Month: August 2025

Avoid This At Any Cost!

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There are many English translations of the Bible available, for which I am very thankful. They cover a range of reading styles, translation philosophies and so on. Usually they are written by teams of scholars who have devoted their lives to studying the Bible in the original languages.

The Mirror Bible is not one of these. It is written to push a particular theological viewpoint, imposing that idea on the text rather than letting the Scriptures lead us into correct understanding.

The author, Francois du Toit is from South Africa and has a three year theology degree (same as me, but I don’t laim to be a biblical scholar). He believes a number of twisted doctrines including

  • Universalism- the belief that every body will be saved
  • Sin is not real but is rather our inability to see the divine in us
  • Inclusivism- the belief that the gospel is meant to include everyone, regardless of their interest in God
  • The Bible is meant to help us to hold a mirror to ourselves so that we can see God in us, as opposed to the traditional view that the Bible is a mirror that revels our sin nature.

These beliefs are at the core of so-called Progressive Christianity (a mixture of christianity and left-wing political beliefs) and the Global Grace Ministries. What is strange, though, is that it is also popping up in hypercharismatic circles such as Kenneth Copeland’s Word of Faith movement and Bethel Church, Redding. Preachers such as Creflo Dollar, Jerry Savelle and others have been promoting it.

In her video on this subject, Melissa Dougherty compares some passages from the ESV Bible with The Missor Bible. The first one is John 14:6

Can you see how, instead of pointing the reader to Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life, The Mirror Bible points us back to ourselves?

John 14:12 tells us we must receive Jesus, but The Mirror Bible tells us that we already have Him.

Finally we have Romans 1:28.

Romans 1:20 says that people can see God in nature , but they choose not to acknowledge God, and so He gives them over to their sinful desires. The Mirror says they didn’t care about their own divine nature and so they could not see God.

This is such a terrible perversion of the teaching of Scripture that nobody who wants to draw close to God should look at this book.

The most trustworthy Bibles are the ones that have been translated by a team of scholars, where a thoughtful consensus of opinions prevents individuals from running off with their own pet ideologies.

I recommend that Bibles and paraphrases that have been written by a single person, such as The Passion Translation (Brian Simmons) and The Message (Eugene Peterson) should not be read as your main Bible. Use them as an addition to the NIV or the NLT, but not as your main source of godly inspiration.

And never, ever read The Mirror Bible.

If you want more information about this, I strongly recommend Melissa Dougherty’s video on this. It is long but it is thorough.

Reflection on 1 Peter 5:8-14

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Scripture

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

Observation

Peter admonishes us to stay alert and to be on the lookout for satan, the enemy of our souls. He is always prowling around looking for someone to devour. We must stay in firm against the evil one and be strong in our faith.

Our christian brothers and sisters are suffering as well. We will share in God’s eternal glory, so our suffering only lasts for a while.

Peter concludes the letter by commending his friend Silas to his readers. He also sends greetings from his church and from Mark.

Application

We must be constantly alert for the attacks of the devil. He hates us with a passion and is always, looking to destroy us. Many christians live in ignorance of the spiritual realm. This is a huge folly. Just because we cannot see angels and demons with our physical eyes does not make them any less real.

Satan holds people in bondage in various ways, including:

1. Temptation to sin. He does not bother with unbelievers because they are already in captivity to sin. In Christians he amplifies natural desires and fleshly thoughts, If we sin, he thinks we will become discouraged in following the way of holiness.

2. Demonic afflictions such as sickness, poverty, and mental illness.

3. Witchcraft, magic, spells, and curses. Spoken words can carry great effect in the world of the spirit.

So, we need to remember that we are in the middle of a war. The devil will not give up on pulling us down. But as we grow in faith, we can increasingly resist him to stand firm in Christ.

Prayer

Thank you. Lord, for the assurance that the battle belongs to you Teach me how to stand firm In my faith. Amen