Excuses for defense of the Russian Synodal Or Why I quit using the Synodal Bible

Dr. Perry Demopoulos

Note: All scripture quotations are from the Russian translation of the King James Bible (2017).

Advocates of the Russian Synodal Bible will defend their version for many reasons. We understand that a great many folk have come to believe, read, preach and teach from the Synodal Bible, the Bible that has been used for many years since its publication. The complete Bible was published in 1876. We are thankful to God for the thousands of people that have been saved because of hearing truth from that Bible. We cannot deny these facts. But, that is no reason to neglect other facts about the Synodal text. There are two sides to a coin. The other facts are not pretty but they are true. “Truth always hurts” as they say. Paul said, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Gal.4:16). True love, “…charity…rejoiceth in the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6) and also “Open rebuke is better than secret love” (Prov. 27:5). The fact of the matter, (the other side of the coin) is that there are numerous corrupt readings in the Synodal Bible. Any Russian speaking person that has any knowledge of the English language, when comparing the Synodal Bible with the Authorized Version of the King James Bible, and has an honest and sincere heart to know the truth can clearly see these facts. What we would like to do in this work is to simply state what many adherents (missionaries or Russia speaking people) of the Synodal Bible say in defense of their text. It is absolutely incredible how that their reasons why they adhere to the Synodal Bible are the very same reasons why many English speaking people (for instance in America) will defend various perversions of the Bible, for example, the New King James Bible. It is amazing that two different people on two different continents (America and Former Soviet Union) will use the same excuses to adhere to their translations although their translations are pockmarked with false readings, and corruption, omissions from the word of God and additions to it. They are unified in conspiring against the absolute standard of Biblical translation – the Authorized Version of the King James Bible.

Wrong Information

The following is a quote from Wikipedia. The information given is absolutely false concerning the usage of the as a source for the translation work of the Synodal Bible.

“Official permission to use the Masoretic Text as preserved by the Jews (rather than relying on the Septuagint and/or the Church Slavonic translations as preserved by the Christians) was granted to Filaret by the Synod in 1862, even though technically the translation was already mostly completed by that time.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Synodal_Bible

What was not told you is that Septuagint readings were inserted into the text and are scattered throughout the of the Russian Synodal Bible. We’ve found them and proof is available.

Now notice the following information concerning the Synodal Bible taken from Russian site of Wikipedia and note the contrast – “The translators were guided also by the Greek text of the Septuagint; they used the Vulgate - the Latin translation of Jerome and the previously made Russian translation.”

Here is the quote as it stands in the Russian Wikipedia – “Переводчики руководствовались также греческим текстом Септуагинты, пользовались Вульгатой — латинским переводом Иеронима и ранее сделанным русским переводом.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Synodal_Bible

English translation – “The translators were guided even by the Greek text of the Septuagint, used the Vulgate – the Latin translation of Jerome which is earlier than the Russian translation.”

Here you see that the “Septuagint” was used during the translation. Anybody who has studied church history knows that Alexandria was the location of the so-called Christian school. On the contrary it was a school of philosophy and tradition, of which the Apostle Paul warns the body of Christ, specifically Laodicians (Col. 2:8). The so-called “Christian” school was actually the seedbed of much heresy taught in Christendom. Much of that is because of false readings in false because of false manuscripts. Origen Adamantius was born near Alexandria about A.D. 185. Alexandria is located in Egypt. Egypt is a type of the world (Deut. 17:16; Isa. 30:1-3; 31:1). Alexandria is a bed-fellow to Rome and the Alexandrians contended with Stephen a Spirit-filled man. (Acts 6:9; 18:24; 27:6; 28:11). Origen is responsible for writing a perverted text called the Septuagint. That text was supposed to have been written before the time of Christ from which the Lord and the Apostles quoted. The whole story is a hoax. Jesus Christ was very precise concerning what was considered “scripture” (Lk. 24:44). He never mentioned anything about any “Septuagint.” That didn’t exist at least until 150 years after the completion of the . Origen critiqued the holy scriptures and perverted them creating his own perverted text of the Old Testament. That is the Septuagint upon which the Synod of the Orthodox Church looked to for “truth.” But of course any honest student of the scriptures is not so naïve. Although a great number of Russian speaking people hold to the Synodal Bible, there are many Russian speaking people that can prove without a shadow of doubt Alexandrian readings and other forms of corruption in it. [Please listen to our Bible Radio recordings at – http://harvestukraineaudio.org/preaching/radio.htm and also avail is the book “A Comparison of the Synodal Bible and the Russian AV.”]

The Danger of Subtlety

The Syodal text is more dangerous than any other translation in the Russian tongue because it is far more deceptive in many ways. Among the various English versions of the Bible, the most dangerous threat of all the false Bibles is the New King James Bible. It is “more subtle…” (Gen. 3:1) “…than any beast…” Why? BECAUSE IT IS LESS OBVIOUSLY DECEPTIVE. Most American, native English-speaking believers in the body of Christ are NAÏVE to that fact. One of the Devil’s devices (2 Cor. 2:11) or shall we say, “expertise” is DECEPTION, so he has to produce a ‘Bible’ that is the most DECEPTIVE AND THE LEAST OBVIOUSLY CORRUPTED (2 Tim. 3:13; Rev. 12:9). Having said that, when you take a very careful look the Synodal Bible it has numerous obvious corruptions in. For English speaking people, if you take for instance the New King James Bible it has numerous corruptions in it also. That can be proven in a court of law. It takes a keen eye to notice the less obvious ‘land mines’ of corruption. No experienced soldier is about to walk naively in a war zone where it has been reported that there are land mines planted all over. Soldiers are to stay close to the men that are using their detectors to find those mines. Or else too many soldiers have their legs blown off because they couldn’t locate the mines or carelessly walked the mine planted field despite the fact that they had been forewarned. The apostle Paul, a great soldier for Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 2:2) warned us in the first century. He said, “For we are not as MANY, which corrupt the word of God.” (2 Cor. 2:17).

