Jumpstarter 2 of 10

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Question 2

The lesson presses a question many Christians avoid: “Did God inspire every person who made a copy…to ensure that no mistakes were made?”—what picture of God’s priorities emerges if the answer is “obviously no,” and what picture of God is threatened if we feel we *need* the answer to be “yes”?

Another way to ask: If God did not keep every copyist from making mistakes, what does that say about what God cares most about? What view of God are we trying to protect if we feel the answer must be “yes”?

Direct Answer Bercot’s conclusion that the answer is “obviously no” suggests God’s priority was preserving the faith and the message, not guaranteeing perfect wording in every copy. If we feel we *need* the answer to be “yes,” we risk picturing God as obligated to preserve a flawless copy-chain and making faith depend on a kind of textual certainty the early church didn’t claim.

Support from Transcript:

He says variations exist “before the year 200,” so “the answer is obviously no” to inspired copyists guaranteeing no mistakes.
He argues early Christians “never claimed” God inspired copyists; claiming it would be “a claim that the people closest to the apostles never made.”
He stresses early Christians had “no way of knowing which was the inspired” copy if some were and others weren’t.
He concludes, “we don’t really know,” and adds, “If God felt it was essential that we do know, he would have made certain there wouldn’t have been these variations right from the beginning.”
He repeatedly emphasizes the differences “didn’t affect the fundamentals of Christianity,” implying God safeguarded essentials without perfect uniformity.

Discussion Follow-ups What do we actually need in order to call Scripture “the Word of God”: perfect transmission of every word, or reliable preservation of the saving message?

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Jumpstarter 2 of 10