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.
