As we continue in our series about the inerrancy of the Scriptures, I want to explore whether we need an inerrant Bible to have saving faith. This question is important because our Bibles are based on manuscripts that do not always agree. The manuscripts have variations.
Most of these variations are simply a difference in the spelling of a word. There is no question about the word, only how it is spelled. Other times, it’s simply the order of the words in the sentence. Some manuscripts, however, sometimes have different words. Bible scholars must weigh the evidence and choose which text best reflects what they believe is closest to the original. They use the science of textual criticism to help them make decisions.
How do these variations affect the Gospel message? Has God preserved his word sufficiently so that, despite the variations, it has the power to lead a person to faith in Jesus Christ?
By saving faith, I mean sufficient faith to believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Can a Bible that is based on manuscripts with variations lead us to Jesus as our Lord and Savior?
Since we’ve been using the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy as a guide, let’s see what the Chicago Statement says about textual variances and the preservation of Scripture. The Chicago Statement says that “Since God has nowhere promised an inerrant transmission of Scripture, it is necessary to affirm that only the autographic text of the original documents was inspired.”
In other words, since the original writings have not been preserved and we possess only copies, the text of God’s word may or may not be inerrant.
The writers of the Chicago Statement say that despite the absence of the original manuscripts, they “deny that this absence renders the assertion of Biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant.”
If only the original writings were inspired and inerrant, and we no longer possess those originals, how can the doctrine of inerrancy apply to the Bibles we possess today?
The Chicago Statement answers that question by saying that God has preserved his word in the copies. Article X says,
We affirm that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original.
Because the available manuscripts have slight variations, we must rely on textual criticism to reconstruct a text that best approximates the originals.
The Bible scholars who wrote the Chicago Statement know that the manuscripts have variations but believe that, despite the variations, the manuscripts faithfully preserve the original text with “great accuracy”. In the exposition section of the Chicago Statement, they write that God’s word has been “amazingly well preserved” in the manuscripts available today.
These statements, however, are seldom mentioned in the average church. I’m not implying that pastors or Bible teachers are trying to cover up the truth about inerrancy, but in my opinion, the facts about textual variations in the Bible should be discussed more forthrightly than is often the case.
Pastors and Bible teachers should be honest when they talk about the Bible. Rather than saying that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, they should say, as the Chicago Statement says, our Bibles only “faithfully represent the original.”
How do these facts affect our faith? Is a Bible that may contain errors sufficient for saving faith? Can a Bible that only represents the original lead us to saving faith?
For the most part, the manuscripts of God’s word we possess display a remarkable history of faithful copying. From these manuscripts, scholars have arrived at a text that, though not a 100% perfect reproduction of the original, is entirely trustworthy and reliable. We possess a reliable and adequate text of God’s word. Therefore, the Chicago Statement is correct in saying that “the authority of Scripture is in no way jeopardized by the fact that the copies we possess are not entirely error-free.”
Let’s first consider the Bibles that pastors, teachers, and evangelists use to share the Gospel. The Bibles these preachers use are translations. A translation is not the same as the source language. Anyone who has ever tried to translate spoken language knows that an exact equivalence between the source language and the target language is difficult to attain. Even the best translations lose something in the process.
So, how does a less than 100% equivalent translation of the Bible affect its ability to lead a person to faith in Jesus? Does the use of a translation affect the Gospel message?
The Apostle Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Is the power of God only in the Greek New Testament, or do translations also have this power? I believe that translations of the Bible have the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
Although learning the original languages of Hebrew and Greek can be helpful, you do not need to learn these languages to understand God’s word. Translations of the Bible are adequate to convey truth about God, and they can help a person find forgiveness of sins and eternal life in the Lord Jesus. Despite the loss of some meaning that inevitably happens during translation, the Bible has the power to transform our lives.
So, if an imperfect translation still has the power to transform lives, do we actually need an inerrant Bible for saving faith?
No—we do not need a Bible that has zero mistakes. We only need a Bible that is adequate, and that is what we have. As I’ve been saying all along, God has given us his word, and it is adequate to accurately convey his truth in human language so that we can know God and have a personal relationship with him.
The bottom line is you can trust your Bible. It doesn’t have to be 100% free from error. It only must be adequate, because ultimately, your trust is not in the Bible; your trust is in God.
If you’ve never turned to the Lord for forgiveness, trust him now. Put your faith in Jesus. He died on the cross as payment for your sins, and now he waits for you to believe. Believe in him today.
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