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Anyone care to tackle this one:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44117239/ns ... _n_africa/

This is nothing new to any Bible scholar (or any serious student of the history of the Bible). The text as we use it is really a conglomerate text of numerous texts as we attempt to discern the "original" text. While the article attempts to portray such things as "shocking" to the "orthodox" it really isn't so shocking. The notions set out as "orthodox" are that the text somehow magically was sent from heaven unchanged. But this is not the actual history of the text. As one studies the texts behind our texts one discovers quite a multiplicity of divergent texts. Some more significant than others, but none that overthrow the trustworthiness of Scripture.

You may find that reading Dan Wallace's "Inspiration, Preservation and New Testament Textual Criticism" to be helpful on the text of the NT in a similar regard to the issues involved in the news article you've cited concerning the OT. I wrote a brief paper on the OT "original" text that you may also find helpful HERE and one on the OT "canon" HERE. I have also been doing some blogging for Bible.org HERE where I have just briefly dealt within a couple of posts (so far) with these sorts of issues. They are the ones titled: "Lost in Translation".

BTW, I was wondering if there was a particular point that was bothersome to you?

(In full disclosure, I should mention that I am delighted by the work of the three [the article you cited only mentioned two] projects under way to create a more thoroughly referenced critical text of the Old Testament: the Hebrew University Bible [the one from the article and apparently their link isn't working at the moment], the Biblia Hebraica Quinta and the Oxford Hebrew Bible).

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After reading the article I fully agree with Antipater. The process of textual criticism is an on-going process of examining ancient documents, ancient translations, and examining archeological findings. My belief in the inspiration of the Bible is not at all affected by textual criticism. Since we have no original documents for the OT or NT (as a matter of fact we have no originals for any ancient writers to my knowledge). We must rely on copies and ancient translations and compare them to each other in order to find the written word of God. I would recommend reading Bruce M. Metzger's book "The Text of the New Testament," "The New Testament its background, growth, and content," "The Early Versions of the New Testament." In addition to Wallace's book. I have read the books mentioned above by Metzger but I have not read the book by Wallace on textual criticism but I have read all of his articles at bible.org.

How about how we are to understand this in relation to the inspiration of scripture with all these variants? This article seems to be implying that our Bible is not trustworthy and undermining its authoritative nature. Just read some of the comments of the article. I find it hard to believe that this wasn't the author's intent.

The variants, to my understanding do not detract from the message of the Bible. There are no major doctrines affected and no contradictions. Many of the variants are misspellings or minor changes in words. However, God has miraculously preserved the meaning of his Word and the message of the Gospel is still clear and consistent.

One of the ways this is dealt with is by holding to the inspiration of the autographs as stated in the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (particularly Article X):

There are, of course, other perspectives which understand inerrancy to not be central to the Faith (though not unimportant), e.g. Dan Wallace. And there are still other takes on it as well.

I would encourage you, mulliganman, to take time to carefully read the article I noted by Wallace and also to take the time to read the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy in full. It will go far in answering your questions. If you have a very specific one you feel is not addressed by these myself or another here will gladly see if we can help.

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The idea that manuscripts as geographically and chronologically diverse as the Dead Sea Scrolls, a 5th century Rabbinic commentary and a 1546 Venetian Old Testament would be exactly the same is...humorous at best.

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Στηθι εδραιος, ως ακμων τυπτομενος. - Ignatius |II Timothy 4:2| All Scripture is NKJV, unless a translation from the Greek text or otherwise noted.
M.A. Theological Studies (New Testament), Faith Seminary, Tacoma WA
Member, Evangelical Theological Society, North American Patristics Society.
Assistant Editor and contributing author of several published and forthcoming publications.

Very true! But it makes for a form of writing that is intended to cause people to be predisposed to disagree with the project.

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I wonder how many scribal errors are there on the head of a needle

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Kola,

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

70 x 7!

The variety within the ancient witnesses is in fact a guarantee of the truthfulness and reliability of the record. Objects in this world are affected by the passage of time and the foibles of humanity - yet through these things we have a reliable record of those words which God gave to us. Occasionally we wish that there was no fold in the page - or that the ink had not faded, but nevertheless the inspired words are before us.

As had been stated before - inerrancy assures the perfect origination of scipture - and the need for care and respect in the handling of such a gift.

John

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Pastor John C. Blackburn

Well said pastorjohn. I believe that God inspired His word and that word is preserved in the original languages and although man has copied them with human mistakes God has miraculously intervened to preserve His word for mankind.
I remember one day my daughter was looking at my Bible collection and she asked which one was the Bible I said all of them and none of them; all of them in that they were faithful translations to the original languages but none of them in that they were translations and not the Greek and Hebrew. Rather than point out differences and variants in texts we should compare them for understanding - using the diversity of texts to aid in our understanding of Scripture.

I have seen somewhere that the Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts, the Masoretic text and the Septuagint are largely identical. That fact alone gives huge support to the argument that we have as close to the original text of the OT as we will get.

They are certainly similar at many points, but there are a number of rather significant distinctions to be found in individual verses, whole passages (like 1 Sam.17) and even whole books (like Jeremiah). There are (at times what appears to be) divergent streams of the original text of the OT, yet the majority seems to be preserved fairly well (at least within several). We are much better off with the multiple testimonies covering significant time periods that are still remarkably similar enough. Part of the issue is that the Hebrew text we have now is a Masoretic text (fairly standardized by the 10th-12th century AD). The LXX and Qumran texts help to try to establish either a separate "original" preserved in several communities or even to work out a Proto-Masoretic reading, or sometimes what appears to be a sectarian, paraphrastic or midrashic-type reading.

But you are right that it is still surprising the level of continuity the text has maintained over vast periods of time in very diverse locations for different communities.

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I heard something similar from an academic. "The OT as we have it is 99.9% the same as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the remaining difference accounts for grammatical differences that don't change the meaning of any teaching. People who say or imply that our Hebrew transliterations or Greek translations are divergent from the original to the point that the meanings are contradictory are deceitful or disingenuous."

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I am a stranger in a wicked and adulterous land. I look forward to returning home one day.

the thing is .... they have a vested interest in the Bible being inaccurate - so it is important to keep bringing the facts back into view

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