Living a hedonistic lifestyle in big liberal city for many years has caused me to stray from the path of God. The events that have unfolded in these last few months brought me here. I want to get my life in order and get back on track to what really matters.
I'm planning to get a bible and start going to church so I'm looking for some newbie advice on where to start? Which version can be trusted? Which type of Church hasn't been compromised? Any green flags or red flags to look out for?
King James + A Strong's Concordance
Unlike other versions, which attempt to "literally translate" the Bible, the King James is word for word. There are many times people can argue over the English word chosen as being a poor choice, but other versions replace entire sentences with the "meaning" that some translator gave the verse.
Sometimes those translators are atheists and muslims. Sometimes it's a group who spent 90% of their day arguing about injecting ideologies into the interpretation.
Each new literal translation is further and further from the original text. They started replacing "gendered" words decades ago. Would you rather read a CNN "quote" of a Trump Tweet, or read the Trump tweet yourself? Think the same thing with the Bible. "Literal translations" should be called "Commie translations" IMO.
You should want as close to the original as possible, maybe without having to learn a foreign language, and that's where the Strong's comes in.
A Strong's provides a full definition of the original word used, so that you can fully interpret the verse yourself. Words are rarely if ever incorrectly translated, but there are many times that English simply does not offer a compatible word, so any translation can be called wrong or incomplete.
There is also so much of our modern language that has been corrupted, WE don't even understand the difference between words like Fear and Terror, or the connection between words like Fear and Respect.
Just my two cents.