Anton Ivanov. The Mystery of the Substitution of the Holy Scriptures in Russia

· Books, Vestibule, Scripture, Contemporary Persecution

Many Orthodox believers purchase a Bible published by the Russian Bible Society in Moscow, as indicated by the inscription on the title page of the edition. On the reverse side of the title page appears the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow, since this Bible is a reprint of the Moscow Patriarchate edition. However, the “Russian Bible Society” prints and distributes not only the Russian Synodal translation of the Bible, which has the blessing of the Orthodox Church. It also publishes and promotes the so-called Cassian translation of the New Testament (i.e., the translation of Cassian the Apostate — S. S. Bezobrazov). The New Testament translation by Cassian the Apostate differs from the Russian Synodal translation not only in language. It is made from a different Greek text, which contradicts the canonical Greek text (called the “Textus Receptus,” i.e., “Received Text”) in approximately 6,000 places. The Greek text from which the translation of Cassian the Apostate was made, called the Nestle-Aland and United Bible Societies (UBS) text, its distributors try to present as a “scientific-critical” and ecumenical text, produced on the basis of the latest achievements of biblical scholarship. But is this really so? To answer this question, one must turn to history.
The text of the New Testament accepted by the Catholic Church has about 6,000 major divergences from the canonical Orthodox text of the New Testament (i.e., the divergences amount to 20% of the text). Many of these divergences were introduced into Scripture by Gnostic heretics and occultists of Egypt. The Roman Catholic Church, which originally adhered to the canonical text of the New Testament that the Orthodox Church preserves incorrupt to this day, in the 4th century A.D. under Pope Damasus switched to the Latin translation called the Vulgate. This translation was made from a few heretical manuscripts of Egypt, the chief of which is the Vatican manuscript (so called because it is kept in the papal library in the Vatican). The Greek text of the New Testament from which Catholic (and pro-Catholic Protestant) translations into modern languages (including Russian) are made is usually called “critical” or “scientific” by its compilers. This “scientific New Testament,” as those who try to implant it assert, is based on the “most ancient” manuscripts. However, a careful examination of the “scientific critical” text shows that it has been conformed to the official Catholic Latin translation known as the Vulgate[1]. The reason why Catholics conform the Greek text to their official Latin translation is that the Latin Vulgate does not fully correspond to any Greek manuscript of the New Testament at all. Catholics are left either to admit that they have adhered to a false text of the New Testament (since all Catholic councils cited it), or to try to artificially create a Greek text that matches the Latin Vulgate. (As for the Vulgate itself, there are four different official editions that contradict one another: the reconstruction (1969) of Jerome’s 4th-century text, the edition of Pope Sixtus V (1590), the edition of Pope Clement VIII (1592), and the edition of Pope Paul VI issued in 1979). Thus, the so-called “critical scientific” Greek text of the New Testament is simply a Catholic missionary text. This text, with slight changes, is published by the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (the Merk-Martini edition) [2]. The same text is published by the “neutral” United Bible Societies and passed off as ecumenical[3] (text titles: “New Testament of the United Bible Societies” and “Nestle-Aland New Testament”). But how did the pseudo-scientific Greek text of Nestle-Aland and the United Bible Societies appear, and how do modern Catholic Bible translations relate to it? To answer this question, another historical reference is needed.

The Catholic Church very early on switched to conducting its liturgy in Latin (although initially the services in Rome were in Greek). In the 4th century AD, Pope Damasus commissioned Jerome to produce a new edition of the Old Latin translation of the New Testament, known as the Itala. In his work, Jerome used Alexandrian manuscripts of the New Testament (of the Codex Vaticanus type) that had been corrupted by heretics. The essence of the changes introduced by Jerome was to create a text containing a large number of passages from which one could conclude that Christ is a “teacher of righteousness” (like Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, or Leo Tolstoy), but not the God-man. Such a New Testament text was needed for ecumenical purposes—to attract into the Catholic Church those who do not believe in Christ as the Son of God. In this sense, Jerome is not only one of the fathers of the Catholic Church but also the father of ecumenism. In terms of his significance in this regard, Jerome is second only to the heretic Origen, condemned by the Ecumenical Councils, who first began to introduce passages into the Greek New Testament that dispute the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ [4]. (This is why Catholics try in every way to rehabilitate Origen.) The “text” of the Latin New Testament manufactured by Jerome received the name “Vulgate.” However, even within the Catholic Church itself, ordinary believers fiercely resisted the Vulgate, holding on to the old translation called the Itala. This struggle continued among Catholics from the 4th to the 13th century, when the Vulgate finally triumphed with the help of the bonfires of the Inquisition. It is worth noting that in AD 1229, the reading of the Bible was forbidden to Catholic laypeople by the Council of Valence, and the Council of Tarragona in 1234 declared anyone a heretic who, possessing a Bible translated from Latin into a national language, did not surrender it within eight days to his bishop for burning. However, in the 16th century, the Reformation broke out across Europe. Protestants rejected the Catholic Vulgate and returned to the canonical Orthodox text of the New Testament, which came to be called the “Textus Receptus” (i.e., the “Received Text”). The Textus Receptus began to spread like lightning throughout Europe in printed form in Greek (the first being the edition by Erasmus of Rotterdam in 1516) and in translations into European languages. Moreover, New Testament translations made from the Textus Receptus began to circulate not only in predominantly Protestant countries (Luther’s translation in Germany, the King James Bible in England, the Statenvertaling in the Netherlands) but also in exclusively Catholic countries (Olivetan’s translation in France, Diodati’s translation in Italy, the translations by de Reina and de Valera in Spain, and others).

Rome was in a panic. What the papacy had failed to achieve with the executioners of the Inquisition was resolved to be accomplished by means of spiritual poison. It is widely known that the Jesuit order was founded in 1534 to combat the Reformation. Far less known is the fact that one of the order’s goals was the eradication of the canonical Orthodox text of the New Testament that Protestants had introduced into use immediately after the Reformation began. People often say and write that during the Reformation era, the Bible was translated into the languages of the peoples of Europe. That is true, but the translation of Holy Scripture by Protestants into national languages was not an innovation in 16th-century Europe. For instance, in England in 1382, John Wycliffe translated the entire Bible into English from the Latin Vulgate, and in Germany before Luther, there were eighteen printed translations of the Bible into German. The fundamental difference of the Scripture translations from the time of the Protestant Reformation was that, in their New Testament portion, they were made from the canonical Orthodox Greek text, now commonly called the Textus Receptus. Catholics convened the Council of Trent (1545–1563), which declared the Latin Vulgate to be divinely inspired and placed the Textus Receptus on the list of forbidden books. But prohibitions did not help, and the genuine text of the New Testament continued to march victoriously across Europe.

