Post by tlsitd on Jun 16, 2018 11:31:38 GMT -5
This is an apologetics lecture on the subject of the reliability of the manuscripts used to compile the New Testament. I hope many of you will appreciate/be comforted by it---those of you who may be troubled by doubts about this matter. I am posting it because there is a spiritual war on the Scriptures today---as there has been for centuries---and it is coming from all sides, from outside of Christianity as well as from within (even from well-meaning but misguided Christians who are desperate to have a textually flawless English translation of the original autographs to rely upon).
My confidence in the word of God does not rest on apologists (it rests on my confidence by faith that God has preserved His doctrine sufficiently through the copying and translating of the original autographs), but it is nice to hear a scholarly lecture on the subject and to see how the historical and physical evidence proves that God has done this.
Remember, there were Christians for many centuries who didn't have the complete Scriptures, or even the best copies of the original autographs, but they still believed that the doctrine they had---in whatever form they had it---was the word of God; and the doctrine of the faith survived---through persecution as well as copying and translation into other languages (including English).
So, lest anyone should suppose (and I hope they will not) that just because I do not support their way of "protecting" the perfect and pure truth of God's word (which they are sincere in their efforts to do, by defending one particular translation of the Bible as being that perfect preservation of His truth for all time), that I do not believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, or that I am doing its reliability harm, rest assured that neither of those things are in fact the case. You can't defend God's truth with a claim about something that isn't true. That actually harms and works against your very cause. But you can defend it by knowing and showing the truth---and, more importantly, by having faith in God's sovereign control over what has happened to His word over the centuries, and in His wisdom and His love for those of us who He knew from eternity would need it today.
PLEASE NOTE: I am not a follower of this presenter/scholar (Dr. James White), nor do I appreciate His irreverent (in my opinion), worldly humor, unduly casual manner in the treatment of the serious subject matter, or his rambling at times (it gets better toward the end of the presentation); but I did appreciate his knowledge (he is obviously a very learned man, even though I don't care for his personality much), and was able to look past those things to the substance of his presentation. I hope you will be able to do the same. I highly recommend watching the whole video, even though it is long.
May the Lord bless you.
THE RELIABILITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT TEXT (Dr. James White)
My confidence in the word of God does not rest on apologists (it rests on my confidence by faith that God has preserved His doctrine sufficiently through the copying and translating of the original autographs), but it is nice to hear a scholarly lecture on the subject and to see how the historical and physical evidence proves that God has done this.
Remember, there were Christians for many centuries who didn't have the complete Scriptures, or even the best copies of the original autographs, but they still believed that the doctrine they had---in whatever form they had it---was the word of God; and the doctrine of the faith survived---through persecution as well as copying and translation into other languages (including English).
So, lest anyone should suppose (and I hope they will not) that just because I do not support their way of "protecting" the perfect and pure truth of God's word (which they are sincere in their efforts to do, by defending one particular translation of the Bible as being that perfect preservation of His truth for all time), that I do not believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, or that I am doing its reliability harm, rest assured that neither of those things are in fact the case. You can't defend God's truth with a claim about something that isn't true. That actually harms and works against your very cause. But you can defend it by knowing and showing the truth---and, more importantly, by having faith in God's sovereign control over what has happened to His word over the centuries, and in His wisdom and His love for those of us who He knew from eternity would need it today.
PLEASE NOTE: I am not a follower of this presenter/scholar (Dr. James White), nor do I appreciate His irreverent (in my opinion), worldly humor, unduly casual manner in the treatment of the serious subject matter, or his rambling at times (it gets better toward the end of the presentation); but I did appreciate his knowledge (he is obviously a very learned man, even though I don't care for his personality much), and was able to look past those things to the substance of his presentation. I hope you will be able to do the same. I highly recommend watching the whole video, even though it is long.
May the Lord bless you.
THE RELIABILITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT TEXT (Dr. James White)