Bibles
Text
Which Text
Can we trust the text of our modern bibles? Which text is that? There are hundreds of manuscripts from which
to choose. There are several text type
families, and sub families, two of them major: each requiring experts to
decode.
What Language
What language do we even mean? There is no evidence that paleo-Hebrew
existed before 1000 BC. What ever will
we do with Moses (1406-1366 BC)? Will we
conclude with liberals that Moses is a fabrication and a fraud? Or will we consider the very real probability
that Moses wrote in a different language: say Akkadian, the era and location
front runner. If Moses wrote in
Akkadian, a cuneiform language, then neither paleo-Hebrew, nor Hebrew are
“spiritual” languages: the only languages in which Scripture can be
written. What we call Hebrew today is
really block Aramaic script re-recording previous paleo-Hebrew documents after
516 BC: the Jews learned the new language while they were exiled in Babylon: by
that time the Jews had left Yahweh and He had left them, except for a few
notable prophets: there was no presence of Glory in the second temple until
Christ came to it. Which of these
paleo-Hebrew, or Hebrew manuscripts even survives? Precious few of them. The Dead Sea Scrolls have a very uncertain
provenance, and narrowing scope (look them up).
Which of these paleo-Hebrew, or Hebrew manuscripts is inerrant? None of them; all of them are copies. What language do we even mean? Most certainly, not Hebrew.
Judaism
Can we trust the voice of Judaism which has fought against
Christ and Christianity from 4 BC, down through the ages? Absolutely not! The Apostle John, writing in 1 John 2:20-28,
has already concluded that Judaism is fundamentally against Christ. By what authority, right, or warrant do we
dare to reverse John’s ruling on this matter?
We have no such authority.
The Only Authority
Or must we trust Christ, Who, by all indications placed His
stamp of approval on the Greek Old Testament?
If Christ and the Spirit, coming from the Father are the One(s) we must
trust, then the Septuagint is what we must trust. So, if we’re not involved in Septuagint
studies, one way or another, were not using what Christ handed on to us: there
are Septuagint translations of varying quality available. Which of these Septuagint manuscripts is
inerrant? Not one; as far as we know,
all are copies: not a single original survives.
Delegation of
Authority
To whom did Christ delegate the authority to keep the Bible
in the best possible condition down through the ages? The Twelve Apostles, who delegated this trust
to the Early Church. For me, the best
and simplest course of action is to cling as tightly as possible to what the
Early Church handed down, and ask the Spirit to teach that to us. Without this Old Testament, there can be no
New Testament: for this Septuagint Old Testament was the Bible of the early New
Testament Church: the New Testament was written from the foundation of this
Septuagint Old Testament. Can we trust
the Septuagint? Yes, we must trust the
Septuagint: for it preserves readings that did not even exist in Hebrew prior
to 1000 BC; for it is, according to all available evidence, the document which
Crist endorses.
Remaining
Difficulties
Does this simplify the difficulty of handling very many
manuscripts, which are not all in perfect agreement? No, it still requires dozens of experts to
classify, decode, interpret, and verify these manuscripts. Yes, these experts seem to change their
opinions about the text every year. Yes,
this is still a confusing mess to clergy and laity alike: for few of us have
the skills or the tools to cope with this complexity. Nevertheless, in spite of what the experts
claim, the Early New Testament Church is to be trusted as the faithful
instrument of perpetuating God’s words on earth. Therefore, the Septuagint is to be trusted
because the Early New Testament Church says so.
The Only Power
If we have any doubts above and beyond this; we have direct
access to the Holy Spirit: so, we should bring all of our concerns to the
Spirit first, trusting that He will guide us in the right way.
Then, when the Spirit confirms what the
preacher is preaching, and there is broad agreement among the people of God, we
begin to have confidence that we are on the right track, in step with the
heavenly Church.
[i]
Questions
Do we have widespread agreement among the people of God,
within the churches? The gift of the
Spirit should be the number one issue of agreement. Close behind the Spirit, should be His
teaching of the Septuagint. In this we
should place every confidence.
[i]
Decisions were ratified by “The Whole Church”.
While this must mean The Whole Church gathered in Jerusalem; a body of
any size statistically reduces the possibility that there will be objection to this decision anywhere: The Whole Church gathered in Jerusalem is a valid
random statistical representation of The Whole Church everywhere.
A statistical risk remains; yet, it is very
small; the only means to make it better is to publish it to The Whole Church at
large.
Acts 15:22
