 she reorganized her church and introduced the Church Manual as the governing document for her church, but neither in the Church Manual nor in any of her other published writings did she ever specify any particular version of the Bible for use during Christian Science services in The Mother Church or in branch churches.

 

5. The continued use of the Revised Version / American Standard Version in the trademarked "Cross and Crown seal" of Christian Science and in The Christian Science Monitor
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In two very prominent places, Mrs. Eddy chose not to use the wording from the KJV. Instead she used the wording preferred by the American scholars in the Revised Version [RV] translation project, as ultimately represented in the American Standard Version [ASV].

In the above-cited two verses (Matthew 10:8 and Mark 4:28), the ASV differs from both the RV and the KJV. The wordings in the RV verses are almost identical with the KJV wordings, except for one significant difference. The KJV word order for Matthew 10:8 reflects the errors of the Greek word order in the TR. On the other hand, the word order on the "Cross and Crown seal" of Christian Science, in the RV, and in the ASV all agree with the Greek word order in Westcott and Hort's Greek text, upon which the RV and ASV were based.

Curiously, when the "Cross and Crown seal" of Christian Science first appeared, in the 1881 Third Edition of Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy used exactly the same Matthew 10:8 wording that ultimately appeared in the ASV, but the ASV Bible was not published until 1901! American biblical scholarship, which ultimately published the ASV, had been part of the RV translation effort since 1870. In that original 1881 edition of the Revised Version of the New Testament, the English scholars agreed to publish the American Committee's preferred "readings and renderings" in an Appendix for a fourteen year period, and the American Committee agreed not to publish an American edition of the Revised Version (which was to include textual changes reflecting the American Committee's preferences) for the same fourteen year period.

Less than two months after the initial publication of the RV in England in 1881, Mrs. Eddy not only had obtained a copy of that brand-new RV New Testament, but she also had used that RV New Testament to determine the text on the first appearance the "Cross and Crown seal" of Christian Science in the 1881 edition of Science and Health. However, the text of the RV read as follows:

What Mrs. Eddy did was to use the basic text of the RV but also to substitute "demons" in the place of "devils." In the RV's margin, immediately to the right of that text of Matthew 10:8 is the marginal note,

This marginal note indicates that the meaning of the Greek word translated as "devils" in the RV is actually "demons." And in the appendix, the RV's "List of readings and renderings preferred by the American Committee" stated,

In Matthew 8:10, "demons" was the rendering of daimonia (the accusative plural form of daimonion), which was preferred by the American scholars who had collaborated on the RV translation. This is exactly the wording that the American scholars used when in 1901 they published the ASV. The ASV reads: "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons:..." This is also exactly the text that Mrs. Eddy had used on "the seal of Christian Science" twenty years earlier in 1881, when she had followed the recommendations of the RV's American scholars.

All of this attests both to Mrs. Eddy's honesty in representing the Scriptures and to her vision, willingness, and courage to use wording that not only was different from the much maligned RV but different from the revered King James Version itself. The inspiring conclusion on this matter is that the wording of the Matthew 10:8 text that Mrs. Eddy chose for the "Cross and Crown seal" of Christian Science and the wording for the Mark 4:28 text that she chose for The Christian Science Monitor were enduringly accurate, and their textual basis and language appear destined to stand the test of time. This brings to mind an interesting comment that Mrs. Eddy made in 1886 (Miscellaneous Writings, page 363:27-5):

And in 1891 Mrs. Eddy wrote (No and Yes, page 15:7-12):

 

6. The use of several Bible versions in the Christian Science Quarterly up through 1914
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Mary Baker Eddy and her church publicly continued to refer to the RV and other Bible versions (Noyes', Rotherham's, Wilson's, and Young's) in either the "Expository Notes" or the "Lesson Text" up until 1899, which was the year that the Church of Christ, Scientist, completely discontinued use of the International Sunday School Lessons.

In 1898 Mrs. Eddy introduced the Christian Science Quarterly with the format that is used in Christian Science services today. That format includes the following: a subject, Golden Text from the Bible, Responsive Reading from the Bible, and multiple "sections" (now customarily six sections) that develop a theme related to the subject. Each section has citations from the Bible and correlative citations from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. She chose a series of twenty-six Bible Lesson subjects to be used on consecutive Sundays. The series of twenty-six subjects repeats twice each year.

From July 1898 to March 1899, a Bible Lesson based upon the twenty-six subjects was used as the Lesson-Sermon for the morning service, and a Bible Lesson based upon the International Sunday School Lessons was used for an afternoon or evening service. As mentioned above, The Church of Christ, Scientist, completely discontinued use of the International Sunday School Lessons by the end of March, 1899. As of April, 1899, only the Bible Lessons based upon the twenty-six subjects were used.

