by Pat Franklin
Today I went shopping for two Bibles for some Polish friends* of ours who have professed faith in the Lord Jesus. Our town has most things, but could I find an acceptable Bible? No.
The bookshops and even the Christian bookshop had only what I would consider the 'frothy' versions, not true translations of the original Scripture texts.
Next I looked in the charity shops, of which our town has many. Only one had a Bible, and that was a gigantic coffee table type family Bible. I opened it to a picture supposedly of Jesus, dressed in long, flowing robes, and with long, flowing brown hair. I don't think so!
I looked at the title page and realized it was a Douay Catholic version. I would urge Catholics to turn to 1 Corinthians 11:14, which says in the Catholic Jerusalem Bible: '...Ask yourselves ... whether nature itself does not tell you that long hair on a man is nothing to be admired...'
It is even stronger in the King James Bible: 'Doth not even nature itself teach you that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?'
It is very clear from scripture that in normal circumstances God did not intend men to go about with long, beautiful hair. Yet all the Catholic pictures of Jesus that I ever saw depict Him as a handsome, but rather effeminate, man with long, wavy hair, usually brown, but sometimes even blond. Whoa! They will have some answering to do when they stand before the Judge of all the earth . I would not want to be in their shoes.
As for being handsome, Jesus deliberately created a body for Himself that was not particularly good looking. The Bible says in Isaiah 53:2, ' ... He has no form or comelines; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.' The Lord wanted to woo men to faith in Himself not with movie star good looks or a carefully groomed image, but with the true words which He spoke, the mighty miracles He performed, and the great love and mercy He offered to sinners like me (and you!).
Please, Catholics, wake up! Read for yourself. You could also have a look at our 'Table of Truth: Catholic Church versus the Bible'. It is on our web page just near the top left. Click on it to read it, and feel free to copy it, print it out and pass it round your friends and relatives, maybe even your priest if he is open to considering it.
Our friends did get their Bibles in the end, courtesy of our church.
