Handing out free copies of the Gospels and exhorting men to trust in the Bible are often parts of evangelical work.
I know of a church that is distributing free copies of St. Mark's Gospel and inviting unbelievers to Bible studies on the same Gospel every Sunday. The motivation is certainly very good. However, in an effort to remove the supposed language barriers due to the Biblical English of the Authorised Version (KJV) of the Holy Bible, the church chose the NIV St. Mark's Gospel to be distributed and studied.
Now a potential conflict arises.
The unbeliever is encouraged to trust in the Bible and while convincing himself to remove any doubt towards the Bible, the same unbeliever may turn to the final pages of the NIV St. Mark's Gospel that he was given earlier.
What would the unbeliever see?
There is a possibility that the unbeliever may see a statement such as 'the earliest and best manuscripts do not contain Mark 16:9-20' after Mark 16:8. What would the unbeliever think after seeing that statement?
Can modern version supporters not see that instead of promoting better understanding of the Bible, modern versions such as the NIV, ESV, NASB, and CSB are themselves obstacles to evangelical work and sources of doubt?
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