If modernists re-wrote the Bible, what would it say?

If modernists re-wrote the Bible, how big would it be?

ReligiouslyIncorrect.org—Uniting Bible believing Christians

SERIES—Part 1
If modernists rewrote the Bible, what would it say?

How big would it be?

How many pages would exist in the modern Christian's "new revised version" of the Bible?

Truth is, the real Bible on our coffee tables is apparently far larger than it needs to be.

Indeed, the entirety of the New Testament—according to many modern Christians—should apparently be summarized into something considerably less than a page. In fact, perhaps down to a single sentence. Indeed, in some cases, a single, VERY SHORT sentence.

For many others—typically denominational Christians who consider themselves more "Bible based"—the 10 commandments have even been whittled down to somewhere between 5 and 7, depending on the individual. Later, I'll list the "new revised 10 commandments" evidently used by many denominationalists.

Please don't misunderstand. Although these new "bibles" exist only in the minds and imaginations of men, they are very real indeed. Millions of modern Christians in fact live by them "religiously," and are convinced God will actually judge them based on these rewritten mental "bibles."

This is a huge mistake, as the actual words of God have plainly and repeatedly stated. I'll plan to demonstrate this in more detail at the end of this article series.

The first and most important commandment of modern Bibles: "Believe in Jesus"

The first, and most important, command in most modern mental bibles appears to be this: "Thou shall believe in Jesus and thou shall be saved."

Please notice that the concept of "obedience to Christ" as a demonstration of "real, saving faith" has long been lost in the wash.

Of course, no sincere mind can discount the absolute need of faith in obtaining the grace of God's salvation. The Bible is replete with statement after statement of such.

The problem is, when "faith" is disconnected from the concept of "obedience"—it is not a saving faith. [See James 2:21-26; Acts 18:8; 19:18-19; Rom 1:5; 2:6-8; John 14:15; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev. 20:15-20; Matt 7:21; 25:43-46; 21:31; Rom 16:25-27; Ph 1:29; 1 Tim 4:10-13; 2 Pet 1:5; etc, etc, etc.]

So, you may call it whatever you wish.

Call it "faith." Call it "dead faith." Call it "non-existent faith." Call it "weak faith."

But whatever you do, don't call it "saving faith." For then you will be inaccurate—to your potential eternal death.

Yes, many Christian-affiliated people these days have forgotten this vital point about their bible's "Commandment #1"—namely, that it's certainly possible to have a "faith in Christ" that is NON-saving.

For Christians to be saved, they must have faith indeed; but their faith must be REAL; meaning, it must result in a sincere desire to be obedient to the teachings of our "Lord" (Who is not truly our "Lord" when we ignore His commands and teachings—see Luke 6:46).

Paul spoke of the "obedience that comes from faith" and James spoke of faith, without deeds (of obedience), being "dead." And Jesus said that if you claim to love Him, you will "obey His commands." Yes, your faith and love for Christ should be obvious in your deeds of obedience.

Unfortunately, this soul-saving concept has been entirely lost in new modern revised bibles. You must, they tell us, simply "believe in Jesus." And the type of "faith" you possess is entirely up to you, God only cares that you "believe."

Instead of, as Jesus said, people needing to "do God's will" to enter heaven (Matthew 7:21), now, modern Christians feel they need only possess a "Lord, Lord" faith. Such Christians have apparently not read the words of their "Lord" in Luke 6:46 and Matthew 7:21-23.

I hope to elaborate on all of this from the Bible shortly.

Finally, a corollary to "Commandment #1" is: "After believing, you will never lose your salvation—regardless of how you choose to live." Although there's little time to elaborate in this short article, this false doctrine is without question one of the most popular today—and one of the easiest to prove as false.

For a few quick examples, please refer to Galatians 5:4; 1 Corinthians 5; 9:27; 10:12; Revelation 3:5; etc, etc, etc. Practically every page of the New Testament directly or indirectly indicates our need to remain "faithful to death" in order to receive a crown of life (see Revelation 2:10, for example).

The entire New Testament is written on the underlying theme that eternal salvation through God's grace is always conditioned on a sincere faith in Christ that is demonstrated in our sincere desire to obey all His will (verses following in part 2 of this series).

Contrasting the actual 10 Commandments with modernist revisions

Now that we've noticed "Commandment #1" in the new modern bibles, let's proceed to take a look at the "modernist's revised 10 commandments."

As you know, the 10 commandments are held in high esteem among many modern Christians. To many, they're a summary of all that's really important to God so far as our daily living is concerned.

This is another critical mistake in modern thinking, as we'll soon point out.

However, it may surprise you to learn that the original 10 commandments are rarely ever followed by modern Christians.

As we'll soon see, they've been whittle down to anywhere from 5 to 7, in actual practice.

