You Have the Bible

by Daniel Paulson 2012, edited in 2013

As Christians, were all called to be students of the scriptures (2 Timothy 2:15). We are called to study. Studying the Bible isnt always easy; just like any other subject, it takes serious concentration and hard work. And, just like any other subject, there are some fundamentals that we must understand if we are to get very far in our studies. Every subject has these essential study keys. For example: without a basic understanding of what the numbers, letters, and arrangement of the period table of the elements indicate, studying the table is futile. Without a basic understanding of what stage directions indicate, it will be impossible to properly learn a piece of theatre. Without a basic understanding of variables and constants, studying algebra is a hopeless cause. Similarly, there are certain things that are essential to know when seriously studying the Bible. In this essay, Ill briefly outline one of them. The first important thing to know when studying the Bible is that we have it. We have the Bible. This sounds obvious; clearly, Bible study without a Bible is a laughable exercise in futility. Surprisingly, when it comes right down to it, many Christians dont believe that they have the Bible; they dont believe that they have the scriptures. To make sense of this, lets start by defining what the scriptures are. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness Scripture is inspired; its given by inspiration of God. If we stick to that definition (the biblical definition), then many churches dont believe we have scripture. Many churches believe the following: God inspired the scriptures and, when they were first written down, they were perfect. However, as time passed and imperfect humans copied the scriptures, errors slipped in. Therefore, all we have today are imperfect copies of what were originally Gods inspired, perfect words. Therefore, we dont technically have the inspired scriptures anymore. This is what a church means when it states that, We believe the Holy Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, to be verbally inspired of God in the original documents, infallible and God-breathed, a perfect rule of faith and practice.1 The scriptures were inspired in the original documents (which we dont have any more). This sounds like a fairly reasonable position at first but, unfortunately for all of the fairly reasonable people who believe it, the Bible has something else to say. Back in 2 Timothy 3:15 Paul is talking to Timothy and says, ...from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Right after Paul gave the definition of scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16, he says that Timothy has had the scriptures since he was a child. Timothy didnt have the original documents; he studied a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of Isaiah (or any other Old Testament book). Timothy has a copy from a long line of copies and the Holy Spirit, writing through Paul, calls it scripture. What does this mean? This means that a copy can be scripture! A copy can be inspired. Timothy is studying a copy and Paul deems it inspired scripture. There is hope; inspiration wasnt just limited to the original documents. Think of it this way: If God was powerful enough to inspire the book in the first place, dont you think Hes powerful enough to keep it around? Whats the point in inspiring it in the
1

"Articles of Faith." Calvary Baptist Church. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2012. <http://www.cbcgr.org/about/articles-of-faith/>.

first place if its not going to be preserved? As pastor Sam Gipp says, Inspiration without preservation would be a divine waste of time. The Bible says that God preserves His words (Psalm 12:6-7; Mark 13:31; Matthew 5:18). Notice that, in all those verses, God is concerned about His words, not just fundamental truths. Psalm 12:6-7 doesnt say, The fundamental doctrines of the LORD are important or the general meaning It says, The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. With that in mind, we know that God has promised to preserve His words; He promised to keep His perfect words around. He kept them around for Timothy to use and Hes promised to keep them around for us. Our next task is locating those words. Since 1880, there have been over 230 new English Bible versions released. Thats a lot of different versions with a lot of different words. Since, on average, about two new versions are released ever year, theres a considerable amount of confusion among the Christian community. Since God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), something isnt quite right with the current situation. We know that Gods words are somewhere, but where are they? If youre an evolutionist, youll be inclined to believe that the best Bible translation is the newest one. If everything else is evolving to a higher state, then Bible translations should be following suit. Thats how many Christians, scholars, and Bible translating companies like to look at things. However, the Bible says that things are getting worse (Romans 1; Matthew 24:37; 2 Timothy 3). If everything else is getting worse and the church is sliding away from God (2 Timothy 3; 4:3,4; Revelation 3:14-20), its a stretch to believe that Bible translations are getting better. Do you really believe that Bible versions are going to keep getting better while everything else gets spiritually worse? In Hebrews 4:12, the Bible says that, the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the diving asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Word of God is powerful. We need to find a book with some power. We need to find a book that God has used in big ways. We need to find a book thats stood the test of time. If you look at church history, theres one book that stands out: the King James Bible. The protestant reformation kicked off in 1517 and the King James Bible came out a little less than 100 years later. It was the last in the line of protestant reformation Bibles. Three great awakenings happened after the King James Bible came out; great preachers held the Bible as Gods perfect word and hundreds of thousands of souls were saved. The Holy Spirit worked through the King James Bible so much that it became known as the Authorized Version (AV). In Matthew 7, Jesus warns us of false prophets and tells us that, Ye shall know them by their fruitsEven so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruitWherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. I believe that the AV is the perfectly preserved words of God because of its good fruit. If youre not quite convinced, there are plenty of other reasons to believe that the AV is the perfectly preserved word of God. Examine the manuscript evidence. The AV is translated from the Textus Receptus (received text) line of manuscripts, originating in Antioch whereas new Bible versions are translated from the Alexandrian line of manuscripts (including the Codex Sinaiticus a collection of manuscripts discovered in a Vatican trash can in the 1800s), originating in Alexandra, Egypt. The origin of each manuscript line is important; Antioch is where Jesus followers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26), whereas Alexandria, Egypt is where disputers arose and arrested Stephen (Acts 6:9). Furthermore, throughout the Bible, Egypt