Three Levels of Subtlety

As there are three levels of subtlety outlined in the Bible – so there are 3 main levels of perverted Bibles, “subtil,” “very subtil,” and “MORE SUBTIL” (Gen. 3:1). These are military war tactics used by the enemy, in this case, Satan – the deceiver. Let’s take a look at how the Holy Spirit exposes these three levels –

i. First, there is “…a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart” (Prov. 7:10) ii. Secondly, we see that “Amnon had a friend… (a close relative) who is “…very subtil...” (2 Sam. 13:3) iii. And finally, “…the serpent was MORE SUBTIL than any beast of the field…” (Gen. 3:1), who when he spake his first words to man they were to a WOMAN, “…Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

The true King James Bible believer knows that the New King James Version is a perversion of the King James Bible. Although it is like many other perversions of the Bible it has true readings in it. But the Devil is not so stupid as to keep all truth from the reader. He’s got to use some amount of truth (and that will vary in all the false Bibles) to try to cover up the false readings to deceive the naïve (naiEVE, Gen. 3:1-6) reader. Remember that it is “a LITTLE leaven” that leavens the whole lump.” It is the little foxes that do the most damage, “Take us the foxes, the LITTLE foxes, that spoil the vines…” (Song 2:15). It is the flies (they are little) that do a lot of damage, “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a LITTLE folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour” (Eccl. 10:1).

No true English speaking Bible believer (a true Bible believer is one who believes the King James Bible is the absolute infallible word of God) would even think of even using the modern versions even the New King James Version of the Bible. Because “EVERY word of God is pure…” (Prov. 30:5) and “…man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word of God” (Lk. 4:4). And even the slightest deviation from the truth is a reason to take up arms. So then why would a missionary on the foreign field (Russian, Ukraine, etc.) make excuse for not exposing the false readings in the language where they are serving, just as he would as if he were in his home country? If he is not “speaking the truth in love…” (Eph.4:15) he is playing the role of a hypocrite and at that point he is NOT following Paul (2 Cor. 11:1). For a missionary or a preacher to hide absolute truth from those to whom he is preaching would be like Peter who vacillated with those in Galatia. Paul withstood him on that issue (Gal. 2:11). Peter withdrew and separted himself, fearing them (Jew) which were of the circumcision (Gal. 2:12). He carried away others with him including Barnabas “…by their dissimulation” (Gal. 2:13). “But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” (Gal. 2:14).

The ‘numbers’ game

Peter was to be blamed for his dissimulation (v. 13). Dissimulation is a form of hypocrisy (Rom. 12:9). And that is exactly what so-called ‘Bible believers’ (Americans and or others) are doing when they will not openly expose lies in translations of which they are preaching or teaching from. Truth divides and a lot of believers in the body of Christ will not obey absolute truth and expose the deception because just as Peter feared people “…fearing them which were of the circumcision” (Gal. 2:12) so do Christians fear man for various reasons. The Bible says, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe” (Prov. 29:25). What happens more often now than ever before is that pastors, evangelists, missionaries fear of losing the quantity of their following therefore they compromise truth for the ‘numbers game’ not realizing that quality is far more important to God than quantity. God, more than anybody else wants to see as many people as possible to be saved, but he will NEVER compromise His holiness and absolute truth to do that.

English-Russian (Synodal) Parallel Bible

Also, we want to make this short note concerning the English-Russian (Synodal) Parallel Bible printed by the Russian Bible Society, Asheville, NC, USA. This particular Parallel Bible gives many people the wrong impression. To say that the Synodal Bible is the Authorized Version in the Russian language shows the unskillfulness of the reader and lack of discernment that is talked about in Hebrews 5:13 and 14 – For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” For more in-depth information concerning the Russian Synodal Bible you can read the book “An X-Ray of the Synodal Bible at http://harvestukraine.org/rus/litera/subject2.htm

Excuses

Here is a list of excuses used by believers throughout the English and Russian speaking world that adhere to such versions as the Russian Synodal and or a similar Bible in the English language – the New King James Bible (1975) that have truth in them but also are leavened with much corruption (2 Cor. 2:17). The Synodal Bible may be likened to the New King James Version in the English language. Both are corrupted with many, (and that is putting it lightly) false readings in them.

1. “There is only one King James Bible. Therefore there is no need to make any attempt to produce a translation of the King James Bible into the Russian language.” Response – Who didn’t know that that there is only one King James Bible? Does that mean that just because the King James Bible can never be ‘matched’ 100% in another language does that mean that no Christians should ever attempt to strive to translate the King James Bible as close as possible to it? That’s what a missionary did in the Philippines. That’s what a missionary had done in India. That’s what they did in many other countries. You say, “No! We don’t need to attempt to produce a translation of the King James Bible into the Russian language.” Yeah, until you yourself decided to take on that project. So you will simply criticize those that have realized that to trust the unsaved pagan priests of the Orthodox Synod to produce a ‘Bible’ (especially when they hold TRADITION on the same level as the scriptures like the pagan Roman Catholic Church), is not what God expects from His people. The Bible says, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1Thess.5:21). Response – It could be that you are afraid that the Russian translation of the King James Bible would be better than the Synodal Bible. Or, it could be dear friend that you just do not want to face truth (in the Russian translation of the AV) that sheds much more light than the Synodal Bible. We have got testimony after testimony of Russian speaking people around the world who can tell you LIKE IT IS!

