Sarai...
You have made several posts about the various versions of the Bible, but you should know that most of them say essentially the same thing because they are all translations into English of the same ancient texts.
There is the Catholic bible - the Douay-Rheims translation of the Latin Vulgate, I believe, adding the Apocrapha, which are books that non-catholic christians do not believe meet the standards to be canonical.
Most of the rest of the "versions" of the Bible use essentially the same meanings but using different words. The King James Version is four hundred years old and uses archaic, formal, stilted English which makes it a little hard to read, and a number of the words used in it now carry much different meanings than they did then. It was also based on texts that are not as good or as old as the ones used by the modern translations. Also called the Authorised Version.
The New King James Version has corrected many of the flaws of the original, but retains the stately language.
The NIV is a modern translation that faithfully keeps the meaning of the ideas of the Bible, but uses modern English and is easier to read. It is not a literal word for word translation, but captures the essence of the ideas.
The New American Standard Version is a literal word for word translation, and thus my personal favorite for Bible study.
In a previous post, you noted that the Messianic Jews have existed continuously since the time of Jesus. Well?? It should be pretty obvious that Christians have done the same.
You also asked if there was any indication that Jesus intended to start a new religion (Christianity). How about:
"And I say to thee. thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)"
Jesus states that He "will build" His church - the verb is future tense. I would note that the subject is much more complex than a message board post can convey, and Jesus did not come to abolish OT Judaism, but to enhance it with a clearer understanding of what God wants from us.
Hope that helps.
mlsoft
AI
