The words of the LORD are pure words. —Psalm 12:6a

'Preservation' Tagged Posts

The Book That Nobody Trusted

One of the two primary manuscripts claimed by textual critics to be "oldest and best" is the Codex Sinaiticus. Much evidence clearly points to this "ancient" book actually being a modern fraud. But that story is for another time. In this article, we're instead going to look at the textual critics' version of the story.…

We Have But One Weapon

In Ephesians 6, Paul describes "the whole armour of God." Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,…

“No Major Doctrines Affected”?

People often say that "no major doctrines are affected" by the differences between the received text and the Alexandrian manuscripts. Of course, these are weasel words, since it is impossible to pin down a definition of exactly what "major doctrines" are or what "affecting" them would be. But the fact is that there is one doctrine that is always overlooked: the doctrine…

Circular Reasoning?

Are we employing circular reasoning when we use the teaching of extant scripture to argue that the Bible was preserved? After all, if the Bible wasn't preserved perfectly, then we can't trust fully what it says. In that case, even though the Bible teaches preservation now, that doesn't mean that it did so originally. Thus, when we point to verses that say…

Genuine Preservation

The other day I was reading an article by some people whose work I greatly respect, which was encouraging Christians that we can trust that the Bible is the word of God, due to its remarkable preservation. (I’m not going to give the exact reference, because it isn’t really important.) While this might surprise you, I disagreed with most of what the…

Why they think they’re “oldest and best”

In prior posts, we’ve discussed the fact that there are several different variations in the manuscripts containing the Biblical text. If you’ve ever used one of the modern versions of the Bible, you’ve probably seen a footnote referencing “the oldest and best manuscripts.” We’ve explained that the scholars’ views on this contradict the clear teachings of scripture, and that the readings they…