Rome’s struggle against Protestantism sometimes led to curious situations. After the Reformation began, Catholics started mass-producing editions of the works of the Holy Fathers, not noticing that the New Testament quotations cited by the Church Fathers confirmed the canonical Orthodox text. This continued until the mid-19th century, when J.–P. Migne—a French Catholic patristic scholar—began publishing the Complete Collection of the Works of the Greek and Latin Holy Fathers. The patristic references to the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament confirmed the traditional Orthodox text. The Catholic Archbishop of Paris expressed displeasure with Migne’s work, and in 1868, the premises where Migne worked, along with his printing house, burned to the ground. In 1874, a decree came from the Vatican forbidding Migne to continue his work.

Today, a “scientific-critical” edition of the Greek and Latin Church Fathers is being published in which the New Testament quotations in the writings of the Holy Fathers are presented in a form convenient for Catholics, that is, in conformity with the Greek text of Nestle-Aland and the United Bible Societies. The flow of forgeries is difficult to stop, because those standing behind the editors of such publications have enormous financial resources.

But let us return to the biblical activity of Rome. Catholics took an active part in the work of the British and Foreign Bible Society, founded in 1804 (a branch of which was the Russian Bible Society, established in 1813 and closed at the demand of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1826), and of the American Bible Society, founded in 1816 [5]. Both the British and the American Bible Societies printed Catholic and pro-Catholic translations of the New Testament, but the greater number of New Testament translations were still made from the traditional Orthodox canonical text (the Textus Receptus), since virtually all Protestants adhered precisely to that text. But attempts to sneak in a Catholic text under the guise of a “scientific-critical” Protestant edition of the Greek text were already being made. J.J. Griesbach, who followed the Catholic theologian Mohler, published such an edition in 1774, and the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Newcome, issued an English translation of the New Testament in 1808 based on the Greek text compiled by Griesbach under the Vulgate. Constantine Tischendorf (1815–1874)[6] produced, at the order of the French Catholic publisher Firmin Didot [7], a special edition of the Greek text of the New Testament for Catholics. This edition of the Greek New Testament text was a mirror reflection of the New Testament of the Catholic Vulgate.

However, the direct and obvious connection with Catholicism hindered the wide dissemination of the aforementioned forgeries. The Protestants did not accept them and continued to hold to the Orthodox text of the New Testament.

Then it became obvious to the Catholic Church that the Catholic text of the New Testament must be introduced into Protestantism from within and that it was necessary to produce a text that would differ only slightly from the Vulgate (because otherwise the connection with Catholicism would be too obvious). The executors of the plan were the Anglican bishop B.F. Westcott and his friend and like-minded Anglican theologian J.A. Hort [8]. The fact that these two, who fabricated the Greek text of the New Testament under the Vulgate [9], while formally belonging to the Anglican Church, were secret Catholics, became clear after their death when their correspondence was published.

Here are some characteristic excerpts from this correspondence.

Hort: “The pure Roman (i.e., Catholic) point of view is much closer to the truth and will sooner lead to it than the evangelical (i.e., Protestant) one” [10]. Hort: “Protestantism is a temporary and secondary phenomenon” [11].

From the correspondence it appears that both considered it necessary to publish as soon as possible the New Testament text made under the Catholic Vulgate and its English equivalent, before the essence of their activity was discovered. This they succeeded in accomplishing in England in 1881, when the Synod of the Church of England approved the translation fabricated by Westcott and Hort. A precedent was created. The fact that the Westcott and Hort text was made under the Vulgate remained unnoticed thanks to a simple trick: the Catholic Church has several editions of the Vulgate, and they took not the one that was then in liturgical use, i.e., the third Vulgate of Pope Clement from 1592, but the first Vulgate of Jerome from the 4th century [12].

Thus, the Revised Version of 1881 became the first Catholic Bible officially accepted by Protestants.

The Catholic Church, for its part, was increasingly aware that the transition from worship in Latin to worship in national languages was inevitable, and accordingly, it was necessary to prepare translations of the entire Bible (and of the New Testament in particular) into modern national languages. Therefore, in 1943, the papal encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu was issued, in which the following is said about Bible translations: “Translations should be made together with the brothers from whom we are separated (i.e., Protestants)” [13]. However, this statement implies that translations of the New Testament should be made not from the Textus Receptus, but from the Catholic text. And in 1946, at the instigation of the Vatican, the United Bible Societies were created. Their goal is to produce a “Common Bible”, equally acceptable to both Catholics and Protestants, which, of course, implies the acceptance by Protestants of the Catholic text [14].

In 1963, the Catholics convened the Second Vatican Council (completed in 1965). The Council issued a decree on the translation of the liturgy of the Catholic Church into national languages and on the introduction into liturgical use of translations of Holy Scripture made into the modern languages of all peoples. Concerning translations, it was stated: “If they are made, under favorable conditions and with the approval of ecclesiastical authority, in cooperation even with brethren separated from us, they may be used by all Christians” [15]. This statement is in full harmony with the decision of the conference of Bible Societies (1964) to create a “Common Bible” text. And in early July 1968, the Executive Committee of the United Bible Societies and the Vatican Secretariat for Christian Unity reached full agreement, approving the “Guiding Principles for Interconfessional Cooperation in Translating the Bible” (which had been previously approved by Pope Paul VI).

