Foundations of Our Faith

Phil Benedict

Tahlequah, Oklahoma

United Indian Mission

Greeley, Colorado

These guides are designed to help you to study, to learn, to understand, and to live what God teaches us in his Word, the Bible. God gave us the Bible to teach us how to know and to walk with Him. We can enjoy God’s blessings forever, rather than experiencing his judgement. His Word is eternally true. Take time to carefully read and think about the Scriptures used in this guide. Meditate on them and the truths they teach. Learn to love God and his Word. Regularly ask God for a right understanding of Scriptural truths and then make them part of you. Absorb them. If you go over the material too quickly without much thought, it will have little or no lasting impact on your life. Commit yourself to making Biblical truths the foundation of your life and to putting them into practice every day of your life.

As Christians, we have learned to love the Word of God. But many do not have any idea about how it has come to us from ancient times. It’s an exciting story of how God has preserved his Word from generation to generation. Today we are a favored people. We are privileged beyond measure. Throughout history, few people have had the Word so freely available to read and study. Even today, few people have the Word as readily available as we do.

Knowing how all this has come about should give us a deeper appreciation and commitment to live by the inspired Word of God.

To understand how the Bible has come down to us, it is helpful to know something about the kinds of materials used to write on in early times.

Stone. Egyptian inscriptions on stone that date back to four or five thousand years before Christ have been found and translated. In almost every part of the earth the most ancient writing has been found on stone. This is consistent with the earlier forms of writing mentioned in the Bible.

In Exodus 31:18, when the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. Also see Deuteronomy 27:2-3.

Making and using stone tablets for writing would be a difficult time consuming cumbersome process. Therefore only a few people were in a position to write or record important material. While there are some ancient stone tablets that still exist, there are no original stone portions of Scripture portions known to exist today.

Clay. In the centuries before Christ, Assyria and Babylonia used clay tablets extensively for writing. Huge libraries of clay tablets have been discovered. These clay tablets were undoubtedly the material referred to when Ezekiel is commanded by God to "...take a clay tablet, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it". Ezekiel 4:1

Wood. Wooden tablets were commonly used in Greece for several hundred years in

Old Testament times. It is likely that the tablets mentioned in Isaiah 30:8 and in Habakkuk 2:2 were wooden tablets.

Leather. Specially prepared animal skins were used for hundreds of years by the ancient Israelites for writing purposes. Leather was evidently the material used to make early copies of the Old Testament. Using leather for writing is not specifically mentioned in the Old Testament; however, the Jewish Talmud which was Jewish law, specifically stated that Scripture was to be

copied on animal skins. In 2 Timothy 4:13, the parchments that Paul speaks of were likely copies of portions of the Old Testament copied on animal skins.

Papyrus. By New Testament times, the common writing material was papyrus. Pith from the papyrus plant was cut into thin strips and laid together to form a sheet. Another set of strips were then laid in the opposite direction. Then the page was put under pressure and the moisture would bind it together to form a page. The pages could be used individually or joined together to form a roll or scroll. Scrolls varied in size, but were normally nine to ten inches wide and about thirty feet long. By the second century A.D., they had discovered how to join sheets together into a "codex", or a book. The book form was generally preferable to the scrolls. Early copies of the Scripture were copied onto papyrus sheets in book form rather than on scrolls.

Papyrus was to the New Testament writers what leather was to the Old Testament writers. It was more convenient and more accessible that anything else that had been developed up to that time. A big disadvantage, however, was that it was made from a fragile plant. It simply would not take a lot of wear. As a consequence, the original New Testament Scriptures and the earliest early copies of the New Testament are no longer in existence.

Vellum. By the third century A.D., new and greatly improved methods of preparing animal skins for writing had been developed. This material was called vellum or parchment. About the fourth century, vellum had replaced papyrus as the major material used in copying Scripture. Vellum was much more durable than papyrus. The earliest copies of Scripture in existence today date back to these times and are made of vellum.

Paper and the printing press. The use of paper dates back to ancient times, but its general use did not begin to significantly spread until the eighth century. By the thirteenth century, paper was the material of choice in most of Europe. Wide spread use of paper made possible the invention of the printing press which was developed in 1456.

What material was used to make copies of the Old Testament?

