Someone asked me a question about the versions. Unfortunately, this is a fraught topic among some folks in our circles. I don’t think it really needs to be such a highly charged topic, but it is.
What I try to do in these messages is to teach the history of Bible transmission, talk a little bit about how scholars work at determining the correct readings, and then how that resulted in the various Bible versions.
I am not giving lectures of expertise on the topic! Some would accuse me of “over-simplification.” That was done on purpose. We aren’t interested in getting into the weeds of the topic, but in getting an overview.
God could have performed a miracle and kept each copyist from ever making an error when they hand copied his Word. God is able to do that. The problem is, he didn’t. He allowed errors of copying to creep in.
What should we think about that? Well, the Bible says that every word of the Bible is inspired by God. Obviously, copying errors aren’t the words God gave. Thus, technically, those errors aren’t inspired. (We should note that most of the errors are merely spelling errors or transposing letters, lkie tihs.) Some other errors are bigger but still amount to a very small percentage of the ancient text. The fact is, the Bible is one of the most well-preserved books from the ancient world.
Consequently, we can have a great deal of confidence about our Bibles. Both the transmission process and the translation process have been done by men with the best intentions, and with great care. (That is, except for a few notable bad actors along the way – the Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, have twisted their translation by adding in words that aren’t in the text to change the meaning.)
Because of the accuracy of transmission and translation, this series of messages is meant to explain some of the background behind all of the controversy so that Christians can be assured of the reliability of their Bibles.
You can find the series here: The Sermons on the Versions
The series shows up in reverse order. The first three messages are technically not part of the series, but “miscellaneous” sermons on the same topic given at earlier dates.
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