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Question #1
QUESTION:
Shouldn't we be loyal to the "original autographs" and not a mere
translation?
ANSWER: We should put as
much value on the "originals" as God does.
EXPLANATION: It is
impossible to be true to the originals because the originals have long
been lost. This well established fact should be enough to
make the sincere student of Scripture realize that an affirmative answer
to the question is an impossibility.
But it does not explain the above answer. Just how much value
does God put on the originals?
To get the answer we must explore several chapters in the book of
Jeremiah beginning with the famous passage in chapter 36 concerning the
roll that Jeremiah had written.
In verse 21 the roll is brought before King Jehoiakim and read by his
servant Jehudi.
According to verse 23 Jehudi read three or four leaves and King
Jehoiakim cut it up with a penknife and cast it into the fire on the
hearth until it was destroyed.
Thus ends ORIGINAL #1 !
Then the Lord moved Jeremiah to rewrite the roll adding some words to
it. (Jeremiah 36:32)
Thus ORIGINAL #2 is born.
We are shown the text of this second original in Jeremiah 45-51 where
it is reproduced for our benefit.
Jeremiah told Seraiah to read this roll when he came into Babylon.
(Jeremiah 51:59-61) Then Jeremiah instructed Seraiah, after he finished
reading the roll, to bind a stone to it and cast it into the
Euphrates river (Jeremiah 51:63)!
Thus ends ORIGINAL #2!
But wait! We have a copy of the text of the roll in chapters 45-51.
Where did it come from? It came from a copy of original
#2 which we can only call ORIGINAL #3!
So there are two very big problems for those who overemphasize the
"originals".
(1) Every Bible ever printed with a copy of Jeremiah in it has a text
in chapters 45-51 which is translated from a copy of the "second"
original, or ORIGINAL #3. (2) Secondly, NO ONE can overlook the fact
that God didn't have the least bit of interest in
preserving the "original" once it had been copied and its message
delivered. So WHY should we put more of an emphasis on the originals than
God does? An emphasis which is plainly
unscriptural.
Thus, since we have the text of the "originals" preserved in the King
James Bible we have no need of the originals, even if they were
available.
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