The first of the 16 Fundamental Truths affirmed by the Assemblies of God reads, “The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct” (https://ag.org/Beliefs/Statement-of-Fundamental-Truths). For Christians, the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which we call the Bible, are the basis for everything we believe and do. But where did it come from and why should we trust it? I believe it’s natural and healthy to question where we’re getting our information, especially if we are going to believe that information to be the Word of God and the foundation of our faith. In order to decide for ourselves whether we will trust the Bible, we should be aware of how the Bible as we know it came to be. The Bible was written by 40+ authors, but inspired and divinely orchestrated by one Author, preserved over millennia by careful copying, and translated faithfully so that we can understand it.
The Bible is a Library
We tend to think of the Bible as one book, and while it does tell a cohesive story, in reality the Bible we know is made up of over 66 individual “books” or pieces of writing by 40+ authors composed over a span of more than 1500 years. The approximate dates for the writing of the 66 books from Genesis to Revelation span from 1445 BC to AD 96 (https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2016/02/when-was-each-book-of-the-bible-written/). Beginning at Mount Sinai, God wrote the Ten Commandments Himself (Exodus 31:18). Moses wrote the five books of the “Law” (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) based on communication from God. Later, Joshua, Moses’ successor, added to the canon, multiple authors including King David and his son Solomon contributed poetry, and prophets of the nation of Israel contributed the additional history and prophecy that make up the Old Testament. The New Testament consists of first- and secondhand accounts of Jesus’ ministry by the original apostles or those who knew them well, letters to early churches (by the apostles Paul, Peter, and John as well as James and Jude, brothers of Jesus), and further prophecy. Because it was written by so many people over such a long period of time, the Bible is probably better described as a library of books. This may help us better approach each book as the unique product of a time, place, culture, author, and God’s inspiration.
The Bible is Inspired, Infallible, Inerrant, & Authoritative
In a position paper from 2015, the Assemblies of God (AG) affirms “the Inspiration, Inerrancy, and Authority of Scripture” (https://ag.org/Beliefs/Position-Papers/Inspiration-Inerrancy-Authority-of-Scripture). They explain each of these terms in detail:
Inspiration
Inspiration refers to how the Holy Spirit guided the thoughts and words of each of the Bible’s authors as they composed Scripture. Thus, the writings in the Bible can be considered God’s words as much as the words of each particular author, whose personality and style quirks they retained. While all Scriptures are equally inspired, the means by which God communicated with the authors varied. Some scripture contains the literally dictated words of God, such as when God spoke directly to Moses (Leviticus 1:1) or when God sent His angel to John to give him Revelation (Revelation 1:1). At other times, however, God divinely directed the process of the texts’ creation in more subtle ways. Matthew and John would have relied on their own memory of Jesus’ words when writing the gospels, for example, and Luke conducted careful, deliberate research and information gathering to give us Luke and Acts (Luke 1:1-3).
Infallibility, Inerrancy, and Authority
Infallibility and inerrancy mean that the Bible says what it intends to say and there were no errors in the original manuscripts, while authoritative affirms that what the Bible says is true and final (AG). In other words, we can trust that the Bible says what God meant it to and what He said can be trusted and used as the basis for faith and action. The Bible itself affirms this authority and trustworthiness many times, and Scriptures are referred to throughout the text as the actual words of God. Paul writes to Timothy calling Scripture “God-breathed” and hints that he means the Old Testament Scripture as well as what Timothy had learned from Paul and the other teachings that would form the New Testament:
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:14-17)
There is more internal evidence for the inspiration, infallibility, and authority of the Bible than I can go into here, but we can trust that God saw to it that the Scriptures are as truthful and reliable as He is.
The Bible We Have Was Preserved Accurately from the Original Texts
No original manuscripts of the Scriptures exist. However, we do have thousands of manuscripts hand-copied from the originals by scribes and scholars. Today, textual critics can compare existing ancient manuscripts with other copies and show an amazing degree of accuracy. The original writings of the Old Testament and New Testament were inspired and without error, and these writings have been accepted as Scripture since early in church history. Even without seeing the originals, we can be confident that we have the original wording available to us today based on the number of manuscripts available to be compared, which consistently affirm each other’s accuracy.
Careful Translations Allow More People to Be Impacted by God’s Word
Inerrancy refers to the original writings, and we have accurate copies of those originals. But without translation, there would be very few who could read and benefit from it, since it was originally written in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Bible translators use the best practices to preserve the original meaning while making the Word accessible to as many people as possible. Differences based on minor variations in chosen manuscripts are usually explained or noted in footnotes and generally account for very little of the meat of the Bible.
Modern English versions use a variety of approaches to translation. Some focus on a word-for-word approach to translation, trying to preserve the original wording as much as possible: these include the English Standard Version (ESV), New American Standard Bible (NASB), and New King James Version (NKJV). Others take a thought-for-thought approach, more concerned with making each idea come through clearly for modern readers than preserving wording that might be confusing: some of these are the New International Version (NIV), New Living Translation (NLT) and Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Still others, such as The Message by Eugene Peterson, are more accurately described as paraphrases, since their purpose is not accurate translation so much as making the message in the Scriptures fresh and easy-to-understand for a particular audience. With so many to choose from, how do we choose which translation to use? You might have your favorite translation, or you might use different versions for different purposes (such as the ESV for Bible study and the Message for personal devotions). I like to use the NIV for this blog because it has a clear, simple style and is actually pretty close on the scale toward word-for-word translations. Overall, though, I am an advocate for using and comparing several versions—including word-for-word, thought-for-thought, and paraphrase—to get a richer picture of God’s Word that is both fresh and clear as well as accurate to the original writings.
We Can Trust God to Preserve His Word
In Matthew 5:18, Jesus says,
“For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18).
For His audience at the time, Jesus would have been referring to the Hebrew Bible here, but this passage affirms that God can and does ensure the continued preservation of His Scriptures even to the smallest detail. God has miraculously inspired the authors of the Scriptures to write His Word, preserved it accurately over thousands of years, and still causes it to change lives and guide believers with the help of the Holy Spirit.
If you have further questions or are looking for more in-depth answers about how we got the Scriptures, I encourage you to explore for yourself and dig deeper than I was able to here. Your pastor, church leaders, or other spiritual mentors can most likely recommend some resources they trust. Never be afraid to ask questions because God’s Word can stand up to scrutiny. God is trustworthy, and so are His Words.
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