The last Spanish Bible of the Protestant Reformation
The Spanish Bible has a rich but very distinct history from the King James Bible. However, what is certain is that God provided His words in Spanish as well as in English.
The Spanish Bible’s history begins properly with the Bear Bible in 1569, translated by Casiodoro de Reina. De Reina was a converted Catholic monk, and he prepared the first complete Spanish Bible based on the Received Text in the New Testament and the Masoretic Text in the Old Testament, by way of a Ladino Old Testament.
The 1602 was published by Cipriano de Valera, giving the Bible its famous name, “Reina Valera”.
In 1865, Dr. Herreros Ángel de Mora would complete the final revision of the Reina Valera Bible before the publication of the Westcott and Hort Greek New Testament and the complete apostasy of the Bible Societies (1880-1960).
Persecution
All three of these men faced persecution for their faith. Ángel de Mora even suffered whipping at the hands of Spanish Catholicism.
Faithfulness
These Bibles were all based on the Received Text, and were received by Spanish-speaking believers for centuries.
Pre-1881
The 1865 was published before the W&H text, which means it does not bear any effects of modern textual criticism.
Available
Instead of changing the Bible, we’ve just printed it. We don’t believe that it needs to be “fixed”, just preached.
But what about…
…those other versions?
There are several other Spanish versions out there, claiming to be the “right” Spanish Bible. Some even have the backing of big independent Baptist ministries who make claims about how their Spanish version is “closest to the King James”. But:
God Speaks Spanish
Unlike those groups, we don’t believe that God needs help with His Spanish.
Honesty in translation
Other versions ignore fundamental grammar and make beginner mistakes.
Poor scholarship
A cursory review of the other versions shows a lack of knowledge of both the receptor language (Spanish) as well as the original languages.
Opinions overruling the Bible
Many changes were based on personal opinions instead of scriptural or doctrinal reasoning.
Our approach
It’s not our job to change people, that’s the Holy Spirit’s job
We just preach the old Bible and let the Holy Spirit deal with people. From time to time we point out differences (Critical Text readings, missing words) in the other versions, be they those other “fixed” versions preferred by some independent Baptists, or the 1960 version which is the most popular in Latin America.
Making the word of God available
Part of ministry is providing God’s words
We are thankful for ministry partners that help make sure we have Bibles to give out to those who want God’s words in Spanish. However, costs are always rising and shipping is very expensive. Please consider donating to help cover the expenses of printing and shipping Spanish Bibles.
Contact Us
We appreciate hearing from the folks that are praying for us. We’d love to answer your questions about the ministry, Chile, or life in general. Feel free to drop us a line!