Baptist Doctrine for Landmark, Missionary, Independent, Local Church Believers
#6 What Baptists Believe About The Holy Scriptures
Memory Verse:2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Prayer: That as we study the great truths of the Bible we may become better Christians and stronger Baptists.
Key Verses: 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Psalms 110:9,105; Hebrews 1:1-3
The fact of God’s existence is almost universally accepted, although it cannot be proven mathematically.
The existence of God, therefore, must be taken for granted and boldly proclaimed. When people accept the
fact of God’s existence, they must then believe that the Bible, the world’s most unusual book, is as it
professes to be—a revelation from God. Without this revelation, we would know nothing about God, creation,
or ourselves. Man could never have discovered by himself what God has revealed in the first eleven chapters of Genesis.
The sufficiency and finality of the Bible are rejected today by Roman Catholics in favor of “tradition” and
by the devotees of neo-orthodoxy in favor of continuous revelation. We must go back to the Book and to Christ
as our only reliable authority for faith and practice.
During His earthly life, the Lord Jesus Christ appealed unreservedly to the very words of the Old Testament text
(Matthew 22:42-45: John 10:34-36), thus indicating His confidence that this text had been
accurately transmitted (Matthew 5:18; Luke 16:17). Our Lord assures us that the Old Testament text in common use
among the Jews during His earthly ministry during his earthly ministry was an absolutely trustworthy reproduction
of the original text written by Moses and other inspired authors. Nothing had been lost from the text. The True
Old Testament and New Testament text shall be preserved in the Church till all be fulfilled as our Saviour has
promised (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15).
The Hebrew Scriptures were written by Moses, the prophets, and other inspired men to whom God had given
prophetic gifts. However, the duty of preserving this written revelation was assigned not to the prophets but to
the priests, who were the divinely appointed guardians and teachers of the Law (Deuteronomy 31:24-26; Deuteronomy 31:12-13).
The priests were also tasked with making correct copies of the Law for the use of kings and rulers (Deuteronomy 17:18;
Psalms 19:7-11). Unbelieving Jewish scribes transmitted this traditional Hebrew Old Testament text blindly but faithfully,
until the dawn of the Protestant Reformation, at which time it again passed into the possession of the Christian Church.
This is the Hebrew Received Text or the Masoretic Text from which the King James Version was translated.
In the Bible, and especially in the New Testament, Christ reveals Himself. We can say that “The Bible” is the written Word
of God,”Christ” is the Incarnate Word, and the two together comprise the “Living Word”. In the Gospels, Christ has promised
that the same divine providence that preserved the Old Testament Scriptures will also preserve the New Testament
(Matthew 28:20; Matthew 24:35; Luke 21:33) . How has our Savior fulfilled His promise?
Through His Church and the universal priesthood of believers (1st Peter 2:9), through the leading of the
Holy Spirit in the hearts of individual Christians.
The writing and preservation of the New Testament was a fulfillment of the promises of Christ (John 14:25-26; John 16:12-13).
The Holy Spirit guided early Christians to gather the individual New Testament books into one New Testament canon and to reject
all non-canonical books. God also, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, guided the believers in choosing the trustworthy texts
and rejecting non-canonical books which were consigned to oblivion. This text became known as the “Byzantine” text
(Byzatine period of the Greek Church 452-1453), also called the Traditional Text.
A further step in the providential preservation of the New Testament was its printing in 1516 and the dissemination of it throughout
Western Europe during the Protestant Reformation. There were some minor errors in the first editions, but in all essentials, the New
Testament text first printed by Erasmus and later by Stephanus (1550) and Elzevir (1633) was in full agreement with the Traditional Text.
The printed text is commonly called the “Textus Receptus” (Received Text). It was from this Textus Receptus that the King James Version and
other classic Protestant translations were made. God preserved the Old Testament by means of something physical and external, namely,
the Aaronic priesthood. God has preserved the New Testament text by means of something inward and spiritual, namely, the universal
priesthood of believers.
There are two main sources of manuscripts from which the New Testament has been translated. First, the
Traditional Text, Received Text, or Textus Receptus from Antioch in Syria (Acts 11,13.
It goes to the ends of the Earth through groups like the Waldensians, Albigenses, Bogomiles (Latin), Paulicians (Greek), Mennonites,
Pietists (German), Separatists, Putitans, Huguenots, Baptists, and many others.
All revivals, reformation, soul-winning, and interest in Bible study interest follow this text. Second, there is the ” Hesychian” ( or Alexandrian)
type of text, which was the basis for the Latin Vulgate, used for the Revised Version, American Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible,
and scores of others. Pantænus, Clement, and Origen (154-254) of the Catechetical School at Alexandria, Egypt, were primarily responsible for this corrupt text.
The true text went to the entire world by way of England and North America. The corrupt text, which was hidden for many centuries, was
resurrected in 1881-1884 by Westcott and Hort and went to Latin and South America through Rome, Italy. (Vaticanus B and Sinaitious Aleph manuscripts).
The original New Testament manuscripts were papyrus (paper) rolls about ten inches high by thirty feet long. Papyrus Codex was developed
aout 125 A.D., making it possible to gather the New Testament books into one or two volumes. Around 300-900 A.D., Vellum (leather) Uncial (Capital Letters)
with no space between the words. This was Codex (book form). Around 900-1500 A.D., minuscule (small letters) handwriting
was used for the production of the Bible.
We, as Baptists, believe the Bible to be the verbally inspired Word of God, Inerrant— namely, without error.
The King James Bible, printed in 1611, has stood the test of time to this date 2025 (410 years). It is still going strong despite attempts Liberals
and the Conservatives to downgrade this version know as the Authorized versions.
The King James Version is the perfect, exact translation of the original manuscripts. The original manuscripts of the Old Testament in the Lors’s day
were not available, neither are the original manuscripts of the New Testament today. Yet, we do not put our faith in the original manuscripts
but in the God who has preserved the manuscript that we do have.
The Church that “kept God’s Word” (Revelation 3) was not church of the Apostles or Apostolic Fathers (90-150 A.D.); it was the Phildelphia church of 1500-1900 A.D.
The only LIVING BIBLE on earth today is the Authorized Version1611) or translations made from it.
The MONARCH of the books is still “king of the mountain) and if you want God’s blessing on your life, ministry, school, church, family, or nation use this;
believe it, preach it, practice it and DIE by it.
Discussion Questions
Is the Bible historically, scientifically, and morally true?
What part did God play in the giving of the Bible?
What part did man have?
Who preserved the Bible down through the ages? Catholics or Baptists?
When we speak of inspiration, do we mean in thought or in word? Why in word?
What about translations? Can we rely on them as a whole?
#6 What Baptists Believe About The Holy Scriptures