But when the Vatican needed to translate the New Testament into the various modern languages of the world’s peoples, the question arose as to which text should be used for the translation. The fourth‑century translation by Jerome, approved by Pope Damasus, had been lost and can only be approximately reconstructed[16]. The Council of Trent (1545–1563), which declared the Vulgate to be divinely inspired, also issued a decree on the need to reconstruct Jerome’s original text. Pope Sixtus V undertook this task, publishing in 1590 the text of the so‑called Sixtine Vulgate, monstrous in its absurdity. Pope Sixtus inserted not only many words absent from the Greek original but also notes that medieval readers had written in the margins of the New Testament. Therefore, just two years later, in 1592, Pope Clement VIII issued a new edition of the Vulgate. More than 3,000 changes were hastily introduced over 19 days into the text of the so‑called Clementine Vulgate. Among those changes were quite a few returns to the Orthodox canonical text (the Textus Receptus). Hence, when the Vatican and the United Bible Societies needed a Greek New Testament text to translate into modern languages, they did not take the Sixtine Vulgate of 1590 or the Clementine Vulgate of 1592 (which remained in liturgical use among Catholics until the Second Vatican Council of 1963–65). The text of both aforementioned Vulgates is so corrupt that its reliability cannot be substantiated in any way. They decided to take a reconstruction of Jerome’s fourth‑century Latin text and to match a Greek text to it. This had a double advantage: first, such a text had already been produced by Westcott and Hort in 1881; second, such a text would differ from the Clementine Vulgate used in the Catholic Church’s liturgy, thus diverting from the United Bible Societies the suspicion that they were a Catholic mission behind an ecumenical screen. And so, in 1966, an edition of the Greek “text” of the New Testament was published, intended for translation into all the languages of the world. The “text” was compiled by a committee of four people, all of whom (to dispel any possible suspicions of Catholicism) were nominal Protestants, and their names were: Kurt Aland, Bruce Metzger, Allen Wikgren, and Matthew Black. As the “text” of the New Testament, the 1881 “text” of Westcott and Hort was taken. It is interesting that just two years earlier, one of the “godfathers” of the above‑mentioned “text,” Kurt Aland, had ridiculed this very same text. At the hundredth meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in 1964, he concluded his address (later published as an article) with these words: “None of us, if we were about to cross the Atlantic Ocean, would venture to do so in a ship from 1881 [here meaning the Westcott and Hort text], even if the ship had been refitted and the risk premium had already been promised. So why do we proceed in exactly this manner in New Testament textual criticism?”[17] Yet, as we already know, Kurt Aland became part of the four who agreed to publish the Greek New Testament “text” of Westcott and Hort. What then is the reason for such a radical change of position? The answer is very simple: there is an ordinary risk premium, and there is an extraordinary risk premium. And here is another interesting statement by K. Aland, made a little later: “In the future the Greek New Testament will be under the patronage not only of the international Bible Societies but also of the Pontifical Biblical Institute”[18]. This declaration was not made by chance; it was preparing the ground for what had been secretly conceived by those who were truly directing the whole project. And so, in 1968, the second edition of the Greek “text” of the New Testament of the United Bible Societies was published[19]. This time the text was published by a committee of five, not four. The four previous names remained unchanged, but one was added — Carlo Martini. On the title page of the 1968 edition of the “text” of the New Testament of the United Bible Societies (and of the subsequent editions of 1975 and 1993) there is no indication whatsoever of who this Carlo Martini is[20]. So who is he? Here is who: he is a Catholic cardinal and a member of the Jesuit Order. And not just any cardinal. Cardinal Carlo Martini is openly spoken of as the most likely candidate for the papal throne should the present Pope John Paul II die. Thus, the “grey eminence” of the United Bible Societies may become the next Pope Carlo[21]. And one more detail: the title page of the edition discussed above states that it was produced jointly with the Institute for New Testament Textual Research in Münster, yet there is no indication on the title page of cooperation with the Pontifical Biblical Institute, which is the true initiator of the aforementioned edition.

The fact remains practically unknown to anyone that the Greek “text” of the United Bible Societies (1966, 1968, 1975, and 1993) follows almost verbatim the official “critical” Catholic “text” of the Greek New Testament published by the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome[22]. And this is not surprising. After all, the last editor of the “text” of the Greek New Testament of the Pontifical Biblical Institute is none other than that very Cardinal Carlo Martini, who is one of the five editors of the “text” of the United Bible Societies. But for the sake of concealment, the Greek “text” of the Pontifical Biblical Institute was always printed under the name of its first editor, A.Merk, who died back in 1945 [23]. And in 1979, the German Bible Society (a member of the United Bible Societies) replaced the “text” of its “critical” edition edited by Nestle with the “text” of the third edition of the United Bible Societies. The point is that Nestle provided a very compact apparatus of variant readings in his edition, which made it possible to publish the Greek New Testament text in a small format. The aforementioned new pocket edition received the name “Nestle-Aland text” and began to spread rapidly, as it was sold at a price half as low as any other edition of the Greek text of the New Testament. For example, the United Bible Societies edition cost approximately $4.80, the Nestle-Aland edition —$4.50, and Kilpatrick’s edition — $10.20 [24]. The “creators” of Nestle-Aland themselves indirectly acknowledge this fact when they write that the Nestle-Aland edition came to be distributed “not only because of its low price”[25]. In reality, the name “Nestle-Martini” would be more fitting for the mentioned edition. This thought is well illustrated by a whole series of caricatures that appeared in the West shortly after the publication of the so-called Nestle-Aland. One of them is called “The Evangelists of the Vatican.” The picture depicts K. Aland, B. Metzger, A. Wikgren, and M. Black (i.e., the editors of Nestle-Aland) sitting in the poses of evangelists. Hovering above them is the dove-like editor-in-chief, Cardinal Carlo Martini. He can be easily recognized by his cardinal’s hat. He himself is, as it were, a spirit descending upon the “evangelist”-editors.

And here is another caricature, which is called “The Vatican Quartet.” It looks like this: standing at the conductor’s podium is Cardinal Carlo Martini, clothed in a mitre. On the music stand before him is spread the Vulgate, by which he conducts. His quartet consists of the four editors of the Nestle-Aland New Testament and the United Bible Societies — K. Aland, B. Metzger, A. Wikgren, and M. Black, each of whom plays his own part from the Catholic Vulgate[26].

The Greek text of Nestle-Aland and the United Bible Societies lies at the foundation of all modern official Catholic translations of the Bible. For example, a blessing has been given to read during the Mass the modern English Catholic translation, the New American Bible (The New American Bible)[27]. It is prefaced by a letter of recommendation from Pope Paul VI. Its New Testament portion is based on the “text” discussed above.

