“Ancient
words, ever true,
Changing me, and changing you!
They have come from God’s own heart!
O let the ancient words impart!”
A disciple of Jesus is characterized by a love and hunger for God’s Word. As Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). As Isaiah put it, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). These were no ordinary words, as we know that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
But if you vary your Bible reading between translations, or you glance at the tiny footnotes, you may come to notice some differences… Where did this phrase go from my Bible? Or how did that get added in? Further study will reveal that the Bible has what we call textual variants, a technical term for the differences we will see that stem from early copies of Scripture.
Wait, My Bible Has Mistakes?
How then can we trust the Bible as true? This is an important question to grapple with as one seeks to know God and trust His Word. Let me encourage you to ask your questions, but not to doubt God’s Word! Yes, God’s Word is inerrant; it is without error (Proverbs 30:5, Psalm 19:7). God’s Word is infallible; it will not fail but will accomplish its purpose (Isaiah 55:10-11). God’s Word is trustworthy; it is true (Psalm 119:160, John 17:17).
We will need some background in order to better understand this. We know that Scripture came directly from God (2 Timothy 3:16) as His Spirit moved men to give His Word (2 Peter 1:20-21). Unlike today, when we can print many copies to easily distribute, copies were handwritten. Though hard work was done to cautiously reproduce God’s Word and to quickly distribute the gospel for equipping churches, you can imagine how easy it would be to make many mistakes in doing so. This gives us an abbreviated glimpse at the process.
What do we do now?
Should we throw out our English translations in search of the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts? Can we trust our Bibles at all?
First, know that the vast majority, roughly 99.8%, are majorly insignificant, such as a misspelling, a change in word order (i.e., “Jesus Christ” or “Christ Jesus”), or a change in pronoun (i.e., Philippians 4:13: “through Christ who strengthens me” or “through Him who strengthens me”). Some of the bigger ones that raise questions include 1 John 5:7, Mark 16:9-20, and John 7:53-8:11. In each of these, the longer version is represented by KJV, NKJV, and the “Majority Text,” which looks at what is more widely contained in the many copies of Scripture. However, the shorter version is represented by the “Eclectic Text” and most modern translations, which give greater weight to the earliest manuscripts, which do not contain these verses, indicating that they were likely added later.
While these can certainly be startling, we also recognize that our doctrine is not changed by these verses, and we still have the same overall biblical message. The Trinity is attested to by 1 John 5:7, but it is prominent throughout the rest of Scripture as well. We also get Jesus’ commissioning in the other gospels as well as Acts 1. While we don’t find the story of John 8 elsewhere, it fits the pattern of Jesus’ compassion and forgiveness, while urging a transformed life that abandons sin.
Preserved and Trustworthy
Jesus said in Matthew 5:18, For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. All of His Word is preserved, even if there are some minor uncertainties as to some of the small variants among our translations. We can trust the English translation we hold in our hands, rather than throwing it out and losing hope and trust in the Word of God.
That same Word is the Word which is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16), and which is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)!