[You can watch and listen to many Russian speaking people on our youtube channel that testify concerning the corruptsion of the Synodal bible at – https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=GIS7cDN3vhE&index=7&list=PLhYsY5GnSj_8Ujy8R7AKqfeFkn-LjlN-y

Or, maybe you have a bad habit and you know it that you do not want to reject false readings in the Synodal Bible.

Could it be that it is envy that bothers you? This author is not saying that it is, but we do find in the scriptures that the Pharisees had a problem with envy (Mk. 15:10). They were the very ones guilty of “leaven” (Lk. 12:1). They were the ones that tried to provoke the Lord Jesus Christ (Lk. 11:53) after He sharply rebuked the lawyers, “Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge…” (Lk. 11:52).

The fact of the matter is just as no man could ever match the holiness of Jesus Christ and His perfection, (until he gets his new body at the Rapture) that does not mean that you are not, as a born- again Christian, to strive for holiness practically in your own personal life. There are many verses in the Bible that talk about “perfect” and all of its forms (Gen. 6:9; 17:1; Psa. 138:8; Isa. 26:3; Lk. 8:14; Acts 18:26; 2 Cor. 12:9; Eph. 4:12; Col. 3:14; 2 Tim. 3:17; Heb. 13:21, etc.) and striving to do the will of God. It doesn’t mean SINLESS. There is only One Sinless Saviour. So, likewise, practically, those that are interested in preserving the words of God in another language (Psa. 12:6, 7; Prov. 25:1; 2 Cor. 2:17, etc.) should try to, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, strive to translate, purify, edit, a translation as close as possible of the right choice of words to ‘match’ the King James Bible. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS PROGRESSIVE and attaining sound Bible knowledge through the purest words of God is also progressive. And to reject that would be to settle for something less – the Russian Orthodox (Alexandrian readings) Bible or a New King James Bible, or the New American Standard Version that John MacArthur uses. The “sweet psalmist” David said, “…lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2). Jesus Christ is the standard by which all people are to be judged. So would not His words be true? Since that is the case He would also keep His promise of preserving His words (Psa. 12:6, 7; Prov. 25:1) by which we would be judged. Those words are preserved in The King James Bible THE standard by which all translations are to be judged. Period!

JESUS CHRIST “the Word” STANDARD AUTHORIZED VERSION “In the beginning was the 1611 in the International Word, and the Word was with language of English God, and the Word was God.” (Jn. 1:1-3) The perfect words of God “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” (Prov. 30:5) Christians that are to perfect Is absolute! Various translations in that which is wanting. various foreign languages – Both the Word of God (Jesus some better some worse but “But let patience have her Christ) and the words of God none can ‘beat’ the absolute perfect work, that ye may be (that which is written) are the standard or even measure up to perfect and entire, wanting absolute standards. it. But it is absolutely necessary nothing.” (Jam.1:4) to strive to make them as pure as possible. “…Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?” (1Thess.3:10)

All men will be judged by that man Jesus Christ. 12 Not as though I had already What ought to be done is attained, either were already make the various changes in perfect: but I follow after, if ANY version of the Bible; that I may apprehend that for Luther’s, Russian ‘AV’ and or which also I am apprehended of others to purify the text to its Christ Jesus. maximum. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, (Phil. 2:12, 13) The same devilish spirit “Having therefore these that instigated the crucifixion is promises, dearly beloved, let us the same wicked spirit that cleanse ourselves from all despises the deity of the Lord filthiness of the flesh and spirit, Jesus Christ and the authority perfecting holiness in the fear of the 1611 Authorized King of God.” (2 Cor.7:1) James Bible (Matt. 21:23-46).

Practically speaking, in your walk with the Lord you cannot reach the standard of perfection but you strive for perfecting.

2. “You can find truth in any translation.” Response – Advocates of perversions in English translations say “You can find truth in any translation such as The New King James Version. It is the word of God.” Yes, but you can also find something that is ‘good’ in a garbage can. Just because the Synodal or the New King James Bible have enough truth in them to even lead a sinner to Christ, and even allow for growth, to some extent, does not justify accepting perversions of readings. Many foods have certain amounts of poisons in them and people still go on eating them. Many more people are getting sick for various reasons; one because of food contamination. To illustrate this point let’s say you went to the doctor and said to him “Doctor, I’ve got really severe back pains. What should I do?” What if he answered, “Well, as long as you don’t have any broken bones you’re alright.” But you say to him, “No! Doctor you don’t understand. These back pains are killing me. I cannot sleep at night; I’m in pain all the day.” And again he answers you, “Well, at least you can hear and see well. Everything is alright with you.” Then you leave his office without solving the problem. You see, that is not the way to take care of the ‘severe back pains’ by skipping over it and saying “everything else is okay.” But that is exactly what many Christians have done when considering the Synodal Bible. They say, “It doesn’t make a difference if there is corruption in that text as long as I’ve got salvation. Everything is okay!”

