July 16, 2026

Summary: #

In this episode I share the personal story that started my investigation into the Spanish Bible issue.

When I first arrived on the mission field, I was handed the Reina-Valera 1960 and told it was the Bible every missionary used. As I learned Spanish and compared it with my King James Bible, I began noticing differences that raised serious questions.

Those questions led me on years of study into:

• Why the King James Bible is unique

• The importance of the underlying Greek and Hebrew texts

• The history of the Reina-Valera Bible

• The introduction of Critical Text readings into modern Spanish revisions

• Why I believe the 1960 revision deserves careful examination

I also explain the four “superiorities” of the King James Bible taught by Dr. D. A. Waite:

• Superior Texts

• Superior Translators

• Superior Translation Technique

• Superior Theology

This episode lays the foundation for the detailed evidence we’ll examine in future episodes, where we’ll compare actual verses and document the textual changes introduced into later Spanish Bibles.

Whether you agree or disagree, my goal is to encourage careful study of God’s preserved Word. Subscribe as we continue exploring the history, translation, and preservation of the Spanish Bible.

Full Transcript Below #

Hey, welcome back. And again, I’m glad you came back for yet another episode. Let me give you just a little bit more of a personal history here, because I believe this is very relevant. When I first went to the mission field, all the missionaries that I knew and worked with used the 1960 Spanish Reign of the Bible. And so I was given a 1960 Spanish Bible. And I was told, yes, this is the right Bible. This is the Bible to use. And this is the Bible that you need to use. And so I started reading it. Of course, I’m green. I’m new. I don’t know the language. These guys have been here for years. These guys are independent fundamental Baptists, good people. And so why wouldn’t I trust them? Well, as I started reading and as I started studying, I, of course, had one of those bilingual Bibles. I still have it. Matter of fact, it’s at my office at home. But it was a bilingual English on one side and 1960 on the other side. And as I was learning the language and as I was reading and watching in ministry, and I started realizing this doesn’t say the same thing. And the Spanish didn’t line up with the English. And as I read that, I got concerned. And so I talked to some of the missionaries. And I believe some of those missionaries are very, very good hearted. And I believe good people. I don’t want to mar their name. I wouldn’t even bring them up. But but I realized that there was some defending some. I don’t want to broach this topic. It was a closed door. Let’s put it that way. It was not something that was going to be discussed. And I was new. And therefore, and we’re not just talking to one, we’re talking to several people that I tried talking to. It was a closed door. There was no there was no interest. And there was no I had no leverage with which to push back. I was new. I didn’t speak the language. Well, I’ll be the first to tell you that I totally confess. I was not a I was new in the language. I was not fluent in Spanish. But I noticed things. And as I started studying, I thought I need to go back. And I need to reestablish what do I believe? Because how do I know that my King James Bible is not wrong? That’s just where I’m at. I had I had established that. And I grew up in King James Bible Baptist churches. I went to a college that was with that was King James Bible Baptist, or King James Bible only. And and and it was Baptist, of course. And so I found myself saying, well, okay, I was always taught the truth. I’m going to preach this. But what do I believe? And so I had to go back, and I had to reestablish What do I believe about the King James Bible? Well, I was introduced to Dr. Da, wait, he has since passed away. And this is my favorite book, I recommend this. And I give this to people I have given it to people as a great help to them. Because it here’s why. It’s simple. It’s easy reading. And it comes from somebody who has gotten Cooking Now. very strong on the King James Bible. And he has four, uh, superiorities of the King James Bible. He says it has superior texts. Let me just give you a, a real quick, um, overview of the English Bible translation to, so you know where I’m coming from. Uh, I’m not a Rukmini. I don’t believe in double inspiration. Um, and so let me just give you, lay this out for you really quick. Superior texts, the King James translators had the availability of texts. Matter of fact, I believe that they had the 1602 Spanish reign of Leda Bible to consult. Uh, they had a bunch of texts. Remember they’re under the protection of the King. They had an availability of manuscripts, both in Greek, Hebrew, other foreign languages with which to consult, with which to see how things were done. And, and they had, it was a unique time period, uh, which to my knowledge has never been replicated. It was, it was unbelievable. So they had superior texts because they had