"It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people.
The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom."
Horace Greeley

________________________

WE DO NOT HAVE IT!

(or - WHY DON'T YOU HAVE IT?!)

The question was put like this:

"Would you please clarify your Statement of Faith about the Bible? You say 'inerrant in the original writing'. Do we have a Bible book today, here and now, that is as the Statement of Faith states? A book that one can wave over his head or press against his chest and believe it is that inerrant and infallible Bible in English? Your answer will be much appreciated." (e-mail sent to "foi-IJS@pcb.edu - Institute of Jewish Studies).

The "ANSWER" came back two weeks later like this:

"We believe that the Bible is inerrant in the original writings. That means that what Moses and the OT prophets wrote in Hebrew and the NT apostles wrote in Greek is inerrant scripture. Unfortunately, we do not have any of the original manuscripts; we only have copies of them. When we compare the copies we have of the original manuscripts, we find that while they are mostly in agreement, there are some differences. So, textual critics try to determine from comparing the date and place of the varying manuscripts which contains the best reading which is probably original. That means that any translation that we might make of from the Hebrew and Greek comes from these manuscripts including the places where the texts differ.

So, while we believe that God's Word is inerrant and infallible, and we affirm that, we do acknowledge that there are various readings on some texts. The good news is that this concerns only about 1%-2% of the Bible text as a whole and does not affect any major doctrine. In other words, the fact that we do not have any of the original documents does not hinder us from knowing clearly, what God has said. This is a brief answer to your question. If you have more questions, please ask. In Christ, Herb Hirt, Director, Institute of Jewish Studies."

Dear reader, the question was very clear and asked for a book called "The Bible" that could be waved over one's head or pressed against one's chest and believed to be the inerrant and infallible Bible in English. The answer was: "NO, WE DO NOT HAVE SUCH A THING!" (That was the bad news& but the good news was& read on.)

And why not?

Well, it is all God's fault, you see. It is rather discomforting for a man of God to have to explain that God could not finish the entire project and give us THE BIBLE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT PERFECT. He managed 98 or 99 percent at best.

The "real" story is rather complicated, not to say embarrassing. You see, what really happened is that God inspired His precious Gem in the original writing, knowing that man would soon lose part of it. Many, many centuries later, men called "textual critics" (we don't know if they were Christians, probably not) using scientific methods of research and analysis, would gather copies of "the original" and attempt to recover the lost Masterpiece. Unfortunately, the last piece, that is "about 1% - 2% of the Bible text" was lost forever, unrecoverable.

Moral of the story:

God gave up, even with the expert help of a group of well-intentioned and capable scientists, attempting to recover the fateful last 300 to 600 verses of the original. It is rather a sad finale.

You see, God knew that in the last days of the church on earth, inquisitive voices would ask colleges and schools to identify the Bible that these entities would supply their students and tell them to read, study, memorize, press against their chest and mention in S. of F., as the infallible and inerrant word of God. God knew it.

God also knew that directors, ministers, teachers, textual critics and writers would be pressed to stand up by the Bible that they would constantly talk of. In desperation, the Author of Sacred Scripture would scratch the earth looking for the little missing pieces that would complete the large picture of the jigsaw puzzle. He would request the help of anybody who could help, from Catholics to Protestants, to archaeologists, to librarians, to scientists, to Statements of Faith, anybody or anything that could be interested in helping the handicapped God. To no avail! Forget it, the last few pieces were not to be found.

How now do school directors and the other embarrassed protagonists fix, eventually, the missing link?

Oh, brother, various techniques, procedures and skills have been engendered, constructed and elaborated to cover, coat and plaster the open spaces in the large puzzle (though much arguing and disagreement has been heard in the expert circles).

Primarily, when a clear-cut question like the above one is formulated, the tactic to answer it, is to appeal to one's logical approach and sentiment. You look at the faulty puzzle, but you are informed that it is perfect in the original. You have the honest word of the textual critic and his informed opinion. Go by their integrity, for they have been in the business longer and they know what they are talking about.

