The storied history of the English Bible tells of the conflicts and martyrdom of many who lived and died so that the common man might have the revelation from God in their native language. The internet is flooded with opinions regarding which translation or paraphrase is the best, with little understanding of how each was translated and for what purpose. The continuum from concordant to dynamic equivalency, to paraphrase, grows broader with each new publication.
William Tyndale is quoted as saying, “If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture than thou dost.” His protest was because church leaders, by relying on previous translations such as the Latin Vulgate, were keeping the common man from reading and interpreting God’s Word for themselves.
Over three centuries later, men like Bishop Lightfoot, B. F. Westcott, and F. J. A. Hort, the “Cambridge Triumvirate” (Microsoft Copilot), dedicated their lives to textual criticism and to ensuring the authenticity of the New Testament. In our day, we have personal computers and now AI, so that the common man has the original languages of the Old and New Testaments at his fingertips to compare with the translations. It does not require advanced degrees or expensive computer programs to do this.
We stand on the shoulders of great scholars of the past, enabling us to pierce through the cacophony of discordant opinions on the internet. We can say with assurance that we believe in God-breathed Scripture. Even though we do not possess the original texts (autographa). The Greek and Hebrew texts reconstructed by scholars in the past are accurate.
Everyone who believes in the Christ of the Old and New Testaments should put as much effort and resources as possible into learning how to use the tools God has made available to us today to protect the message of God’s Word from corruption or misuse by carelessness or deliberate misinterpretations.
Paul instructed Timothy:
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)
This means we must hold to the following:
Verbal – the words and word order are God-breathed.
Plenary – all the Bible is God-breathed.
Inspiration – God-breathed. The Greek term is theopneustos (theos, God, and pneustos, breathed)
The Bible was written in both plain and figurative language, and is correctly interpreted by observing contexts such as phrases, complete statements, chapters, books, and historical and geographical contexts.
Rick Warren, of Seeker Sensitive ilk, stated in a training video, “Pastor, if you are studying in the original languages, you are sinning.” In seminary, we were told, “Don’t take the English Bible away from the people.” Today, we must also say, Don’t take the Hebrew and Greek texts away from the interpreter. The Church needs scholars who faithfully study the original languages so that the Bible remains true to its original meaning.