Isaiah 9:6 - The church needs clarity on this verse, to show that Jesus is not the Father. In the ancient languages of Hebrew and Aramaic, if you say someone is "the Father of Strength", that means they are strong. If you say someone is the "Father of Knowledge", you are saying they are wise. If you say Jesus is The Father of Eternity, you are saying Jesus possesses eternity and He Himself is eternal. We even do this today. Augustine is known as "The Father of Theology", and Athanasius is known as "The Father of Orthodoxy." Augustine because of his tenacious effect on modern theology in the 4th century. Athanasius because of his staunch defense of the deity of Christ at the 325 A.D. Council of Nicea. "Everlasting Father" is an idiom describing Christ's relationship to time. Christ/God is The Father of Eternity. Isaiah can't be describing Christ's relationship to Himself, He obviously cannot be His own Father. Finally, you never base an entire doctrine on an isolated verse of scripture. Any verse that may appear ambiguous, must, must, must be interpreted with the numerous verses that are clear. Throughout the Bible we see that there is only one God. We also see that The Father is God, Jesus is God, and The Holy Spirit is God. And we see that The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are eternally distinct. Clearly, within The Godhead there are three separate Persons in a love relationship together for all of time. Isaiah 9:6, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Is the King James Bible the only acceptable translation? Is the KJV really an “Autogragh”. An “autograph” or “the autographa”, is the term for God’s original dictation of the books of the Bible. The church unanimously holds that the “Autographa” alone is authoritative, inerrant, and without blemish. Today’s versions like the KJV, the NIV, the NASB, or the NKJV are all comprised from copies, of copies, of copies of manuscripts, and those manuscripts all have (minor) mistakes. The errors are in punctuation, spelling, unwarranted additions, etc. Despite these errors, the substance of the Bible has not been compromised. God has preserved His word! Still, no translation of the Bible is an “Autograph”. The manuscript errors can easily be corrected; here’s how it’s done. Though each manuscript has errors, each copyist made a different error than other copyists. By comparing manuscript to manuscript, we can get back to what the “Autograph” said. This is done through the science of textual criticism. So how do we classify the KJV?” ALL Bible versions come from the available manuscripts. There are thousands of biblical manuscripts; recorded on papyri, uncials, miniscules, etc. The problem in thinking the KJV is the perfect bible (an Autograph), and others not, stems partly from the fact that the only bible available for years was the KJV. When modern Bibles appeared, people cried “foul”, not knowing that hundreds more manuscripts have been unearthed since the making of the KJV in the 7th century. The discovery of more ancient manuscripts gave scholars a chance to see how acccurate the KJV of the 17th Century was. The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) were discovered in 1947, dating back to 4 B.C. The manuscripts (Masoretic text) that were considered for the KJV dated only to 5 A.D. The DSS were more than 1000 years older, therefore closer to the original writings! In this discovery (and others), though the KJV proved to have been copied with concise precision, it was discovered that some minor mistakes had crept in, and in cases scribes and copyists added verses that were not in earlier manuscripts. A good example is the “Comma Johanneum” (1 John 5:7). Though this verse is consistent with what the bible teaches, it is an addition and not part of any earlier manuscript. Mark 16:18, is another that is not in earlier manuscripts and has been added. When newer bible versions came out (NIV, NKJV), they relegated (some of) these verses to the footnotes, noting that they were not in earlier manuscripts. The KJV is a great Bible, yet the newer translations are based on more manuscript evidence. To some, the Elizabethan English of the KJV has devolved slightly out of style with the evolution of language. Words that were once denotative, now are connotative. Personally, I do memorize from the KJV and the NKJV. I study and read from the NKJV.

So what about those hypocrites? We see others as hypocrites, but have we ever stopped to look at ourselves? A hypocrite can be anyone who says one thing, but does something other than what they say. We have all played that part before, and it’s very easy to fall into this sin again. We all stand as equals before the cross. We are all sinners. No one towers over the other. I find it true in ministry that if we commit acts of sin, we are sometimes labeled, “hypocrites”. It’s good to make correct judgments, and not get bitter, so it helps if we remember, “we are all sinful”. We need to forgive those in ministry, for we know all are sinners. What we can do to get back on God’s straight and narrow is to ask for His forgiveness (1 John 1:9, Psalm 32:5, Proverbs 28:13), then seek God’s Spirit to live through us and show us His way. May The Lord God bless you today, and give you strength to face all of life’s challenges. May you know who you are, and Whose you are. You are God’s Property, and God don’t make no junk, Got it!