After 1898 the RV was the only alternative Bible version that was occasionally used in place of the KJV, and that was only in the Golden Text. Some dates when Bible texts from the RV, instead of the KJV, were sometimes used in the Christian Science Quarterly for the Golden Text are as follows:

 

7. The past, present, and future use of other Bible versions in The Church of Christ, Scientist
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In 1901 Mrs. Eddy asked two prominent members of The Mother Church to inquire of other Protestant churches what Bible versions they were using, and the consistent response was that the King James Version was the one being used. (At that time the Roman Catholic church only used the Latin Vulgate in its services.) It is uncertain what her intent was in making these inquiries. She seemed very intent on making sure that the Bible used in Christian Science services was one used in mainstream Protestant churches. If she was in fact considering the use of another translation for Christian Science services, she would have been very careful not use one that would open her church to charges of not using a real Christian Bible. The Church's use of the not-popularly-accepted Revised Version in 1890 seems to have had an enduring impact, as illustrated by the Alfred Farlow's treatment of Rotherham's translation in 1891.

In the early 1890's Rotherham's translation (now known as the Emphasized Bible, published by Kregel Publications), was being regularly advertised in The Christian Science Journal and was becoming very popular among Christian Scientists. At that time it only included the New Testament. In 1902 the Old Testament was finished and Rotherham's translation was published as a complete Bible. On page 460 of the January, 1891, issue of the Journal, Alfred Farlow wrote regarding Rotherham's translation,

Until 1952 there continued to be no serious competitor to the KJV in Protestant churches in America. It was in 1952 that the complete Revised Standard Version [RSV] was published as an authorized revision of the ASV, which itself was an authorized revision of the KJV.

That the RV did not remain - or that the ASV did not become - the standard Bible version used in Christian Science or other Protestant services is not surprising, given some of the extremely severe criticism of the RV and the ASV during the years immediately following their publications. In the intervening years, the RV has been largely vindicated as having ushered in a new era of English-language versions of the Bible; however, some of the original criticisms are still seen as valid today by modern Bible scholars, even those who have high regard for the RV's role as the initiator of a new era of Bible translations. Among those vigorously articulating the shortcomings of the RV was an outspoken nineteenth-century English biblical scholar named Dr. John William Burgon. He wrote:

F.F. Bruce, in his History of the Bible in English, Third Edition, summed up the RV's impact as follows:

Even C.I. Scofield in the original 1909 edition of his very popular Scofield Reference Bible wrote in the "Introduction,"

It seems that Mary Baker Eddy had come to a very similar conclusion. Though Scofield had great respect for the RV, he knew that it was not widely enough accepted to be used as the basis for the Scofield Reference Bible. "After mature reflection" Scofield decided not to challenge the then virtually uncontested supremacy of the King James Version in English-speaking Protestant churches.

(At that time the Roman Catholic church only used Latin texts of the Bible and discouraged the layperson from reading of the Bible in a modern vernacular. That changed in 1965, in the Fourth Session of Vatican II. In 1966 the Jerusalem Bible became the first English language Bible approved for the use of Roman Catholics.)

Mrs. Eddy, too, was also very aware of the ecclesiastical climate at beginning of the twentieth century. Since 1938 the Christian Science Board of Directors has occasionally reminded Christian Scientists that "Mary Baker Eddy consistently maintained her preference for the King James Version." (TCSJ, 1946, February, Vol 64, page 93. See also TCSJ, 1980, September.) It should be noted that though Scofield himself really would have preferred to use the Revised Version for his Reference Bible, his true preference was not publicly articulated in the "Introduction" to his Reference Bible. In his following statement of support for the KJV, he is really publicly justifying his private resignation to the fact that the KJV public would not endorse a challenger to the KJV at that time. He continued his above-quoted statement as follows:

In actuality Scofield included in his margins only a very few of the many textual corrections that were made by the scholars he mentions above and that were included in the Revised Version and virtually all subsequent modern translations. His above statement about the KJV was very generous indeed. He knew that the Protestant clergy and public would not endorse his use of another translation. Scofield's "mature reflection"/pragmatism enabled his Reference Bible to become the leading study Bible for the next half century. In recent years the Scofield Reference Bible became available with the following versions: NIV, NASV, and NKJV. There is also a New Scofield Reference Bible, first published in 1968, which substitutes into the text itself corrections for what textual scholars' consider the KJV's most unbearable textual errors.