Secondly, you must realize that in the process of translating from the original - which does not exist! - something is always lost, no matter whether the translation was done under the supervision of its Author the Holy Spirit. That simply means that the very first time a translation was attempted, say into English, the Scriptures' Author lifted His hands in the air and exclaimed in agony, "Oh, my goodness, there goes the inerrant and infallible Masterpiece!" It was not much, actually, just two or three pieces of the gigantic jigsaw puzzle. However, under the inspiration of the same Author, every time a church leader, college director and others opened that book and waved it in the air, they stated that it is perfect in the original! Then came the second translation, and the third, fourth, fifth and the thousandth. No way did the Author manage to recover the inerrant and perfect original Gem.

Thirdly, the tactic to answer the above question satisfactorily, is to give the student, recent- convert, inquirer or disgruntled, as many different versions, translations and paraphrases as the market is currently merchandising. So, don't blame the director of the IJS or any other godly man for not being able to frankly, forthrightly and bluntly answer your question directly.

The whole mess is God's! And don't be stupid asking for a BOOK that you can wave above your square head or press against your sentimental chest, or a BOOK that you can offer to a new convert who knows nothing about "bible versions". Don't make yourself look like an idiot. Such a thing doesn't exist!

Please, understand also that those church leaders or college directors who have to give an answer to such intrusive, pushy and meddling questions also have their share of struggling, bewilderment and panic with the issue.

Obviously, they cannot be completely open to questions like the one above, for reasons of having to save face, their incomes, prestige and approval. How could they tell you such a thing, in view of God's failure? It becomes then all a matter of personal preference, taste, first choice and liking.

How do you think it possible that they would even tell you what is their own selection? Whatever they chose privately is their own prerogative and none of your business! You see, what good does it do to godliness and Christian character to suggest a version like the NIV or the LT, if ultimately you might not like them or your pastor prefers a different one? Your stupid question, and let us be absolutely friendly frank here, wanting a book to press against your chest, etc., sounds more like you are an adherent of the sect or a cult! Right?

Resuming this "business", let us try again to understand the reasoning and dynamics behind the question and the answer.

Firstly, this question is rather irrelevant by reason of not having a clear-cut answer. Nevertheless, if you want to wave the true Bible in the air, become a textual critic! You will quickly learn that only the original IS the Bible. And if you really wish to see and feel the physical "thing", do yourself a favour, go study the original languages, old Hebrew and old Greek and then travel around the world, London, San Francisco, Moscow, Sinai and Rome and touch gently with your index finger the old parchments, papyri and codices.

Secondly, be happy and save yourself a lot of strife, for the privilege of having such a variety of bibles, a blessing the ancient Christians didn't have, much to their disadvantage. Also, think of the benefits of serving in a church where the major thrust is not whether the pastor preaches from an accurate bible or not. He knows better and so, he dedicates his calling to more pressing issues, like unity and goodwill.

Thirdly, remember that the issue of one or two percent of inaccuracy in God's Oracle is not a big deal. It "does not affect any major doctrine" as the answer puts it. God knew very well that His original Script would suffer perhaps a little defacing, as lots of men had to handle it, but, wise as He is, the "major doctrines" would still be perfectly preserved even if, say, 10 percent or more of the plan had been tampered with. (A modern case is "The Message", which MESSES UP the Scriptures as never done before, and yet, no major doctrine is defaced in any way whatsoever (tongue in cheek!). If the worst came to the worst, like tampering with "major doctrines" such as Hell, Salvation, Virgin Birth, Trinity, Godhead of Christ, Accuracy of Reading, etc., God planned everything in advance and backed everything up. To such an extent that these things would only happen by mere accident, and never by direct interference of the devil and/or anybody he would commission to attack the Holy Writ.

Fourthly, when the textual critics, college directors and others tell you that "major doctrines" are not affected by one or two percent of textual defect - some 600 verses in the whole text! - please believe that having a perfect text, inspired by the perfect Author is not a major doctrine! It is a minor one, ultimately, boiling down to the following:

If having a perfect Script was not major doctrine, all the major doctrines become minor, trivial and inconsequential& (hence the value of prestigious textual critics to help in the crisis!). That is why church ministers or college directors standing up for "the bible" can confidently affirm in a loud voice:

"This book that I'm waving in the air, that I press against my chest and that I recommend to a new-convert, doesn't have a name. God wanted it like that. It is, nevertheless, for purposes of identification, generically called "The Bible". It contains major and minor doctrines and it is not 100 percent perfect. It is only a translation, etc., etc. It was or is (whichever applies!) perfect in its original writing but was soon disfigured. We don't really know what happened to the very first Blue Print, but, all thing being equal, either God made a serious mistake, unable to preserve it intact, or He was happy that man would only lose an insignificant portion thereof. That obviously means that God in His infinite wisdom inscribed "insignificant material" in the Masterpiece, which would be exactly the area that man would lose, and/or the devil attack! It is very, very clever!

