The Inerrancy of the Autographs

How do we know that the Bible is accurate? After all, none of the original documents exist. We don't have the first version of Paul's letter to the Romans. None of the original Gospels have survived. How can we be so sure that the Bible isn't just a compilation of clever stories and teachings?

These are the questions that skeptics raise all the time. At a recent gathering someone posed that very question to me. My answer affirmed that the original documents (autographs) are no longer in existence. However, ample manuscript evidence along with the writings of the church fathers (who quoted Scripture often) indicate that what we have contained in the Bible is accurate.

Dr. Keith Mathison at Ligonier Ministries has posted a helpful article about this topic on Ligonier's blog (it was published in Tabletalk). He explains in layman's terms the science of textual criticism -- comparing manuscripts to one another and dealing with the errors and mistakes of those who copied the manuscripts for general use in the early church. Here is a quote:

Since we do not have the original manuscripts, some have urged that an appeal to the lost originals renders the whole case for the inspiration of the Scripture irrelevant. To reason in this manner is to do despite to the very serious work that has been done in the field of textual criticism. Textual criticism is the science which seeks to reconstruct an original text by a careful analysis and evaluation of the manuscripts we presently possess. This task has to be accomplished with respect to all documents from antiquity that have reached us through manuscript copies. The Old and New Testament Scriptures are probably the texts which have reached us with the most extensive and reliable attestation. For more than ninety-nine percent of the cases, the original text can be reconstructed to a practical certainty.

Click here to read that article: Ligonier Ministries Ligonier Blog

If you think that all of the manuscripts have been found, think again. Christianity Today (May 2008) posted an article about unstudied manuscripts held in the National Archives of Albania. Researchers were told that there were 13 manuscripts but upon arriving they found 47 manuscripts! All have been photographed for further study. The lead researcher has leads on other manuscripts and believes that there might be as many as 1,000 yet to be photographed and studied. Here is a link to a slightly longer article posted online in April 2008: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/aprilweb-only/117-32.0.html?start=1

As the science of textual criticism continues in the coming years it will shed light on troublesome passages and support what is already known about the rest of the Bible. Perhaps the skeptics will realize that they are not standing on such solid ground after all.