What material was first used to make copies of the New Testament?

What was papyrus?

What was its major weakness?

What material eventually replaced papyrus? When?

When was the printing press invented?

From the time that Moses wrote the first books of the Bible until the development of the printing press, the Bible was preserved and passed on by hand copying each individual Bible or part of the Bible. Moses lived about 1500 years before Christ. The printing press was not developed until 1456 A.D. and it was many years after that before printing developed enough to mass produce Bibles. The first books of the Old Testament were passed on by hand written copies for nearly three thousand years. The New Testament was hand copied for some thirteen to fourteen hundred years. That means that the Scriptures have been hand copied for about 3000 years, but have been produced on a printing press for only about four or five hundred years.

To copy all of Scripture by hand is an enormous task. It has been estimated that it would take a scribe about ten months to copy one Bible. And think for a moment about the conditions under which they worked. They did not have modern pens or paper. Working conditions such as good lighting would be poor by our standards. Heating and cooling were poor. Writing materials were very expensive. As a result, Bibles were scarce and very expensive. It would often take up to a year’s wages to buy one, if it could be bought at all. Very few individuals could afford a Bible. Since they could not have one personally, people would wait for many hours in long lines for a chance to read the Bible. It was so precious that it was often chained down to keep it from being stolen.

Until the invention of the printing press, how were copies of the Bible made?

For approximately how many years was the Bible hand copied?

For approximately how many years has it been produced by printing presses?

It is very important to understand that none of the original Scripture writings of either the Old Testament or the New Testament are still in existence today. What we have are hand made copies called manuscripts.

In spite of the difficulty in hand copying the Bible, there are some five or six thousand Bible manuscripts that contain a sizable part of the Bible. If one were to count all the manuscripts, even those that may only be a scrap left from a deteriorated manuscript, there are some twenty thousand in all. We are rich. A wealth of manuscripts have been preserved for us.

Many manuscripts have been discovered in the last 100 years. There may still be others somewhere out there waiting to be discovered.

One of the earliest almost complete manuscripts of the Bible is called "The Vatican Manuscript" or "Codex B". It is believed to be the most exact copy of the New Testament in existence. It dates back to the fourth century (A.D. 300-400). The first section of Genesis and the last of Revelation have worn off the manuscript. From early times it has been kept at the Vatican in Rome. Down through the centuries, the Vatican (the Roman Catholic Church) has seldom allowed Biblical scholars to study it.

Of nearly equal value is "The Sinaitic Manuscript" or "Codex Aleph". This is also a fourth century manuscript that was discovered in a monastery on mount Sinai in1844 by a man named Constantine Tischendorf. This extremely valuable manuscript has the complete New Testament but is missing parts of the Old Testament. It is kept and owned by the British Museum.

A third valuable manuscript is called "The Alexandrian Manuscript" or "Codex A". This is a fifth century manuscript. The Old Testament has only ten pages missing. It was made in Alexandria, Egypt.

There are many many other manuscripts. As time passed, the number of manuscripts multiplied. Today many of those manuscripts are put into groups based on where and when they were done. There are at least four major groups. Christian scholars debate among themselves as to which manuscript group is the best. Unfortunately, many angry words have been spoken and written about which group should be used. This debate is hot in some circles with people who actually know very little about the whole subject arguing vehemently, repeating what they heard someone else say, and at times making ridiculous claims that have little basis in truth. We, as Christians, need to "speak the truth in love" rather than stating untruths or half-truths in anger.

Between 1947 and 1960, in caves around the Dead Sea, there were a series of old manuscript finds. These have become known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not all of the manuscripts were of the Bible; however, several hundred Biblical manuscripts or manuscript fragments were found. One complete manuscript of Isaiah is dated about 200 B.C. A fragment of Samuel dating back to the third century B.C. is thought to be the oldest of all known Biblical manuscripts. Many are the oldest manuscripts available for a particular part of the Bible.

The major significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls is that they have resoundingly confirmed the tremendous accuracy of existing Biblical texts. Some of the manuscripts are nearly 1000 years older than the manuscripts previously available to Bible scholars. In spite of the age difference, there were very few differences in the texts. Another significance is that the non-Biblical manuscripts have shed some new light on the meaning of some obscure Hebrew words used in the Old Testament. A third significance is that these manuscripts have verified many conservative positions on the dates of Old Testament writings and events.

