February 16, 1996 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - In 1994 I was asked by many to critique a book titled New Age Bible Versions by Gail Riplinger. I was keen to do so because she had recommended our ministry and we were getting letters from her readers. I wanted to see what type of book she had written. As I read the book and attempted to examine the documents she cited, I found that she frequently misused and twisted quotations by others. I wrote a review of the book and sent it first to Mrs. Riplinger. My cover letter was dated June 12, 1994. It consisted of one paragraph, as follows:

"Christian greetings in the lovely name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. D.A. Waite in New Jersey suggested that I write to you about some problems I have found in your book New Age Bible Versions. Sometime back he asked me what I thought of the book and I told him that I had found some problems, but that I had only read a few pages. I started the book last year, but put it aside in December in order to give my full attention to completing our Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity. Now that this project is complete, I have again picked up your book. I am finding lots of problems and errors, though, and I would like to know what you think of the enclosed. The Lord's blessing and grace be with you" (Letter from D.W. Cloud to Gail Riplinger, June 12,1994).

She has never replied to my correspondence, and I did not make another attempt to contact her. I printed the review in O Timothy, Volume 11, Issue 8, 1994, which was mailed out at the end of August of that year. I summarized my conclusion in regard to her book as follows:

"Let me say very plainly at the outset of this article, I do not believe New Age Bible Versions is a dangerous book; I believe it is an undependable book. I agree with Mrs. Riplinger that the multiplicity of modern versions has caused great spiritual damage. At the same time, I have decided I must warn our readers of the many errors we have found in New Age Bible Versions. ... Some might be thinking, 'Why are you defending the modern versions? Aren't they corrupt?' Yes, the modern versions are corrupt, and I am not defending them. I am against error, though, regardless of where it appears. We do not have the right to make false statements even about the devil himself. When our speaking and writing is filled with error of fact and is characterized by shoddy research and indefensible extremism, we discredit our entire position. I am not saying there is no good in New Age Bible Versions. The book contains many helpful insights and it documents the frightful corruption of the modern versions, but it also is filled with illogical and improper statements which have the effect of discrediting everything the author says that is true. There is no reason, friends, to promote a book like this when there are so many dependable volumes which defend the preserved Word of God and expose the error of the modern versions. We would recommend the following: Defending the King James Bible by D.A. Waite and Forever Settled by Jack Moorman. For a smaller overview we recommend Jack Moorman's Modern Bibles: The Dark Secret. [These are available from Bible for Today, 900 Park Ave., Collingswood, NJ 08108.]" (D.W. Cloud, New Age Bible Versions: A Critique, O Timothy, Volume 11, Issue 8, 1994).

Instead of addressing me personally and communicating with me about my concerns, Mrs. Riplinger included me in a subsequent book entitled Blind Guides. It was published in 1995. The section dealing with me includes a mockup of the O Timothy magazine banner, but instead of saying "O Timothy," it says "O Madmen." And instead of the excerpt from 1 Timothy 6:20, "keep that which is committed to thy trust," she has an excerpt from Psalm 52:4, "O thou deceitful tongue." The entire article is characterized by this type of vicious and malicious slander.

Mrs. Riplinger's "critique" begins with these edifying words: "Another David whose spiritual adulteries 'help the ungodly' (II Chron. 19:2 and II Sam. 12:14) is David Cloud. Like a thundercloud, his critique of the book is more noise than substance--simply another nebulous attempt to obscure the light. His torrential downpour of rhetoric, when examined, is as vaporous as a fog cloud. ... Cloud has hammered a framed picture of himself--his final authority--above the altar of his opinion, his newsletter."

It would be a waste of time to print more of it. I will let you in on a little secret, though. She is just as careless and undependable in Blind Guides as she was in New Age Bible Versions. Her supposed critique of my review misses the point consistently. As I read her review, I found myself asking, "Can she be serious here? Is she joking?" But no, she is not joking. The lady is very serious. She ignores what I said and erects a straw man which she handily and gleefully shreds apart. Her review is so incredibly wrong-minded I have no intention of responding to it. It would be like responding to a child who has told me that there is a man in the moon. How do you respond to nonsense? Any serious reply I would attempt to give would only bring forth more vitriolic nonsense. How can I take someone seriously who lies about me in such an incredible way--apparently with a straight face!

In reviewing Mrs. Riplinger's lengthy writings, we wonder what the Lord thinks of this woman who has taken it upon herself to teach, correct, mock, and rebuke men? Does the Bible not forbid this? I think it does. "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence" (1 Timothy 2:12).

One man who wrote to me about Mrs. Riplinger said, "It would be one thing if you were in the new version crowd, attacking her work because it exposed doctrinal heresy on your part. Her charges would then be founded on solid ground. But in everything I've read in recent months in O Timothy, as well as the materials I have purchased from Bible Baptist Church Publications, nothing has indicated to me that you have anything but total dedication to the King James Bible, and its underlying texts."

This man is correct. I do have total dedication to the Authorized Version. I have not corrected or questioned one word of it. I have warned of those who do. The very fact that Mrs. Riplinger and some of her supporters have questioned my faith in the KJV and have mocked me as if I were some sort of unbeliever is evidence that they are incapable of making sound judgments. Mrs. Gail Riplinger has slandered the Editor of O Timothy magazine. The cover to her book Blind Guides claims, "G.A. Riplinger Exposes Critics of KJV." This Editor has never criticized the King James Bible, and for this woman to imply that I have is a wicked lie for which she could be sued for defamation.

[David Cloud's critique of New Age Bible Versions can be viewed at the Way of Life Literature Web Site. See O Timothy, Volume 11, Issue 8, 1994 at http://www.wayoflife.org/articles/newage.htm. The edition of the critique also includes all of the follow-up articles, such as "Many Angry about Review of New Age Bible Versions" (O Timothy, Volume 11, Issue 11, 1994), and "New Age Bible Version Critics Push Modern Versions" (O Timothy, Volume 12, Issue 6, 1995), and "New Age Bible Versions Is Undependable" (O Timothy, Volume 12, Issue 6, 1995), and "Mrs. Riplinger's Slanderous Mouth."]