Bible Basics

The Divine Record

In describing his revelation from God, the apostle Paul says, “He made known to me the mystery (as I wrote before in a few words, by this, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)” (Eph. 3:3, 4). This passage not only confirms the understandability of that revelation, but the way in which it was transmitted. God chose to have men record His word in a written text. Are any of these original manuscripts of that revelation available today? No they are not, and doubtless for good reason.  It’s likely that if those original autographed manuscripts were available today men would worship them rather than their Author. Does this suggest that the copies we now possess are not reliable collections of truth? Absolutely not! Divine oversight has accurately preserved the Scriptures, and biblical record bears this out. Paul points out that Timothy had known from childhood “the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation” (2 Tim. 3:15). The “Holy Scriptures” referred to are the books of the Old Testament. What was available at the time were copies of the original Old Testament manuscripts. The integrity of these manuscripts was so preserved that by inspiration Paul could affirm that their original design remained intact thus making men “wise for salvation.”

                                                                                                               -- Clark Dugger

Bible Basics