The doctrines of Biblical inspiration and inerrancy technically refer to the original manuscripts of Scripture. As the Biblical authors wrote, they were writing under the inspiration of God and all Biblical writing was without error. However, these Biblical doctrines do not teach that there would be no errors made in the copying process. Down through the centuries many thousands of copies were made. It is obvious that copy errors were made because no two existing complete manuscripts that are exactly alike.

The work of even the most careful scribe contain some copy errors because of the tremendous volume of work done and because the copier was human.

There are several kinds of errors that occurred in the copying process. Difficulty reading another person’s writing, confusing similar letters of the alphabet, the mis-reading of abbreviations, the omission of some lines or words because the scribe’s eye ‘jumped’ a line or lines ahead or the opposite error of writing the same passage twice because his eye ‘jumped’ a line back to where he had previously been copying. Where a word or phrase is used on a number of occasions on one page, such mistakes are easy to make.

When the Scriptures were dictated and several scribes listened and copied at the same time, errors could arise through mis-hearing. Some variants probably came about because words that have a similar sound were confused, or because the diction of the person reading the manuscripts was not clear. Scribes were also liable to make mental errors and errors of judgement. It is easy to replace the word that has been read by a synonym, or to change the word order or to misspell a word. If dealing with a familiar idea, it is a simple error to phrase it in language that is known rather than exactly as it is written.

Another kind of error is when a scribe would deliberately change the text to "improve" it. A scribe may have observed what he perceived as a difficulty in the text so he would make a few "minor" corrections to iron out the difficulties. The scribe may have added a note in the margin to clarify the text, only to have the note later be included as part of the text in the next copy.

As a result of these kinds of mistakes, there is no manuscript in existence that is without copy errors. There is no perfect manuscript. However, well trained men who have been committed to the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture have extensively studied and compared manuscripts and have been able to re-create the original text so that we have very accurate reconstructions of the original text. It has been stated that there is no question on how 97 percent of text should read, and there is absolutely no question about any Bible teaching resulting from the remaining three percent that may be a little uncertain. John Mc Arthur stated that 99.9 percent of the text is certain and that absolutely no doctrine is in question because of copy errors in manuscripts. Many other conservative Bible scholars and teachers have stated the same thing.

When one considers that there are some five to six thousand major manuscripts and there is from 97-99.9 percent agreement, we can only be amazed and praise God who has so well preserved his own Holy Word for us today. While the doctrine of Biblical inspiration technically applies to the original Biblical manuscripts, in a practical sense translations such as the King James Version, the New King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, and the New International Version are inspired in the sense that they faithfully represent the content of the original writings.

Do the doctrines of inspiration and inerrancy mean that there were no errors made by individuals who hand copied Scripture?

Approximately how many Bible manuscripts are in existence today?

How many of those manuscripts are exactly alike?

What kind of "errors of eyesight" could be made by a scribe?

What kind of errors could be made by a scribe listening to dictation?

What other kinds of errors could be made?

What percentage of the wording of the Bible is uncertain today?

What doctrines are in question because of copy errors?

Greek and Hebrew scholars have undertaken the task of re-creating the original Greek and Hebrew texts. This is done by painstakingly studying the manuscripts and then deciding how the text should read. The major Greek texts are the "Received Text" which is also called the "Majority Text" which was developed in the sixteenth century, the "Westcott and Hort Text" which was developed in the nineteenth century, and the "United Bible Societies Text" in the twentieth Century. "The Nestle Text" was also developed in the late nineteenth century.

Translating is not an easy process. Anyone who speaks more than one language knows that the meaning and usage of words vary tremendously from language to language. You simply cannot translate word for word to correctly convey an idea. Bible translators first have the very difficult task of understanding an ancient language and culture as it existed around 2000 to 3500 years ago when the Bible was written. People in these ancient cultures had different ways of thinking, of speaking, and of writing. They used expressions and word orders that make little sense to us. Translators have to understand all this and then translate the text in such a way that it is an accurate translation, but still makes sense to us in our modern cultures. You simply cannot do a strict word for word translation and expect it to be easily understood today.

