Modern Bibles Delete
Embarrassing Baptism Verse
Acts 8:37
And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest.
And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Does this verse have any importance? Or shall we just rip it out of the Bible and throw it in the trash as worthless tripe?
Consider its context. The Ethiopian eunuch has just had Philip preach Jesus to him from Isaiah 53 (Acts 8:26-35). Seeing some water ahead, probably an oasis, the eunuch asks what conditions he needs to meet in order to baptized (Acts 8:36).
Our text declares what Philip explained as the condition for baptism, with which the eunuch gladly and completely complies. The eunuch then stopped the chariot; they both went down into the water; Philip baptized him by immersion in the water; and they both came up out of the water (Acts 8:38-39). The eunuch did not offer Philip a canteen of water for a sprinkling, and neither did Philip suggest such a ridiculous and heretical idea. He buried him in baptism (Rom 6:3-5)!
But what of our text? Is it important? Or should we get rid of it?
In the preceding verse (Acts 8:36), the eunuch asked what condition had to be met for baptism. How can we leap from such a good question right down into the water? Especially since the Bible declares that faith must always precede baptism (Matt 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 8:12; 18:8; I Peter 3:21).
Do you know of anyone so profane they would just tear this verse out of the Bible, in spite of its Scriptural content and obvious need in the context?
It has been torn from most every modern version of the Bible. Check it out. They simply ripped it out. Of course, they did not renumber the remaining verses, because they didn’t want you to find the deletion. But they just ripped it right out of the text.
Can you think of a motive? Easy! They love baptizing babies, and they cannot have the condition of faith, if they are going to do that.
Acts 8:37 is as much Scripture as any other verse. Read it, learn it, and love it. And demand a Bible that has it – the King James Version. The Bible of baptized believers for almost 400 years!
See Also
Modern Bibles Corrupt Best Verse on Baptism
The most important verse in the Bible about baptism is corrupted three ways in modern versions of the Bible!