Two varieties of preservation of the Scriptures

Among Baptists, Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, Reformed, etc. there appear to be two primary varieties of belief on the preservation of the Scriptures. A comparison and contrast may be found in “The Second London Baptist Confession” and “The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.”

The Baptist Confession of Faith, 1689, London Chapter 1, Paragraph 8.

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 authentic; so as in all controversies of religion, the church is finally to appeal to them.

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, Article X

We affirm that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original.

The 2nd London Baptist Confession presents the older view that the original Scriptures are inspired, have been kept pure, and therefore the apographs (providentially preserved copies of these Scriptures) can be considered authentic. The Chicago Statement on Inerrancy represents a more modern view (affected by modern textual criticism), that the autographa (original text) is inspired and has been preserved “with great accuracy.” It can be considered authentic only to the extent the copies faithfully represent the original. The great problem there is that we must rely on the text critics, many of whom now believe the original text cannot be recovered. Though somewhat cryptic, that is a tacit admission that the originals have not been completely preserved.

Taylor Desoto in Providential Preservation observes:

“Without Providential Preservation, the modern doctrine of Scripture leaves the church without any discernable Bible, just a product that gives the people of God ‘good access’ to the Bible.”