And very often things happen this way: a translation is produced as ecumenical, and all the translators formally are Protestants. And some time later (after people have gotten used to the translation) this same translation is published with the blessing of the Catholic Church. For instance, the Revised Standard Version (Revised Standard Version) of 1946/52 was originally published as ecumenical[28], and later received the blessing of the Catholic Church. It is precisely according to this English translation that all New Testament quotations are given in all official publications of the United Bible Societies that are issued in English.

The Bible titled “Good News Bible” (Good News Bible) of 1961/70 was published as ecumenical, but later received the blessing of Cardinal Basil Hume, Catholic Archbishop of Westminster.

The so-called “New English Bible” (New English Bible) was released in 1961 as an ecumenical edition of Protestants. But in 1989, this same Bible came out in a revised form under the title “Revised English Bible.” Official Catholic representatives appeared among the members of the publishing committee. Many examples of this sort could be cited. In those countries where the translation made from the canonical Greek Orthodox text of the New Testament is universally accepted (as, for example, the Russian Synodal Translation in Russia), the Catholic Church adheres to a very cunning tactic. During the Mass, Catholics read the Russian Synodal Translation — i.e., the very one whose reading, according to the decrees of the Catholic Council of Trent of 1545–1563, is a mortal sin for a Catholic[29]. And the Catholic text is being introduced by “neutral,” “ecumenical” Bible Societies, which tour Russia under the signboard “Russian Bible Society.” The confessional affiliation of these “societies” can be seen from the following facts: their vice-president for a long time was the Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, and their members include the Catholic Bishop of Livorno in Italy Alberto Ablondi, who is simultaneously the president of the Catholic Apostolic Bible Association, and other representatives of the Vatican. At present, the general secretary of the United Bible Societies is Manuel Jinbachian — a French Catholic. In 1968, Pope Paul VI blessed a document entitled “Guiding Principles.” This document sets forth the principles of cooperation between the Vatican and the United Bible Societies.

And what is the organizational structure of the so-called United Bible Societies? It is an international “ecumenical” organization, whose members are the Bible Societies of the USA, England, Scotland, Holland, Canada, Australia, and other countries, which make contributions to the budget of the United Bible Societies. From these contributions, amounting to tens of millions of dollars, money is given for the activities of those “Bible societies” which, lacking their own funds, live on handouts, allowing them to sell Bibles and other publications at heavily discounted prices, thus enabling them to maintain a monopoly on Bible publication and sale. The Russian Bible Society is an example, not a single word in its name being true. In reality, it is a branch of the United Bible Societies, i.e., a Catholic mission behind an ecumenical screen. The United Bible Societies, for which the signboard “Russian Bible Society” in Russia is a fig leaf, are trying to enlist as many Orthodox as possible into cooperation, since it is most convenient to infiltrate Catholicism into the Orthodox Church from within. They are particularly interested in instructors at Orthodox Theological Academies and Seminaries. If an instructor at an Orthodox Theological Academy or Seminary is recruited, he will quietly poison the seminary students, and they, having become priests, will spread Catholic lies among their parishioners. The recruitment of priests usually occurs through ecumenical contacts. The person being recruited is provided with free tourism in the form of invitations to foreign theological-ecumenical meetings and conferences. This is accompanied by valuable gifts. Compliments are combined with offers of “legal bribes,” i.e., offers to give some lectures abroad (of course, utterly useless but for a decent fee), to publish some articles or books. In such cases, orders for book publication are given to outside publishers on the condition of payment (or purchase) of most of the print run. If such a book later cannot be sold, it is distributed free of charge. The clergyman of the Orthodox Church whom they are trying to buy is first allowed to get used to the handouts, with nothing asked in return. Then the tactics change abruptly: conditions are set (i.e., the position that must be adopted), accompanied by unmistakable hints that if refused, the handouts will cease. And how can one resist when money itself flows into one’s hands? That is usually the temptation!

The methods of influencing those being recruited are as follows: foreign internships and trips with all expenses paid, invitations to meetings and conferences, education abroad, commissions to write books and articles, translation commissions, grants, prizes, and finally, simply money handed over from hand to hand without any paperwork.

The Apostle Paul tells us: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16), and the Apostle Peter teaches that “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). Thus, Holy Scripture was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Himself said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). The distortion of Scripture began already in the first century, as the Apostle Paul writes: “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God” (2 Corinthians 2:17). From these words it is clear that forgeries were already widespread in the time of the early Christians, and the Apostle Paul notes that the falsifiers were many. The Apostle Peter testifies to the same, saying that the epistles of the Apostle Paul “they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). Here is an example of such substitutions. The canonical Orthodox text reads as follows (Mark 1:1,2): “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the prophets …” Then follow two citations from the Old Testament: the first — from the book of the prophet Malachi, the second — from the book of the prophet Isaiah. But a certain “knowledgeable” heretic, whom the Catholics follow, having recognized the second of the cited verses as belonging to the prophet Isaiah, decided to “correct” the Holy Spirit and replaced in the Gospel of Mark (chapter 1 verse 2) the words in the prophets with the words in the prophet Isaiah.

The Word of God — Holy Scripture — is one of the manifestations of the dogma of the Incarnation of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon: Christ revealed Himself in the flesh, and, equally, the Divine Word reveals Himself in human word — without confusion and without separation. God the Word is inseparable from the words of the New Testament Scripture, just as the words spoken by the Lord, His voice, were inseparable from His human nature during His earthly life. Therefore, everyone who sins against the word of Scripture sins against the Lord Jesus Christ Himself[30].

Those who produce or distribute a distorted text of Scripture (or are complicit in it) are crucifiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The so-called “Russian Bible Society” is nothing other than an altar of Satan, on which the Lord is crucified. Every publication of a distorted text of the New Testament is a sacrifice to Satan, even though it outwardly appears bloodless! The hands of Satan’s servants are in the blood of the Lord!

Many more forgeries will appear. All forgeries usually coincide with the “text” of the United Bible Societies by 97–99%, so that the connection is not too obvious, but there is an appearance of “scholarly research”[31]. The most typical forgery is the “Cassian translation” (compiled by S.S. Bezobrazov), distributed by the “Russian Bible Society”; the variant readings between it and the Russian Synodal Translation are given below[32].

List of heretical readings of the Catholic missionary text of the New Testament in comparison with the Orthodox canonical text.