To illustrate this, let’s look at a warning on a foreign made washing machine that had originally been written in a foreign language and then translated into English. The warning read, "Notice: Before the spinning tub is ceased to rotate, never touch the clothes in the tub, so as to prevent the clothes from twisting the finger, and the accident can be avoided". Now we get the idea of what they are trying to say, but how much better it would have been to say, "Warning! To avoid serious accidents, do not reach into the tub until it quits spinning." This simple illustration demonstrates that translators cannot simply just do a word for word translation from one language to another.

Old Testament Hebrew wrote in lines without spaces between the words and without punctuation. They used only consonants, no vowels. Instead of writing from left to right, they wrote from right to left. A sentence in English written like the Hebrews wrote might look something like this. See if you can read it.

...RFRHTNTNKRHCHTFDNLTSHTRDNCTLPDBNMCBDNDTNGNGGNVHSKRHCNRTSWDNNRTSHT

It may help a little if we turn it around, reading from left to right. Remember there are still no vowels.

THSTRNNDWSTRNCHRKSHVNGGNRNTTDNDBCMNBDYPLTCNDRTHSTLNDFTHCHRKNTNTHRFR...

It is still basically impossible to read, so now let’s add vowels.

THEEASTERNANDWESTERNCHEROKEESHAVINGAGAINREUNITEDANDBECOMEONEBODYPOLITICUNDERTHESTYLEANDOFTHECHEROKEENATIONTHEREFORE...

Many can figure it out now, but it is much easier when we add punctuation, spaces between the words, and use lower case letters.

"The Eastern and Western Cherokees having again reunited, and become one

body politc, under the style and title of the Cherokee Nation: Therefore,"

The scholars who developed Hebrew and Greek texts and who translate Scripture have to go through this process. Translators must also understand idioms and phrases that were part of their languages, but make little sense to us today. They must also understand the cultural values of the people who wrote Scripture. They must them put all of this together and translate it into a modern language in such a way that it is faithful to the original text, but put in such a way as to be understood by modern readers.

Now lets look at Psalm 139:15-16. A word for word translation from the ancient Hebrew might

read something like this:

Hidden was not from you framework of me

made I was when hidden

constructed with skill in earth the bowel thereof.

Substance of me saw your eyes unformed yet,

and book in yours were written them all

fashioned my days you did

they weren’t

This wording makes little sense to most of us. Now let’s see how it is translated in various translations.

1611 King James Version Pfalmes cxxxix:15-16

My ll substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret: and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance yet being vnperfect, and in thy booke all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned: when as yet there was none of them.

1769 King James Version Psalm 139:15-16

My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret: and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

New King James Version

My frame was not hidden from you,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they were all written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them

New American Standard Bible

My frame was not hidden from thee,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.

Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in thy book they were all written,

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them.

New International Version

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

My frame was not hidden from You,

when I was being formed in secret and intricately and curiously wrought

(as if embroidered with various colors)

in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].

Your eyes saw my unformed substance,

and in Your book all the days of my life were written,

before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.

Now let’s look at Ephesians 4:1 which is a relatively easy New Testament passage to work with. In a Greek manuscript, it would look something like this.

Notice again that there are no spaces between the words, no punctuation, and no capital letters. That’s the way Greeks wrote. Following is a more or less word for word translation into English but written more like the Greeks wrote. See if you can figure out any of it.

Adding spaces and some punctuation will help a lot.

Urge therefore you, I, the prisoner in Lord, worthily to walk of the calling of which you were called.

That is more discernable, but since it is still a word for word translation, it is still confusing. Let’s look at how some of the various translations translate it.

1611 King James Version Ephefians IIII:1 Therefore the prisoner ll of the Lord, beseech you that yee walke worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.

1769 King James Version Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

New King James Version Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,

New American Standard Bible Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

New International Version Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

New Living Translation Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

All of these translations are slightly different but each conveys essentially the same idea. Whatever version or versions we use, we need to faithfully read and continually be molding our lives after the One who gave us his Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why cannot a translation be a simple word for word translation?

In your opinion, are new translations helpful? Why?

