1865 Valera Bible Fiasco

by Pastor Emanuel Rodriguez

Another group that criticizes us for having multiple editions of the RVG is the few remaining supporters of the 1865 Valera.  Now this group is so diminished and irrelevant that I try my best to avoid mentioning them.  I don't want to be a bully and they have done so much to hurt their own cause that I don’t believe there is really much of a need to take them to task anymore.  But something worth pointing out in relation to the subject at hand is how this group at one time initiated their own revision of the 1865 edition of the Reina Valera Bible.  It was done under the leadership of the late Jeff McArdle.  They published their first and only edition in 2005.  They made only 50 changes, albeit good changes. 

For example, in 2nd Samuel 21:19 they added the words “the brother of” to match the KJV.  Without the words “the brother of” the original 1865 edition read like the modern corrupt Bibles in English like the RSV, ASV, NIV, etc. which force it to say that Elhanan slew Goliath.  Of course, 1st Chronicles 20:5 confirms this to be an error by naming the actual giant that Elhanan killed which was Lahmi, not Goliath.  Everyone in every children’s Sunday school class of the earliest ages on up know that it was David that killed Goliath, not Elhanan.  So this was a good change!

After publishing this first revision they lost their backbone, however, and began to second-guess the 50 changes.  So they then voted to undo those good changes.  No further plans were set in motion to correct the very real problems that exist in the 1865 text.  This revision project was almost finished before it even got started. 

They tried to justify their failure to finish what they started by inventing a new doctrine that concludes that since we are living in the so-called Laodicean age, everyone without exception is apostate by default, even Bible-believing Christians.  Therefore, it is impossible for anyone in the last days to produce a good Bible according to the theory.  Yet, anyone with common sense saw through this private interpretation of the word of God and the 1865 crowd lost all credibility.  The movement pretty much died from there. (You can read of their downfall here.)

Today the few remaining supporters plan to print the original 1865 edition without the 50 changes.  This is a terrible idea because pretty much no one will want to use a Bible that says Elhanan killed Goliath instead of David (among other errors that we document here.)  Hardly anyone wanted it with the changes.  Less will desire it without those few improvements.  The sad thing is that they fail to see the damage they did to their own cause by dropping the ball while blaming their demise on us. 

What this group and others like them are not understanding is that the multiple editions of the RVG speak to our transparency and honesty.  That’s why God continues to bless the RVG despite all the opposition.  God blesses honesty.  Honest people correct mistakes.  They don’t twist the Scriptures to invent a whole new doctrine to create an alibi for their negligence to correct errors.