Now as we approach the close of the twentieth century, the situation has changed quite a bit. In most English-speaking churches, the KJV has been largely replaced, except primarily in the most fundamentalist and/or conservative churches. Many churches switched to the Revised Standard Version Bible after its initial publication in 1952. Then later many churches switched to the New American Standard Version (1971), the New International Version (1978), the New Revised Standard Version (1989), or one of the other more recent versions. According to current marketing surveys the NIV leads with 40% of the market share. The KJV continues to decline in use and now has no more than 20% of the market share, and the NRSV has been endorsed by Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, and other mainstream denominations.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, both Mary Baker Eddy and C.I. Scofield publicly articulated English-Bible-version preferences that certainly were in tune with their times. Some publishers of the Scofield Reference Bible kept abreast of the times by later publishing it in NIV editions and in editions that use other broadly popular Bible versions. (C.I. Scofield certainly would have approved!) Even Mary Baker Eddy required the Christian Science periodicals, which include the Christian Science Quarterly, to be "kept abreast of the times." (See the Church Manual, page 44:16.) We should not be surprised or upset if someday the "Church periodicals" are "kept abreast of the times" by having either additional or alternative English-Bible-version editions of the Christian Science Quarterly, or simply having the English editions of the Quarterly with the Golden Text or Responsive Reading texts from non-KJV modern Bible versions, as was done during Mrs. Eddy's time.

Currently in the "About our Bible Lessons" introduction to the Quarterly, a sentence reads:

The Bible Lessons in the Christian Science Quarterly consist of study references from the Bible (King James Version) and from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

Today, however, biblical scholars do not consider the King James Version or its New Testament Greek basis (the so-called Textus Receptus) as a sound representation of the original biblical texts. Most modern biblical scholars and translators use the United Bible Society's Greek New Testament, 4th Revised Edition, as today's most accurate representation of the original Greek New Testament texts. (The reason why modern English translations sometimes appear to be missing words, phrases, or even entire verses in the New Testament is that modern scholars no longer include the wording that was incorrectly added by Erasmus.) For the Old Testament, the three primary sources for scholars and translators are (1) the Hebrew Masoretic Text, (2) the Greek Septuagint, and (3) the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

A few modern English versions and many standard non-English versions used Erasmus' Greek text as a basis for translating their New Testaments. Some versions that still include incorrect, non-original wording are the New King James Version, the German Luther Unrevidierte (1545), most Spanish Reina-Valera versions, and Portuguese Almeida versions, to name just a few. A more complete listing can be found at http://www.bibletexts.com/kjv-tr.htm#tr-based-bibles.

In Biblical Hermeneutics, Second Edition (edited by Bruce Corley, Steve W. Lemke, and Grant Lovejoy, Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002, page 388), Harold Freeman, in his chapter on "Biblical Criticism and Biblical Preaching" honestly comments on the textual corruption of 1Jo 5:7, which appears in both the Textus Receptus and the KJV:

Textual criticism is the discipline that seeks to identify the original wording of an ancient document. Textual criticism of the Bible benefits preaching by preventing nonbiblical sermons... We regret giving up a nice doctrinal sermon on the Trinity based on 1 John 5:7b (KJV). Nevertheless, if it is determined that these are additions to the original writings, whether intentional or accidental, biblical preaching based on these texts cannot occur... Sermons based on spurious or corrupted texts cannot be genuinely biblical. The determination of exactly what the Scripture said is the starting point for biblical preaching.

(The text of 1Jo 5:7, plus Act 9:5-6, and Rev 22:19, usually serve as good, quick indicators as to the accuracy of the Greek text from which that version was translated. If those verses have the equivalent of "the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit," then you know that version includes unauthentic wording derived from Erasmus' errant Greek text. For details regarding the corruption of this text, see http://www.bibletexts.com/kjv-tr.htm#1jo0507. For details as to how you yourself can evaluate any Bible version for corruptions, see http://www.bibletexts.com/kjv-tr.htm#evaluate-versions.)

As mentioned above, nowhere in the Church Manual or elsewhere in Mrs. Eddy's published writings does she require, specify, or even mention using the King James Version in Christian Science services, and there is no mention of dependence upon Erasmus' so-called Textus Receptus as the Greek New Testament basis for Bible versions used to study or to read the Bible Lessons.

Reflecting the current "times," there are a number of scenarios that we should not be surprised to see in the future. There could be one edition of the Quarterly that specifies, "the Bible (New Revised Standard Version)," another edition that specifies, "the Bible (Revised English Bible)," another edition that specifies, "the Bible (New American Bible)," and another edition that continues to specify, "the Bible (King James Version)." Or there could simply be a permanent replacement of the King James Version edition with just a New Revised Standard Version edition, a Revised English Bible edition, a New American Bible edition, or some other highly regarded modern-version-edition of the Quarterly.

It even would be possible for there to be a "Parallel Bible Edition" of the Quarterly, which would specify using a parallel Bible that had both the KJV and the NRSV texts on the same page. The NRSV could be the default version used for all Bible Lesson citations, except for citations where:

Gen 1:26,27 is a good example of where a "Parallel Bible Edition" of the Christian Science Quarterly might specify "use KJV text" for that particular citation.

