The best way to discover the beliefs of the dead is to study their writings. Both Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort wrote extensively. Here are some of their beliefs, as revealed by their own writings:

• Did not believe in the miracles of the Bible - Westcott in 1847: "1 never read an account of a miracle but I seem instinctively to feel its improbability and discover some want of evidence in the account of it."

• Did not believe in the infallibility of the scriptures. - Westcott to Hort in 1860: "1 reject the word infallibility of Holy Scripture overwhelming."   Hort to Lightfoot in 1860: "If you make a decided conviction of the absolute infallibility of the N. T., I fear I could not join you, even if you were willing to forget your fears about the origin of the Gospels."

• Did not believe in the supernatural creation - Hort to Westcott in 1860: "... Have you read Darwin? How I should like to talk with you about it! In spite of difficulties, I am inclined to think it unanswerable. In any case, it is a treat to read such a book. "  Hort to Ellerton in 1860 "But the book which has most engaged me is Darwin. Whatever may be thought of it, it is a book that one is proud to be contemporary with. I must work out and examine the argument more in detail, but at present my feeling is strong that the theory is unanswerable."

• Did not believe in the efficacy (power) of the atonement - Hort: "The fact is, I do not see how God's justice can be satisfies without every man 's suffering in his own person the full penalty for his sins."

• Westcott and Hort were clearly Anti-protestant (pro-Catholic sympathizers) Hort: "I think I mentioned to you before Campbell's book on the Atonement, which is invaluable as far as it goes; but unluckily he know nothing except Protestant theology."

• Believed in the necessity of purgatory - Hort to Ellerton: "But the idea of purgation, of cleansing as by fire seems to me inseparable from what the Bible teaches us of the Divine chastisements..."

• Believed in the communist system - Westcott: "I suppose I am a communist by nature."  Hort: "I cannot say that I see much as yet to soften my deep hatred for democracy in all its forms."  Hort: "I cannot at present see any objection to a limit being placed by the State upon the amount of property which any one person may possess ... I would say that the co-operative principle is a better and a mightier than the competitive principle."

• Believed in prayers for the dead - Westcott: "We agreed unanimously that we are, as things are now, forbidden to pray for the dead apart from the whole church in our public services. No restriction is placed upon private devotions (to pray for the dead)."

• Believed in the worship of Mary - Hort: "I am very far from pretending to understand completely the ever renewed vitality of Mariolatry. ...I have been persuaded for many years that Mary-worship and Jesus-worship' have very much in common in their causes and their results." (Westcott compelled his wife Sarah Louisa to take the name Mary in addition to her given name.)

• Believed in the sacraments (sacrifices) Hort: "Still we dare not forsake the Sacraments, or God will forsake us."

• Believed in baptismal regeneration - Westcott: "By birth he may, if he will, truly live here; by baptism he may if he will, truly live forever. ... I do think we have no right to exclaim against the idea of the commencement of a spiritual life, conditionally from Baptism, any more than we have to deny the commencement of a moral life from birth." Hort: "We maintain 'Baptismal Regeneration ' as the most important of doctrines ...the pure Romish view seems to me nearer, and more likely to lead to the truth than the Evangelical."

• Acknowledged their heretical positions - Hort to Ellerton: "Possibly you have not heard that I have become Harold Browne's Examining Chaplain. I have only seen him two or three times in my life, not at all intimately, and was amazed when he made the proposal, in the kindest terms. I wrote to warn him that I was not safe or traditional in my theology, and that I could not give up association with heretics and such like.  Westcott to Lightfoot: "It is strange, but all the questionable doctrines which I have ever maintained are in it (a particular book lacking the fundamentals)."

• Did not believe in a literal heaven.
• Did not believe in the literal second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
• Did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ's literal 1,000-year reign on earth.
• Did not believe in the reality of angels.
• Denied the Trinity's oneness.
• Doubted the soul's existence apart from the body.
• Did not believe in a literal Devil.

The King James Bible New Testament comes from the Majority Text (that is, from those manuscripts that agree with each other and are most prevalent.)  Unlike the translators of 1611, Westcott and Hort rejected the Majority Text and relied heavily on the Alexandrian manuscripts which included the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus manuscripts.  These two men regarded the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus as authoritative, yet these two manuscripts disagree with each other over 3,000 times in the Gospels alone.  These two manuscripts have greatly influenced every modern version on the market today and form the basis for 99% of them.

Westcott and Hort changed the Greek text of the Textus Receptus in 5,337 instances.

These two men are directly responsible for the spiritual backbone lacking in most pulpits today because of the changes brought about through their corrupt text.  Consequently, the modern versions have contributed to the heresies of man.  Many of these revisions attack the very fabric of everything Christians hold sacred.  Whether you choose the NIV, NKJV, NASV, Living Bible, or any other modern version does not matter.  This includes the NKJV when it departs from the Textus Receptus, choosing to align itself with the false and heretical readings of the Wescott and Hort text.

When the trials of life come (and they will come), the only way to withstand the onslaught is to have the right spiritual foundation.  Matthew 7:25 - And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

If one chooses to ignore the changes made by these modern perversions, he can be likened to a man that built his house upon sinking sand.  Matthew 7:26 - And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.

When the trials of life come, without the right foundation, the destruction is foretold.   Matthew 7:27 - And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Each of us should carefully consider the Psalmist's question: If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalm 11:3.

In light of this evidence, the King james Bible stands alone.  All of the modern versions are built upon the same corrupt sinking-sand foundation.

One can be blessed by simply reading the Bible, but it DOES matter which "Bible" one chooses.  The blessings to not come from picking up one's favorite version.  They come from reading God's book, and God only wrote one book!