This doctrine is the heart of the Bible translation controversy, this is what it all comes down to. Your view on the Preservation of Scriptures will directly affect what your view on Bible translations is. If you have a biblical view of Preservation, then you will have a biblical view of Bible translations.

The doctrine of Preservation follows naturally from the doctrine of Inspiration, God Inspired the Bible and then Preserved it so that we could have it today. The doctrine of Inspiration can be summarized like this, The providential way in which God preserved the Scriptures without error from the time of their writing until today. This is kind of a long summary but it’s important that we get the details right, because those small details are the difference between the King James Bible and Modern versions. Let me explain it this way, Among those who believe in biblical Preservation there are three views, I will briefly explain those views, and then we will look at some Bible passages to determine which one is correct.

The first view is what I call concept preservation this view holds that God inspired the Scriptures and that they were inerrant, but through time became corrupted. Corrupted to the point that it contains contradictory statements and stories that are just plain fiction. However, while God didn’t protect the actual words, and allowed corruption to infect his Word, he protected the concepts and the general message but allowed human error. So according to this view, the general message of Salvation has been preserved, but nothing else.

The second view is what I call partial preservation this view is the most common amongst modern Christianity. This view holds that God’s word was corrupted over time and that every manuscript we currently have contains errors. This view holds that God’s Word can only be found as modern scholars compare manuscripts and determine which is correct. This view believes that God preserved his Word, but not completely, that his Word is scattered across thousands of manuscripts and man must sift through this evidence to discover which are correct. The greatest weakness of this view is that it generally holds that we don’t have God’s perfect Word, but only as close as we can get right now. That Scholars will always be working to update our modern versions. That we may never have a perfect Bible, but there will always be questions about textual variances and differing translation decisions.

The third (and decidedly biblical) view is what I call verbal plenary Preservation. If you read my article on Inspiration, then you probably remember that the word ‘verbal’ simply means words, and the word ‘plenary’ means full, or complete. Just like with Inspiration, this view of preservation can be summed up as the complete preservation of every word in the entire Bible. This view holds that God Inspired the Scriptures, and then preserved them perfectly without error for us today. This view holds that we currently have God’s inerrant, inspired, and preserved Word. That the King James Bible is this Word of God. That God preserved his Word through what is known as the Textus Receptus, which the KJV was translated from. This is the only of the three views that hold we have God’s perfect Word today. Both of the other views Accept that God’s word has errors and even contradictions. Which any true believer in the Bible will know is unacceptable.

Now that we’ve examined the three views on preservation, let us examine some of the most relevant passages that deal with this central doctrine. For the sake of length, we will only be looking at 3, but a list of many more will be given at the end.

First, I would like to look at two statements made by Jesus Christ himself, for what better place to start than Christ?

Matthew 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

These two verses should honestly be enough because Christ could not have been clearer. The word law evidently refers to the entirety of the Scriptures. As does Jesus’ use of the term my words. In these two verses, Jesus says with no restraint that the Bible will be preserved until heaven and earth pass away. Not only that, but Jesus takes it a step further, he says not only will the scriptures be preserved, but not even a jot or tittle will be lost. Jot and tittle are words that refer to the smallest letter and the smallest part of a letter in the Hebrew language. Jesus was saying here that the Scriptures would be preserved down to the exact letter and even part of the letter. These two verses totally eliminate concept preservation and partial preservation. In the face of Christ’s Words, one has to accept Verbal plenary Preservation or force some other interpretation on the text.

Ecclesiastes 3:14  I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

This is honestly my favorite verse in regard to preservation, and it is often overlooked. But, despite generally being ignored it’s arguably one of the clearest you can find. Let me break this down simply, in a short syllogism.

Premise 1: Nothing God does can be changed

Premise 2: God Inspired the Bible

Conclusion: Therefore the Bible cannot be changed

This is the simplest way to sum it up. This verse says nothing can be added to or taken from anything God does, and God inspired the Bible, therefore nothing can be added to or taken from the Bible. That’s verbal plenary Preservation! This means that from the writing of the Bible, there can be no words taken or added, which is exactly what Jesus himself said in the other two passages we looked at.

Based on these three verses several things are clear, most importantly that of the three views we were examining, verbal plenary preservation is the biblical option. Partial preservation simply doesn’t fit with these passages, and neither does concept preservation. All three of these passages emphasize that the very words of the Bible will be preserved perfectly, not partially, and not only conceptually.

This treatment of Preservation has been short, but I think we’ve been able to go over all of the most important points. Out of all the dozens of passages in the Bible dealing with preservation, these three are my favorites because of how perfectly they explain it. God Inspired His Word and Preserved it, but these verses take it a step further and arguably disprove any view of Preservation besides the one I defend here. These verses make clear that God preserved the entire Bible, that nothing can be added to it or taken from it, and that this preservation goes so far as the individual letters. It is truly amazing how much care God took in giving us His Word.

Stay in God’s Word and always walk after the cross

-Sawyer Barnes