Biblical preservation

Biblical preservation is a doctrine stating that God is actively involved in preserving creation, Jerusalem and the Jewish people, the saints, and scripture.

Preservation of Creation

Preservation of Jerusalem and the Jews

Preservation of the Saints

Preservation of the Scriptures

As applied to the scriptures, preservation simply states that we can trust the scriptures because God has sovereignly managed the transmission process.

The doctrine maintains that inasmuch as God divinely inspired the text He also divinely preserved it throughout the centuries. [ [http://www.quodlibet.net/weil-inerrancy.shtml Inerrancy and its Implications for Authority: Textual Critical Considerations in Formulating an Evangelical Doctrine of Scripture] Quodlibet Journal: Volume 4 Number 4, November 2002 ]

Traditionally the church has declared its belief that the preservation of the Scriptures is the result of God’s providential activity. The Second London Confession (1677) made the following declaration: “The Old T estament in Hebrew . . . and the New Testament in Greek . . . being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and Providence kept pure in all Ages, are therefore authentical; so as in all controversies of Religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto them.” [ [http://www.tms.edu/tmsj98.asp Ancient Manuscripts and Biblical Exposition] The Master's Seminary Journal, Volume 9, No. 1, p. 26, 1998]

God's responsibility, man's responsibility

While textual criticism of the bible examines the many differences between biblical manuscripts and in some ways questions the doctrines of both biblical inerrancy and preservation, such discrepancies are accepted as genuine by most conservative evangelical scholars, while the doctrine of preservation is still held to.

This is explained, in part, to a more detailed explanation of what biblical preservation of the scriptures is:

The biblical doctrine of the preservation of Scripture consists of two parts:(1) God preserves His Word unchanged forever in heaven and (2) He gave His people the privilege and responsibility of preserving it on earth. The second part of the doctrine of the preservation of Scripture applies to the Bible expositor. The doctrine is not just an article of faith; it is som ething to be practiced. The expositor must participate in the preservation of God’s written Word. He will be held accountable by a holy and omniscient God for any adulteration of the biblical text. [ [http://www.tms.edu/tmsj98.asp Ancient Manuscripts and Biblical Exposition] The Master's Seminary Journal, Volume 9, No. 1, p. 38, 1998]

ee also

*Biblical hermeneutics
*Biblical inerrancy
*Biblical literalism
*Bibliolatry
*Calvin's view of Scripture
*Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
*Higher criticism
*Internal consistency of the Bible
*Religious skepticism
*Textual criticism
*
*An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture

Notes