This author was saved and was given to him a modern version of the Bible. It was a New American Standard Version. Then he changed to the New Scofield Bible. It has alternate readings of various words in the Bible text itself while retaining the true AV words in the middle column of each page. Not only that! Jesus warned of the fact that “the scripture cannot be broken” (Jn. 10:35). That can be illustrated with a typical bicycle chain. As long as the chain is whole the bicycle is able to go. But if even one link is missing that entire chain is useless. Therefore the bicycle cannot fulfill its purpose for which it was intended. That can also be said concerning a woman’s bracelet. If one part of that bracelet is broken, the bracelet cannot be worn. When many cross-references are corrupted then the scripture IS BROKEN. Therefore the whole method of comparing spiritual things with spiritual (1 Cor. 2:13), to ascertain the proper interpretation of scripture is BROKEN. Then the whole process of degeneration begins.

With a little bit of comparison between the Synodal Bible and the Russian KJV, you will automatically notice the differences and the corruption of the Synodal readings. [For that see our books “An X-Ray of the Synodal Text” (which is a thorough research of the resources, manuscript evidence, of the false readings in the Synodal Bible), and also, “A Comparison of the Synodal Bible and the Russian AV” (a New Testament Survey and comparison of both texts.)]. While this author was on furlough in the States (2013-14), it was Dr. Peter S. Ruckman that prompted him to “add another fifty entries into the book “An X-Ray of the Synodal Text” to receive a Doctorate degree. That was fulfilled. The timing in which Dr. Ruckman had initiated that was simply a blessing from God. Although his sight was worsening, his discernment had barely decreased even at the age of 91. Later, he went home to be with the Lord. Before that happened he delegated the job of reading the dissertation, “An X-Ray…” to his assistant, Bro. Brian Donovan who eventually became Pastor and administered the Doctorate degree.

3. “The Synodal text was used for ‘revivals’ many years ago.” Response – Well, and so the New King James Bible is used all over America by ‘big’ names and many people have been saved by it. Not only that! Well known preachers and teachers use the New King James Version. Charles Stanley (Georgia) uses a version that is supposedly close to the King James Bible. J. Vernon McGee (nation-wide Bible Radio teacher) would use various versions of the Bible besides the AV. They all have international ministries. John MacArthur uses the New American Standard Version. Does that make it acceptable? That does not justify accepting a perverted Bible of which hundreds of readings come from the Alexandrian line of manuscripts. It is still corrupted! The Synodal and New King James bibles are ‘two peas in a pod.’ No true King James Bible believer would EVER accept and New King James Bible. Why would he not ADMIT the perverted readings throughout the Synodal bible? HYPOCRACY! He probably already knows that there is available a translation DIRECTLY from the King James Bible in the Russian language that is being used, believed in and preached and taught from since 2011, but he is playing the role of a hypocrite. “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Lk.16:15).

4. “Many people read the Synodal Bible.” God is not as concerned with ‘how many’ people use and believe a certain version as He is as to “WHAT SORT” of fruit in the end does it produce. Quality is far more important that quantity. It was Eve that subtracted from the word of God and also ADDED to the word of God (Gen. 3:3, KJV). Just because there was an ADDITION to the words of God does not make the text better. Just because there are more people at this point that accept the Synodal Bible does NOT mean that it is BETTER! More does not always mean better! It was the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 11:11 that said, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist:” Imagine that. There were many prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc., that were really great prophets. But the Lord knew that John the Baptist, who didn’t write even one book in the Bible was “greater” than them all. He didn’t even preach for a long time as the other prophets. He didn’t even live as long as the other prophets. Why would he be “greater”? Because he was used of God during the worst time of the history of the nation of Israel. God was more concerning about QUALITY, “WHAT SORT” (1 Cor. 3:13). And John the Baptist was that man who was called of God and served in the power of God and spake the TRUTH, no matter what. THAT is what God is looking for today at the end (Laodicea) of this present Church Age dispensation.

The ‘numbers’ game

In the end, “WHAT SORT” (1 Cor. 3:13) is far more important to build upon the foundation. The numbers game of “How many people are in your church?” or “More people use the Synodal Bible” is not as important as to the QUALITY – DOCTRINE, FAITHFULNESS, and TRUTH of the text. Every dispensation ends in APOSTASY and MOST of the ‘believers’ are DECEIVED at the end of each dispensation. And any honest, open-minded seeker of absolute truth can make a very simple comparison between the true Bible – the King James Bible and false ‘bibles;’ and/ or the Russian translation of the King James Bible and the Synodal Bible. Many years ago in America there was a television commercial concerning TV’s. The company Quazar, had a slogan concerning their product. It went like this, “The quality goes in before the quantity goes out!” That is a very “catchy” slogan and it is a good slogan by which their employees would work – putting the quality into their product. Why? Because that is what people really want – QUALITY! You do want to see something break down all the time. Of course not! That means you’ll have to pay a bit more money for something that is made better. Well, then don’t you think that the Lord is satisfied when His children do the work of the Lord RIGHT and with the RIGHT ATTITUDE? Of course He does.

“Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD DECEITFULLY, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood” (Jer.48:10).

“But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, NOT WALKING IN CRAFTINESS, nor HANDLING THE WORD OF GOD DECEITFULLY; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor. 4:2).