Gospel of Luke chapter 2 verse 33

The Catholic text denies that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, since Joseph the Betrothed is called the father of the Lord. This verse also denies the virgin birth of our Lord.

Gospel of Luke chapter 2 verse 43

Gospel of John chapter 1 verse 18

According to the teaching of the Valentinian heretics, the Incarnation of our Savior was not real, because only the Only Begotten God incarnated, who was the Word of the Only Begotten Son. The Valentinians interpreted verse 1 of chapter 1 of the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word,” as follows: in the Only Begotten Son was the Only Begotten God-Word, who appeared under the name of Jesus. The Catholic reading “Only Begotten God” is also found among the Arian heretics.

Gospel of Luke chapter 23 verse 42

The thief was forgiven because he confessed Jesus Christ as Lord. But according to the teaching of the Docetist heretics, the divine Christ separated from the man Jesus before the crucifixion and departed to the Father, leaving the man Jesus to suffer on the cross. Therefore the word Lord was replaced by the Docetists with the name Jesus.

Gospel of John chapter 9 verse 35

The Son of God — the Messianic title of our Lord, signifying that He is the Savior of the world — is replaced by words that the Lord Jesus Christ used when speaking of Himself, but which do not signify that He is the Messiah[33].

Orthodox Text — Romans 14:10, 12

10. For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11. So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Since in the tenth verse Catholics change the judgment seat of Christ to the judgment seat of God, the truth that Christ is coming to judge the world is denied.

Orthodox Text — Gospel of Luke 1:28

But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.

If the words when she saw him are omitted, as the Catholics do, then there is no confirmation that the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to the Most Holy Theotokos was real and not imaginary. The mystery of the Annunciation and the incarnation of Christ are called into question.

Orthodox Text — Gospel of John 6:68, 69

68. But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Instead of the words the Son of the living God, which are Peter’s confession of faith, Catholics put the Holy One of God. Note: the Holy One of God is how only demons call the Savior in the Gospel (see Mark 1:24, Luke 4:31).

Orthodox Text — Gospel of John 6:47

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

Catholics throw out the words in Me from the divinely inspired text. But it is important not merely to believe, but to believe in Christ, for “even the demons believe — and tremble” (James 2:19).

Orthodox Text — 1 John 4:3

And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist …

Catholics throw out the words Christ has come in the flesh, leaving only the name Jesus. Thus, they are not Christians, but “Jesusians,” i.e., people who believe in the man Jesus, whom they reduce to the level of Buddha or Krishna.

Orthodox Text — 1 Timothy 3:16

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh …

Instead of the word God, Catholics put He who, and the word He is taken from entirely unknown origins. Other Catholic and Protestant Catholicizing translations give which instead of He who. The false Catholic reading denies the One God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, worshiped in the Trinity — and preaches what all the centuries of Christianity were taught by the Unitarian heretics, that is, “one” God.

Orthodox Text — 1 John 5:7

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

One of the most important verses of the New Testament is completely thrown out by the Papists. Thus, the following verse, 1 John 5:8, speaks not of the Holy Trinity, but of some sort of “threesome” or triad.

Orthodox Text — Gospel of John 16:16

A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.

By discarding the words because I go to the Father, the text, corrupted by the Catholics, abolishes the unity of Christ with God the Father.

Gospel of Mark chapter 16 verses 9-20

9. Now when Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.
10. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.
11. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
12. After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.
13. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
14. Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
15. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
16. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
17. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18. They will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
20. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

Catholic and Protestant pro-Catholic translations either omit or place in brackets these verses, because no Roman pope who claims to be “infallible” and supposedly is the “vicar of Christ” on earth possesses the spiritual gifts spoken of in the Gospel of Mark 16:9–20. Moreover, there was an attempt to replace these verses with an insertion stating that after the Resurrection of Christ, the apostles gathered around Peter. Since the Roman pope claims to be the direct successor of the apostle Peter and therefore the head of the Church of Christ, the aforementioned insertion would confirm that the pope’s pretensions are “legitimate.”

Gospel of Luke chapter 2 verse 14

The Orthodox text says that God is well-pleased with all people and grace is opened to all. The Catholic text speaks of certain “people of goodwill” or, as other Catholic translations propose, “people of good will.” The Roman pope in his Christmas messages always quotes the Gospel of Luke 2:14 precisely in this second form. In this same form, this verse often appears on Catholic depictions of the Nativity.

Gospel of Luke chapter 11 verses 2–4

From the Lord’s Prayer the Catholics throw out who art in heaven; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven; but deliver us from the evil one. In the text of the Lord’s Prayer as given in the Gospel of Matthew 6:9–13, Catholics throw out For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. Thus, the Lord’s Prayer in Catholic editions of the New Testament, in Luke 11:2–4 and Matthew 6:9–13, are in strong contradiction.

Orthodox Text — Gospel of Matthew chapter 1 verse 25

And knew her not until she had given birth to her firstborn Son, and he called His name Jesus.

Catholics, who introduced the false dogma of the “immaculate conception” of the Mother of God, who according to Orthodox teaching has no need of false glory, throw out from the text of Matthew 1:25 the word firstborn, thus casting doubt on the virgin conception of our Savior and Lord Himself.

Gospel of Matthew 16:17 and Gospel of John 21:15,16

According to the Orthodox text, the father of the apostle Peter was called Jonah. But according to the Catholic text, the apostle Peter had two fathers at the same time: Jonah (Matt. 16:17) and John (John 21:15,16), and the latter statement is placed in the mouth of the Savior. Someone is mistaken: either the Lord Jesus Christ, or the Catholic text.

In the verses below, the underlined words are thrown out by Catholics and pro-Catholic Protestants from the New Testament text.

Acts 2:30 — (the verse speaks of David) Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins He would raise up Christ in the flesh to sit on his throne …

Acts 2:47 — … And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Catholic schismatics replace the words to the church with to them.

Acts 19:10 — And this continued by the space of two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
Catholics replace the words the word of the Lord Jesus with the word of the Lord.

2 Peter 1:21 — For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

1 John 3:19 — And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
Catholics replace the word we know with we shall know, thereby completely changing the meaning of the verse.

1 John 4:19 — Let us love him, because he first loved us.
Catholics replace Let us love with We love, and the word Him, i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ, they entirely drop.

