Faithfully Preserved; Faithfully Translated
Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures
8. The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which, at the time of the writing of it, was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and, by his singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical; so as, in all controversies of religion, the church is finally to appeal unto them. But, because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that, the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope.
The first thing this paragraph addresses is the issue of the preservation of the texts of scripture. Sometimes critics of the Bible will make comments like "How do we know that this is even what was originally written? For all we know, some monk changed it when they were copying it!" This may sound like a feasible argument, and some will certainly latch onto it, but not because it has been proven to be true. "For all we know" isn't fact, it's an ignorant conjecture; the possibility that something might be does not equal proof. In reality, those who cling to such an idea do so because they have already made up their minds about the Bible: they want to reject it, and such possibilities give them the purchase they are looking for.
But the original question is a fair one: How do we know that the text of the Bible we have today is the authentic inspired words which God gave to His servants throughout history? First off, we have over 20,000 ancient manuscripts that testify to the authenticity of the New Testament alone, one of the earliest of which is dates to between 100 and 150 A.D. And while these manuscripts show variations, none of these variations are so drastic as to change the fundamental message and teachings of the scriptures, and by comparing older and newer manuscripts, or manuscripts from different regions, we can discern which variations are most likely to be original and which ones were later alterations. Now I imagine that those who have already made up their mind to reject the Bible are going to scoff at this, but the reality is that we have far more attestation to the authenticity of the New Testament than we do of Plato's writings for example, yet no one questions the authenticity of what Plato wrote. The New Testament is indeed one of the most extensively documented ancient books.
The Old Testament evidence is not far behind this, with some of the earliest manuscripts dating between the 3rd century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. (The Dead Sea Scrolls), to many many Greek translations of the Old Testament (called the Septuagint), and even an amulet dated to around 600 B.C. that contains the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26). Along with this we have the writings of many early teachers that utilize the scriptures, further verifying the authenticity of the text we now read. So again, there is strong testimony concerning the accuracy of the Bible. So much so that those who reject it for this reason are in reality showing their bias--a presupposition that they refuse to relinquish. Scripture tells us that people reject the clear testimony of God's existence because they don't want there to be a just and holy God to whom they have to give account, and to whom they owe devotion (Romans 1:18-32). But God has preserved His word by His divine providence, as is clearly seen in history. And because of this, we have His Word as the authority for faith and practice, as the Confession says: the final say on all controversies of religion in the church. This means that opinions and preferences must come into submission, and even be set aside for the sake of the authority of God's Word.
Because of the importance of the Word of God to the church, it is necessary that the Bible be translated into the language of the church. For a point of history, during the era of Medieval Roman Catholicism, the Bible was only allowed to be in Latin. There were many reasons for this, one of which is the fear of untrained people teaching errors from the Bible. Yet the ironic thing is that the Latin translation which the church was using at that point was called the Vulgate. The Vulgate was a Latin translation of the scriptures done by a man named Jerome, and it was called the Vulgate, because it was a translation of the texts of the scriptures...into the vulgar language of the time: Latin. That is to say, it was translated into Latin, so that Latin speaking people would be able to read the Bible in their own language!
But what place does the original Greek and Hebrew have for the church today? I had a language professor in seminary one say that studying the Bible in its original languages was like changing from black and white to color: you get the same content, but you see it in all of the vibrant hues of the Greek and Hebrew languages. However, this does not mean that you can only really understand the Bible in the original languages! But it is the job of pastors, teachers, and translators to be able to communicate the details of the text to their church, or in their translations. Translators attempt to do this in various ways, as is evident in the various translations that we have: some try to balance readability with sticking to the text as close as possible. This is a challenge because the construction of Greek and Hebrew sentences can be somewhat different than English sentences.
For example, lets consider Jonah 4:1, which reads thus in the ESV: "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry." A literal word for word translation of the Hebrew text, would read "And it was evil to Jonah, an evil great, and He was angry." The translators of the ESV sought to be true to the Hebrew text, yet at the same time sought to make the meaning clear to English speakers. In order to do this, they translated an idiom of the Hebrew language ("And it was evil to Jonah---a great evil.") in order to say the same thing in a way English speakers would be more familiar with("But it displeased Jonah exceedingly"). We have different translations because different groups have done the work of translation with different philosophies or purposes. The ESV is a translation that seeks to balance readability with keeping true to the structure of the text. Some translations seek to render the meaning of the text rather than a word for word equivalency. And some do this to the point of leaving the realm of translation and becoming a paraphrase. For example, The Message renders Jonah 4:1 as " Jonah was furious. He lost his temper."
The ultimate goal of all of this should be one and the same no matter the translation: "...that, the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope." The scriptures are necessary for the proper worship of God: we must know them in order to know God and to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The Scriptures are also vital for the health of the church: we must have access to them so that we can receive God's promises, trust Him, and wait on Him patiently as we live our lives in hopeful faithfulness.
