As a teacher, sometimes you have to start by showing people things that they might not want to see, and could end up making them feel very uncomfortable. No, I am not talking about old pictures of me when I had a perm like Kirk Cameron. I am speaking of things in the Bible that we would rather not see and just pretend that they are not there. Before discussing Biblical inerrancy, there are two passages of Scripture that I have to show you. You can thank me later.
Mark 16 starts off with a bang, as the women go to the tomb after Jesus’ crucifixion only to discover that Jesus isn’t there! He has risen! Verse 8 leaves us on the edge of our seat, waiting to see what happens next, “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Unfortunately, what follows after that is rather odd. Most modern translations have the following messages either above the text or in the footnotes below:
Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16:9–20. Some manuscripts end the book with 16:8; others include verses 9–20 immediately after verse 8. At least one manuscript inserts additional material after verse 14; some manuscripts include after verse 8 the following: But they reported briefly to Peter and those with him all that they had been told. And after this, Jesus himself sent out by means of them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. These manuscripts then continue with verses 9–20.
I used to love a series of books when I was a kid called Choose Your Own Adventure, where you could make choices while reading the book that changed the ending of the story. I am not sure how comfortable I am with the end of a Gospel being turned into a Choose Your Ending to the Life of Jesus. Wait, it gets better. In Samuel 13:1, it seems like the author wants to tell us how old Saul was when he began his kingship and how long he reigned. Here is how it reads in one translation, “Saul was ___ years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel _____ two years.” Yes folks, some people’s Bibles actually come with fill in the blanks, literally. Here is what your footnote says about this verse:
As in a few Greek manuscripts; the number is missing in the Hebrew. Hebrew reigned . . . and two; the number is incomplete in the Hebrew.
So, the translators are basically telling you that the Hebrew manuscript is missing the numbers that would be needed to understand this sentence, so they have filled it in based on other Scriptures or a few Greek manuscripts. That makes me feel better. Why do I start out with these two passages? Any discussion on Biblical inerrancy must begin with an admission that we must separate inerrancy of the autographs from the transmission through manuscripts. Say what, Bible nerd? Autograph is a fancy way of saying the original letter or scroll that the actual author wrote; for example the original copy of the letter that Paul sent to the church of Galatia. Transmission through manuscripts is how it has been copied through the years and passed on to us today.
If we hold to the first tenant of Biblical inerrancy, then we believe that the autographs were without any errors or mistakes. Unfortunately, as of today, we have exactly ZERO autographs. Some of the New Testament copies are very close to the original time of writing, but are still copies of copies at best. The other fact that we have to acknowledge is that Bible translators make decisions that affect the meaning of Scripture. For example, Isaiah 7:14 reads in the ESV, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” However, if you look up this same verse in a NRSV Bible, it says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.”
Hmm…. This is a pretty important verse in the Bible since it is a prediction of the virgin birth of Jesus which is quoted in the New Testament. So, should it be “virgin” or “young woman/maiden”? Even the NASB puts “or maiden” in the footnote, even though it chooses “virgin” for the actual verse. Of course, hordes of Protestants ditched the NRSV for decisions like this, but it shows you that we are not talking about inerrancy of a TRANSLATION at this point either (more fun on that later). As dear as that old King James Bible might be to many, there were even more manuscript questions back then as fewer ancient manuscripts had been unearthed.
Just cut to the chase already and tell us if the Bible has mistakes or not already! All we can conclude from this post is that we have to begin with deciding if the autographs were without error or not. As a preview, I will say that I believe that the autographs were without error based on two Scriptures we will discuss more in the next post, 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 3:15-16. Until then…
The Bible Nerd 