5. “The Synodal Bible is God’s word.” Response – Correction. There is truth in the Synodal Bible but it is leavened with much corruption. It has over 200 readings from the corrupt Septuagint by Origen from Alexandria, Egypt. It has many words that have been omitted and many words and phrases are perverted. There are many obvious additions to the text. There are at least over 25 major doctrines that are attacked by the Russian Orthodox Synodal Bible. We’ve got all the documented evidence to prove that.

6. “The Synodal is a good translation but a better translation is the Elizabethan text.” Response – Then why don’t you preach from the old Slavonic Elizabethan Bible? Either you are trying to impress some ignorant believer by your answer or you are simply trying to take away the key of knowledge (Lk. 11:52) that has far more revelation in it (the Russian translation of the King James Bible) than even the Elizabethan Bible.

Secondly, how do you know that the Elizabethan text is better? Have you made the proper comparisons? Did you know that the Elizabethan text has MANY corrupt readings in it also? Yes, at the time of its inception it was what God used. But there was another ‘man on the block’ in existence back then since 1611 A.D., the AUTHORIZED VERSION of the King James Bible – the roaring lion of which many Slavs knew about. But since “Gog” and “Magog” (Russia, Eze. 38, 39; Rev. 20:8), out of the “north” (Jer. 1:13-15), have had a long history of standing off at a distance from the west. Of course they are not about to submit to THE “KING!” (Eccl. 8:4), although they have to submit to England, i.e., GREENWICH concerning time, geography, usefulness and foresight. God KNEW that the International language was going to be ENGLISH, having DUMPED the ‘originals’ (manuscripts) since 1611 A.D. Even in Russia, Putin (2017) has to admit that the international language today is not Russian, German, Italian or French, but ENGLISH!

7. “The Synodal Bible is the best translation in Russian.” Response – No it isn’t. It has hundreds of false readings that are also in the modern English versions. On the contrary, The Russian King James Version of the Bible (1st Edition of the New Testament 2011, 2nd Edition 2016) and the First Edition of the entire Bible, 2017) is a translation that is far better than the Synodal Bible. The Russian King James Version is a direct translation from the King James Bible 1611. That is 140 years before the Elizabethan Bible and 257 years before the Synodal Bible. The readings from the Russian King James Bible are not modern. The Synodal Bible is a perverted text that was produced at about the same time (approx. 1868) the Revised Version (1881) in England, a counter attack against the Authorized Version (1611). Both the Revised Version and the Synodal Bible are much later translations, the forerunners of all the modern versions of the 20th century, despite the fact that both of them have truth in them. Nonetheless they are very subtle in that adherents of these texts will claim or seek ALLIANCE with true King James Bible believers. See Ezra 4:1-3 shows you that the one of the very first steps of apostasy and destruction of a true work is ALLIANCE of the enemy with truth. They will call themselves ‘Bible believers’ but will use false readings of the Synodal Bible to interpret the works of true Bible believers such as Dr. Ruckman, Sam Gipp, Gail Riplinger etc. They are responsible for causing so many others to stumble by accepting the perverted, corrupt readings of the Synodal Bible.

Ezra 4:1-2 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel; Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.

Adversaries usually try an alliance before antagonism – Luke 20:20 And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.

Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

So these men, hoping by getting among us, their intention is not to “build” (Ezra 4:3) but to sow discord among the brethren. They will use somebody else’s congregation or the name of another church for which they never labored and secretly try to steal sheep. They will not only try to spy out our liberty in Christ (Gal. 2:4), they will also use any and all means electronically: g-mail, website, Facebook, Twitter, etc., to try to copy your works to try to identify themselves with you although they are not with you in spirit. Although they claim to be with you in some way they secretly use misrepresentation, false association to impress others. It would be also appropriate to look closely to what the serpent said, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen. 3:1).

Many have noticed the first word spoken by Satan to man, “Yeah…” (Gen. 3:1) which is positive. Thus, the power of positive thinking which is typical of this slick, smooth, modern apostate, ecumenical, “sharing,” “Smile, God loves you,” “Christianity” that is no more Biblical than the work of Jesuits. It’s the kiss of Judas that first says positively “Hail Master” (Matt. 26:29) but is sliced with death and destruction to the foundation of unity, one faith, and one Book for the body of Christ. Satan comes as an imitator using the positive to COVER UP the negative. Typical Mafia tactic! He always tries to get people to help him cover up his tracks. WATCH OUT FOR THE SPIES AND WOLVES!

“ANY ecumenical movement is more deadly than open warfare.” Dr. Peter S. Ruckman

The PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER

The root of the problem of the Synodal text lies in the fact that the faith of the translators of the Synodal is ‘rotten to the core.’ The faith of the Orthodox priests of the Synod is a FALSE faith. That should be obvious to any sound minded Christian. First of all, the Orthodox Priest class, such as the Roman Catholic Church has an hierarchy of priests in it. That is not New Testament, Biblical Christianity. There is no such priest class in the New Testament for the body of Christ. Secondly, the Orthodox Church offers up the “cup of devils” (1 Cor. 10:21), just like the Roman Catholic Church.

