A Response to the Video:
Seventh-day Adventism, the Spirit Behind the Church

by Bob Pickle

Answers to Questions Raised by:
Mark Martin, Sydney Cleveland
Dale Ratzlaff, The White Lie
. . . and Others

Discern Fact from Fiction

Bible Versions and Footnotes

#81 & #82: "One can see the extent to which Seventh-day Adventists are prepared to go to support their prophetess, even to the manipulation of Scripture. The Clear Word Bible published in 1994 as an expanded paraphrase to nurture faith and growth is nothing more than added distortions to the Word of God to support Adventist theology."—Dale Ratzlaff.

#81: The Clear Word supports "their prophetess." Since the words and ideas of Dr. Blanco, not Mrs. White, are inserted in The Clear Word, it isn't supporting "their prophetess."

Dr. Blanco did this as a devotional exercise. The end result appeared worthy of publishing, and so it was.

#82: The Clear Word manipulates and distorts Scripture. Paraphrases contain by their very nature the inclusion of interpretations into the text. Dr. Blanco admitted freely in its preface what he had done, calling The Clear Word an "interpretive paraphrase." This charge is therefore totally unfounded.

Let's talk about the New International Version for a moment. Is it a paraphrase or a translation? Is it true to the biblical text, or does it contain the interpretations of its authors?

The NIV rendering of Hebrews 10:1 is, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming." The King James rendering is, "For the law having a shadow of good things to come." Which is correct? Is the law a shadow, or does it "have" a shadow?

The Greek text clearly contains the Greek word for "have," which the NIV translators ignored. Thus they made the verse sound like the Ten Commandments are the shadow, and that we don't have to worry about keeping them anymore.

In actuality, the Ten Commandments "have" a shadow. This shadow was the ceremonies and sacrifices which pointed forward to Christ, as can clearly be seen from Hebrews 8:4, 5.

Maybe we should call the NIV the New International Paraphrase instead of the New International Version, since the translators apparently "distorted" the biblical text to reflect their own interpretations. However, it would be going way too far to call all the translators of the NIV cultists, non-Christians, and members of "man-made religions" simply because they added such a "distortion" to the biblical text. Likewise, the statements on this video are going way too far.

Mr. Ratzlaff said that The Clear Word was published in 1994. If Adventists need a "manipulated" and "distorted" Bible to support their beliefs, why did they wait 150 years before publishing one?

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