For instance, in comparison to thousands of extant New Testament manuscripts/fragments, there are fewer than twenty extant fragments of the work of the Roman Historian Tacitus – who lived relatively close to the time period of Jesus (56-120 AD)! The sheer volume of biblical manuscripts and fragments is itself evidence of the reliability of Scripture. Latin for much of the ancient Roman Empire). Hebrew and Aramaic) and the New Testament (Koine Greek), as well as in the “common tongue” of secondary translation contexts (i.e. These writings appear in the original languages of composition for both the Old Testament (i.e. Instead, we have thousands of copies of these Old and New Testament books, in addition to thousands of other fragments of copies. We do not possess original copies of any of the Bible’s sixty-six books. Textual Criticism: A (Mercifully Brief!) Overview This article seeks to address each of the questions in turn – succinctly, and in plain language! Why We can Trust our Modern-Day BiblesĪs we understand the ways that God has preserved and translated the Scriptures throughout the centuries, our confidence in today’s Bible translations will only grow.
Amen.” present in the KJV, but absent from the ESV (and the NIV, NLT, CSB, etc.)? Why is the phrase, “Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. I preach from the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Holy Bible, so as our church considered this passage of Scripture yesterday, we read (and prayed!) the following:ĩ Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.ġ0 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.ġ2 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.ġ3 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. As Autumn Ridge Community Church gathered for worship last Sunday, we considered one of the most oft-quoted passages of Scripture in the Bible: “The Lord’s Prayer.” If you’ve prayed these words before, you’ve most likely done so (loosely) in the King James tradition, which reads (emphasis added):ĩ Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.ġ0 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.ġ2 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.ġ3 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.