1 John 5:13 — These things have I written unto you who believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye, believing in the Son of God, have eternal life.

2 John 9 — Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

Jude 1 — Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ.
Catholics throw out the words sanctified and replace them with beloved, thus distorting the meaning of the verse.

Jude 25 — To the only wise God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

Romans 8:1 — There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Romans 11:6 — And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Romans 13:9 — For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Romans 16:24 — The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Catholics, completely throwing out the last verse of the Epistle to the Romans, insert at the end of the Epistle verses 24–26 from the 14th chapter of Romans.

Matthew 20:22 — Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. (20:23) And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with…

Mark 2:17 — I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mark 6:11 — And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Mark 7:8 — For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

Mark 9:29 — And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

Gospel of Mark 9:45 — And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off: it is better for you to enter life lame, than having two feet to be cast into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.

Gospel of Mark 10:21 — …go, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me, taking up the cross.

Gospel of Mark 12:30 — And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment.

Gospel of Mark 12:33 — And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Gospel of Luke 2:5 — To be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife…

Gospel of Luke 2:40 — And the Child /i.e., Christ/ grew and became strong in spirit…

Gospel of Luke 4:4 — Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

Gospel of Luke 4:8 — Jesus answered him, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’”

Gospel of John 8:59 — Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Gospel of John 9:4 — I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
Catholics replace the words I must with we must in this verse.

Gospel of John 16:16 — A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.

Gospel of John 17:12 — While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Catholics replace those whom with that which.

1 Corinthians 6:20 — For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Philippians 3:16 — Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

Colossians 2:18 — The entire meaning of the verse is distorted.

Colossians 3:6 — Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.

2 Thessalonians 2:2 — … as though the day of Christ had come.
Catholics replace the day of Christ with the day of the Lord.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 — … so that he /i.e., Antichrist/ sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

1 Timothy 1:17 — Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:5 — useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.

Titus 1:4 — To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

Philemon 1:12 — The entire meaning of the verse is distorted.

Hebrews 1:3 — Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Hebrews 2:7 — You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands.
Catholics replace the words and set him over the works of Your hands, which speak of man created by God, with You have put all things in subjection under his feet.

Hebrews 7:21 — For they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’”

Revelation 5:14 — And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

Revelation 6:1,3,5,7 — the word see is omitted four times.

Revelation 7:5-8 — the word sealed is omitted twelve times.

Revelation 11:17 — … We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

Revelation 14:5 — And in their mouth was found no deceit; they are without fault before the throne of God.

Revelation 22:14 — Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city.
Catholics replace the words who do His commandments with who wash their robes.

In addition, Catholic translations also make the following omissions and substitutions.

holy angels to angels — Matthew 25:31

the angel of the Lord to an angel — Acts 7:30

the words God and God’s are omitted — Luke 21:4, Jude 4 (in the second instance), Galatians 1:15, Hebrews 10:9, Revelation 20:9

Romans 10:17 — So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God — Catholics replace with the word of Christ.

kingdom of God replaced with kingdom — Matthew 6:33, Acts 20:25

kingdom of God replaced with His kingdom — Luke 12:31

gospel of the kingdom of God replaced with gospel of God — Mark 1:14

the gospel of Christ replaced with the gospel — Romans 1:16

the blessing of the gospel of Christ replaced with the blessing of Christ — Romans 15:29

How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things! replaced with How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things! — Romans 10:15

Holy Spirit replaced with Spirit — John 7:39, Acts 6:3, 1 Corinthians 2:13

through the Spirit omitted — 1 Peter 1:22

the fruit of the Spirit replaced with the fruit of the light — Ephesians 5:9

Father omitted when referring to God the Father — John 6:39, 8:16

Lord removed from the text — Mark 9:24, Acts 7:37, 2 John 3, 1 Corinthians 15:47, 2 Corinthians 4:10, Galatians 6:17, 2 Timothy 4:1, Titus 1:4, Hebrews 10:30 (……says the Lord……), Revelation 16:5

the day of the Lord Jesus Christ replaced with the day of the Lord — 1 Corinthians 5:5

Son of God removed from the text — John 6:69, 9:35, 1 John 5:13; and replaced with: Holy One of God — John 6:69, Son of Man — John 9:35, …believing in the Son of God… (in the second instance) omitted — 1 John 5:13

Christ replaced with Lord — 1 Corinthians 10:9

Christ omitted from the text — Matthew 23:8, Luke 4:41, Acts 15:11, 16:31, 19:4, 1 John 1:7, Romans 16:20, 1 Corinthians 5:4 (in the second instance), 9:1,18, 16:23, 2 Corinthians 10:7 (in the third instance), 11:31, Galatians 3:17, Philippians 4:13, 1 Thessalonians 3:11,13, 2 Thessalonians 1:8,12 (in the first instance), 1 Timothy 2:7, Hebrews 3:1, Revelation 1:9 (twice), 12:17, 22:21

Jesus Christ completely omitted — 1 Corinthians 16:22, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 3:9, 2 Timothy 4:22

Lord Jesus Christ completely omitted — Ephesians 3:14, Colossians 1:3,

Jesus omitted or replaced — Matthew 8:29, 22:37, 24:2, Mark 1:41, 5:13, 5:19, 6:34, 11:14,15, 12:41, 14:22, Luke 7:22, 8:38, 9:60, 10:21, 13:2, John 6:14, 8:20,21, 11:45, 13:3, 19:38 (in the third instance), 19:39, Acts 3:26, 1 Peter 5:10,14, Romans 15:8, 16:18, 2 Corinthians 5:18, Colossians 1:28, Philemon 1:6

The Catholic text of the New Testament distorts the meaning of many verses that speak of Christ’s Redemptive Sacrifice or the mystery of the Eucharist.

In the verses below, the words that Catholics omit are underlined.

1 Peter 1:41 — Therefore, as Christ suffered for us in the flesh…

1 Corinthians 5:7 — Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

Colossians 1:14 — In Whom /i.e., in Christ/ you have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Hebrews 1:3 — Who /i.e., Christ/, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

1 Corinthians 11:24 — And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

The Gospel according to Mark 14:22 — And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
14:23 — Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
14:24 — And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.”

1 Corinthians 11:29 — For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

The Gospel according to Luke 9:56 — For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.

The Gospel according to Matthew 18:11 — For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Hebrews 7:21 — …“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

The Judgment of Christ.