Now to further explain why we will find many errors in the Synodal text is the priests of the Orthodox Church took it upon themselves to judge what should be said in the Bible. So let’s quickly look further into the Biblical approach (not the naturalistic 1 Cor.2:12-14) in preserving God’s word(s). “...the study of the Old Testament indicates that the Old Testament Scriptures were preserved through the divinely appointed Old Testament Jewish priesthood. The Holy Spirit guided the priests to gather and copy (Prov. 25:1, KJV) the separate parts of the Old Testament into one Old Testament canon and to maintain the purity of the Old Testament. Have the New Testament Scriptures been preserved in this official manner? In the New Testament Church has there ever been a special, divinely appointed organization of priests with authority to make decisions concerning the New Testament text or the books that should belong to the New Testament canon? No! Not at all!” (10) You see, when Christ died upon the cross, the veil of the Temple was rent in sunder, and the Old Testament priesthood was done away. There has never been a special order of priests under Christ, the Great High Priest. (1 Pet.2:9; Rev.1:5, 6). That’s why the Orthodox priesthood of pagan worshippers is simply an IMITATION of the true Jewish priesthood of the Old Testament. “Just as the divine glories of the New Testament are brighter far than the glories of the Old Testament, so the manner in which God has preserved the New Testament text is far more wonderful than the manner in which He preserved the Old Testament text. God preserved the Old Testament text by means of something physical and external, namely, the Aaronic priesthood. God has preserved the New Testament text by means of something inward and spiritual, namely, the universal priesthood of believers, through the leading, that is to say, of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of individual Christians of every walk of life.” “In the special providence of God’s believers down through the ages have been guided to reject false readings and preserve the true, so that today the True New Testament Text is found in the majority of the Greek New Testament and the other classic Protestant translations, such as Martin Luther’s “Heilige Schrifft,” and the King James Bible. But because of the opposition of unbelievers, [in our case the Orthodox Church of the Synodal Text] now conservative Christian scholars have become increasingly reluctant to adopt this view and have offered various alternatives in place of it.” That’s why there are so many false Bibles on the market today. Many words are omitted from the true text, many words are added to the true text, many words are changed from the true text and in the end pervert the entire Bible little by little and unnoticeable to the untrained eye. That is exactly what happened with the Synodal Text. Now that is the reason why there are many differences between the Synodal and Authorized Version of the King James Bible. The former was in the hands of unsaved men of various pagan practices and convictions and beliefs, and the latter were saved, born-again believers. We have material on the lives of all the translators of the King James Bible who loved Gods words and in their Dedicatory Epistle (that is at the beginning of the English King James Bible text), expressed their convictions concerning “Popish persons” i.e., which would include the Orthodox Church, the eastern branch of the Whore of Revelation 17.

Unfortunately you have in Ukraine and other places of the Russian speaking Christian community those that profess to be Bible believers and yet adhere to the corrupt Synodal Bible for their preaching, teaching and translation work of books, and videos of Bible believers such as Dr. Ruckman, Gipp, and Riplinger.

8. “The New King James Bible is just another edition of the King James Bible.” Response – No it most certainly is not. There are many obvious facts about the New King James Bible: It omits hundreds of very important words. It perverts many important words, etc. For more information concerning the perverted New King James Bible see http://www.chick.com/ask/articles/nkjv.asp http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/New%20King%20James%20Bible/nkjv-deadly.htm http://www.av1611.org/kjv/fight.html#fight11 It is estimated that the New King James Version makes over 100,000 translation changes, which comes to over eighty changes per page and about three changes per verse! A great number of these changes bring the New King James Version in line with the readings of such Alexandrian perversions as the New International Version and the Revised Standard Version. Where changes are not made in the text, subtle footnotes often give credence to the Westcott and Hort Greek Text which is simply the fruit of Origen’s “Septuagint” that was written at least 150 years AFTER the completion of the New Testament. While passing off as being true to the Textus Receptus, the NKJV IGNORES the Receptus over 1,200 times. In the NKJV, there are 22 omissions of “hell”, 23 omissions of “blood”, 44 omissions of “repent”, 50 omissions of “heaven”, 51 omissions of “God”, and 66 omissions of “Lord”. The terms “devils”, “damnation”, “JEHOVAH”, and “new testament” are completely OMITTED.

The Russian King James Version (2011, 2016, and 2017) has gone through some changes, refining each edition. Any edition of the Russian King James Version is far better than the Synodal Bible and or the Elizabethan Bible.

9. “The Russian King James Version has already gone through three editions. It can’t be the word of God or any improvement better than the Synodal.” Response – It is obvious you have not done your “homework.” First of all, if you would have done a very simple comparison of any one of the editions of the Russian King James Bible, you would have come to the same conclusion that so many Russian speaking people have found out. Secondly, Martin Luther’s Bible (Heilege Schrift) was edited a number of times during his lifetime and after his death. The King James Bible has been edited 10 times. That’s right TEN times. But nothing was changed doctrinally. It was a matter of correcting some errors with the typing, fonts, and polishing some words up. THAT IS NOT THE SAME AS INSERTING ALEXANDRIAN READINGS INTO THE TEXT LIKE THE SYNODAL BIBLE DOES. Thirdly, the Synodal Bible is a degradation of the old Elizabethan Bible (1751). We proved that very easily in our recordings of “The excellence of the KJV and a comparison between the Synodal and the Russian KJV – http://harvestukraineaudio.org/preaching/radio.htm

Concerning the Russian King James Bible

The translators of the Russian King James Bible are those that gathered for the sole purpose of preserving the God-inspired words of God in the King James Bible and commit those words to print that the Russian speaking world could also say – “It is written…” “It is written…” “It is written…” (Lk. 4:4-10) in the Russian tongue without the perverted readings of the Synodal Bible. The translators are saved, born-again, King James Bible believers, NOT like the translators (priests of the Orthodox Church) of the Synodal Bible. They, on the contrary were Gentile, pagan ‘Baalite’ devil worshippers, disguised as “Christians.” That is why you have so many attacks against the true word of God by the false readings in the Synodal Bible. The faith of the Orthodox priests was a perverted faith and that can be obviously seen with a careful eye in the Synodal readings.

