Scripture and the Church

Pastors Arguing Against the Preservation of Scripture: What Is At Stake?

By Dr. Paul M. Elliott
What is at stake when men who claim to preach the Bible as their sole authority deny that God has preserved an authentic original?

From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

What is at stake when men who claim to preach the Bible as their sole authority deny that God has preserved an authentic original?

Over the past few years we have seen a disturbing increase in communications from pastors who argue against our stand for the doctrine of God's providential preservation of the Scriptures in the original languages. As "proof" they often offer alleged evidence that the Bible is full of contradictions - none of which is true. Or, they argue that it is "impossible" that God has preserved His Word because we do not have the original manuscripts. This is as specious as arguing that the United States does not have an accurate version of its Declaration of Independence because Thomas Jefferson's handwritten final version, which was then used to make the official printed copies, no longer exists.

When it comes to the preservation of the Bible, what is at stake? Literally, everything. If the authentic, untainted Word of God is to be translated from the original Hebrew and Greek into our own language, we must have an authentic original. How can we know that we have an authentic original today, thousands of years after the Bible was written?

The Bible itself gives us the answer. The same God who calls upon His people to obey the Bible alone in every area of life and ministry has also made a vital promise concerning His Word: He will preserve it and keep it pure in all ages. We have this promise from Christ Himself, who declared that until heaven and earth shall pass away, not a single letter nor even the smallest stroke of a single letter of the Scriptures shall be taken away (Matthew 5:18). Jesus also said that "the Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). We have God's promise that "the Word of the Lord endures forever" (Isaiah 40:8).

Today many pastors and church members do not grasp the vital importance of God's promise to preserve His Word uncorrupted in all ages. One result is the use, in many translations, of highly questionable source texts that do not bear the marks of His providential preservation. The church does this at its peril. If we are not careful to use authentic source texts for the translation of the Scriptures into our own language, the inevitable result will be a Bible version that is less than fully the Word of God.

It grieves us to find out that many of the men who do not hold to the doctrine of providential preservation did not graduate from liberal colleges and seminaries. Many received their educations at reputedly conservative Reformed, evangelical, and fundamentalist schools, often in the heart of the American "Bible belt." But those schools have gradually come under the influence of liberal colleges and seminaries where providential preservation is ridiculed. The faithful men who founded conservative schools generations ago are now with the Lord in glory. If they were alive they would doubtless thunder against such rank unbelief and expel it from their faculties and campuses. Sadly, their successors tolerate and even welcome it.

Confronting such unbelief reminds us of one of the main reasons TeachingTheWord exists - to declare to Christians and churches the sole authority of the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God, and to call upon those who have embraced a naturalistic, higher-critical view of the only supernatural Book to repudiate such thinking, which leads to spiritual destruction.

Just as Paul feared for those within the Colossian church who might fail to "continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast...not moved away from the hope of the Gospel," we fear for the souls of the men who write to us expressing such unbelief. We fear, moreover, for the souls of their congregations. Our hearts' desire and earnest prayer is for the repentance of these pastors, the spiritual protection of their flocks, and the reformation of their churches by the moving of the Holy Spirit.

We continually praise God for those He has moved to partner with us in this work, and all else that we are doing by His grace, through your prayers, and your financial gifts as He enables. May the Lord bless you, and may you stand fast on the firm foundation of the eternal, inerrant Word until we see our Savior face to face.

 

For further reading:

You will find a collection of articles dealing with the inspiration and authority of Scripture in our Bible Knowledgebase.

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