What Sword to Use
📖 Hebrews 4:12-13 KJV For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (13) Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
🔷 As Christians we have a powerful weapon that God has left to us, called the Word of God (which is the twoedged sword) this sword is so powerful that it either quicken souls for eternity or it harden the hearts of the wicked, and its a weapon that christians dont use properly, let a lone know what sword to use as there are many imitation swords out there?
1️⃣ The Manuscripts
🔷 Its important as a christian to know what manuscripts your bible is using since you want the pure words of God to base your life off, and you don’t want to use something thats fake so then lets look at the manuscripts of the King James Bible since thats the English version which is the standard and has been the most faithful translation for christians for over 400 years, before the KJV all other bibles used the same manuscripts or text that made up these manuscripts because all the scholars of the past reject the other manuscripts being unstable and not complete and having contradictions. So for the Old Testament the people of history used the Masoretic Text.
✅ The Masoretic Text?
The Masoretic Text which is the Old Testament manuscript was the most trusted and preserved Hebrew tradition among Jewish scribes. The Masoretes developed:
Vowel pointing (to preserve pronunciation)
Margin notes (to standardize spelling and word counts)
Extreme precision: some scribes counted every letter and word to avoid copying errors
🔹 Who Were the Masoretes?
The Masoretes were Jewish scribes and scholars who lived between the 6th and 10th centuries AD, mainly in the Middle East, and dedicated themselves to preserving and standardizing the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
They didn’t write new scriptures — their goal was to accurately copy and pass down the ancient Hebrew texts they had received. They were obsessed with precision.
📋 The Tiberian Masoretes (based in Tiberias, by the Sea of Galilee) are the ones who gave us the Masoretic Text used in the KJV and most modern Bibles.
🔹 What Did the Masoretes Actually Do?
The Hebrew language in ancient texts had no vowels, punctuation, or verse divisions. So the Masoretes:
Added vowel marks (called nikkud) to preserve pronunciation
Added cantillation marks to guide reading/singing
Counted letters and words to avoid copy errors
Added margin notes (Masora) to explain rare words or alternate spellings
Preserved a very strict, detailed textual tradition
📌 They were like divinely obsessed proofreaders — some counted how many times each letter appeared in each book!
🔹 Timeline
500s AD
Masoretic work begins
700s–900s AD
Peak of Masoretic activity in Tiberias
900 AD
Masoretes finish their most refined texts (Aleppo, Leningrad codices)
930 AD
Aleppo Codex written
1008 AD
Leningrad Codex completed
1450s AD
Gutenberg press invented
1525 AD
Ben Chayyim’s edition printed (used in KJV)
1611 AD
KJV published, using Ben Chayyim’s Hebrew text
✅ The Textus Receptus
🔷 When it comes to the New Testament the most reliable Manuscript know as the the receive text is the Textus Receptus.
Unity and Consistency
The TR is a stable, unified text used for centuries.
Modern critical texts (like Nestle-Aland or UBS) are constantly changing with every edition (NA28, NA29…).
That causes confusion — which verse belongs? Which is authentic?
TR advocates prefer a settled Bible.
2. Preserved Through Believers, Not Skeptics
The TR was based on manuscripts preserved in the church, not hidden in libraries or monasteries.
It was passed down by faithful Christians, not secular or academic institutions.
Many trust that God preserved His Word through His people.
Compare that to modern versions based on the Critical Text, which leans on:
Vaticanus (Catholic-held)
Sinaiticus (found in a monastery)
And scholars like Westcott & Hort who held unorthodox views (e.g., rejecting biblical inerrancy)
3. Avoids Missing or Altered Verses
Many newer translations based on the Critical Text (e.g., ESV, NIV) remove or bracket verses like:
Matthew 17:21 – “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
Acts 8:37 – Confession of faith before baptism
Mark 16:9–20 – The resurrection appearances
1 John 5:7 – The “three that bear record in heaven” (Trinity)
The TR includes these because they are found in the majority of Greek manuscripts used for centuries.
4. Majority Manuscript Agreement
While the TR isn’t a full “Majority Text” (that's a different thing), it aligns with the vast majority of over 5,000+ Greek manuscripts that agree more often than not.
Modern scholars tend to prefer older manuscripts, but TR supporters argue:
❗ Older doesn’t mean better — just because something is ancient doesn’t mean it’s accurate!
2️⃣ The Origins
🔷 The main issues aren’t really about the Old Testament as its undeniable that the Masoretic Text is the most stable and consistent of the manuscripts for the Old Testament but the issue is about the New Testament, the fight between Majority Text or Receive Text (TR) and the Critical Text (CT)
❌ The Critical Text refers to a version of the New Testament that is based on the “so-called” oldest and most reliable manuscripts? Often using an approach to reconstruct the original text. It primarily comes from the work of people like Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort in the 19th century, who produced the Westcott-Hort text, a foundational version of the Critical Text. Its flaws include its reliance on a small number of early manuscripts, sometimes neglecting the vast majority of textual evidence and potentially overlooking the historical transmission of the text over time. Critics argue that it may reflect a biased, speculative reconstruction rather than an accurate preservation of the original writings.