In our day and age we almost take the Bible for granted. How many Bibles do you have? How often do you pick it up? In the days of the reformation, when the Bible was first being translated into the common languages, it was celebrated as an amazing gift: the Word of God in my own language! Do not neglect this great gift--it has been preserved by God for the sake of the health and hope of the church. If you are struggling in your faith and in life, or if you have no faith at all, then you must pick up this book. In these pages alone is the hope of mankind, because in these pages alone is found the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!
But the original question is a fair one: How do we know that the text of the Bible we have today is the authentic inspired words which God gave to His servants throughout history? First off, we have over 20,000 ancient manuscripts that testify to the authenticity of the New Testament alone, one of the earliest of which is dates to between 100 and 150 A.D. And while these manuscripts show variations, none of these variations are so drastic as to change the fundamental message and teachings of the scriptures, and by comparing older and newer manuscripts, or manuscripts from different regions, we can discern which variations are most likely to be original and which ones were later alterations. Now I imagine that those who have already made up their mind to reject the Bible are going to scoff at this, but the reality is that we have far more attestation to the authenticity of the New Testament than we do of Plato's writings for example, yet no one questions the authenticity of what Plato wrote. The New Testament is indeed one of the most extensively documented ancient books.
The Old Testament evidence is not far behind this, with some of the earliest manuscripts dating between the 3rd century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. (The Dead Sea Scrolls), to many many Greek translations of the Old Testament (called the Septuagint), and even an amulet dated to around 600 B.C. that contains the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26). Along with this we have the writings of many early teachers that utilize the scriptures, further verifying the authenticity of the text we now read. So again, there is strong testimony concerning the accuracy of the Bible. So much so that those who reject it for this reason are in reality showing their bias--a presupposition that they refuse to relinquish. Scripture tells us that people reject the clear testimony of God's existence because they don't want there to be a just and holy God to whom they have to give account, and to whom they owe devotion (Romans 1:18-32). But God has preserved His word by His divine providence, as is clearly seen in history. And because of this, we have His Word as the authority for faith and practice, as the Confession says: the final say on all controversies of religion in the church. This means that opinions and preferences must come into submission, and even be set aside for the sake of the authority of God's Word.
Because of the importance of the Word of God to the church, it is necessary that the Bible be translated into the language of the church. For a point of history, during the era of Medieval Roman Catholicism, the Bible was only allowed to be in Latin. There were many reasons for this, one of which is the fear of untrained people teaching errors from the Bible. Yet the ironic thing is that the Latin translation which the church was using at that point was called the Vulgate. The Vulgate was a Latin translation of the scriptures done by a man named Jerome, and it was called the Vulgate, because it was a translation of the texts of the scriptures...into the vulgar language of the time: Latin. That is to say, it was translated into Latin, so that Latin speaking people would be able to read the Bible in their own language!
But what place does the original Greek and Hebrew have for the church today? I had a language professor in seminary one say that studying the Bible in its original languages was like changing from black and white to color: you get the same content, but you see it in all of the vibrant hues of the Greek and Hebrew languages. However, this does not mean that you can only really understand the Bible in the original languages! But it is the job of pastors, teachers, and translators to be able to communicate the details of the text to their church, or in their translations. Translators attempt to do this in various ways, as is evident in the various translations that we have: some try to balance readability with sticking to the text as close as possible. This is a challenge because the construction of Greek and Hebrew sentences can be somewhat different than English sentences.
For example, lets consider Jonah 4:1, which reads thus in the ESV: "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry." A literal word for word translation of the Hebrew text, would read "And it was evil to Jonah, an evil great, and He was angry." The translators of the ESV sought to be true to the Hebrew text, yet at the same time sought to make the meaning clear to English speakers. In order to do this, they translated an idiom of the Hebrew language ("And it was evil to Jonah---a great evil.") in order to say the same thing in a way English speakers would be more familiar with("But it displeased Jonah exceedingly"). We have different translations because different groups have done the work of translation with different philosophies or purposes. The ESV is a translation that seeks to balance readability with keeping true to the structure of the text. Some translations seek to render the meaning of the text rather than a word for word equivalency. And some do this to the point of leaving the realm of translation and becoming a paraphrase. For example, The Message renders Jonah 4:1 as " Jonah was furious. He lost his temper."
The ultimate goal of all of this should be one and the same no matter the translation: "...that, the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope." The scriptures are necessary for the proper worship of God: we must know them in order to know God and to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The Scriptures are also vital for the health of the church: we must have access to them so that we can receive God's promises, trust Him, and wait on Him patiently as we live our lives in hopeful faithfulness.
In our day and age we almost take the Bible for granted. How many Bibles do you have? How often do you pick it up? In the days of the reformation, when the Bible was first being translated into the common languages, it was celebrated as an amazing gift: the Word of God in my own language! Do not neglect this great gift--it has been preserved by God for the sake of the health and hope of the church. If you are struggling in your faith and in life, or if you have no faith at all, then you must pick up this book. In these pages alone is the hope of mankind, because in these pages alone is found the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!