Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
How Your Bible Is Lying To You

How Your Bible Is Lying To You

Last updated on: July 12, 2021 at 11:04 pm by Keith Giles

How Your Bible Is Lying To You 2021-07-12T23:04:58+00:00 Keith Giles

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image: Pexels

I’ve written more than a few times on how our English translations of the Bible have been corrupted over time, with words left out, or added, and certain words or phrases mistranslated or changed to obscure the actual meaning of the text. Not to mention all the wrong ways we read the book of Romans or Hebrews and totally miss the point that’s right in front of us.

But, once more, I have come across an example of how our English translation of the Bible is outright lying to us. This time, it’s about how the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament – which came several hundred years after the Septuagint text used by Jesus and Paul and the other Apostles – translates Jeremiah 17:9.

Now, the text in question is one that has been weaponized for centuries to create a toxic environment that maintains what I call “Worm Theology” – a doctrine largely created by John Calvin’s T.U.L.I.P. theology which begins by asserting that everyone is “Totally Depraved” and therefore undeserving of God’s love and essentially a wretch and a worm that God is too Holy to be in the presence of.

Here’s the text in question as it reads in most English translations, taken from the Masoretic Text:

“The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?”

Now, most of us who have grown up in the Church know this one by heart. We’ve all been told over and over again how we cannot trust our own mind and how our own thoughts are not to be trusted because – as this verse seems to stress – the human heart is “deceitful above all…and beyond cure…”.

But, is that REALLY what the text says? Or, was this verse altered in some way between the time of Jesus and this much-later translation?

Well, if we turn to the Septuagint for this same verse we find a much different message:

“The heart is deep beyond all things and it is the man. Even so, who can know him?”

Wow. That is a very different perspective, isn’t it? Imagine if this was the text that you and I grew up reading and hearing preached from the pulpit every Sunday? Maybe it wouldn’t have been so easy to convince us that we were evil at heart and we shouldn’t even trust our own thoughts?

As I’ve pointed out before, this isn’t the only radical change that was made between the older Septuagint text quoted by Jesus and the authors of the New Testament and the Masoretic text.

For example:

The Masoretic text in our Bibles reads:

“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.” [Isaiah 53:10]

But, the Septuagint says:

“The Lord is willing to cleanse him of the injury. If you make a sin offering, our soul will see long-lived offspring, and the Lord is willing to remove him from the difficulty of his soul.” [Isaiah 53:10]

We also see changes made here:

MASORETIC: “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.” [Isaiah 53:4]

SEPTUAGINT: “This one carries our sins and suffers pain for us, and we regarded him as one who is in difficulty, misfortune, and affliction.“ [Isaiah 53:4]

and here:

MASORETIC:

“The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.” [Exodus 15:3]

SEPTUAGINT:

“The Lord who shatters wars, the Lord is his name.” [Exodus 15:3]

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I come across these types of examples where our English texts are changed, edited or otherwise corrupted in order to justify doctrines that keep us bound up in guilt, fear and shame, it kinda makes me angry.

Hopefully, the more we know about how our English Bibles lie to us, and the more we seek out the truth about those problematic texts that are weaponized to create toxic theologies designed to manipulate and control us, we can find our way to freedom and escape.

At least, that’s my sincere hope.

Are you questioning your faith? Feeling alone in this journey of doubt? If so, please consider joining me and dozens more in the Square 1 community and online course. Our next 90-day session starts August 9, 2021. I’d love to extend to you a 75% discount which can also be broken into 3 monthly payments if you prefer. REGISTER HERE>

Keith Giles and his wife, Wendy, work with Peace Catalyst International to help build relationships between Christians and Muslims in El Paso, TX. Keith was formerly a licensed and ordained minister who walked away from organized church over a decade ago to start a home fellowship that gave away 100% of the offering to the poor in the community. Today he is the author of the best-selling “Jesus Un” series of books, including “Jesus Unforsaken: Substituting Divine Wrath With Unrelenting Love” which is available now on Amazon.

Biblicism

Deconstruction

Previous Post

July 8, 2021

Deconstructing Prayer

Next Post

July 16, 2021 76 Bible Verses To Support Universal Reconciliation

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Biblicism Christian Politics Cosmic Christ Deconstruction Discipleship Dispensationalism Divine Unity Ekklesia End Time Stuff Eschatology Evergreen Following Jesus Gender General Christian Topics Gnostics God's Love Gospel of Judas Gospel of Mary Gospel of Philip Gospel of the Kingdom Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Truth Hell Historical Jesus Inner Circle Investigative Reporting Islam LGBTQ Issues Marriage Mental/Emotional Health Mystery Non-Duality Philosophy Podcast Poetry Politics Poverty Preemptive Love Prophecy Psychology Quantum Theology Racism Reconstruction Satire Sex Technology Theology Uncategorized Universalism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was made mute and only spoke God's word until Jerusalem fell?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Amos Daniel Jonah Ezekiel

Books by This Author Books by Keith Giles

See All Titles »