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I think I see what you mean.

But we must acknowledge that while The WORD is Living, it speaks One only Truth through all generations.

"Jesus never had any problem with other so-called "prophets" competing against Him"

He most certainly did! Matthew 12:30 "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."

Now, if you meant "Jesus never had any problem with those who collaborate with Him in the Truth" or near to that...?

And here you and I illustrate the problem with "translations" CHRIST DOES NOT CONTRADICT HIMSELF, He does not have multiple personalities. But if we have as many "translations" as there are, we, the body of Christ suffer from disunity.

We probably all use more than one translation. Each, of course receive different messages and inspirations from reading the same passage in different seasons; and that is good, as the WORD is Living. But multiple "translations" sadly, ends up changing the INTENT of the Author.

Hopefully we can agree He does NOT want the meaning to be "mis-translated"?

What I find is the unbelievable amount of difference between denominations. There are those who believe once saved, always saved vs backsliders are no longer heaven bound.
There are those who believe only dunking during baptism is acceptable and those who believe in sprinkling.

There are those who believe that baptism is necessary for salvation while others believe it's only an outward sign to others of acceptance.

There are those who baptize in the trinity, yet others believe that only in the name of Jesus is appropriate (ala John the Baptist).

Still yet others believe that only the outward showing of the holy spirit through tounges is evidence of salvation.

Is it any wonder we can't figure out how to be of service when we can't even agree on how to achieve salvation. Even by the "Perfect Book", we are lost on the most basic of tenents of how to achieve eternal service to God.

I live in a large midwestern city, the 32nd largest metropolitan area in the nation. There are over 125 different denominations (not individual houses of worship) listed in my yellow pages. Over 125 different beliefs and ways to be of service to Christ, God and His kingdom. Yet there is one God and one Way.

Christians need to go into a period of deep prayer, meditation and thought in order to determine how to serve God. Not our version of service, but God's way.

Agreed. When I don't understand a passage, I end up doing word searches on in the orignal language. Takes longer, but the Holy Spirit seems to teach more so much more that way. Otherwise, I try to let Him do the teaching/convicting.

Hopefully we can agree He does NOT want the meaning to be "mis-translated"?

Part of the problem with that comment in this conversations, is that there is rarely a direct, exact correspondence between languages. Further, the language itself changes over time, with some passages in the KJV clearly carrying an opposite meaning to the original text, as those words are used today. Read as a whole, one can pick up the nuances and details of the KJV and understand it - as an essentially different language than we use today - but reading bits and pieces can lead to a trgically wrong impression, even further than the normal effects from not using context.

I think you misunderstood when I said Jesus didn't have any problem with the other so-called prophets. I can't think of one instance where HE identified a "competitor" by name. In other words, Jesus knew His message was sent from God, and that all others were false.

However, there is also the phrase (don't want to look it up now) that is the inverse of the one you quoted: "if they are not against us, they are with us." This was, as I recall, specifically directed at the disciples "clique=ishness" in their view that ONLY THEY could possibly talk about Jesus and His good news.

I totally agree that it is nit-picking to say there are different interpretations of the Bible---there really is only one, God's. But I do not think any church on earth has "all of it" right. The church DID at one time . . . but human sin intervened and made of one, many. Nevertheless, Jesus said He would return after we came into a "unity of the faith." Personally, I take that to mean that all faithful believers of different denominations will, eventually, all get back to the positions of that original church. But please, if you don't accept that, don't debate, and don't post scripture. I'm not going to argue about it.