💭 The Textus Receptus (TR), derived from the Antiochian text-type, is widely regarded as more reliable than the Critical Text for several compelling reasons. First, the TR has been consistently used by the Church for centuries, forming the foundation of key translations like the King James Bible, which has been the cornerstone of Christian faith for countless believers. The TR is supported by a vast number of manuscripts, ensuring a broad, well-attested, and stable transmission of the New Testament, reflecting the faithful preservation of Scripture by the Christian community.
📌 I would trust the manuscripts that come from the place the christians were over manuscripts where the christians weren’t. Antioch is a christian place.
📖 Acts 11:26 (KJV) And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
❌ In contrast, the Critical Text is built upon the Alexandrian text-type, which relies heavily on a small number of early manuscripts, such as Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. These manuscripts originate from Alexandria, a region historically linked to early heretical movements like Gnosticism and Arianism, which introduced theological distortions. Critics of the Critical Text argue that these early manuscripts may reflect these heretical influences, making them unreliable as an accurate representation of the New Testament. In contrast, the TR, rooted in the tradition of Antioch, has been faithfully transmitted and safeguarded over time, offering a more trustworthy and theologically sound reflection of the original New Testament text.
📌 I wouldn’t trust anything that comes from Alexandra as God has given us insight using his word to show that his word would come from Antioch and not Alexandra.
📖 Acts 6:9 (KJV) Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
3️⃣ The Fruit
📖 Matthew 7:18-20 (KJV) A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
🔷 The fruit that the critical text has brought confusion to Christianity since the critical text is the gate way for all modern bibles and is always changing as it’s an unstable manuscript.
🚨 Bad Roots: Westcott & Hort
Westcott and Hort, who pushed the Critical Text in 1881, had questionable beliefs:
They doubted biblical infallibility.
Westcott had strange views on Mary and leaned toward Catholic mysticism.
Hort rejected a literal hell, and both had issues with the atonement.
📌 If the men who built the foundation didn’t even believe in the perfect, preserved Word of God, how can we trust what they produced?
🍂 Bad Fruit: Confusion and Corruption
Since the rise of the Critical Text:
There have been dozens of Bible versions, each one more watered down.
Key doctrines like the deity of Christ, the blood, and hell have been softened or removed.
False religions and liberal theology have exploded, while trust in God’s Word has declined.
📜 History of Changes:
1881 – Westcott & Hort publish their Critical Text — a dramatic departure from the Textus Receptus.
1898–Present – Nestle-Aland Critical Text begins; currently at 28 editions and counting.
1966–Present – The United Bible Societies (UBS) Critical Text also begins; currently in its 5th edition.
📌 That’s 33+ editions in total (NA28 + UBS5), and more are expected. Each edition introduces thousands of changes, sometimes removing or rephrasing verses that were previously accepted.
❌ This allows for changes to fit modern groups and newer groups to create confusion as Satan has always done.
4️⃣ The Unchangeable Word
📖 Psalms 119:89 (KJV) LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
📖 Psalms 12:6-7 (KJV) The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
📌 If the Critical Text and newly discovered manuscripts are truly God’s Word, then we must accept the idea promoted by Westcott, Hort, and modern Critical Text scholars that the true Word of God was lost or corrupted for centuries. That it was hidden in forgotten libraries and caves, only to be recovered by academics. But if that's true, then God did not preserve His Word as He promised in Psalm 12:6–7. And even now, our Bibles would still be incomplete, because the text keeps changing with every new discovery. How can we call that ‘God’s Word’ if it was lost, revised, and remains uncertain? Plus when we look at the overall of the fruit that this critical text and modern versions have brought, its nothing but confusion and various different interpretations that only weaken what God is actually trying to teach us, its brought nothing but a free for all and any interpretation is good. But if we really loved Gods word we would really look into this and see if we are truly holding the word of God in our hands.
‼️ So my question is to you all, are you truly holding the word of God in your hands if what I’m saying is true then these other so-called bibles must be weighed!!! What Sword are you holding, a butter knife (NIV) or an imitation (ESV) or an imaginary fantasy sword (NLT) or do you have the two-edged sword (KJV) the sword that blood was spilt for, the sword that took 7 years to sharpen (Literally 7 years to make the KJV), purified 7 times, by 47 scholars who were they?
Handpicked by King James I in 1604
They were leading experts in:
Hebrew and Greek
Theology
Church history
Linguistics
Many were professors at Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster
🧩 How Was It Done?
They were divided into 6 companies:
Westminster - 2 teams
Genesis–2 Kings & Romans–Jude
Cambridge - 2 teams
1 Chronicles–Ecclesiastes
Oxford - 2 teams
Isaiah–Malachi & Gospels–Acts, Revelation
Each scholar would translate individually, then the group would review, then all six groups cross-reviewed everything.
They also consulted previous Bibles, like:
Tyndale
Coverdale
Geneva Bible
Bishops’ Bible (their base text)
✅ Result?
After 7 years of work (1604–1611), the King James Version was born — a literary and theological masterpiece that shaped English Christianity for centuries the two-edged sword was created and shaped all Christian religions that are here today.
