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Professor J. Isaacs state "nine tenths of the Authorized New Testament is still Tyndale,
and the best is still his".*
[* - The Bible in its ancient and English Versions ed. H. W. Robinson p.160
and see The English Bible by F. F. Bruce.]
There is no need therefore for anyone who has no access to the original languages to
be in any doubt as to what God has written. Some are perturbed because God did not see
fit to preserve the original documents. But it was His wisdom that overruled this. Just
imagine what the Roman Church would have made of them as idols for worship together
with many so-called relics and other superstitions that this church holds! We are
reminded of the reformatory acts of king Hezekiah which included the destruction of the
brazen serpent Moses had made. This, in Hezekiah's day, had become an object of
worship (II Kings 18: 4) thus producing idolators among the people of God.
If the Lord has not seen fit to preserve the original manuscripts, He certainly watched
over the texts from which our translations are made. And here we should be thankful for
the archaeological discoveries which, under the Lord's guiding hand, have so
wonderfully confirmed the truth of God's Word. Sir Frederick Kenyon, generally
recognized as being the greatest textual authority of this century states:
"We must be content to know that the general authenticity of the New Testament text
has been remarkably supported by the modern discoveries, which have so greatly reduced
the interval between the original autographs and our earliest extant manuscripts, and that
the difference of readings, interesting as they are, do not affect the fundamental doctrines
of the Christian faith."*
[* - Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts p.179. This book, together with The
Books and the Parchments by F. F. Bruce are "musts" for anyone who desires an
accurate and up-to-date knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek texts and their
preservation. Another helpful volume is A General Introduction to the Bible by
Norman 50: Geisler and William E. Nix, published by The Moody Press.]
What is the alternative to plenary inspiration of the Bible? Either fallible human
opinion or an equally fallible church. The Roman Catholic rests upon a church that
claims to be infallible and therefore the infallible interpreter of the holy Scriptures. This
claim every true Protestant rejects, for Rome has never been able to substantiate such a
claim and is getting more unsure of herself in this respect.
Some profess to honour the living Word, Christ Himself, but reject the full inspiration
of the written Word which alone reveals Him. This is illogical, for if the Word of God is
not true in every particular, how much certain knowledge could we have of Christ today?
All one could be sure of is what history records, namely that a man called Jesus Christ
walked this earth nearly 2,000 years ago and somehow stamped His name on our
calendar. Who He really was, or what He did or said, are questions of which we could
know practically nothing with certainty without the N.T. record, for He Himself left
nothing in writing.