Things That Are Different Are Not the Same Part 1

This is the first installment of a series of hubs only because there is much information I want to share. In my mind I envision many of you well-meaning readers siting back and thinking to yourself, "This is the most ridiculous thing I ever read!" Lifegate's passing judgment. Please follow all the way through to the final hub before coming to that conclusion. Your decisions and your choices are exactly that - yours. I will not offer my opinion, but facts that can easily be verified. The truth is that things that are different are not the same. Stay with me.

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, these words are spoken. "This above all; to thine own self be true"..Suppose I chose to reword his statement as "It's so important to be true to yourself." Somehow the thought is similar, but yet things that are different are not the same. I have changed the meaning considerably.

Mr. Shakespeare makes it quite clear that it is the most important, not just so important. Even though the thoughts are similar, the second wording changes the meaning quite drastically. Compare these statements. There were many people at the football game. There were thousands of people at the game. There was a large crowd at the athletic event; three ways of expressing a similar thought, but yet all with a very different meaning. Things that are different are not the same.

So what am I getting at? Let me ask you, what Bible version do you use? There are literally hundreds if not thousands to choose from. If we are to be realistic, we must admit with such a huge variety available that they are not nor can they be the same. Things that are different obviously are not the same. We are dealing with something so much more important than a football game. Throughout this series i want to give you some guidelines, but at the same time remember that they are not my opinion, but verifiable facts.

In Matthew 24:35 Jesus promises, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (King James Bible). Psalm 138:2 says in part, "...: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." (KJB). God's Word is of infinite importance to Him. He has always communicated with His creation; in times past face to face as He did with Adam, or in visions and dreams as He did with Joseph, Daniel, and others, and even through the mouth of a donkey to Balaam. Today He still communicates with His creation through His written and final Word.

The Apostle John tells us in Revelation 22:18, 19, "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." John simply reiterates what was spoken in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 4:2.

We will look closer at this in the coming installments, but consider this one fact for now. After the clear warning of Scripture not to take away, the New International Version (NIV) removes 64,576 words, and in many cases complete verses. I will show you later how this removal teaches a false doctrine. Until then, pray and ask God for discernment and an open mind.