I Didn't Know the NKJV was a "A Deadly Translation"

I preach from the New King James Version (NKJV). The reason for this is that most people within our church family use either the King James Version (KJV) or the New International Version (NIV). I have found the NKJV to be understandable by those using the other translations.

I am not an NKJV-only guy (I'm not sure if there are any), but I do like the translation. I believe it is good as far as English translations go. There are other good ones such as the KJV, the ESV, the NASB, and the HCSB, but I'm sticking with the NKJV because I think it best meets the needs of those within this congregation.

That said, I did not realize until today that the NKJV is "a deadly translation." I stumbled upon a website that actually claims this. As you might expect, this is a website run by someone from the KJV-only crowd.

This KJV-only website begins by saying, "(The NKJV) is a deadly version because it's editors have succeeded in deceiving the body of Christ on two main points: (1) That it's a King James Bible (which is a lie), and (2) that it's based on the Textus Receptus (which is only a partial truth). The following information should be helpful when dealing with Christians who have been swindled by the Laodicean lovers of filthy lucre."

The site makes the following claims, among others:

"There's nothing 'new' about the NKJV logo. It is a '666' symbol of the pagan trinity which was used in the ancient Egyptian mysteries."

"It is estimated that the NKJV makes over 100,000 translation changes, which comes to over eighty changes per page and about three changes per verse! A great number of these changes bring the NKJV in line with the readings of such Alexandrian perversions as the NIV and the RSV."

"Since the NKJV has 'changed the truth of God into a lie,' it has also changed Romans 1:25 to read 'exchanged the truth of God for the lie.' This reading matches the readings of the new perversions, so how say ye it's a King James Bible?"

When I read stuff like this, all I can do is sigh. I'm not convinced my NKJV bible is "deadly." I'll keep using it until I am convinced by some actual scholarship.

"Evangelical Protestant" Atheists?

The Pew Forum recently posted the above chart. The above information indicates that 5% of Americans do not believe in God or any universal spirit. Of this 5% of the overall population, the chart shows how they identify themselves.

It is interesting that only 39% identify themselves as atheistic or agnostic. Those folks at least seem to be honest about it.

It appears to me that the 35% who label themselves as "Nothing in Particular" just want the whole issue to go away.

What I really do not understand is those who refer to themselves as "Christian," but who do not believe in God. In particular, what is with the 2% who refer to themselves as "Evangelical Protestant"? If an Evangelical does not believe in God, then what does he believe in?

My only guess about the reason for "Evangelical Protestant" Atheists is that these folks are referring to their heritage as opposed to what they believe. Maybe they were raised in an Evangelical home, but have since rejected the existence of God. They possibly don't want to take the full step of embracing atheism or agnosticism (the only honest thing to do), and instead want to remain in the middle.

Bizarre.