Controversial blogs in 3…2….1….
Below are three blogs in one. They follow my sermon from the beginning of John 8, which you can watch here.
Q: So why didn’t I preach John 7:53-8:11 in our sermon series through the book of John when we do verse-by-verse expository preaching?
A: The story of the Adulterous Woman isn’t inspired.
There. I’ve said it. Just in case you missed it in this past Sunday’s sermon.
This blog is a three-in-one blog. They’re probably best digested in three different settings. They might have been better in three different blogs, but here were are.
Buy one, get two free! They’re probably best read in order. If you weren’t able to listen to the sermon, you can listen here.
BLOG #1
Inspiration, Confidence, and Preaching God’s Word
Of course, it was probably obvious when I went from 7:52 directly to 8:12 skipping over John 8:53-8:11. And while my KJV-Only and TR-Only brothers are deciding whether or not to brand me a heretic, let me offer a brief explanation before telling you what I would have said had I preached the passage.
(And yes - I do think the account is probably true. It likely did happen and was simply part of oral tradition before finding its way into the Bible. Landing in in several different places while scribes looked for the best fit. Ancient manuscripts place it in three places in John and one in Luke.)
Let’s start with what inspiration is. I often refer to Scripture as “the inspired, inerrant, authoritative, sufficient Word of God.” That first word, “inspired” is a very important part of it. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines “inspired” as “a technical term for the Holy Spirit’s supernatural guidance of those who received special revelation from God as they wrote the books of the Bible.” When we consider what that means practically, it means that the actual wording of the text, as well as the ideas conveyed, are both inspired by God through the Holy Spirit and that they’re full and complete.
We have to remember that what’s inspired is not that LSB, NASB, ESV, or even KJV,/NKJV you have sitting on your desk. Nor were those that made copies of manuscripts, even the person who made the very first copy of John’s gospel. What’s inspired are the “autographs.” The originals. The actual piece of papyrus that John held in his hands as he wrote the words, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” in Greek with his quill pen dipped in ink that he likely made himself.
Again - the Bible Dictionary’s article on Inspiration is helpful in clarifying our thoughts on all of this: “God gave [the writers] the distinctive function of prophets and apostles, originated what they wrote, and kept them from error in all the writing processes. All of Scripture has prophetic authority. None of it originated in the will of human beings.”
Now, before you think, “well can we even trust ANY passage in the Bible?” Let me make sure you don’t come to a wrong conclusion. The science of Textual Criticism actually brings us greater confidence in God’s Word, not less. And while I did spend a significant portion of my sermon yesterday talking about manuscript variations and the additions likely made along the way. Understand also that the variations in question comprise less than one percent of the Bible. And there are no major doctrines that are affected by either exclusion or inclusion of these passages.
The Greek New Testament that we have today has been assembled by studying and carefully analyzing hundreds of Greek manuscripts and it is supremely reliable. R.C. Sproul offers a helpful illustration: “If someone put a bomb in the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Washington and blew up our official yardstick… we should be able to reconstruct it with infinitesimal variation.”
When you come to one of the six disputed passages, understand that while it’s likely that it’s not part of the original, inspired text, whether it’s included or not, there’s no change in fundamental doctrine. The truth of God’s Word is not in question. The differences are very minor. Simply keep reading your Bible understanding that this particular passage [usually in brackets] isn’t in the earliest manuscripts. It’s far more likely that the disputed passage was added later on than that it was taken out.
For a few thoughts on the “Textus Receptus” and the KJV/NKJV, scroll to the bottom. For my “exposition” of the Adulterous Woman passage, see below:
BLOG #2
Stoning the “Adulterous Woman” passage
On the way home from church yesterday, my wife said to me, “it’s too bad that passage isn’t in Scripture, because it’s so good.” And she’s right. However, we always have to be careful of a couple of things in our theology. Tradition and Preference will always cloud the issue. We don’t have to ignore or cast them away, but we do need to be aware of them.
We have the Adulterous Woman passage in our Bibles because of tradition. Along the way, the oral tradition of this account found its way into our account of Jesus’ life. It’s found in three different places in John’s Gospel as well as in Luke’s Gospel. As more manuscripts were made, during the 5th through 9th century, more and more copies including what became these 11 verses, began to circulate. It became tradition to include it by around 1,000 AD and so even translation teams that believe it wasn’t written by John include it.
Preference has to be a factor as well. As my wife pointed out, “I like the story.” I like it too. It really is a beautiful depiction of the forgiveness and kindness of God. The concluding call to “go and sin no more” is powerful and relevant to the life of every Christian striving to be life a faithful, obedient, holy life.
So as promised, here’s what we learned about Jesus from this account of His interaction with not just the Pharisees, but also with a sinner like you and me.
I love the beautiful picture this account from tradition paints of our wise, loving, forgiven Savior. Remember: even though the Scribes, Pharisees, and adulterous woman play prominent roles in the passage, it really is primarily about Jesus.
The first thing that stands out is Christ’s humility.