One should know that the chapter and verse divisions in Scripture are not part of the original writing. They were added later to make study and finding various parts of Scripture easier. Most of the chapter and verse divisions are well placed and helpful, but the serious student of Scripture must realize they are the product of man’s efforts, rather than being inspired by God. There are many places where verse divisions break right into the middle of a thought and thus they make understanding more difficult. There are places where even some poorly placed chapter divisions break into the middle of a thought. When seriously studying the Bible, one should read it as if the chapter and verse divisions are not there.

As we have seen, the Bible was written primarily in Greek and Hebrew. Unless you know and understand these languages well, you must depend on a translation in order to read the Bible. Following is some important information relating to early Bible translations.

1. The process of Bible translation began about 250 years before Christ when the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek. This translation was called the Septuagent.

2. By the end of the third century A.D., the Bible had been translated into Armenian, Syriac, Latin, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Georgian. As time passed, there continued to be translations into other languages.

3. About 400 A. D. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin. This translation, called the "Latin Vulgate", served as the Bible for the Roman Catholic Church for many centuries.

4. The invention of the printing press in 1456 and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation about this time, stimulated more Bible translations. At this time the Bible was translated into German, Italian, Spanish, and French.

What languages was the Bible originally written in?

What was the first Bible translation?

What was the name of the translation used for many years by the Roman Catholic Church?

For the first 1300 years after Christ, varied portions of Scripture had been translated into English; however, it was not until the 1400's that translations of major portions of the Bible into English were undertaken.

Wycliffe. The first major Biblical translation into English was done by John Wycliffe and his associates about 1400 A.D. Wycliffe, a highly respected Oxford scholar, strongly believed that the ordinary man could understand Scripture and should have it in his own common language. Wycliffe, who has been called the "morning star of the reformation", suffered persecution for his work, and after he died his body was dug up and burned. Copies of the Wycliffe Bible were very expensive because they still had to be copied by hand.

Tyndale. In the early 1500's William Tyndale determined to translate the Bible and make it available to the common people. Tyndale, a Greek and Hebrew scholar, set a high standard for his work. Because of his translation work, he was forced to flee for his life from England. He continued his work in Europe, and before his death, he had translated the New Testament and large parts of the Old Testament into common English. Tyndale was betrayed and imprisoned for his work. After many months in prison, he was strangled and burned at the stake. Tyndale’s work is extremely important. It not only gave the Bible to common Englishmen, a large portion of the text was carried over into the King James Version which was made a few years later.

Other translations in the 1500's. Not long after Tyndale’s martyrdom, Miles Coverdale, relying at least partially on Tyndale’s work, was the first to publish a complete copy of the Bible in English. John Rogers, a scholarly friend of Tyndale’s, also published what was known as "Matthew’s Bible". John Rogers was burned alive because of his work. At least partially because of changing political and religious times, several more translations followed in the late 1500's, each having its particular strengths and supporters. "Taverner’s Bible", the "Great Bible", the "Geneva Bible", and the "Bishop’s Bible" were all products of the 1500's.

King James Version. In the early 1600's, King James of England, in order to bring unity to various factions in England, commissioned a new translation of the Bible to be made. The result was the publication in 1611 of the "Authorized" or the "King James Version" of the Bible. A major difference between the "King James Version" and earlier versions was that there was a committee of some 48 scholars from varied backgrounds who worked on the translation. Previous translations were largely the result of one individual’s work.

In 1613, two years after it was published, it was revised with some 400 corrections being made. It was again revised in 1629 to correct printing errors, and other revisions were made in the text. A more thorough revision was made in 1638. In 1769, it underwent a major revision and updating of language. The 1769 edition has lasted until modern times. In 1975, the Thomas Nelson Publishers commissioned a group of 130 scholars to make the "King James Version" current for modern day readers. The result of their work was the "New King James Version".

The King James Version has, without question, been one of the finest Bible translations of all time. While it was not perfect, it set a new standard for scholarship and accuracy. Its beauty of language makes it a literary masterpiece that has stood the test of time for nearly 400 years.

After the King James Version was introduced, it faced considerable opposition. It was felt that a new translation was not needed and that it was inferior to previous translations. With time, it gradually gained acceptance and has remained the standard English Bible for nearly 400 years.

Who was the first individual to undertake a translation of most of the Bible into English?

When?

