Bible Accuracy

Q: I know that you base your answers to questions on what the Bible says. But how do we know that the Bible is really accurate all the time? It was written by mere men and it's been translated by so many people over time. It seems really unlikely that the Bible we have today could remain error-free.

A: You're stating some facts, but the facts don't always represent the truth. (Truth is higher than facts or circumstances.) The Bible is considered accurate and totally error-free because God is the author of the Bible. And of course God is not capable of errors. (See Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 6:18) Therefore, no matter what the facts, God's Word (the Bible) is absolute truth. (See Psalm 119:160 and John 14:6 & 17:17) So the original manuscripts that comprise the Bible are considered to be absolutely correct.

There is then, of course, the argument that the multitude of translations that have occurred over the years needs to be taken seriously. However, accepted translations are believed to be led by the Holy Spirit. Said differently, we trust that God has protected the integrity of the Bible as it has been translated for the generations over the years. This is a matter of our faith in God. So when you are looking for God's Truth and considering a different translation, you are should be praying and asking God to lead you to a trustworthy translation.

Alternatively, you can assume that other trustworthy theologians have prayed about the matter of this specific translation and have deemed it to be trustworthy. This is the route that most of us take. When we go into a Christian bookstore to purchase a Bible, we assume that all of the translations available have been vetted by trustworthy Bible scholars and are therefore trustworthy translations that we can purchase with confidence and rely upon.

This latter point may seem a little too informal for some of us. But I believe it is adequate to protect us from a Bible that is anything other than inerrant (i.e., error free). It is equally safe to assume that if an erroneous translation of the Bible did get finished and onto the shelves of bookstores - the trustworthy theologians would sound the alarm in the media and the erroneous translation would be defeated. It's just another case of us trusting God to protect and preserve the integrity of His inerrant Word through the multitude of translations that occur through the generations.