"Widows and Orphans" by Susan Meissner

"Widows and Orphans" by Susan Meissner is a contemporary mystery.  She is a new author for me, picked it up at a yard sale or library sale, can't remember.  She starts off using a verse from the NIV, James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the World."  The KJV says: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."  Why do people think they have to change God's Word?  They changed the meaning of the verse by "trying o make it easier to understand".  I can understand it just fine.  Let's start with "Religion that God our Father accepts"  What do you mean "accepts"?  That is like saying that God will accept your religion as long as you do this also, that is not what He says, He says "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father(notice that the NIV took out the trinity?)is this," He is saying that to serve the Lord and to be pure and undefiled before Him, not "accepted" by Him.  NIV: "to look after orphans and widows in their distress"  KJV:  "To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction"  Distress means:  "1. great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; acute physical or mental suffering; affliction; trouble.

2. a state of extreme necessity or misfortune. "  Affliction means:  "1. a state of pain, distress, or grief; misery: They sympathized with us in our affliction.

2. a cause of mental or bodily pain, as sickness, loss, calamity, or persecution. "  The words are similar but different.  Distress uses the words "great" pain, "extreme" necessity or misfortune.  Affliction is not as bad, it is a "state" of pain or distress or a "cause" of it.  According to the NIV the widows and orphans only need help when it is great, the KJV says fatherless not orphan.  A child can only be an orphan if both parents are dead whereas the fatherless can still have a mother.  "Unpolluted" and "unspotted" have different meanings too.  You can be walking on the street and step in a mud puddle and get a spot on your dress which is not bad because you can cover it up, but if your dress is polluted by the stench of that mud puddle then it cannot be covered.  God wants us totally unspotted from the world, not one tiny spot, according to the NIV it is ok to be spotted as long as you are not totally immersed.  That is not what God says  Stick to God's Holy Word!  It does not need to be changed by anybody!  I would suggest reading "New Age Bible Versions" by Gail Riplinger. 
I took up so much time on the verse that I don't have time to talk about the book!  I'll have to do that in my next post!
Happy Reading!
Missy