Footnotes, Headers and Cross-References: are they necessary?
Every word of God is pure... Add thou NOT unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Proverbs 30: 5,6
Many of today's Bibles have footnotes and cross-references in them. It is hard to find a good Bible without them, and many people buy a certain Bible for the commentary in it. For example, special editions of the NIV include a New Covenant Prophecy Edition and a Men's Devotional Bible. There are even special editions of the King James which are sold for there commentary, such as the Grant Jeffery Prophecy Study Bible and the Scolfield Reference Bible. There are many study Bibles available in as many different versions.
The modern Bible versions, such as the NASB and the NIV, have footnotes even in their most basic form; the translators have to explain why they added this, or took away that, or why they don't believe a certain verse should be include in the Bible. Many Bibles also have section headers, and many people make the mistake of thinking that these are inspired.
Footnotes add to the Word of God.
... nor handling the word of God deceitfully... II Corintians 4:2
God warns us in many places not to add to His Words, yet footnotes and headers do just that. Many people mistake the headers as being inspired, especially since some of the Psalms actually have headers that could be considered inspired. This is dangerous because the added headers may be worded in such a way that leads to misinterpretation of the Scripture. Footnotes are not the word of God and shouldn't be included in any Bible. In many places, these footnotes agree with the corrupt manuscripts. See below.
Footnotes are not the Word of God.
When one tries to add to Gods word, whether it be by tradition, by adding additional books to the Bible, by prophesying falsely, or by inserting footnotes into the Bible, they are directly disobeying the Lord God. God says that if any man add to His Words, He will punish them with all the plagues of the Book of Revelation. (See Rev. 22:18) Anything that is added to God's Word is not God's Word. Footnotes open the door to herisies and misinterpertations since the translators can add any footnote they want, and the readers will accept it, because "the scholars know best."
Footnotes Confuse the Reader, Cast Doubt on the Word of God.
For God is not the author of confusion... 1 Corintians 14:33
Many of the footnotes in Bibles today offer alternate readings or "suggested word changes" for the text. These sometimes can contradict Scripture and cause the reader to doubt the accuracy of the Word of God. The reader is forced to figure out which reading is the actual Word of God, which they definitely cannot do. ("What did God really say?") The reader is torn between the Holy Scriptures and the footnotes that critique them, and will eventually lose their faith in the Word of God. They will be forced to put their faith in the scholars to decide what belongs in the Bible.
"Scholars" Could Not Make Up their Minds, Force Readers to Decide.
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8
Since the "scholars" had to put footnotes in most of the Bibles today, it shows that how scholarly they really are. They could not decide which of the readings is the Word of God. They offer multiple ones and force the reader to decide. These high and mighty Bible scholars want you to trust them and to think that they are important in helping God preserve His word, but they cannot seem to be able to decide which reading is the one God inspired. Instead, they give both readings! In doing this, they force even the newest converts to do something that they themselves apparantly cannot do, that is, decide what is the Word of God. This cause the reader to doubt God's Word, and trust them to make the right decisions!
Aren't Bible scholars supposed to study to shew themselves approved so that they rightly divide the word of God (2 Tim. 2:15)? Or is this just an ideal of long ago? We are all commanded to study to shew ourselves approved. But wait, I forgot! The new versions all change this verse!
Footnotes Agree With the Alexandrian Manuscripts and the False New Bible Versions.
In the modern Bible versions this is not a problem because the text already agrees with the corrupt manuscripts. This is more of a problem in King James "study Bibles," because have added footnotes. These footnotes tend to agree with the false manuscripts, and cast doubt on the true Word of God.
For example, in The New Scolfield Study Bible, the footnote for Matthew 17:21 reads, "Some reliable mss. omit v. 21." In this passage, Matt. 17:14-21, Jesus' disciples find that they cannot cast out a certain devil, and they ask Him why. He told them "because of your unbelief" (v. 20) but goes on to tell them that this kind of devil "goeth out not but by prayer and fasting." (v. 21) This means that, even if the disciples had had faith, this devil still wouldn't be rebuked by them. The only way it would leave is by prayer and fasting! But the footnote says that this verse wasn't in the reliable manuscripts, thus making the reader assume that this verse shouldn't be in the Bible! Guess what, all the new versions (NIV, NASB) remove this verse to the footnotes!! The same corrupt manuscripts used by the new versions were used to make this footnote!
What about the footnotes that help explain the Scriptures?
They are still not necessary. A Christian has the Holy Ghost living in them and He will guide them in all truth. It is not necessary to have footnotes and other commentary to explain the verses, because the Holy Ghost will help a Christian to understand them. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. 1 Jn 2:27
The Scholars cross-references vs. the Holy Ghost's cross-references
As a Christian reads and studies their Bible, they remember the specific points and meanings made in passages that they have read, and as they read through other passages in the Bible, the Holy Ghost will bring into their remembrance what they have read before (Jn. 14:26), and cross-reference the verse for them. (It is usually helpful for them to then lookup the cross-referenced verse, because this will help them to understand the passage that they were reading more clearly.
The cross-references put in by the scholars sometimes refer to the wrong verses, and sometimes they don't put a reference to every verse. They can be helpful, but studying the Bible with the Holy Ghost helping will bring more joy and peace into their life. About the added cross-references I say "Let God be true, and every man a liar."
What about the supposed footnotes in the King James Bible:
When the translation for the King James Bible was first commissioned, it was made clear as part of the translation guidelines that the translators were to add NO footnotes to their work exept those that may be needed to explain certain Greek or Hebrew words. Many of the previous versions had footnotes. This lead to problems, especially since the most popular one at the time, the Geneva Bible, had footnotes supporting Calvinistic doctrines.
According to personnal correspondance with David W. Daniels, writer of "The King James Bible Companion" at chick.com,
The way "alternate readings" found their way into the KJV was this: Each verse was reviewed at least fourteen times. But when someone held hisobjection, even one out of the 47-54 people working on the project, that objection was put into the margin.
But you need to know this: According to former Jesuit Dr. Alberto Rivera, there were two people among the translators who were Jesuits, trying to subvert the translation process. But there were two guards assigned to them, to see that they did nothing sneaky. However, their objections had to be noted. And objections that people still had, after all the rest agreed, after those many times of rechecking the text, were put into the margin.
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