What did they do to him because of his work?

What was done to William Tyndale because of his translation work?

What happened to John Rodgers?

Do you have an appreciation for those who horribly suffered to give us the Bible in English?

What English Bible translation was the first to be translated by a group of men rather than primarily by a single individual?

What good translation has been the standard English translation for nearly 400 years?

The King James Version is a very good translation. Is it a perfect translation?

In the twentieth century there has been a proliferation of some twenty to thirty new modern English translations. Some of the most significant twentieth century translations are as follows:

1901 American Standard Version

1963 The New American Standard Version

1965 The Amplified Bible

1971 The Living Bible

1972 New International Version

1975 The New King James Version

1995 The Contemporary English Version

1996 New Living Translation

It is important to know that these translations were made by men committed to the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. Individuals from different denominations participated so that the translations would not be slanted by any one particular denomination. The intent has been to accurately and clearly translate the Bible into modern English, not to distort it as some have vehemently asserted.

Christians today have a choice of versions and many, perhaps most, have a strong preference for a particular version. That is okay. We are blessed to be able to choose. Our goal should be to learn and put into practice the Word of God. We should not be quick to condemn others who love the Word of God, but prefer a different translation. The New International Version has been the most widely sold Bible for the last twenty years.

The Living Bible a loose paraphrase and is primarily the result of one man’s work rather than a committee of men. It has been a helpful and popular easy reading or devotional Bible. It is not recommended for scholastic study. Within the last few years, the New Living Translation has been published. It is a more careful translation, but is still an easy to read translation.

Within the conservative evangelical Bible believing community, there are several reasons why new Bible translations are made.

1. There are several thousand languages spoken in the world today that do not have the Bible in their language at all. We must make the Bible available to people who do not have it in their own language. This process is proceeding at a faster rate than ever before, but it is still painfully slow. In the past it has taken a translator about fifteen years to learn a language and culture, then translate the Bible, and then go through the checking process and prepare it for publication. Computers have cut the time down some, but it is still a tedious process. Today there are still only about 320 languages out of some 4500 languages spoken today that have the whole Bible in their own language. The church needs to give high priority to translating God’s Word into languages that do not yet have it.

2. Languages continually change. What was meaningful and easily understood by our forefathers will not be so easily understood by our grandchildren. The desire to have a Bible in the commonly understood language of the day has been a major force behind new translations. This is a very worthy goal. God never intended that his Word be obscured or confusing to common people. In fact, when the common man could not easily read and understand, it led to many problems in the church and abuses by the clergy. When being saved from an eternity in hell is dependent on correctly understanding God’s Word, we must make God’s Word as understandable as we can to every person. This is a very important reason for new translations.

3. From time to time more manuscripts are discovered. Many of these are considerably older than the manuscripts that were available to early translators. These manuscript finds have overwhelmingly confirmed the accuracy of previously existing manuscripts. However, there are cases where recently discovered older manuscripts have shed new light on some passages. When changes in the text are made, there is manuscript justification for these variations.

Biblical scholars have intensely studied manuscripts in minute detail. Their findings are compared with the text of manuscripts they already have. They can discern where copying errors were made and are able to re-create the original texts with great accuracy. Therefore, there is the proper desire to incorporate it into the text of a newer translation. Newer versions reflect this increased understanding. It must be remembered that these corrections are made to only a very small part of the Scriptures. It should also be reemphasized that there is absolutely no Bible doctrine that has been changed or is in question because of more recent manuscript finds.

5. Biblical scholarship and understanding of ancient Hebrew and Greek has tremendously increased in recent times. Understanding an ancient language is far more complex and difficult than most of us realize. The Bible was written from about 2000 to 3500 years ago in a language and culture and with grammatical forms very different from our own. There are times when it is uncertain what some words or phrases meant. In recent years many Godly men have given their entire lives to this study. As a result, understanding of ancient Greek and Hebrew has increased. This intense study by Bible scholars has shed some new light on the text of Scripture. As this understanding has increased, it is reflected in the texts of later Bible Versions.

About how many languages do not have the complete Bible in that language?

How do changing languages affect Bible translation?

How do recent manuscript finds affect Bible translation?

How does the study of the ancient Greek and Hebrew languages affect Bible translation?

