TESTIMONY OF BOB HARRIS

You're about to read the account of a prejudiced man, whom

Christ redeemed.

On the cruel cross of Calvary many, many years ago, the Lord

Jesus Christ died for my wicked soul. He shed His precious blood

at the foot of that cross, thus paying the penalty for my sins

forever. He was buried for three full days, and on the third day

rose again, according to the Scriptures, conquering death, hell

and the grave, and is set down at the right hand of God, making

intercession for my sins even now.

In April of 1971, I came to believe all of this. My name is

Bob Harris. I was born August 8, 1952, in Toledo, Ohio, and grew

up there and then later in California. My adolescent years were

spent during the turbulent '60s, when kids my age were

experimenting with drugs, "free love" (translation: fornication),

and protests against the Vietnam War. I engaged in my share of

wickedness and sinful pleasures, and you know where it got me? To

a time when I attempted suicide in 1969. Thank God, I didn't

succeed; otherwise, I'd be in hell today.

After recovering from the suicide attempt, my life was still

empty and meaningless, and I just sort of trudged along,

graduating from high school and entering a junior college in

Northern California, not knowing why I was alive.

One evening, a couple of fellow college students--I didn't

know them--showed up at my door and invited me to Sunday School

at the local Baptist church they attended. For me, that was a

monumental experience. Rarely had anybody shown enough interest

in me to invite me to ANYTHING--and CERTAINLY not to church! I

accepted with some hesitation, not knowing what I was getting

into.

The following Sunday, the Sunday school teacher opened the

Scriptures and showed me what my soul hungered for:

I was a sinner: "As it is written, there is none righteous,

no, not one" (Romans 3:10).

That sin required punishment: "For the wages of sin is

death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ

our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

God loved me enough to send His Son to pay the penalty for

my sins in my stead by sacrificing Himself on the cross: "But God

commendeth his love for us in that, while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

And all that was required of me was to call on Him and

receive this free gift of eternal life and redemption of my sin

debt: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall

be saved" (Romans 10:13). In April 1971, I received the Lord

Jesus Christ as my Saviour.

One day, bless God--perhaps today--He's coming back, and I

for the first time will be able to see my blessed Saviour face to

face, the One who loved me--a worthless, hell-deserving sinner--

enough to trade places with me. Because He bore my sins on that

tree, I wear His righteousness forever, and I shall dwell in the

house of my Lord forever and forever.

During these past several years of being a child of God, I

have grown in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. There's a

blessed old Book that tells the story of God's love for mankind.

Thank God, we still have it! He promised to preserve it forever,

and He has done so!

It's crucial that you realize the importance of that last

statement. I didn't believe it until just recently. Though I've

grown as a Christian, I feel I haven't grown as much as I could

have, if only I believed that last statement earlier in my

Christian life. You see, I was taught to believe that God's Word

was inspired only in the so-called "original autographs"--the

manuscripts penned under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by

Moses, David, Samuel, Paul, Peter, Luke, Matthew, John, and the

prophets themselves. Then, once the manuscripts were copied and

translated into other languages, and the originals were lost or

destroyed, there was room for error. Only the "originals" were

without error. Thus, the King James Bible, according to my

teachers, had errors. They taught that, although its language was

beautiful and it still was their favorite version, it translated

some passages from the Greek New Testament wrongly. They could

have been translated into English better.

In fact, they taught that a series of Greek New Testament

manuscripts which were discovered in the 19th Century--nearly 300

years after the King James Bible was translated--were older, and

thus more reliable, than the Textus Receptus and the other texts

from which the King James translators worked. To the best of my

knowledge, ALL of the modern versions of the Bible--the New

American Standard, the Revised Standard, the New English, the New

International Version, the New King James--rely heavily on these

so-called "older" manuscripts. By the way, these "older"

manuscripts all stem from Alexandria, Egypt, a pagan center of

worldly intelligence and mystery religions, whereas the Textus

Receptus can be traced back to the church of Antioch, Syria--the

same church where the disciples were first called Christians and

from where Paul and Barnabas were sent out as missionaries.

Now there are two problems with the modern versions. First,

these older manuscripts differ markedly with the Textus Receptus.