great availability of texts. They had superior translators, the team of men. If you ever read about them, man, it’s phenomenal. Um, God really put together a team of men with knowledge of the language, like nobody’s business. And it bothers me when one guy says, well, a better translation than the King James Bible would be this. Oh, I’m sorry. You know, more than 50 some translators that put together the King James Bible. Okay. I just don’t buy that. I’m sorry. That doesn’t, that doesn’t bode well with me because I don’t, I don’t see your credentials as greater than, than some of those men who were on the translation committee. Phenomenal read. You ought to go back and read about some of those men. Uh, then they had superior technique. The majority of Bible translators today, they don’t do word for word translation. They do concept translation. We won’t get into all of that. Uh, but, but just understand that the King James translators had superior technique. And then lastly, he ends with theology. And, uh, and so that’s, that’s what Dr. D.A. Waite says is why, uh, the King James Bible is better. And I would agree with that. And so I established myself in the King James Bible and understood, okay, the King James Bible is unique. It is the word of God. I have no problem saying that the King James Bible is the inspired, uh, word of God inspired. I mean, those preserved words that were carried over faithfully translated still have that original inspiration that was given to them. And so I don’t have a problem saying that the King James Bible is the inspired, preserved word of God for the English speaking people of today. Okay. That’s where I’m at. On that. You may disagree. That’s fine. We can agree to disagree. Uh, I’m not going to debate you on that. Uh, I would defer you to the King James Bible research council who has done a tremendous amount of work, their friends and, uh, and I appreciate their information that they put out, but I just want you to know that the King James Bible is the standard, uh, for today’s texts. And I want you to know that upfront. Um, so what happened with that Spanish Bible? We discussed the translation, 1869, 1602, 1865, 1909, 1960, 1977, 1989, 1995, I think, uh, was the order of the, that, that translation. And, uh, in all of that, um, what, what was taking place? Well, the earlier ones were not so bad. Most of the additions, most of the changes that they made were positive changes, good changes. Uh, but as we enter the 1900s, some of those changes started to incorporate critical, context readings in them. What does that mean? Well, I, I have a great resource. I told you earlier on that the Spanish Bible was more of a cut and dry issue. It is, it really is. I don’t, I don’t understand why it’s such an issue and why it has been such an issue for so long. I just, I truly cannot wrap my head around that. Um, I have a, a book again, uh, Dr. J. A. Mormon, who is a professor at the University of London, England, and he lists 8,000 differences between the New Testament Greek words of the King James Bible and modern Bible versions. This book is not something that you’re going to sit down and just read. It is a resource. And if you look at it, it has all of these differences in the Greek listed and in the English. Okay. So this, what this is, is this is a huge aid because then I can go through and I can say, oh, look, here are the, here are the problems with the Greek texts. I can cross-reference that with Spanish Bibles. And I’ve done that. I, I’ve literally sat down, analyzed thousands of verses, uh, of the Bible and, and looked between the 1909, the 1960 and the changes that were made. And, and I, I have charts. I can pull them up. I can give you example after example. I can find them of verses that started adding critical text readings. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, to the Spanish text. 1909, there needed to be a revision. There were some things, um, that, that, that were, that were difficult. Uh, the Spanish language had changed quite a bit. Uh, and so, um, there were lots of reasons for that revision, but the, the incorporation of those critical texts was a bad thing. And the 1960, they went a step further. Why do all the guys who stopped reading the Bible, they stopped reading the Bible? They stopped reading the Bible. They stopped reading the Bible. And so they stopped reading the Bible. And so they stopped right here on the 1960 and say, we’re going to use this one. Why did they not stop on the 1909? Why did they not stop on the 1977? Why did they not stop on the 1989? The reason is because it was moving and they recognize the 1960 is not wholly based on the received text. We’re just talking new Testament. I’m not even going to get into the old Testament, but, but just in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, the New Testament realm, there were critical text readings introduced in 1960. That’s a problem. That’s what we’re going to discuss on this podcast. So I hope, pray, that’s a help to you and a blessing in helping you to understand the whole issue and what is the Spanish Bible and what is the issue.