As this isn’t a chronological account, this event could have happened at any point, but we’re reminded by Jesus going out to the Mount of Olives and back in the morning that the King of the Universe, the creator of everything, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, had no place to lay His head.
Second - Christ’s Powerful Teaching
Verse 2 says, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.
There was no marketing plan. No promotional videos. No flyers handed out to get people to come to His next event. There weren’t even any miracles here. Just Jesus coming to the temple, sitting down, and teaching. And this shouldn’t surprise us. After all, He IS Jesus! The best, most powerful, most wise, most amazing teacher to ever walk the earth. Of course people were drawn to it!
Third - The Wisdom of Jesus
Jesus was rudely interrupted. The Scribes and Pharisees came with a test - a trap. They presented Him with a scenario that they didn’t think He could resolve. They hated how popular Jesus was. They hated that ANYONE would listen to anything He would have to say. The Bible both forbids adultery and calls for the death penalty for anyone who commits it. Truthfully, they didn’t care about this woman’s sin or they would have brought the man too. But this was a test/trap.
They thought that either He would have to come out as being in opposition to the Mosaic Law or lose some of His popularity due to being less than compassionate.
The woman was certainly not just profoundly humiliated, having been caught in a terrible sin, but also terrified that she was about to be brutally executed.
While we don’t know what Jesus wrote in the sand, the most compelling possibility I’ve heard is that He was writing the sins of the accusers in the sand. Imagine if you were there, stone in hand, ready to participate, and Jesus wrote what you thought was your secret sin in the dirt, then looked at you, His eyes piercing to the depths of your soul. You’d put that rock down and leave promptly too.
The profound answer Jesus gave upheld the law, didn’t deny her sin and guilt, exposed the sins of the accusers, and brought mercy to the situation without the punishment she deserved. Jesus didn’t gloss over her sin or diminish the purity of the law.
Fourth and Finally - the Forgiveness the Gospel Brings
After everyone left, it was just Jesus and the woman. It seems that she just stood there in silence. We don’t know whether or not the crowd was still there, but whether they’re still there or not, this is a beautiful moment between a sinful woman and the Savior. He turns and speaks directly to her. Speaking with kindness and respect, and with her accusers gone, there’s no one left to condemn her. Jesus is God, and He has the authority and power to forgive her.
And what a beautiful picture of what salvation is to be. “I do not condemn you, either. Go, and from now on sin no more.” Salvation is when we are declared “not guilty.” God, in His abundant mercy, forgives us. Our task is now to strive toward holiness in all of our conduct. You will never be sinless in your Christian life, but you should sin less as you grow in knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and bearing the fruits of the Spirit.
Grace & Peace
Pastor Rob
BLOG #3
The “ONLY-ists”
I apologize for the length of this blog—there’s just a lot of information to sift through. In truth, this is a condensed summary of an issue closely related to the broader discussion. Please don’t perceive this as an attack on the KJV or NKJV. If you prefer the older linguistic style, that’s perfectly fine. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either translation. But with that said, they are simply not the best translations available today. Of course, “best” is a subjective term and depends on various factors, but it should be acknowledged that preference is often the primary factor in this debate.
You’ve likely heard of people who identify as “KJV-only-ists.” This position essentially claims that the King James Version is the only legitimate Bible, and all other translations are insufficient. One well-known KJV-only proponent even stated that his KJV could correct the Greek—an irrational position, given that it places an English translation above the Greek manuscripts themselves. English didn’t exist when the books of the Bible were written. The English translations we have came many centuries later.
In 1516, the theologian Erasmus compiled a complete Greek New Testament using six Greek manuscripts, all dating from the 12th century. Prior to this, the Latin Vulgate had been the standard Bible in the West. Erasmus was the first to prioritize the original Greek, and as more manuscripts became available, he revised and improved his text, eventually publishing five editions by 1535.
In the mid-1500s, a French printer known as Stephanus further refined Erasmus’s work and introduced chapter and verse divisions. Later, the French scholar Theodore Beza published several more editions in the late 1500s, and his 1598 edition became the textual basis for the King James Version.
In 1633, two Dutch printer brothers produced another edition and coined the term Textus Receptus (Latin for “received text”) as a kind of marketing slogan meaning “received by all.”
In total, there are 31 editions of the Textus Receptus (TR), compiled using about 15 different Greek manuscripts from the 12th to 15th centuries. The TR played a major role in the Reformation and was, for many years, the standard for translations into English and other languages.
Today, there’s another “only:” the “TR-only” position. This view claims that the TR is the only accurate and reliable Greek New Testament. Its advocates believe that God supernaturally preserved this particular version of the Greek text, and that all other versions are either inferior, corrupt, or both. The TR, they say, uniquely holds the inspired and authoritative status among all Greek New Testaments.
Currently, the two primary Greek New Testaments in use: the TR and the NA28 (Nestle-Aland 28th edition). The TR-only position rejects the NA28 and any translation based on it—which includes essentially every modern Bible translation except the KJV and NKJV.