Important phrases--sometimes whole verses and whole passages--are

taken out, and sometimes things are put in. The deity of Christ,

His blood atonement, His virgin birth, His bodily resurrection--

all of these doctrines are watered down in the Alexandrian

manuscripts. Second, all of the modern versions claim to make the

Bible more readable and understandable. Who says we're supposed

to take it upon ourselves to make it more understandable? I

thought Jesus said that was the job of the Holy Spirit--to guide

us into all truth! He's the one who's supposed to help us

understand the word of God. Why are we robbing Him of His work?

Until about five years ago, I bought the Alexandrian cult

theory--that the Alexandrian manuscripts are older and thus more

reliable. The cult teaches that we no longer have the word of

God--the best we have are translations, and we must rely on

something that comes as close as it can to the original

autographs. But every translation will not be an exact copy of

the original autographs--therefore we don't have the pure word of

God now! So which Bible is the best one? Which Bible IS the word

of God? How do I know I now have ALL of God's word? Is there

something missing, that God wanted me to have, but it became

lost?

And, finally, when God said, "All Scripture is given by

inspiration of God," was He in fact talking only about the

original autographs? Or was He referring to a particular

translation?

All of these questions began to trouble me about a year ago.

I wanted to know the truth. Is the King James Bible the word of

God? Or should I reject it in favor of the New International

Version? Or the New American Standard Bible?

It all came to a head during a Bible Conference held at the

Bayview Baptist Church, San Pedro, California. My pastor, Terry

Prather of Fundamental Baptist Church, Ventura, California, had

invited me to attend this conference. Chip Williams, the pastor

of Bayview, had invited several Bible-believing, fundamental

preachers from across the country, including Dr. Herbert Noe of

Livonia, Michigan, Rex Harrison of Akron, Ohio, and Dr. Roland

Rasmussen of Canoga Park, California, to teach about the

superiority of the King James Bible, AV 1611, over all other so-

called versions.

But the keynote speaker during these two days of meetings

was Dr. Peter Ruckman, pastor of the Bible Baptist Church of

Pensacola, Florida, and president of the Pensacola Bible

Institute. I marveled as I heard him teach about the King James

Bible and manuscript evidence. I listened as he told that the

main problem of Christians in this Laodicean age is a lack of

final authority. We make ourselves and our intelligence the final

authority when we tamper with the word of God. We say a passage

might better be translated such-and-such; well, who gives us the

right to make that judgment? We give ourselves the right! We

boast of our knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, and try to impress

people with our ability to go into the "original languages" of

the Bible and come up with a better way to translate a passage

than the King James translators.

As I've said, I went away from that conference deeply

troubled. Is Ruckman right? Are these pastors and teachers right?

Have we tampered with the pure word of God? Am I myself being

used in Satan's efforts to destroy the word of God, by going

along with the Alexandrian cult teachings?

Well, I've seen both sides. I've investigated this matter

deeply. On one occasion, I even called up Walter Martin's Bible

Answer Man radio program, and asked him on the air if Dr. Ruckman

is right about the King James Bible. Dr. Martin said no, he's not

right, the Alexandrian manuscripts are more reliable, and gave me

the name of a book to read--"The King James Version Debate" by

D.A. Carson. I read the book; it didn't even seem to skim the

surface of the issue. I read some of Dr. Ruckman's writings. I

read another book.

Then I decided to go to the Final Authority! One night, as I

thought about this matter, I prayed to God and asked Him, "Lord,

who's right?" I prayed about it all night long--agonizing over

that one question alone.

Now, mind you, I'm definitely NOT charismatic, and I heard

no audible voice. But, by daybreak, I was impressed with an

answer!

Here it is: The King James Bible, AV1611, IS the word of

God! Every page has the breath of God! It has NO errors in it,

and every word of it is God's Holy Book, from cover to cover,

including the covers.

Now, I spent all of this time telling you this, so you'll

understand my prejudice. Since that wonderful morning with God

five years ago, I have a new outlook on my Bible. I have a new

love for God's Word that I didn't have before. I have a new

desire to read it, to study it, and to obey it! And nobody is

ever going to take my Bible away from me again. "Thy word have I

hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

It is my prayer that, first of all, you'll receive the Lord

Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, who redeemed your sin debt

and died on the cross for your sins, was buried, rose again the

third day--for YOU. And, second of all, that God will

continually bless you as you study His Holy Word, and realize

that His Word is pure!


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