Preservation - the Bible’s extension through time and language
God’s Promise of Preservation
• Psalms 12:6-7
– thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever
• 1 Peter 1:20-23
– the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
• Matthew 5:18
– Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled
• Matthew 24:35
– my words shall not pass away
• Isaiah 40:8
– the word of our God shall stand for ever
• Psalms 119:89
– thy word is settled in heaven
• Psalms 119:160
– endureth for ever
Preservation Explained in the New Testament
• God’s Word is truth
– John 17:17
• The Church is pillar and ground of truth
– 1 Tim. 3:15
• The Church “received” His words directly
– John 17:8
• The saints are charged to contend for it
– Jude 3
• The saints are taught to teach what has been preserved
– Matt. 28: 18-20
Means of Preservation in the Old Testament
• Deuteronomy 17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
– Priests
– Kings (had to make own copy from the Priest’s copy
The Issue
• Scripture clearly states that God will preserve His word.
• We do not possess the original autographs.
• There are 5000 Greek manuscripts that contain all or part of the New Testament.
• Many of these manuscripts contain variant reading .
Two Issues
• Textual
– Was God’s word preserved whole or in parts and fragments?
• Translational
– Is one translation superior to the others or are all basically the same?
Importance
• This is a serious issue which affects fundamental doctrines.
• Taking a different position does not make you a heretic.
• Both sides have difficult questions.
• Few have studied the issue carefully.
• Taking extreme positions on either side is dangerous.
– Correct Greek from KJV
– Any version is the word of God
Two schools of belief regarding preservation
• God preserved his word through the Received Text (Textus Receptus, Majority)
– Larger number of manuscripts but newer
• God preserved his word through various manuscripts (Critical Text) and scholars must sift through to determine what is original.
– Smaller number of manuscripts but older
Synonyms
• Critical Text• Eclectic
• Minority
• Egyptian – Alexandrian
• Wescott & Hort
• Nestles’ Aland text / • Textus Receptus
• Received Text
• Byzantine
• Majority
• Syrian
• Western
• Traditional
Important Terms (A More Sure Word) Critical Text
• Alexandrian – refers to the fact that the dominant manuscripts come from Egypt.
• Minority – highlights the fact that his text rests on little actual manuscript evidence.
• Critical Text – represents a “scholarly” or critical look at the received Text; allowing for its corrections in a new text.
• Nestles’ – Aland text - two men most responsible for printing the Critical Text.
• Westcott – Hort text – two men who lead translations away from the Received Text.
Important Terms (A More Sure Word) Textus Receptus (Received Text)
• Received Text - (Textus Receptus) – Greek text edited and printed by Erasmus in A.D. 1516. Text from which the KJV was translated.
• Syrian – refers to the region where missions and Bible printing exploded.
• Antiochian – this refers to the city where the first missionaries were called. This church also printed the Old Latin (Itala) and the Syriac Peshitta.
• Important Terms (A More Sure Word)
Textus Receptus (Received Text)
• Byzantine – The Greek-speaking Christians of the Byzantine empire recognized that this text was superior to anything coming from Alexandria.
• Traditional – refers to the fact that this is the text that has been traditionally used by the churches.
Early Papyrus Witness
• P45
– Date – A.D. 250
– 30 leaves of papyrus
– All four Gospels & Acts
• P46
– Date – A.D. 250
– 86 leaves
– 10 epistles of Paul
Early Uncial Manuscripts
• א Codex Sinaiticus
– Date A.D. 500
– Entire Bible
• Discovered in 1844 (in a basket of scraps that the monks were using to light their fires)
• Codex Vaticanus
– Date A.D. 325-350
– Entire Bible
– Existed in Rome prior
to 1475
Origins of the Textus Receptus
• Erasmus
– Date A.D. 1516
– Edited and printed a Greek text according to the Byzantine text .
Changes in modern versions
• Omitted Verses
– Acts 8:37
– Matthew 17:21
– John 5:4
• Changed Text
– 1 John 5:7
• Footnoted Text
– John 8:1-11
– Mark 16:9-20
Isaiah 40:8
• The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Major Players
• John Wycliffe – first to publish Bible in English during the late 1300’s. His English is based on the Latin Vulgate.
• William Tyndale – first to translate from Greek to English, and was Burned at the stake
– KJV retains over 90% of his word translations
• Erasmus – Catholic priest. Not in good favor with the Pope (his work was on the “Forbidden Reading” list) Not wanting to break with tradition as a Protestant. (dies somewhere in between…) Used of God to bring the churches back to a pure Greek text used by underground churches rather than using the corrupted Vulgate by Jerome.
• Stephanus – Also presented the world with several GreeK editions. He also divided the Bible into chapters and verses.
• Elziver Brothers - printing team that published Bibles and texts. As an advertising blurb, they mentioned the “omnibum textum receptum…” the text now received by all. The name “Textus Receptus” stuck.
Critical text proponents have four major factors:
• The oldest manuscripts are the best.
• The manuscripts should be weighed, not counted.
• The more difficult readings are to be preferred.
• The shorter reading is to be preferred.
Facts are pesky things!
• Fact 1 – Alexandrian text is shorter; the Received Text is longer.
• Fact 2 – Alexandrian manuscripts are older than the Byzantine.
How you “interpret” these facts is where the debate rages:
– Were early heretics more apt to take away or add to text?
– Were older manuscripts “older” because of rejection?
How did God preserve his word?
• God preserved his word through the Received Text (Textus Receptus, Majority)
– Used for many centuries with very little variation
• God preserved his word through various manuscripts (Critical Text) and scholars must sift through to determine what is original.
– Discovered in recent years (1844, 1933) a great deal of disagreement
Conclusion
• God has preserved his word through the Received Text .
– It has been consistently used by the church
– Protects key doctrines
– Does not rely on the work of scholars
– Contains few minor variations