Phoenix bird and the pagan of
the NIV
Wherefore by their fruits shall
ye know them.
Matthew 7:20
The following selection is an
excerpt from Blind
Guides by Gail Riplinger, as used on her website in a response
to James White's critique of her book, New
Age Bible Versions. You can read the entire article here.
______________________________________________________________________________________
"THE PALMERWORM DEVOURED THEM" (Amos
4:9)
"There is a bird
which is named the Phoenix...the only one...makes for itself a
coffin of frankincense and myrrh...then dies. But as the flesh rots,
a certain worm is engendered which is nurtured from the
moisture of the dead creature and puts forth wings...It takes
up that coffin where are the bones of its parent, and carrying them, it
journeys...to the place called the City of the Sun."
This depraved pagan parody of the
death, burial, and resurrection of our precious Saviour is given by NIV
editor Richard Longenecker to 'help' us understand WHY the NIV
translates John 1:14 and 1:18 as "One and Only" instead of "only
BEGOTTEN" (see The NIV: The Making of a Contemporary Translation,
pp. 119-126). He points also to such occult literature as the magical
papyri's "One", Plato's (Critias) "one," and the Orphic
Hymn's (gnostic) "only one". He cites numerous other early Greek
writers, like Parmenides, head of the Eleatic School. He brought pantheism
to the West after his trips to India and initiation into the Greek
mysteries. Do we look to a pantheist and their god 'the One' to alter our
view of God?
Longenecker chides the KJV's
"begotten Son" because "it neglects the current [time of Christ] usage
for the word." Current usage amongst PAGAN OCCULTISTS should not
change how Christians use words! He and the NIV translators have
broadened the "semantic range of meaning" (Longenecker p. 122) to
include the broad way that leadeth to destruction. The translators of
the King James Version were so highly educated that
they not only knew of these Greek quotes, but knew who
Parmenides was and what he taught. They wouldn't touch such
pagan sources. Either the NIV translators are ignorant of the
philosophies of those they cite, like Aeschylus, Plato and Parmenides,
and the Orphic Hymms or they are sympathetic to such
ideas. (The "begotten God" seen in John 1:18 in the NASB comes directly
from lexical support from the occult tome The Trimorphic Proitenoia!)
