Old Testament Intro. (OTI) - part 4: Are OT Manuscripts Reliable?

If you've been reading along, you know that I've been posting articles about the Old Testament Intro class I took at Westminster. In previous posts, I've tried to answer the questions: “Why study the Old Testament?” and “Why study the geography and history of the OT?”

This post will be about manuscript reliability. The Bible translations we have today- be it NIV, ESV, NLT, etc... are based on manuscripts that were edited 1000s of years ago and then transmitted over time. None of us have the original copies written down by Moses, David, or Jeremiah. And there are known differences and changes that have crept up over time. For example, the Greek translation of the book of Jeremiah is about 15% shorter and has a different chapter sequence. So, it seems like the Greek version was originally based on a different Hebrew text and not the Hebrew text we have today.

Even though the scribes were very careful, they could not avoid making the occasional mistake. Often they were unintentional and due to human error. Physical damage by accident and decay would leave holes in the text or a scribe might leave something out or hear something incorrectly while the text was being dictated.

And yet, our faith hinges on what the Bible says. Without the Bible, we would have no knowledge of God, creation, or His redemptive work that reaches its climax in Christ.

This begs the question: Can we trust the Bible? Or, is the Bible a corrupted version of God's word- maybe only a faint witness to the original, which is now lost? A lot is at stake here. If the Bible is only partially trustworthy, then the foundation of our faith isn't completely reliable. If that's the case, we have no basis for claiming that Yahweh is the only true God and that Christ is the only way to Him. Thus, who can say that Christ is the only path to God when many other faiths proclaim many other ways?

Before we can answer this question, we need to set the boundaries of our discussion. As we examine the history and manuscripts to see if the Bible is trustworthy, we must remember our position of faith: God is active and in control of all things. Roman Catholic teaching says we should look for someone or something (church authority) to tell us the final answer. Skeptics say that we should look to human reason and our own understanding as the final standard. But, the final standard of truth is found in God Himself, and not some standard that is outside of Him. There are difficulties, and we may never find an intellectually satisfying answer to all of them. So, is our trust in our ability to reconstruct the text perfectly or in God?

CAUTIOUS CONSERVATISM

As Christians, we can take a path of cautious conservatism- God's word in its original form exists in the various manuscripts, but we may have to do some work to find it.

As mentioned earlier, a manuscript may have errors, but it is very unlikely for all manuscripts to have the same error. Bible scholars see how the different manuscripts compare/contrast. They decide which is the most reliable one as many of them usually agree while a few have differences. If most manuscripts say one thing, and only a few have a difference, scholars often go with the one with more copies. In other words, majority wins!

The work of researching the different manuscripts to get the original is called “Textual Criticism.” Scholars have been working on Textual Criticism for centuries, so its nothing new. Think of it as a kind of Bible CSI- investigative teams have to sift through the evidence to construct the original story.

The different options for the original text are placed in the footnotes or margins of the Bible if enough manuscripts have that difference. For example, in 2 Samuel 12:21, the ESV says this: "When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry." The context is that David's firstborn son Amnon had just raped his half-sister Tamar. David is upset, but that's about all that David does. There's no mention of any punishment for Amnon. The footnote for this verse says, "Dead Sea Scroll, Septuigent add "But he would not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, since he was his firstborn." Interesting. Two other manuscript families give us a little more insight into why David seemed unwilling to do anything after this incident.

So, should we be concerned that there are multiple options? Before we start to panic, realize that the Bible is the most well attested ancient document that exists. Thousands of manuscripts are available to piece together the original text. Only a very small part of the text is in question. And the vast majority of those variations make no difference in how we understand and apply scripture. This means that no major theological point depends on whether or not scholars "got it right." Therefore, passages like Jeremiah 31 that describe and foretell the coming of Christ and the New Covenant are rock-solid:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers.....For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

The prophecies about Christ, the new covenant, and the forgiveness of sins are unmistakably clear and reliable. Here are two quotes from scholars who have spent decades going through the OT in the ancient text:

“Textual criticism has established beyond reasonable doubt that no significant teaching of scripture is called into question” (Silva)

“Even if we adopted every single alternative reading, we'd largely have the same Bible” (Walke)

DEAD SEA SCROLLS

Textual criticism was given a huge boost in the 1940s with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Israel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls). The scrolls are dated to around 400 BC and include references to every single book of the OT except for one (Esther). Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the earliest known copies of the OT were from the 10th century A.D. Before this find, it would be impossible to demonstrate that the OT prophecies about Christ as a suffering servant (e.g. Isaiah 53 or Psalm 22) were true, or if they were made up after the fact.

The Dead Sea Scrolls is a huge piece of evidence testifying to the trustworthiness of the OT. If we compare the Dead Sea scrolls with versions from the 10th century AD, they are virtually the same. This means that for over 1000 years, the OT was faithfully transmitted.

WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD

As mentioned earlier, we don't ultimately base our confidence on man's carefulness. Our confidence rests in God, who has spoken and graciously preserved His word for us today. This means that pastors, scholars, and all Christians can trust in God and His Word. Having some awareness of our manuscripts and their reliability helps us appreciate the roots of our faith. We don't need to fear when skeptics question the reliability of the Bible. Rather, we can be prepared to give an answer for the hope that we have.

Old Testament Intro. (OTI) - part 3: What's the Payoff In Studying the OT Background?

In this series of blog posts, I've been sharing highlights from the Old Testament Intro. class at Westminster. The first post was a summary of questions that the course sought to answer, and the second tried to answer the question: “Why study the Old Testament?” The OT isn't a bunch of boring history. The struggles against idolatry, fear of man, love of money, living for the here-and-now are given to us in the OT and apply to us today.

