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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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