As we are surrounded by an excellent flock of scholars, textual critics, church leaders, college directors, university professors and discerning writers, there is this vibrant effort and motivation to move whatever obstacles in order to recover the lost jigsaw pieces. Man will never give up, for in this blessed exercise much has already been achieved in inter-faith understanding, piety, integrating thought, liberal theology and religious goodwill. If that insignificant one or two percent persists in eluding us, there are still significant achievements in areas of entrepreneurship, positive sharing and broadening attitudes to be proud of. It is even possible that one day "the bible" will be altogether disregarded and still no major doctrine will be affected!!

To all those who challenge any modern S. of F. on the Bible, the church leadership offers this advice:

We must warn those who idiotically want to wave over their heads or press against their chests an object of worship, that they should stop the craze! Biblically speaking, we distance ourselves from pathetic and moronic attitudes of this nature. There is this shameful bunch of simpletons around the church who, any time they check a S. of F. write asking ridiculous questions.

Stop it, and be ashamed of yourselves! For the last time we, intelligent Christians, tell you, irresponsible troublemakers, ONLY the original is inerrant and infallible!! In addition, there is no record of anybody going around waving it in the air. No translation thereof is, was or will ever be perfect. We, discerning servants, tell you, dim extremists, that it is all a matter of personal choice. The church supports and endorses most of the versions on the circuit, and it does not admit intolerance in this broad issue of tolerating a preference.

If you think that you are going to corner and force us to give you the answer that you expect, forget it! Ruckmanites are a cultic craze! We have more insight, a better view and plenty of Christian charity and reject narrow views, fanatical standpoints and inconsistent tendencies. You should know by now that a S. of F. like ours are not written out of emotional religiosity, but are carefully studied, critically inspected and expertly constructed, to clearly and without equivocation present to the reader the balanced opinions of godly church professionals on a matter of such importance and magnitude as the Bible is.

Understand for the last time that ridiculous questions of that nature do not deserve to be answered directly! We do not fall for bibles to wave in the air and the rest of that nonsense. There are more pressing issues in the church than wasting time looking for a bible version to be adopted as The Standard. Variety, assortment and multiplicity is the standard! Choice is the norm! Quantity is the solution! Please, do not pester us with silly demands. And, please, note that worldwide, this is the way the Bible, the Scriptures and God's Word is defined by conservatives, fundamentalists and liberals. You'll not get it better than that.

The Bible is not a single book! It cannot be waved in the air! It cannot be pressed onto your chest! It cannot be physically identified. It existed only in the original writing and for some people, though it is debatable, it still exists there. The Bible was never found in English, French, Italian or Spanish.

If you want to wave, etc., a translation, go ahead, do it. However, be sure that you'll be ridiculed by those in the know, those who know better and those who know the truth. And even if you see a college director, a pastor or whoever raising their preference in the air, it is all symbolical and routine, learnt in training to create emphasis and accent, and it doesn't ever mean the absurd practice of short-sighted bibliolaters!

It is rather fanatical and dangerous to declare the Bible the Final Authority in faith and practice when we look at centuries of conflict, turmoil and brutality for defending narrow biblical views.

One last word of advice: desist from pestering the Christian authorities with your thoughtless questions. Go rather spend your time taking part in the construction of God's kingdom on earth with those men of good will, or go jump in the lake! Enjoy the day."

Epilogue

One or two percent of variants "does not affect any major doctrine" the director says. That is the "standard position", which has been heard many times before. Some call it "Strengths and Weaknesses". To try to overcome this "manuscriptural problem", the church has not stopped publishing bible versions for a hundred years. Will we ever have ONE to be called THE STANDARD reading in the modern church? Is God taking part in this enterprise? NO! We will not have a standard come from "publishers" and God is not in the "thing".

Every year new versions are presented to the church as better, more accurate, easier, less weaknesses, more strengths, and so on and so forth. All that is for Christians to purchase and never to STUDY, MEMORIZE AND BELIEVE.

