The other day I shared a video of a dialogue between Dr. Bart Ehrman and Dr. Dan Wallace over the question "Is the original New Testament lost?" In brief, both agreed that the Bible today is not what it was in the first century, and many things have been lost in time; but their general response differed. Ehrman argued that it is now pointless to talk about "the original manuscripts", that they no longer exist. Wallace, however, argued that the original text is buried within the inaccuracies of today's surviving text.
Both of these are well respected historical scholars, and I agree with both men on many points. In the end, though, I must find myself in agreement with Bart's conclusion: that the originals are lost. Though Dan is right that the points the disciples were wanting to get across made it through, and that the values and virtues taught during Christ's walk on Earth have survived to this day and have made Christianity a great faith to practice, I can still see the hands of the church all over the pages of the Bible. Just as faith and sin are personal matters between you and God, so is recognizing the inconsistencies and the biased inserts and edits that riddle the scriptures hand-copied by uneducated scribes or wealthy men. Its a great book, but it bears a very murky history.
Some argue by quoting 2 Timothy 3:16 ("All scripture is God-breathed..."), claiming that if the Bible was influenced by God then it is infallible, inerrant, and to question its authenticity is nothing short of blasphemy. But are we going to say the same about the church? Today we would respond with a resounding NO! But this wasn't always so. In the past, the Holy Catholic Church held power over kings, made the laws of the lands, and influenced the politics of the known western world. Only when people dared to think did we realize that the church is not the alpha and omega.
Nor is the Bible.
There is holy scripture, indeed influenced by God; and then there are what I call "the additions". Those little tag-ons that only serve political and societal purposes. The Bible is not the Word. Let me repeat that: the Bible is not the Word. The Word is God, and the Word is completely Holy and Perfect and immeasurable and unexplainable and unknowable. The Bible is a compilation of scripture inspired by God and additions by man. It is no more holy than the hypocritical Pharisees that tried to ensnare Jesus in wordplay. God influenced the authors of the original scriptural texts, just as Christ walked with men; but by walking with us, He did not make us holier-than-thou. Christ enlightened us, just as the Bible can challenge us to think.
Do you remember the story behind Israel's name, its meaning? In Genesis 32:28, a man named Jacob wrestled with the Angel of God (some scholars suggest that this was God Himself). During the fight, Jacob dislocated his hip, but remained persistent and determined. He held out, and the angel stopped wrestling and asked the man for his name. When Jacob replied, the angel said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome."
Do I challenge the Bible, what we have lazily come to group with God as being inerrant? Every single day. I wrestle with both God and man just as Jacob did.
I dare to think.