Orthodox Christians, in accordance with the Symbol of Faith, firmly confess the Lord Jesus Christ as “He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead,” which is spoken of more than once in the New Testament (Acts 10:24, 1 Peter 4:5, 2 Timothy 4:1). The words that are underlined in the verses below are omitted by Catholics from the New Testament text, thereby casting doubt on the coming Judgment of Christ.

Revelation 11:17 — …We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come.

2 Thessalonians 2:2 — the day of Christ Catholics replace with the day of God.

Romans 14:10,12 — 10. For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (12) So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Catholics replace in verse 10 the judgment seat of Christ with the judgment seat of God, so that it cannot be thought that Christ will come to judge the world.

Colossians 3:6 — 4. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (5) Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (6) Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.

The Gospel according to Matthew 23:14 — Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

The Gospel according to Mark 6:11 — Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

The Gospel according to Mark 9:45,46 — And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched — where “Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” The verse of the Gospel according to Mark 9:44, which completely coincides with verses 46 and 48 of the same chapter, is also entirely omitted.

The Gospel according to Luke 17:36 — Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.

Romans 11:6 — And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

Revelation 7:5-8 — the word sealed is omitted 12 times.

The verses below are completely removed from the New Testament text by Catholic and pro-Catholic translations.

The Gospel according to Matthew 17:21 — However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.

The Gospel according to Matthew 18:11 — For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

The Gospel according to Matthew 23:14 — Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

The Gospel according to Mark 7:16 — If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!

The Gospel according to Mark 11:26 — But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.

The Gospel according to Mark 15:28 — And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.”

The Gospel according to Mark 16:9–20 — Catholic and pro-Catholic translations either completely remove these verses, place them in brackets, or dispute them in the footnotes (see p. 5 ff.).

The Gospel according to Luke 17:36 — Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.

The Gospel according to John 5:4 — For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.

The Gospel According to John 7:53 — 8:11 —
7:53. And everyone went to his own house.
8:1. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2. And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
3. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the midst,
4. They said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery.
5. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”
6. This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
7. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
8. And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?”
11. She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
Catholic and pro-Catholic translations either completely omit these verses (John 7:53–8:11), or place them in brackets, or append notes contesting their authenticity.

Acts 8:37 — Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” He answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Acts 24:7 — the entire seventh verse and parts of the sixth and eighth verses are thrown out of the Catholic text of the Acts of the Apostles — (6) … and we wanted to judge him according to our law; (7) But the commander Lysias came and with great violence took him out of our hands, and sent him to you, (8) Commanding his accusers to come before you; …

Acts 28:29 — And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

Romans 16:24 — The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Thus, there are two texts: the Orthodox Canonical Greek text of the New Testament (Textus Receptus) and the text of Satan, published as the “text” of Nestle-Aland and the United Bible Societies (UBS). This “text” is matched by the Cassian New Testament published by the so-called “Russian Bible Society.” The heretic Cassian (“Orthodox bishop” S.S. Bezobrazov) reworked the Synodal Translation (pretending to translate from the “original”[34]) under the satanic text, and the publishers added the heading: “a new translation from the Greek original.” The first attempt to push the Cassian translation into the Russian Orthodox Church was made by Men the Heretic, who for decades collaborated with the Catholic missionary publishing house “Life with God” (see “Son of Man,” third edition, revised and enlarged. — Brussels, (n.d.), pp. 12, 13, 408). A branch of the United Bible Societies (UBS) is the so-called “Russian Bible Society,” which has a number of official and unofficial hirelings predominantly in Moscow (Pyatnitskaya St., 51/14) and St. Petersburg (Mayakovskogo St., 40, and the “Orthodox” publishing house “Satis”).

LIST OF PRINTED PUBLICATIONS SUPPORTING THE TRADITIONAL ORTHODOX TEXT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

1. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. The Tasks of a Domestic Study of the Christian Bible in Our Time // St. Petersburg University, 1994, No. 8.
2. Metropolitan Ioann. On Unauthorized Translations of Holy Scripture // Voice of Eternity. — St. Petersburg, 1994.
3. Glubokovsky N.N. A Greek Manuscript Evangelistary from the Collection of Prof. I.E. Troitsky. — St. Petersburg, 1897.
4. Ivanov A.I. Critical Editions of the Greek New Testament and the Text Accepted by the Orthodox Church, 1956 (unpublished master’s thesis, typescript kept at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy).
5. Ivanov A.I. A New Russian Translation of the Gospel of Matthew // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, 1954, No. 4, (this work exposes the essence of the “translation” by Cassian the Apostate).
6. Ivanov A.I. On the Question of Restoring the Original Greek Text of the New Testament // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, 1954, No. 3.
7. Ivanov A.I. Textual Memorials of the Sacred New Testament Writings // Theological Works, 1960, issue 1.

The anti-Orthodox essence of the views of people connected with the so-called Russian Bible Society is well demonstrated in the following publications:
Nets of “Renewed Orthodoxy.” — Russian Herald, M., 1995.
A “Rejoinder” // Newspaper “Radonezh”, No. 5 (22), 1996, p. 3.
“Appeal of Clergy of Moscow of the Russian Orthodox Church to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia” // Newspaper “Radonezh”, No. 1 (18), January 1996.

Address of the radio station “Radonezh”: 113326, Moscow, Pyatnitskaya St., 25.

_________________________________________
Please send feedback about this book to: 119034, Moscow, Chisty per., 5.
His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia.