However, what is a "major doctrine" in view of the director saying that no such thing is affected by 300-600 verse "variants". You know, 600 verses could easily mean SIX THOUSAND words! Let us consider, for example, One Timothy Three Sixteen. The AV says, "God was manifest in the flesh". The NIV says, "He appeared in a body". Here we have eleven different words saying TWO different things, the most critical two being "God" and "He". Doesn't this affect any major doctrine?!

There are literally hundreds of serious "variants" in the NIV. Perhaps thousands. Is not the accuracy of God's Word a major doctrine? Of course it is! A Christian needs to have (AND HAS!) the Final Authority, the last court of appeal, in God's infallible and perfect Word - it is a BOOK in English. Not in men who "design" statements of faith.

The director also confused the issue by saying that one/two percent of inaccuracy "does not hinder us from knowing clearly what God has said." Why would then God stop at 98/99 percent of accuracy? What "in heaven" went wrong with God's mind to suddenly stop at that point, instead of behaving according to His Holy Character and giving us the complete and perfect Oracle? Was it worth risking His Holiness for so little? Then having to depend upon man to rescue the situation?

What did man do? Man had to invent lies to cover up God's inconsistency. A minor hesitation on the part of the Almighty turned out to be a major "doctrine"; such is the struggle and conflict on the issue of bible texts! This major aspect of the Christian faith occurred because of God's incomplete work - just about 2 percent short! To hide the mishap, man has to invent and propagate lie after lie in the S. of F. of churches and colleges, and from the pulpit! A tragic farce.

However, considering that God did finish His perfect Sculpture, but the enemy came and chipped off little pieces from irrelevant areas so that the whole Masterpiece was not disfigured in any serious way (major doctrines!), it does NOT go well with the character of the "Defacer".

I think that the devil is offended for the S. of F. making him look quite stupid and imbecilic. Why would the enemy of the Perfect Sculpture go and NOT deface the Jewel right in the "major doctrines"? (1 Tim 3:16, Acts 8:37, Acts 20:28, 1 John 5:7, Mat 17:21, Psalm 12:7, etc.).

Statements of Faith like the one in question are inconsistent with the way they define God and the Holy Spirit. Two perfect divinities producing an imperfect Bible! (Stopping at 2% of the end!!! MY GOODNESS! What is a religious college director capable of saying to defend his pride!!!&)

What should we say? Is it a moral fault?

Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar!

In these days of apostasy, we cannot even trust a Statement of Faith of an institution that "studies" the "Bible". Wild and crazy, if you ask me!&

Trying to justify 1 Timothy 3:16 in the NIV, a pastor said that the verse did not change or affect any major doctrine of the Bible.

Firstly, he should have defined what is this authority he called "The Bible", but he didn't know. He meant that both readings are correct and any time we had any problem with different readings we should consult him for an explanation! He was the final authority.

He also meant that it wasn't a matter of one reading being correct and the other being wrong, both were right. Only that one was weaker than the other. Which one was stronger? He didn't explain that point (perhaps he had been a student at IJS!)

The NIV reading being the weaker one, why on earth should he justify the use of such a version? Well, the man had an agenda to defend, a salary to protect and his self-esteem to enhance. The Bible came in fourth place! As a pastor, he needed to pass judgment on two bibles, three, four, five, and twenty. His "infallible" judgment was like the IJS's: they are all excellent translations in their own right, which we can "use".

He went, in his youth, to college with the King James in his hand, which he believed, like his grand father (a good preacher whom he constantly referred to in his sermons, the hypocrite!) to be the word of God. Years later he came out believing The Book no more, but with his school bag full of versions to "use".

Isn't this pathetic, really? He was told that only the original writing "is" the perfect word of God, though he NEVER saw it. He started preaching with FIVE bibles! Even though he had to check them always against the "original" - in Hebrew/Greek and lexicons/dictionaries - unable to press any one to his heart, unable to recommend any of the five (and later twenty!), to any of his converts, who quickly learned from him to pass judgment on the word of God.

Such are the days of our lives.

If asked whether he had been called to the ministry to preach himself as the authority in all matters of biblical doctrine, he would not hesitate to deny it. No, he had been called to humbly believe in God's Word and witness to the lost the perfect plan of salvation.

Perfect plan in a perfect book?!

The man, like the IJS, must be crazy! Or sick in his mind!

BACK TO BIBLE STUDY AND SERMONS PAGE

BACK TO ENTRY PAGE OF THE JOURNAL