Also the Christian Science Quarterly itself could be an avenue for additional clarification of the biblical texts. The Quarterly has the Manual-based authority to include "notices and remarks" that would help individual students and Sunday congregations become better acquainted with "the original texts" (S&H 24:4) of difficult passages. The Quarterly's "notices and remarks" could also be used to clarify key KJV words or phrases that appear differently in non-KJV versions, such as the NRSV. In the Church Manual, Mrs. Eddy includes the following By-Law in Article III (Man 32:17):

Though even the thought of studying the Bible Lessons with any version other than the KJV may be unsettling to some students of Christian Science, a number of editorials and other articles in the Christian Science periodicals during Mrs. Eddy's day very much encouraged the use of other Bible versions for use in studying the Bible Lesson. (See "Some articles from the Christian Science periodicals about the Bible, the Bible Lessons, and Bible versions" at http://www.bibletexts.com/articles/bl.htm.) The 1890 editors of The Christian Science Journal (Volume 8, October, 1890, page 460) were asked, "Why do you recommend the Rotherham translation of the Scripture, since SCIENCE AND HEALTH is based on the common version?" Their answer, as reprinted below, provides much food for thought.

This of course reflected the Editors' perspective in 1890. Editors today and in the future will necessarily have new insights and new information from which to draw and by which to engage in "mature reflection." Their answers will likely shed light on biblical resources currently available, but the 1890's editors spoke scientifically when they wrote,

It is useful to remember that Mary Baker Eddy and the early Board of Directors had sanctioned the use of Bible versions in addition to the KJV in The Mother Church services. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, "Nowhere in Mrs. Eddy's published writings did she specify the KJV as the version to be used for reading the Bible Lesson in Sunday or Wednesday services in branch churches or even in The Mother Church, or for privately studying the Bible Lesson at home, or for use in Christian Science Reading Rooms."

It also should be noted that in the Church Manual, in Article XXIII, Mrs. Eddy stated:

"Local Self-government. SECTION 1. The Mother church of Christ, Scientist, shall assume no general official control of other churches, and it shall be controlled by none other. Each Church of Christ, Scientist, shall have its own form of government." (Man 70:10-15)

"In Christian Science each branch church shall be distinctly democratic in its government, and no individual, and no other church shall interfere with its affairs." (Man 74:5-9)

Just as there are Church Manual requirements that the "form of government" of The Mother Church, as "transacted by its Christian Science Board of Directors" (Man 27:1-3), needs to be respected and not interfered with, and should be considered by branch churches in "an attitude of Christian fellowship" (Man 74:15-21); in the same way, each branch church needs to be respected and not interfered with, and should be considered in "an attitude of Christian fellowship" by The Mother Church and by all other branch churches. Since there is no Manual-requirement to use a particular Bible version in church services, nor is such use of another Bible version in conflict with statements in any of Mrs. Eddy's published works, The Mother Church and any individual branch church should not be interfered with as to their choice of Bible versions used in their individual 'self-governed' churches.

In future months or years, we should not be surprised if we are attending The Mother Church services and hear Bible verses read from a version other than the KJV. Nor should we be surprised if we are attending a branch church service and hear Bible verses read in English from a version other than the KJV, or read in non-English-language services from a version other than the version available from The Christian Science Publishing Society in any particular language. Within recent years the latter has already begun to occur. (For more details on the Manual-basis for this, see http://www.bibletexts.com/manual/index.htm#14-2.)

 

8. Conclusion
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Placing all of the above information in its proper perspective, may the thoughts and lives of every Bible-reading Christian conform to the following words of Paul (1 Corinthians 2:4,5):

And, in words that are as applicable to our study of the Bible texts as they are to our prayers, Mary Baker Eddy consistently articulates that God's Spirit and our faithful conformity thereto, rather than the letter, are the basis for demonstrating "God's power." She wrote:

You are welcome to email any additional information and insights that you may have

If you have information or insights that shed further light, either in agreement with or contrary to what I have stated, please email me. My desire is to arrive at honest conclusions that are consistent with all available facts. I deeply respect all who honestly arrive at genuine conclusions, even if those conclusions differ from my own conclusions. It is not my intent to prop up any opinions, which are often the result of one's selectively using only those facts that support such opinions - and conveniently disregarding facts that undermine such opinions. I do not want to have any personal opinions. I only want to develop faith-inspiring, honest conclusions that lead to being "filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding." (Col 1:9, NRSV) So please feel free to share with me any facts that may help lead to even better or further refined conclusions.

Robert Nguyen Cramer, Editor, BibleTexts.com

Copyright 1996-2005 Robert Nguyen Cramer