So why would professing Bible believers in the body of Christ continue to use the Synodal Bible even after the fact that the Russian King James Bible (N.T.) has been available since 2011 and now the entire Bible is available (2017)? That is easy to answer – 1. You are simply ignorant concerning the facts that are available concerning the perverted readings of the Synodal Bible that we have been documenting for the last 14 hours of recordings. 2. You are simply stubborn (1 Sam. 15:23) and set in your own ways. After having learned the facts you still do not want to change. 3. You are too lazy to find out the facts (Prov. 26:16). 4. You are afraid of the truth and do not want to humble yourself (Prov. 16:18). 5. You are afraid of men more than God, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe” (Prov. 29:25). 6. You are simply envious (Matt. 27:18; Phil. 1:15) of the fact that God can and has used plain men of the 21st century to preserve God’s plain words in various languages (Prov. 8:9; Psa. 12:6, 7) just as He had throughout Church History (Prov. 25:1, KJV, Ezra 4:11; Esth. 3:14; 2 Cor. 2:17; 1611 A.D. 2011, 2017, etc.).

10. “You think you’re right and everyone else is wrong.” Response – That is exactly what he believes about himself (Rom. 2:1). This lame excuse is self- justification for his laziness to investigate the truth of the words of God (2 Thess. 3:1-3).

A word to the Laodiceans The last stage of the Church Age

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

The seven churches spoken of in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation deal, doctrinally with local churches in Asia Minor (Turkey) during the Great Tribulation. These seven churches also represent the seven periods of the Church Age, the last being the Laodicean period starting from about 1900 A.D. and ending at the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:16-18) for the body of Christ.

At the beginning of each of the letters to each church the Lord is presented in a way that is the ANTIDOTE of the problems at hand of each period. The Laodicean church is addressed by “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;” (Rev. 3:14). Notice how that the Lord is first recognized as the “Amen.” The word “Amen” means “so be it,” “it is SO.” That has very much meaning for us especially today in that there are many truly born-again believers that don’t even care if something is “SO” or not, especially when it comes to recognizing false readings or true readings in any given translation of the Bible. Speaking of the Bereans, Luke, the author of the Book of Acts writes, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were SO” (Acts 17:11). So that is a strong admonition for the believers of Laodicea to “prove all things” (1 Thess. 5:21) and not simply close our eyes to corruption in the Synodal Bible. That is not the attitude of Jesus Christ, the “AMEN.” Secondly, the verse mentions that Jesus Christ is also “the faithful and true witness.” Notice that Jesus would never tell you a lie, let you down, misrepresent the truth, or keep you from truth (Lk. 11:52, KJV). He is “THE FAITHFUL.” That is repeated in the book of Revelation – “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” (Revelation 1:5). Now note how the faithful witness is CONTRASTED with the false witness – “A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies” (Prov. 14:5). It is simply amazing what the scriptures say about those that gathered to prove Jesus Christ as a false witness. In their attempt to accuse Jesus Christ they themselves were GUILTY of false accusing. Their witnesses did not agree together. Look at what the Russian King James Bible says concerning this conflict –

“And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none. For many bare FALSE WITNESS against him, but their WITNESS AGREED NOT TOGETHER. And there arose certain, and bare FALSE WITNESS AGAINST HIM, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. BUT NEITHER SO DID THEIR WITNESS AGREE TOGETHER” (Mark 14:55-59).

You see, the Synodal text here covered up the truth by NOT writing “but their witness agreed not together” (v. 55), and “But neither so did their witness agree together” (v. 59). The Synodal text LIED here in this passage. So here is a perfect example of the Synodal Bible being an UNFAITHFUL WITNESS, just like the PRIESTS of the nation of Israel who were envious of Jesus Christ (Matt. 27:18). After all it is the PRIESTS of the that accepted the Synodal text. There are many parallels between the priests of the Jewish in Jesus’ time and the pagan priests of the Orthodox Church. Finally, notice that our text at hand says that Jesus is “the faithful and TRUE WITNESS…” (Rev. 3:14). That is so important Note how that “a false witness will UTTER LIES.” This text proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that when you find one lie in a version you can be guaranteed that there will be even more lies. That is, they have to justify one lie with more lies and it just goes on and on. To justify one lie you have to tell more lies. Anybody knows that! You know that by personal experience. “All men are liars” (Psalm 116:11). “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2 Thess. 2:11). Now that is the reason why Jesus Christ is called “THE FAITHFUL AND TRUE WITNESS” (Rev. 3:14). He and sound Biblical TRUTH are the ANTIDOTE of this modern, apostate Laodicean Church Age. So are we to take that for granted and not do what He Himself asks of us? It is God’s will that we be FAITHFUL and not mix up unfaithful readings with truth and simply ignore the corruption (2 Cor. 2:17). That is exactly what has been accomplished with the Synodal Bible.

