The late Evangelical author Gleason Archer once wrote a book titled The New Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties. This was his own "scholarly" attempt at defending the Bible against allegations of error. While some of his explanations seem reasonable, Archer gave a number of explanations that were ridiculous and far-fetched. His book relied primarily on two different translations of the Bible: the New American Standard Bible and The New International Version. In his later years, he gave his endorsement to another translation of the Bible called The International Standard Version, which even he believed succeeded where other translations didn't. On the website for the ISV, Archer is quoted as saying:
"A truly excellent version, combining both dignity and fine taste. Personally I think it has succeeded in achieving what the most recent publications have attempted. Hearty congratulations. This should be adopted for Sunday School purposes, and easily equals the NIV and NAS, so far as I have sampled it."
This can be put to the test, actually. To put it to the test, why not select several passages from the New Testament gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and see how "truly excellent" this version is. An excellent problem in the gospels is with regards to the accounts of Peter's denial. That Peter would deny that he knew Jesus three times is predicted. For instance, in the gospel of Matthew 26: 31-35, we read:
31 Then Jesus told them, “All of you will turn against me this very night, because it is written,
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 However, after I have been raised, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”
33 But Peter told him, “Even if everyone else turns against you, I certainly won’t!”
34 Jesus told him, “I tell you with certainty, before a rooster crows this very night, you will deny me three times.”
35 Peter told him, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the disciples said the same thing.
So, here is a prediction, made by Jesus, that Peter will deny him three times; I have highlighted it in bold for emphasis. So, how did Jesus' prediction pan out? It depends on which gospel one reads. Since Archer considered the ISV to be a "truly excellent version", why not read each of the gospel accounts? In each of the four gospels, I will highlight, in bold, parts of the passages worth paying special attention to for emphasis. We can start with Matthew 26: 69-75:
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard when a servant girl came up to him and said, “You, too, were with Jesus the Galilean.”
70 But he denied it in front of them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he exclaimed.
71 As he went out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, “This man was with Jesus from Nazareth.”
72 Again he denied it and swore with an oath, “I don’t know the man!”
73 After a little while, the people who were standing there came up and told Peter, “Obviously you’re also one of them, because your accent gives you away.”
74 Then he began to curse violently. “I don’t know the man!” he swore solemnly. Just then a rooster crowed. 75 Peter remembered the words of Jesus when he said, “Before a rooster crows, you’ll deny me three times.” Then he went outside and cried bitterly.
Notice a couple of facts from this passage: first, Peter is sitting outside in the courtyard and a servant girl came up to him; he denied it to her in front of everyone. Second, he left the courtyard and went into the gateway where another woman saw him and said something very similar. Peter denied it and a short while later, the people standing there started accusing him of being a disciple of Jesus, to which he cursed as he denied it.
So, how about Mark? In Mark 14: 66-72, we read:
66 While Peter was down in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s servant girls came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she glared at him and said, “You, too, were with Jesus from Nazareth.”
68 But he denied it, saying, “I don’t know—or even understand—what you’re talking about!” Then he went out into the entryway. Just then a rooster crowed.
69 The servant girl saw him and again told those who were standing around, “This man is one of them!” 70 Again he denied it.
After a little while, the people who were standing there began to say to Peter again, “Obviously you’re one of them, because you are a Galilean!”
71 Then he began to invoke a divine curse and to swear with an oath, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” 72 Just then a rooster crowed a second time.
Peter remembered that Jesus told him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” Then he broke down and cried.
Notice a few facts from this passage. As in Matthew 26, Peter is in the courtyard and a servant girl comes by and goes up to Peter. She accuses Peter of being with Jesus like she does in Matthew's gospel. Peter denies it like he does in Matthew. Second, like in Matthew's gospel, Peter leaves the courtyard and goes out into the entryway. However, this time, the same servant girl sees him and tells everyone around that Peter is one of them-a disciple of Jesus. Peter denies it. Third, like in Matthew's gospel, Peter denies being a disciple of Jesus to the group.
