Re: Naked Bible 104: How We Got the Old Testament
If there is one partisan difference you can point to the defines the separation point between fundamentalists and conservatives on the Bible, this podcast will do it. Coming from someone who was once a fundy, I assure that it boils down to magical thinking versus scholarship.
We do not have a single autograph (the technical term for an original document penned by the hand of the author). There are no “originals” out there. The notion that we can come reasonably close is also magical thinking, because it’s quite clear that there will always be passages that remain in doubt.
This is where the principle of Plausible Deniability comes into play: It is utterly impossible to nail down any material proof for God and His claims in this world. At some point, the whole thing stands on faith and conviction. Either the Lord secures the truth for you by His divine Presence, or you simply must guess. Those who lack the Holy Spirit can deny anything they like because there is no ironclad proof.
This is also true with every miracle; there has always been a rational explanation for everything in the Bible if you don’t believe. It’s true of every miracle for first-hand witnesses, too. That we cannot genuinely have a verified original text of the Bible is part of this. God will not back humans into a corner until it’s too late. Even when someone rose up to offer irrefutable logical proof of the Bible and what it claims, when Josh McDowell won his debates, it did not have the power to change people who were involved in the debate.
So the answer is: Pick an English translation that works for you, one that brings peace to your heart. Of, if you are willing to do the work, waffle between several the way I do. The physical artifact of the Bible is not the source of our faith; it’s God Himself. It’s the mystical communion of you and Christ living in your soul.
