The Holy Scriptures
2Timothy 3:16
The fact of God’s existence is almost universally accepted although it cannot be proven mathematically. The existence of God therefore, may be taken for granted and boldly proclaimed. When people can accept the fact of God’s existence, they must then believe that the Bible (the world’s most unusual book) is as it professes to be a revelation from God. Without this revelation we would know nothing about God or even about the creation and ourselves. Man could have never by himself discovered what God has revealed to us in the first eleven chapters of Genesis.
The sufficiency and finality of the Bible are rejected today by Roman Catholics in favor of “tradition,” and by the devotees of neo-orthodoxy in favor of a continuous revelation. We must go back to the book and to Christ as our only reliable authority for faith and practice.
During His earthly life, the Lord Jesus Christ appealed unreservedly to the very words of the Old Testament text (Matt. 22:42-45; John 10:34-36), thus indicating His confidence that this text had been accurately transmitted (Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17). Here our Lord assures us that the O.T. text in canon use among the Jews during His earthly ministry was an absolutely trustworthy reproduction of the original text written by Moses and the other inspired authors. Nothing had been lost from that text. The true O.T. and N.T. text shall be preserved in the Church till all be fulfilled as our Saviour has promised (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15).
The Hebrew Scriptures were written by Moses and the prophets and other inspired men to whom God had given prophetic gifts. But the duty of preserving this written revelation was assigned not to the prophets but to the priest. The priests were the divinely appointed guardians and teachers of the law (Deut. 31:24-26; Deut. 51:12-l3). The priests were also given the task of making correct copies of the law for the use of kings and rulers (Deut. 17:18; Ps. 19:7-11). Unbelieving Jewish scribes transmitted this traditional Hebrew O.T. text blindly but faithfully until the dawn of the Protestant Reformation, at which time it again passed into the possession of the Christian church. This is the Hebrew received text or the masoretic text from which the King James Version was translated.
In the Bible, and especially in the N.T., Christ reveals himself. We can say that the Bible, is the written word of God, Jesus, is the Incarnate Word, and the two together comprise the Living Word. In the gospels Jesus has promised that the divine providence which has preserved the O.T. Scriptures will also preserve the New (Matt. 28:20; Matt. 24:35; Luke 21:33). How has our Saviour fulfilled His promise? Through His Church and the universal priesthood of believers (1Peter 2:9), and through the leading of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of individual Christians.
The writing of the N.T. as well as the preservation of it was a fulfillment of the promises of Jesus (Jn. 14:25-26; 16:12-13). The Holy Spirit guided the early Christians to gather the individual N.T. books into one N.T. canon and to reject all non-canonical books. (The word “canon” meaning “an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture” - Webster.) God also, through the leading of the Holy Spirit guided the believers in choosing the trustworthy texts and rejecting untrustworthy copies which were consigned to oblivion. This text has become known as the “Byzantine” text (Byzantine period of the Greek church 452-1453), also called the “Traditional” text.
A further step in the providential preservation of the N.T. was the printing of it in 1516, and the dissemination of it throughout the whole of western Europe during the Protestant Reformation. There were some minor errors in the first editions but in all essentials the N.T. text first printed by Erasmus and later by Stephanus (1550) and Elzevir (1633) is in full agreement with the Traditional Text. This printed text is commonly called the “Textus Receptus” (Received Text). It was from this Textus Receptus that the King James Version and the other classic Protestant translations were made. God preserved the O. T. by means of something physical and external, namely, the Aaronic priesthood. God has preserved the N. T. text by means of something inward and spiritual, namely, the universal priesthood of believers.
There are two main sources of manuscripts from which the N.T. has been translated:
· First, there is the Traditional Text, Received Text, or Textus Receptus from Antioch in Syria (Acts 11, 13). It goes to the ends of the earth through Waldensians, Albigseses, Bogomiles (Latin), Paulicians (Greek) Mennonites, Pietists (German), Separatists, Puritans, Baptists and many others. All revivals, reformation, soul winning, and interest in Bible study follow this text.
· Second, There is the “Hesychian” (or Alexandrian) type of text, which was the basis for the Latin Vulgate, used for the RV, ASV, New ASV, New RSV and scores of others. Pantaenus, Clement, Origen (184-254) of the “Catechetical School” at Alexandria, Egypt were primarily responsible for this corrupt text.
The true text went to the entire world by way or England and North America. The corrupt text which was hidden for many centuries, was resurrected in 1881-1884 by Westcott and Hort and went to Latin and South America through Rome, Italy (Vaticanus B and Sinaiticus Aleph manuscripts).
The original N.T. manuscripts were papyrus (paper) rolls about 10 inches high by 30 feet long. Papyrus Codex was developed about 125 AD and made it possible to gather the N.T. books into one or two volumes. About 300-900 AD there was used Vellum (leather) Uncial (Capital letters) with no space between the words. This was a Codex (book form). About 900-1500 AD minuscule (small letters) handwriting began to be used for the production of the Bible.
We as Baptists believe the Bible to be the verbally inspired inerrant Word of God. The King James Bible, first printed in 1611 has stood the test to the date of this writing 1998 (387 years). It is still going strong despite the attempts of the Liberals, and alas, Conservatives to downgrade this version known as the Authorized Version. The King James is the perfect exact translation of the original manuscripts. The original manuscripts of the O.T. in the Lord’s day were not available, neither are the original manuscripts of the N.T. today. Yet we do not put our faith in the original manuscripts but in the God who has preserved the manuscript that we do have.
The church that “kept God’s word” (Rev. 3) was not the church of the Apostles or Apostolic Fathers (90-150 AD); it was the Philadelphia church of 1500-1900 AD The only LIVING BIBLE on earth today is the AV (1611), or translations made from it. The Monarch of the books is still “king of the mountain” and if you want God’s blessing on your life, your ministry, your school, your church, your family, or your nation, believe it, preach it, practice it live by it and die by it.