This is something I have been thinking about for a while that might foster some conversation while I am away this weekend.
The Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy in III.E. states, “Since God has nowhere promised an inerrant transmission of Scripture, it is necessary to affirm that only the autographic text of the original documents was inspired and to maintain the need of textual criticism as a means of detecting any slips that may have crept into the text in the course of its transmission.”
The Westminster Confession of Faith in 1.8 states, “The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which, at the time of the writing of it, was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and, by His singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical.”
[sidenote: I find it interesting that neither the CSBI or the WCF mention Aramaic, but that's a different story.]
The CSBI is a little more nuanced then the WCF in that the WCF Read the rest of this entry »