And those that KNOW that there are obvious errors in the Synodal Bible that agree with the corrupt Septuagint of Origen from Alexandria, Egypt and know that there are obvious errors throughout the entire text, and yet will read, preach and teach from the Synodal Bible and will not accept a far better translation, the Russian translation of the Authorized Version of the King James Bible will have to answer before God at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Making a change

Making a change after you’ve been used to doing something in a certain way can be a difficult thing especially if the reason why you don’t want to make the change is “Because I am used to doing it this way.” To change that belief could only come after you have been convinced in your own heart that to make the change would be most beneficial. For example, if you were to by certain foods such as apples from a certain store because you were convinced that the brand of apples was a good brand it would be quite difficult for you to buy apples from another store especially if you had been buying those apples from the same store for many years. You’ve just been used to doing it that way. But what if it just so happened that you later found out that the apples that you were buying weren’t the best after all? And you found out that they were being raised with chemicals and that they were being raised in a radioactive area? And especially if you found out that there were other apples that were being sold at a nearby store that were better for you; they were without chemicals, they were raised in a radiation-free soil? Etc. Would you continue to buy the apples from the same previous store? Hardly! Just because you have been “used” to buying apples from the former store should not be the reason to continue. Let’s take this same principle and apply it to water. There are many people that began drinking the city water out of their own faucets and have had seemingly no problems at the present. Maybe that was your case. But, when you later found out that city water could be dangerous you changed your attitude toward what you were putting into your body and began using filters to drink filtered water. Or maybe you found out that there was a spring nearby and you began bottling your water from that spring. And there is still the option of simply buying bottled water which many people do today. They made the proper change. They made the change that was better for them. You see, until you received the sound information concerning the city water you were not convinced that you needed to make a change. But once you found out, then you took the proper steps that would enhance your very own health. Your health is a very important matter if you honor life. Now let’s cross over to spiritual matters. If your body is important to you and you’ve taken the proper steps to try to maintain good physical health, then your spirit, mind, heart and soul are of utmost important and more of a priority. Both apples (Prov. 25:11) and water (Prov. 25:25; Eph. 5:26) are types of the word of God.

The people of the nation of Israel were so used to their own ways that when the Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ began His ministry people were astounded at His doctrine, “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes” (Mk. 1:22). “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power” (Lk. 4:32). Jesus Christ is “...THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (Jn. 19:19). The apostle Paul wrote, “Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;” (1 Tim. 6:15). The wisest man on the earth, Solomon said, “Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?” (Eccl. 8:4). Well, the word of a king is present today. It is the Holy Bible, King James Version of 1611. You can learn more about the Monarch of Books, the King James Bible (1611) at the following places in our site –

http://harvestukraine.org/rus/litera/perry/historyofKJVrus.htm http://harvestukraine.org/rus/litera/perry/kjvhistory.htm http://harvestukraine.org/rus/litera/perry/perry.htm

A great man of God said, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (2 Cor. 2:11). He also said, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ” (2 Кор. 2:17).

“But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor. 4:2).

Corrupting the word of God was being practiced even during the days of the apostle Paul. There is a worldwide movement of ecumenism – Catholics, Orthodox, Jehovah’s Witnesses, atheists, communists, etc., all say, “Yeah, hath God said…”

APPLICATON: Now, after you’ve learned that the devil has convinced people to think that the store where the apples are being sold that were raised on chemicals and in a radio-active area, or that the city water is better for you, then you should have enough sense to make the proper CHANGE if you know what’s BEST for you when it comes to the preservation of the living words of the living God. GET A KING JAMES BIBLE AND DON’T LET GO OF ALL THE WORDS IN IT.

WARNING

Just as Israel foolishly rejected the Messiah and the manuscripts of Israel for the perverted Bibles of Alexandria and the Babylonian Talmud (Jer. 23:36; John 4:22), foolish Christians prior to the Rapture will foolishly repeat the same history of Israel (Eccl. 1:9). Alexandrian bibles including the Synodal bible and Egyptian music (“‘Christian’ rock”) will unite the one world religion under the Babylonian whore of the Roman Catholic/Orthodox Churches AND ITS IDOLS AND IMAGES (Dan. 3:1-7; Rev. 13:3-15; 17:1-6). This ecumenical movement is now also working among Christians of the Russian speaking world, among those that profess to be ‘Bible-believers’ and are defending the Synodal bible. They are translating materials by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman, Sam Gipp, Gail Riplinger and others using the corrupt Synodal Bible. To quote from that text when it contradicts the clear plain passages of the King James Bible (when there is available another option – translate from the Russian translation of the King James Bible) is simply hypocrisy and a discouragement to those that desire to hear readings that agree with the AV and not perverted readings of the Synodal in the name of – “Well, it’s a fair translation” (quotation by an American missionary).

1 Corinthians 5:6 Your glorying is not good. KNOW YE NOT THAT A LITTLE LEAVEN LEAVENETH THE WHOLE LUMP?

They are playing the role of a hypocrite!

“BEWARE YE OF THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES, WHICH IS HYPOCRISY.” (Lk. 12:1).

WOE UNTO YOU, LAWYERS! FOR YE HAVE TAKEN AWAY THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE: YE ENTERED NOT IN YOURSELVES, AND THEM THAT WERE ENTERING IN YE HINDERED. (Luke 11:52)

“Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Gal.4:16).

“And ye shall know THE TRUTH, and THE TRUTH shall make you free” (John 8:32).

Church of Bible Believers Kiev, Ukraine [email protected] harvestukraine.org /rus