Can You Trust Your Bible?

I have been having an online discussion with a former friend who was educated in a fundamental Bible college and served as a youth pastor for several years. Sadly, he has fallen under the spell of modern intellectuals who have convinced him that the Bible texts we have today cannot be trusted to deliver the truth of the original authors. Their argument is that after centuries of copying and recopying the text, and with the influence of human thinkers down through the years, the Bibles we read today bear no resemblance to the original text. They are not truly God’s Word.

When we began our interchange, I quoted 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” I argued that if God was invested in the original writing through His Holy Spirit, it was only reasonable to assume that He would continue to superintend the transmission through the years. His response was (I paraphrase) that evil men developed the concept of inspiration to prompt obedience to their version of the truth. Naturally, since I was arguing from the Scripture as we have it today, he rejected the idea completely. He doesn’t believe our Bibles are reliable, so using them to prove a point is pointless.

I also used a defense of the Bible that is common today; we have thousands of very ancient manuscript fragments that in total represent every New Testament book. The sheer volume of manuscript evidence leads honest Bible scholars to the conclusion that while we don’t believe we have any copies of the originals, the fragments we do have push their reliability to a very high degree of confidence. We also have the written records of men we call the Apostolic Fathers, many of whom were acquainted with men who either came from the same generation as the Apostles, or they knew someone of that age. The Apostolic Fathers quote from most New Testament books, and their writings agree conceptually with the ancient fragments of Scripture we do have.

Even that defense of the Scripture failed to sway my friend; he believes the modern apologists who say the Gospels were written many decades after the events they record and therefore have no basis for belief. In his opinion, the authors could not have been eyewitnesses as they claim to be. The fact is that a contemporary of the Apostle John, Polycarp of Smyrna, (writing around 110-140 AD) is known for quoting or alluding to about 20 out of the 27 New Testament books. The textual arguments in favor of the reliability of our New Testament are decisive. Other ancient texts lack this volume of documents, yet scholars accept their writings without question.

I can see only one reason for choosing the modern dismissive view of the text of Scripture over the testimony of numerous ancient writings which give credence to its validity. God’s arch enemy has been using intellectual arguments ever since God first created Adam and Eve. The Serpent basically said to Eve, “Use your intellect woman; did God really say that?” Instead of looking to her heart and choosing to believe God, she fell for Satan’s intellectual ploy. She reverted to her soulish, fleshly appetite and disobeyed. Sadly, Adam joined her in her deception. Because of their disobedience, their spiritual connection with their Creator was severed, and they were left with nothing but worldly, soulish wisdom which James identifies as demonic.

You will note that the Bible record, which I choose to believe, paints a sad picture of the results of following worldly wisdom. First, things got so bad that God had to destroy virtually the entire human race and start over with Noah and his family. Soon after, the people became so proud of their worldly accomplishments that God had to confuse their language and leave them to their own devices as scattered nations. God chose one man, Abram, to become the father of a chosen nation which was supposed to become the people of God. They repeatedly chose to ignore the wisdom of their Creator and “did what was right in their own eyes.” The results were disastrous.

Paul tells us that God’s chosen people were never simply physical descendants of Abraham. The faith of Abraham, his choice to believe God, is what prompted God to call him righteous. Paul continues to identify faith – belief in God – as the sine qua non of God’s people. Without faith, the Hebrew writer says, it is impossible to please God. What my former friend has done is to disbelieve God by dismissing the Bible as authoritative in its present translations. He is saying no to God and yes to his intellectual friends.

I should clarify something at this point. It is not my opinion that the modern translations of the Bible are identical to the original manuscripts. All you have to do is read one passage in several different versions, and you will notice that many words are translated differently from version to version. This is inevitable when going from the original language (Hebrew or Greek) into the target language. Often, there is no exact English word for the original word. Translators use a word that they believe best represents the meaning of the original. Even though the different words are usually synonymous, the connotations of each word may differ. For example, “work” and “labor” are virtually synonymous. However, their meaning varies slightly depending on the context they are used to describe.

Versions also differ due to the underlying purpose of the translators. A direct word-for-word translation will sometimes sound quite different from a thought-for-thought version. When translators move away from direct literal translation, the occasion for commentary increases. (For a more detailed discussion of Bible versions, see “The Best Version of the Bible.”) It is also likely that the personal views of the translator will come into play, especially when deciding whether a passage is meant to be taken literally, or if it is figurative in some sense. I have covered this aspect of translation in several previous articles. (See Related Posts)

My deluded friend accused me of gatekeeping; he believes that we who trust that the Bibles we have today are sufficiently accurate to demand belief are closing our gates to people of different opinions. I suppose he is correct in a way. The Bible recommends discernment; it says we should have nothing to do with those who deny its truth. The Bible cautions us to beware of those who will believe anything that fills their itching ears. Paul warns Timothy that people will come to the church bringing teachings of demons. It’s hard to imagine anything more demonic that undercutting a person’s belief in the trustworthiness of Scripture. When I shared that idea with my fallen friend, he accused me of being the one who is misleading people.

I am sorry that my friend has lost his faith in the inspiration and accuracy of the Word of God as it is recorded in our modern Bibles. I still believe that with discernment and careful study, a modern version of the Bible can lead a person to saving faith and the truth about who God is and what He requires. As I wrote previously, “The Bible is a supernatural book. Reading the Bible without seeking the Holy Spirit’s help is a waste of precious time. Not reading the Bible at all is a waste of life.” The reason I can say this with confidence is that I believe the same Holy Spirit who inspired the original authors can use the words of today’s Bibles to convey God’ truth. Jesus did say the Holy Spirit will be our guide to the truth. That is a faith statement I am willing to die for. I will have to wait for the resurrection to know how my friend fares with his opinion.

Related Posts: Take the Bible Literally; The Vulture Has Landed