Initially, all of the various Protestant Confessional statements (such as the Westminster, the Philadelphia etc.) containing statements concerning the preservation of Scripture were written in response to text critical problems and challenges.1 These creeds descriptively appealed to the consensus of history for determining the boundaries of the texts of Scripture. Two examples are the Helveticus Consensus and the Philadelphia Confession, as follows:
THE HELVETICUS CONSENSUS (1675 A.D.)
"God, the supreme Judge, not only took care to have his word, which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, committed to writing by Moses, the prophets, and the apostles, but has also watched and cherished it with paternal care ever since it was written up to the present time, so that it could not be corrupted by craft of Satan or fraud of man."
THE PHILADELPHIA CONFESSION (Baptist - 1742 A.D.)
"The Old Testament 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 in all controversies of religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto them" (taken from the 1646 Westminster Confession, I, 8 - author's emphasis)
The texts these confessions had in view as "authentical" were the Masoretic Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek Textus Receptus New Testament.
It is important that the Christian understand that the previously mentioned struggle continues behind the scenes in textual criticism today. At the same time we must keep in mind that the battle over final authority began with Lucifer's rebellion (Isaiah 14, Ezek. 28) followed by his attack on God's Word in the Garden of Eden.
Yet one may inquire, "just what is the nature of this providence, and how did it actually operate in manuscript transmission?" Some of the more important and vital canons included in the "doctrine of preservation" are:2
(a) As God promised many times to preserve His Words, by faith in God's Character we trust that He has kept His word.
(b) As God used the priesthood to preserve His Word in the Old Testament, He has done likewise in New Testament times through the priesthood of born again believers.
(c) By multiplying copies to such a large number it would be impossible for anyone to corrupt them all, willfully or by negligence.
(d) The familiarity with Scripture by people from all walks of life assured that any alterations in wording would have been detected.
(e) Students (especially of Hebrew) were conscious of every letter of the texts.
(f) Unanimity exists of Old Testament readings in the Mishna, Gemara and the Talmud with the Masoretic text.
(g) Jesus accused the Jews of His day of many sins, but not once did He charge them with corrupting their copies – rather, He attested to their purity (Mat.5:17-19).
(h) The checks and balances that the Jews and Christians afforded each other would prevent corruptions.
1 Letis, The Majority Text: Essays and Reviews in the Continuing Debate, op cit., p. 147 ff.
2 John Owen, "Of the Integrity and Purity of the Hebrew and Greek Text of the Scripture", The Works of John Owen, Vol. XVI, ed. by William H. Goold, (Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth, 1968; rpt. of 1850-53 ed.), pp. 356-358.
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