To help us make the contrast, I've listed the original 10 commandments, and indicated which ones have been deleted or revised:

You shall have no other gods before Me. [This command seems to generally be obeyed by modern Christians; most Christians today consider the "true God of the Bible" as first in importance. However, it should be noted that more and more modernists are choosing to leave out "in Christ we pray" at the end of their prayers—presumably so that all the other religions can pray along without the "stumbling-block" of Christ harming their newfound "religious peace and unity."]
You shall not make for yourself an idol of any kind—nor shall you bow down or worship those idols or other "gods." [This command has been deleted by modernists. We know this because endorsing "Christian" idols—such as worshiping tombs, dead "saints", crosses, pictures of crosses, statues, and statuettes—has not been problematic for many. Even idol-worshiping non-Christian religions, such as Buddhists, are thought of fondly by many. But the most popular modern idols are arguably the Biblically-described intangible "gods," such as the gods of greed, entertainment, and self (see Colossians 3:5). These false gods are worshiped regularly by modern Christians. See these photos for examples of Catholics worshiping literal statues, which is certainly not condemned in that denomination.]
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name. [This command is now evidently obsolete—we know this because Christians commonly use the "G" word, the "C" word, the "OMG" statement, and derivatives thereof.]
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. [This command has been deleted—since it applied only to the Jewish nation under the Law of Moses.]
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. [Although this one still appears to be largely intact, we're hearing of more and more cases where parents are treated dishonorably—for example, left without proper care in their final years.]
You shall not murder. [This command seems to be intact, but has been altered. In other words, modernists largely believe it's perfectly fine to kill another Christian, as long as he or she is in the military of a different country other than theirs; also, murdering for self-defense has long been rationalized, even though neither Christ nor any of His apostles operated this way, though in extreme danger frequently.]
You shall not commit adultery. [This is still generally frowned upon.]
You shall not steal. [Still intact and frowned upon.]
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. [Intact]
You shall not covet anyone's house, wife, or possessions in general. [Again, this one has been kept generally intact.]

Thus, in the minds of many, the 10 commandments have been downgraded to "the 5 commandments"—although a couple have undergone "subtle interpretive alterations."

And, naturally, with literally billions of modern people who affiliate with Christianity, this "unofficial new revised 10 commandments" could be tweaked further. But by and large, the above seems to be what many who call themselves "Christians" live by.

It's also worth mentioning that, although several of the above are still conceptually "intact"—that doesn't mean they're always obeyed; but when/if they are violated, it's typically felt that repenting and asking Christ's forgiveness is sufficient.

However, repetition of such acts are much easier to self-condone, since "once one is saved, one is always saved"—or so we've been told.

Here's how the "new revised 10 commandments" might look to many Christians today

Putting it all together, here would then be a reasonably full list of commands in the "new modern denominational bible" (of course, this would need to be tweaked for individual cases):

You shall believe in Jesus—if you do this, the following commands are probably irrelevant, since you can never lose your salvation.
You shall not make for yourself a literal idol of any kind—like the Buddhists do. But you are free to bow down and worship or pray to Christian statues or the like. Additionally, worshiping gods of greed, entertainment, self, and self-indulgence are all fine.
You shall consider every day "non-holy" (not to be confused with "unholy"). There's no need to keep any day holy—and certainly not the Sabbath day, or Sunday for that matter either.
You shall indeed freely misuse the name of the LORD your God. You may freely use the "G" word, the "C" word, the "OMG" statement, and any derivative thereof. Extreme profanity is still not allowed. But abusing God's name, or Jesus' name, is fine—or so they say.
You shall not dishonor your father or mother.
You shall not murder—UNLESS you choose to murder a soldier, thief, or someone else you're afraid of, etc.
You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

You shall not covet anyone's house, wife, or possessions in general.

Two other popular "Modern Revised Bibles"

One extremely popular new "bible" that is commonly used these days has been whittled down to literally a single verse.

Yes, it's the "one verse Bible." Here's how that one would read:

"Believe in Jesus and be a good person."

[Please note: the word "good" is, in this "new bible," interpreted to be anything you feel in your heart is "good."]

Another similar and increasingly popular revision of this is simply:

"Be a good person."

[Again, "good" is according to however one "feels" it should be interpreted. Note also: There's no need to "believe in Jesus" in this second version. In other words, simply "be good" according to your own interpretation of "good," and God—"if there is a God"—will accept you into heaven, "if there is a heaven." Clearly, this "bible" even allows atheists to be saved.]

In this final rendition—as you can see—one's religion is no longer necessary at all (unless you call atheism a religion).

All one needs to do is choose his or her own way to worship whatever he or she considers "god"—"if there is a god, that is."

More and more modern "Christian" preachers are adopting this religiously correct philosophy, all in the name of "religious unity."

PART 2

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