1. One of the three main fabricators of the “scientific text” of the United Bible Societies (UBS), B. Metzger, is forced to admit that the Catholic Latin Vulgate was compiled on the basis of Egyptian manuscripts that had some circulation in Alexandria, since Jerome “consciously oriented the Latin text toward the Alexandrian type of text” (see: B.M. Metzger “The Early Versions of the New Testament: Their Origin, Transmission and Limitations” — Oxford: Clarendon, 1977, p. 359). Back to text

2. On the title page of the Greek-Latin New Testament edition published by the pontifical Biblical institute, only A. Merk’s name appears as editor, but starting with the 9th edition in 1964, the Greek text is edited by Cardinal Carlo Martini, who is simultaneously one of the five editors of the Greek “text” of the United Bible Societies (see p. 8* of the preface to “Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine”, editio undecima, Romae, Sumptibus Pontificii Instituti Biblici, 1992). Back to text

3. Even one of the “godfathers” of the United Bible Societies text, K. Aland, was forced to admit this (K. Aland “The Present Position of New Testament Textual Criticism” — SEI, 1959, pp. 719–20).To the text

4. The corruption of New Testament manuscripts began from the time they were written (see 2 Corinthians 2:17; 2 Peter 3:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:2), but Origen was the first to start mass reproduction of heretical manuscripts.To the text

5. Thus, for example, from the very beginning of the World Council of Churches, Catholics were not formally members of it, yet they participated in all its working commissions, actively intervening in decision-making if it affected their interests.To the text

6. C. Tischendorf (C. Tischendorf) became scandalously famous for numerous editions of the Greek text of the New Testament, each of which differed significantly from the previous one. In the seventh edition, he declared that his text was perfect and final, but, to his great embarrassment, later issued an eighth edition containing 3572 variant readings from the seventh.To the text

7. See Ezra Abbot, Unitarian Review, March, 1875; Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine. Rec. Tischendorf et Jager. Parisiis, F. Didot.To the text

8. References to Westcott and Hort (Hort) as authorities in Lopukhin’s Explanatory Bible and in the Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary (vol. I, St. Petersburg, 1912, pp. 482, 663) are either ignorance or betrayal of Orthodoxy.To the text

9. B.F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort. The New Testament in the Original Greek. 2 vols. Cambridge/London: Macmillan, 1881–82.To the text

10. Hort, Life and Letters of F.J.A. Hort, London: Macmillan and Co., 1896, vol. I, pp. 76–77.To the text

11. Hort, Life and Letters of F.J.A. Hort, London: Macmillan and Co., 1896, vol. II, p. 31.To the text

12. See J.J. Ray “God Wrote Only One Bible”, Oregon, 1983, pp. 33–70.To the text

13. See New American Bible, New York: The World Publishing Co., 1970, p. VII.To the text

14. D.W. Cloud “Unholy Hands on God’s Holy Book. Report on the United Bible Societies. Way of Life Literature, Oak Harbour, Washington, USA, 1993.To the text

15. Second Vatican Council. Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations. — “Life with God”, Brussels, 1992. (Chapter VI On Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church. 22. Concern for Accurate Translations. p. 16 (187)).To the text

16. A similar edition was published by: Tischendorf (1850–54), H. White and H.F.D. Sparks (1898–1954), and the United Bible Societies in 1969.To the text

17. K. Aland “The Significance of the Papyri for Progress in New Testament Research” in: “The Bible in Modern Scholarship”, ed. by J.P. Hyatt; Nashville: Abingdon, 1965, p. 346.To the text

18. Kurt Aland. Journal of Biblical Literature, June 1968.To the text

19. The Greek New Testament. Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger and Allen Wikgren. United Bible Societies, 1968.To the text

20. Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini is the Catholic Archbishop of Milan, and he began his career as a Jesuit priest who for a long time was a collaborator of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.To the text

21. See Time magazine, December 26, 1994.To the text

22. Confirmation that the “text” of the Pontifical Biblical Institute is extremely close to the “text” of the United Bible Societies can be found in the following works: K.W. Clark “The Effect of Recent Textual Criticism upon New Testament Studies” // The Background of the New Testament and its Eschatology (eds. W.D. Davies and D. Daube) — Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1956, pp. 31–33; K.W. Clark “Today’s Problem with the Critical Text of the New Testament” // Traditions in Biblical Scholarship (ed. J.C. Rylaarsdam) — Chicago: University of Chicago, 1968, pp. 158–160.To the text

23. See the 10th edition of Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine (Scripta Pontificii Instituti Biblici 65, Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1984) and the latest edition of 1992.To the text

24. J.E. Epp “Textus Receptus Continuus?” // Protocol of the Thirty-Second Colloquy, The Centre for Hermeneutical Studies in the Hellenistic and Modern Culture. Ed. Edward C. Hobbs. Berkeley, CA: Centre for Hermeneutical Studies, 1978, p. 18.To the text

25. See Preface, p. 40* in Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, 26th edition (12th printing, 1991).To the text

26. In the 4th edition of UBS and the 27th edition of Nestle-Aland, the composition of the quartet changed (now it is Kurt and Barbara Aland, B. Metzger, and the “Orthodox” Greek I. Karavidopoulos), but its essence remained the same.To the text

27. The New American Bible. — Catholic Book Publishing Co. New York. 1970.To the text

28. A number of translators who worked on the Revised Standard Version have published works that dispute the divine nature of Christ.To text

29. The Vatican applies a similar tactic with regard to the reading and printing in Russia of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. For missionary purposes, the Vatican permits it to be read without the Catholic addition “filioque”. This strongly reminds one of the missionary tactic Rome employed in Buddhist countries: a crucifix was hung on a statue of Buddha, and the Catholic missionary prayed to Buddha as to Christ…To text

30. The text and canon of the New Testament were adopted by the Council of Carthage. Later, the traditional canonical text of the New Testament (Textus Receptus) no longer needed conciliar confirmation, since no one disputed it (just as the veneration of the Holy Cross was not dogmatically substantiated, since no one contested it).To text

31. Papism has nothing against variations in the text of the New Testament, which is in full accord with the Catholic theory of “aggiornamento,” i.e., adaptation to the needs of the moment. For the pope in Catholicism is a constant and unchangeable factor, while the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word are something relative and changeable.To text

32. This same translation was prepared by the British and Foreign Bible Society (which is a member of the UBS) and is now actively distributed (at a greatly reduced price) by the so-called “Russian Bible Society” (1994 edition and subsequent ones).To text

33. Holy Scripture often calls the sons of Israel or people in general “sons of men.” It is characteristic that Men-Heretic took “Son of Man” as the title of his book, not “Son of God.” Men’s booklet offers, instead of the Lord Jesus Christ, a certain false likeness of Him, i.e., an image of the Antichrist.To text

34. Cassian’s sacrilegious “translation” was made not from the Greek text, but from the New Testament portion of contemporary official and unofficial Catholic translations: La Bible de Jérusalem 1956, Revised Standard Version 1946, New American Standard 1960, as is evident from an analysis of the “translation.”To text

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Copyright© 1996 Anton Ivanov

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