Reactions to Recent Translations

The reception of new translations by Bible believing Christians has been mixed. Some Christians have welcomed them while others have vehemently condemned them. One anonymous author makes the following statement about the New International Version:

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me repeat--the greatest delight of the devil is to change the Word of God into the word of man, rendering it powerless and meaningless to saint or sinner. This Perversion of God’s Word (the NIV) only adds to the confusion of tongues in our Sick Society and Laodicean church culture".

In his writing this unknown author condemns the New International Version as a work of the devil. Another pastor in his church bulletin condemned churches who "exchanged the Word of God for the New International Version". This is irresponsible and very harmful to the cause of Christ. Bible translation into modern English is NOT the work of Satan. The men who gave us these translations are men committed to the inspiration of Scripture, and under the direction of the Holy Spirit have given us God’s Word in a more accurate readable form. It is a very serious matter to call a Bible translation the work of Satan.

John R. Rice in his book "Our God Breathed Book-The Bible" has a good perspective. He states on pages 376 and 377,

When cults who are not Christians or who are Christians in name only, make translations that deliberately alter Scripture, we must recognize them as deliberate perversions of the Bible. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have a translation called the "New World Translation" in which the text has been deliberately altered to discredit the deity of Christ. The Mormons have also tampered with Scripture. The Reader’s Digest published what they called the "Shorter Bible" in which they removed the "irrelevant" parts. These and any other similar translations must be recognized for what they are. They have been deliberately changed to support a false doctrine taught by non-believers. Thus they need to be avoided by those of us who accept all of the Bible as the inspired Word of God.

For most of the last 400 years the King James Version has been used by millions of Christians. It is one of the finest translations ever made. If you have been using it and growing in your understanding of God’s Word and growing in your walk with God, there is no reason to change. However, if there are passages you don’t seem to understand, it may be helpful to use or consult other versions. If you are a teacher or a parent or grandparent reading the Bible to children, or youth or adults who are not real familiar with the Bible, then you should seriously consider using a more recent translation. The greater the understanding, the greater the power and effectiveness of the Word.

There are major portions of the Bible that are not easy to grasp from any translation. Yet in these passages there are gold mines of God’s revealed truth. God gave us all of the Bible. Yet there are major portions of the Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, that for all practical purposes, are ignored or neglected. This is done by both pastors and laymen. Yet we will never understand God as He has revealed himself in his Word unless we begin to absorb what He has revealed in the whole Bible. Using an easier to read and understand version is a good place to start in your pursuit of understanding God’s revealed truth.

The New King James Version is very good and helpful. The New American Standard Version is a very good teaching Bible. It is accurate and the text is easier to read and understand. The New International Version is a little more free in the translation and is easier to read. The New Living Translation is a little more free than the others and can be very helpful in difficult areas of the Bible. Any of these translations are good and can be very helpful.

God has given us his Word. He has preserved it and given it to us today in an amazingly accurate way. Let’s commit ourselves to reading and studying it, to believing it, to living it, to teaching and preaching it, to spreading it throughout the world, to using it to refute false doctrine, and to loving and serving other members of the body of Christ. Praise God for his written Word!!!

© Copyrighted

All Rights Reserved

October, 2001

The following Resources were used to aid in the development of this Lesson.

The New Ungers Bible Dictionary Holman Bible Dictionary

Merrill F. Unger Trent Butler, General Editor

Moody Press Holman Bible Publishers

How We Got the Bible Which Version Now?

Neil Lightfoot Bob Sheehan

Baker Book House Cary Publishers (England)

"A Layman’s Guide to Bible Versions" "Bible Translation Update"

Eternity Magazine Wycliffe Bible Translators

"The International Bible Examined" "The King James Only?"

Anonymous Grace Theological Seminary

"The Biblical Position on the KJV Controversy" "New Light From Old Manuscripts"

Dr. John MacArthur G. Christian Weiss

The Holy Bible The 1611 King James Version Our God-breathed Book-The Bible

Thomas Nelson Publishers John R. Rice

Sword of the Lord Publishers

Thomas Nelson Publishers.

American Bible Society

Kenneth Baker, Editor

International Bible Society

"Christian History" magazine Issue 43 (Vol. XIII, No. 3)