However, when we get to Luke's gospel, we see more differences. In Luke 22: 54-62, we read:
54 Then they arrested him, led him away, and brought him to the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. 55 When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had taken their seats, Peter, too, sat down among them. 56 A servant girl saw him sitting by the fire, stared at him, and said, “This man was with him, too.”
57 But he denied it, “I don’t know him, woman!” he responded.
58 A little later, a man looked at him and said, “You are one of them, too.”
But Peter said, “Mister, I am not!”
59 About an hour later, another man emphatically asserted, “This man was certainly with him, because he is a Galilean!”
60 But Peter said, “Mister, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just then, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.
61 Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered the word from the Lord, and how he had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 So he went outside and cried bitterly.
Notice a few facts from this passage. First, as in Matthew and Mark, Peter is in the middle of the courtyard when a servant girl sees him sitting there and goes up to him and identifies him, implicitly, as a disciple of Jesus. As in Matthew and Mark, Peter denies it. Second, for Peter's second denial, instead of a servant girl accusing him of being a disciple of Jesus, a man accuses him and he denies it; he even identifies the person's gender as he denies it. Third, for the final denial, another man accuses Peter of being a disciple of Jesus and Peter denies it.
We can see some discrepancies. In Matthew and Mark, the only discrepancy was that Matthew had two different servant girls accuse Peter of being a disciple of Jesus while Mark has the same servant girl accuse him. However, in Luke's account, a man accuses Peter of being a disciple of Jesus instead of a servant girl for the second denial. Another discrepancy is that while in Matthew and Mark, Peter denies being a disciple of Jesus to a small crowd of people standing near him, in Luke's gospel, Peter makes the denial to a single man, not a small crowd.
How about John's gospel? In John 18: 15-27, we read:
15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Since the other disciple was known to the high priest, he accompanied Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. 16 Peter, however, stood outside the gate. So this other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter inside. 17 The young woman at the gate asked Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples, too, are you?”
“I am not,” he replied.
18 Meanwhile, the servants and officers were standing around a charcoal fire they had built and were warming themselves because it was cold. Peter was also standing with them, keeping himself warm.
Notice here what is going on. We encounter another discrepancy. In the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), the servant girl came up to Peter while he was sitting around a fire in the middle of the courtyard. In this passage, the servant girl is not in the courtyard and neither is Peter. The young lady is at the gate and she asks Peter while he is passing through the gate. This is the first discrepancy. The narrative continues as the high priest is questioning Jesus.
19 Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his own teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in the synagogue or in the Temple, where all Jews meet together, and I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you question me? Question those who heard what I said. These are the people who know what I said.”
22 When he said this, one of the officers standing nearby slapped Jesus on the face and demanded, “Is that any way to answer the high priest?”
23 Jesus answered him, “If I have said anything wrong, tell me what it was. But if I have told the truth, why do you hit me?” 24 Then Annas sent him, with his hands tied, to Caiaphas the high priest.
Now the narrative resumes with Peter in the courtyard:
25 Meanwhile, Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. Some people asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples, too, are you?”
He denied it by saying, “I am not!”
26 Then one of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “I saw you in the garden with Jesus, didn’t I?” 27 Peter again denied it, and immediately a rooster crowed.
Notice what is seen here. Simon Peter is standing and warming himself and some people ask him if he is a disciple of Jesus. Peter denies it and then, later, one of the high priest's servants asks Peter if he saw him in the garden with Jesus and Peter denies it. Here we see another discrepancy. In the synoptics, Peter is in the courtyard for the first denial and leaves it while in John, Peter is walking through the entryway where the first denial occurs and is in the courtyard for the second denial and possibly the third. In Matthew and Mark, a servant girl makes the accusation for the second denial, while Luke has a single man do it and John has a crowd around the fire in the courtyard ask Peter. In Matthew and Mark, a crowd of nearby people ask Peter if he is a disciple, while in Luke, it is a man, and in John, it is just one person, not a small crowd.
As we can see, the ISV contains quite a few discrepancies. Archer wrote a book trying to "explain" these discrepancies yet he believed that the ISV was a "truly excellent version". It may be a truly excellent version but, it is also a truly flawed version as well.
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