is pictured as a type of the world/Hell. God calls His people out of Egypt (Exodus 13-14), just as He will call us out of the world someday (1 Corinthians 15:52; Revelation 4:1). Alexandria is where the allegorical method of Bible interpretation originated. This method encourages the spiritualization of literal promises and is the basis for much Roman Catholic and Reformed (both amillenial) theology today. To top it all off, there are over 5,000 Antiochian manuscripts in existence today whereas there are only about 50 Alexandrian manuscripts. Its also helpful to look at the time period when the AV was released. In Revelation 1-3, seven churches are described and, if youre familiar with church history, its clear that the seven churches of Revelation correspond with seven periods of church history. The church of Philadelphia, described in Revelation 3:7-11, corresponds with the period when the AV was published. Philadelphia is one of only two churches that Jesus says nothing negative about. Its also the only church that is said to have kept the word (Revelation 3:10). There are plenty of other fun facts. The AV was translated by seven committees over a period of seven years (compare that with Psalms 12:6). It was commissioned by King James 1 of England; Kings and James are both books of the Bible (New, International, Standard, American, Revised, etc. cant make that claim). The Bible also tells us that, Where the word of a king is, there is power (Ecclesiastes 8:4). Its fitting that God would preserve His words through a king. Why choose the English language though? Perhaps you dont see how God could take a collection of Hebrew and Greek writings and put them into an inspired, preserved English translation. Perhaps you dont see why He would do such a thing. Many Christians seem to believe that God cant or doesnt inspire translations. This assumption is incorrect. Matthew 1:22; 2:5; 2:17; 4:15; 9:13; 11:10; 12:18, etc. are all examples of inspired translations. Back in Exodus, all of the conversations between Moses and Pharaoh, in Egyptian, were translated into Hebrew as inspired scripture. God created the various languages (Genesis 10); He can certainly translate between them. Why would God inspire an English translation of the Bible though? Several reasons are evident. God used Greek for the New Testament to spread His word quickly, as Greek, (specifically koine Greek [common Greek]) was the world language of the time. Today, koine Greek is no longer spoken and modern Greek is only used by 0.18% of the worlds population. Its no longer the most prominent world language. Gods word is not bound (2 Timothy 2:9) to a dead language and Hes no longer making it exclusively available to the Jewish nation (so its not stuck in Hebrew). Unlike Greek or Hebrew, English is taught as a mandatory second language in countless countries and is the primary world language of medicine, technology, trade, finance, and education. If youre at all aware of whats going to take place as the Day of the Lord approaches, youll see that English is the language of the end times: just look at where the UN headquarters is located. Many Christians shy away from this conversation. They call it divisive and unimportant. As long as you believe in Jesus, nothing else really matters, right? Thats true in terms of salvation. Thankfully, God makes it easy to get saved. There are no doctrinal entrance exams to heaven. My salvation is no less sure just because I memorized Bible verses out of an NIV when I was a kid. Some Christians take this issue too far, joining dead churches that only talk about the preservation of the AV and how backslidden everyone else is. That is wrong. God wants us to deal with each other in love (1 John 4). However, the Bible is incredibly important; Gods words are incredible important. Job said, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. David tells us that God has magnified His word above His name (Psalm 138:2). Gods word is truth (John 17:17). Its an issue of final authority. If we dont have

Gods words, then the final authority becomes the scholars and Bible translators who pretend to tell us what it really says in the Greek, or a better rendering would be, etc. Statements like these interject doubt into the mind of Christians. Does the Bible really mean what it says? Maybe we should check a different translation. Which rendering do you prefer? Its not about what we prefer; its about what God said. Gods word is a big deal and its foolish to think that Satan wouldnt want a hand in the game. After all, Satan has been casting doubt on Gods words for quite some time. When he first shows up in the Bible, he begins his conversation with Eve by asking, Yea, hath God said? (Genesis 3:1). His tactics havent changed much.