The Bible Has Been Translated Too Many Times, Can I Trust It?
One of the most common critiques I hear about the Bible is that it can’t be trusted because it’s been translated too many times. But is this claim actually true? I think when considering this question we have to define transcription (ie translation) vs. transmission. Transcription is the Bible being put in written form (translation). Transmission is the passing of the Bible from person to person, generation to generation. When creating varying versions of the Bible, Biblical scholars take the original Greek & Hebrew texts and transcribe them into the English language, using modern vernacular. Scholars didn’t transcribe the orignial Hebrew & Greek texts into the King James Version, then use the KJV to transcribe the NKJV, then use the NKJV to transcribe the NASB, then use the NASB to transcribe the ESV…and so on (you get the picture…) That is a myth and a misunderstanding of how we came to have the many translations of the Bible that we do now. Each translation of the Bible has come from the original texts and transcribed …