Today, I'll expand these thoughts a little further. The OT gives us important insight into the NT so we can more fully understand Christ and His work. We have much more in common with the NT authors than the OT authors (e.g. the same gospel call, Great Commission, and the call to stay faithful until Christ returns). But, the OT audience was quite different (e. g. they had temples, priests, daily sacrifices, and tons of rules on what to eat, drink, and wear).

So, it seems like we'll have to do some more legwork to understand the time, people, and place of the OT. It's not so easy to take the OT and just run with it, like we can for the NT. If we want to appreciate the 70% of God's word that showcases the person and work of Christ, we must study the OT, including its geography and history. If we don't have some understanding of history and geography, we are bound to get lost.

WHY STUDY THE GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY OF THE OT?

God gave us His word throughout the course of human history. The OT didn't drop out of the sky. It was written in a particular time to a particular people. Slowly over time, God gave more of His revelation, which reached its fullness in Christ. God took thousands of years of human history to work from Adam to Moses, and then from David to Jesus (with many other folks in-between!).

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Gal. 4:4-5)

God tell us that Christ came when “the fullness of time had come.” Though it seemed like a long time to us, God wasn't late. This period of time is like the first 10 chapters of a book that lead up to the grand climax. Even if the best part of a book starts at chapter 10, nobody picks up a novel and starts at that point. If Christ is the grand climax of God's redemptive plan, then if we want to get the full story of His work, we need the background of what God was doing before Christ came.

Our modern age isn't the only age that ever existed. We have to think beyond ourselves and understand scripture as the original audience would have understood it. As a result, little details which might seem insignificant to us are actually quite significant and purposeful. The background, setting, and geography of the OT matters!

To give you a few examples:

• LAND
  
  We know that Israel was drawn to the gods that were worshiped by her neighbors. Why? Why was it better to worship Baal and not Yahweh (the LORD)? Baal is a storm god and a fertility god. The land of Israel, unlike Egypt, didn't have the flooding of the Nile to provide water for crops. The land of Israel is dependent on rainfall so that their crops are watered:
  
  “But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” (Deut 11:11-12).
  
  Knowing this, we now see that the choice of who to worship (Baal or Yahweh) is also test of faith. Would Israel trust God to provide rain? Or, would Israel worship the storm god to make sure their crops are watered? The implications for us are huge- where do we ultimately place our hope? Throughout history, God requires faith from His people. His work and His Word are to be trusted. God expects the same for those who draw near to Christ to be saved.
  
  
  
• LOCATION
  
  In the Ancient Near East, Israel is in a strategic location. Israel is the “land between” (Jim Monson). Egypt is to the south, and the rest of the world powers are to the north. Those who want to go from one end to the other must pass through Israel. The surrounding nations want to control that land,while Israel fights to hold onto it. There are temptations for Israel to enter into alliances to secure the land. But, we know that God commands His people not to enter into alliances with the pagan nations:
  
  “When the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.” (Deut. 7:2-4)
  
  Those who draw near to Christ face the same temptations to love the world and the things of this world. The OT continually warns us of Israel's temptations to compromise and become entangled, and the disastrous consequences that happen when small compromises lead to great sin against the LORD. God's people are always tested to see if they will be covenant-keepers or covenant-breakers (Heb. 10:26-30). I often have to stop and examine my own life. What motivates me? What do I trust? Do we rely on our education, money, or experience? Who or what is my trust?
  
  
• HISTORY
  
  One thing we keep hearing at Westminster that “scripture is a product of history.” The writers of scripture spoke to a particular audience in a particular place. For instance, we would never pick up the “Gettysburg Address” given by Abraham Lincoln and completely ignore Civil War history. In fact, Civil War history(what happened before, during, and after the Gettysburg address) gives the context we need to understand what Lincoln spoke.
  
  God's work in history gives us the context to understand what God spoke. God's redemptive acts (e.g. the Exodus, the conquest of Canaan, the history of the judges and kings etc....) is our context and setting. If we don't understand that historical context and setting, we won't understand what God is doing.
  
  The nice thing about studying this history is that God has already given us the cliff-notes version! The Bible is not a comprehensive textbook on human history. It is selective (though sufficient, reliable, and true). The Bible's selectivity becomes its strength. God has already edited things so that we have the most important events recorded for us.
  
  Obviously, much more can be said about history, but this is already getting quite long. Here's an example that might be helpful.
  
  For instance, knowing that the Egyptians worshiped the sun and the Nile river as gods helps you understand the nature of the 10 plagues. The plagues against Egypt included blocking out the sun and turning the Nile river to blood. God's power was directed against the false gods of Egypt. God tells Pharaoh and Egypt the purpose of the plagues: “That you may know that there is none like me in all the earth” (Exodus 9:14).
  

RESOURCES

If you made it this far, I feel honored for your time! Don't feel overwhelmed. The study of scripture takes a lifetime, and even then, we will never exhaust the depths of our God. The faithful pursuit of God little-by-little over a long time is well worth it.

If you want to learn more, there are great resources out there! The best starting point to learn all of this is a good study Bible. There are tons that are available: NIV, Reformation, and MacArthur study Bibles. If you don't have one, I highly recommend the ESV study Bible. Like many others, this study Bible has an introduction to every book and gives background information on the author, setting, and history. It also gives a big picture on how a particular book relates with the rest of the Bible (e.g. what role does Deuteronomy play in the OT law and how does it relate to the NT?). Since it's not written for scholars, its quite readable, and yet has enough depth for those who are serve in teaching and preaching.