TR-only advocates assert that the Reformers were providentially guided by God in assembling the TR, and that God supernaturally preserved His Word through those manuscripts that were used to compile the TR. In contrast, they argue that modern textual criticism has been tainted by Enlightenment thinking and ultimately undermines the Bible rather than enhancing confidence in the text. (I disagree.)
The TR-only position claims that because of its significance in the Reformation, God has ordained and authorized only the TR, even to this day. Those who pioneered work beyond the TR, such as Westcott and Hort, Nestle and Aland, and modern textual scholars, are viewed not as continuing Erasmus’s work, but as corrupting it.
While the TR-only and KJV-only views are similar, they are not identical. However, they often converge in practice, since the KJV and NKJV are the most accessible English translations based on the TR (with a few lesser-known outliers).
The TR-only position tends to elevate and even idolize one specific historical moment—essentially assigning supreme importance to the textual work done in the 16th and 17th centuries. One has to wonder how the church functioned for the first 75% of its history—before Erasmus compiled his first Greek New Testament in 1516. I don’t mean this mockingly, but if the TR is the only legitimate Greek New Testament, how can we trust anything written or taught by pre-Erasmus theologians who used “insufficient” pre-TR Bibles? Or anyone today using Critical Text based bibles?
Tommy Wasserman notes that the period following the Reformation, particularly the Enlightenment, was marked by increasing alienation from God and a rise in human autonomy. TR-only advocates argue that this Enlightenment spirit drove scholars to undermine the Textus Receptus, and that all later Greek texts are thinly veiled attacks on God’s Word.
While the Reformation was a pivotal moment in church history, and while the Reformers were undoubtedly used by God to restore the Five Solas, it does not logically follow that the TR is therefore the only perfect version of God’s Word. It was certainly part of God’s plan—but so were many other tools and events across Christian history.
Problems with the TR-Only Position
Our modern Greek New Testament is not the result of faithlessness or Enlightenment skepticism. Rather, it emerges from a desire to get as close as possible to the autographs—the original writings of the apostles. Modern textual criticism asks: How can we, based on all available evidence, reconstruct the original words of the New Testament authors? The editors of the TR didn’t—and couldn’t—ask that question in the same way, both due to limited resources and a different mindset about textual transmission.
Throughout Christian history, there has never been a single, universally available compilation of the biblical text. The New Testament writers themselves were not thinking globally or with millennia in view. They wrote for specific churches and situations.
While the TR editors did great work (and we should be grateful for it—I certainly am), they had access to only a small number of manuscripts (fewer than 20, all from the 12th century or later), and they didn’t follow a consistent or methodical process of textual evaluation as they assembled the various editions of the TR.
In contrast, modern textual criticism involves careful comparison of thousands of manuscripts—often the oldest and most geographically diverse—to determine, using consistent scholarly methodology, the likely original text.
One fact often overlooked by TR-only proponents is that there are roughly 30 different versions of the TR. Clearly, the editors—including Erasmus—were engaged in their own form of textual criticism. While the differences among TR editions aren’t major, the existence of updates and revisions demonstrates a willingness to incorporate new manuscript evidence. This is exactly what modern scholars are doing—just on a greater scale and with more data.
It is fair to say that none of the TR editors considered their work to be the final, definitive version of the Greek New Testament. None claimed and certainly did not believe that any future work would necessarily be a corruption.
Final Thoughts
It’s also important to recognize that the differences between the TR and the NA28 are relatively minor. Outside of roughly six debated passages (such as the Pericope Adulterae in John 7:53–8:11), no major doctrine is affected. The variations are largely minor and do not undermine key theological truths.
To some, this may all seem like an academic squabble with little practical significance. That’s a fair perception. But because the Bible is the most important book in existence—and because there are nearly 900 English versions available—we must ask: “Which translation, and why?”
If we believe that the Bible is the very Word of God, then details matter. When choosing a translation, our goal should be to hear God’s words as clearly and accurately as possible, even if we don’t read Greek ourselves. While the TR is a valuable Greek text, if we truly want to get as close as possible to the words of John, Paul, James, Peter, and others, we must use the best tools and most complete evidence available.
No translation is perfect. None ever will be. No Greek text is perfect either—not unless we could somehow recover the original autographs. The best approach is to find a faithful, reliable translation you enjoy reading and commit to it. Then, as you study and grow in your understanding of God’s Word, supplement your reading with other solid translations (many, such as The Message, are not faithful or reliable) and with sound study tools—Bible dictionaries, commentaries, systematic theologies, and more. The four translations I would recommend are, in order,
LSB - Legacy Standard Bible
NASB95 - New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition
ESV - English Standard Bible
NKJV - New King James Version (but realize that, because it’s textual basis is the TR, it won’t indicate the passages that likely were not in the autographs.)
Always remember: The goal is to be saturated with the inspired, inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient Word of God. So grab your Bible and get to reading! Go to church and be fully engaged in both the sermon and the rest of the elements of worship. Study the Bible. Commit God’s Word to memory, hiding it in your heart. And alway meditate on what the Lord has told you - which He does through His awesome Word.