The original Biblical autographs no longer exist. What have survived are copies which are several generations removed from the originals. Of all the surviving manuscript copies, no two are exactly the same.
What Bible is This?
If the original Biblical autographs do not exist and not one surviving Biblical manuscript is exactly the same, which version of the Bible are modern worshipers reading? The simple answer is that today's worshipers are reading a Bible with readings chosen from various manuscripts by a handful of scholars who have voted, not always unanimously, on the reading that's most apt to be accurate.
The Bible we read is not, and can never be, the original Bible in its entirety. To assume that all the words read in the Bible are the original writings of the authors is a misleading notion. It gives caution to the old famous Protestant axiom Sola Scriptura ("scripture alone"), and it's important to note that the readings contained within the Bible do not all have apostolic authority.
Biblical scholar David Parker says in his book The Living Text of the Gospels, “Almost all writers on theological, ethical and historical issues have taken for granted that the New Testament evidence on which they are drawing for support is the original text of the writers” (The Living Text of the Gospels, p. 7).
Scribal Activity in the Bible
Why the many differences in the manuscripts? One important reason is because the Bible was written during a time when there was no printing press. Therefore, the copying of the Bible was reliant upon the accuracy of the scribe assigned to the task.
Scribes made unintentional errors when copying a manuscript. Unintentional errors may have been caused by poor eyesight. For example, a scribe may have been in a poorly lit room when copying a manuscript and may have misspelled a word or words, or may have missed words all together.
An error may have been caused by poor hearing. It was common for someone to narrate a text and have several scribes write down what they heard in order to increase productivity. It was not uncommon to mishear a word, therefore introducing an error. Memory lapses also played a role in introducing error, especially if tiredness and fatigue set in.
Alternatively, intentional alterations were made. Intentional alterations varied. Scribes were prone to conflation. This is where a scribe would combine two different readings found in two or more manuscripts. The reason for this was uncertainty. Undecided of which reading to choose, the scribe would combine the two.
Scribes would also set out to improve spelling, grammar and adjust what they believed to be mistakes inherent in the text in order to correct difficult readings. Perceived historical and geographical errors were "amended." They also altered a text to harmonise it with other Biblical passages. They did this to eliminate what they believed to be contradictions.
There are also scribal euphemistic changes. Occasionally scribes believed a certain passage was offensive. Scribes would change a word or phrase to make it less offensive to the reader and/or hearer.
Surviving Alterations
These scribal alterations still survive in the current versions of the Bible. Some are still the cause of dispute. Some scholars argue that these alterations do not affect any of the major doctrines of Christianity. Other scholars are not so certain. Other alterations have little or no bearing on Christian doctrine.
Whichever position one holds, there is no question that many changes were made in the earliest manuscripts of the Bible, all of which were done unintentionally or intentionally.
Sources:
- Aland, K. and B. Aland. The Text of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.
- Greenlee, J. H. Introduction to New Testament Textual Criticism. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2003.
- Metzger, B. and B. Ehrman. The Text of the New Testament. Oxford, New York: Oxford University, 2005.
- Parker, D. C. The Living Text of the Gospels. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1997.
