But these also are imperfect.
They all differ from each other. And no one can tell which is nearest to
the originals, for the originals are lost. So that whether there was an
absolutely perfect Bible at first or not, there is no such Bible now.
God Himself has so ordered things, that all the Bibles in the world,
like all the preachers, churches, and teachers, share the innocent
imperfections of our common humanity.
Suppose the original Bible to have been perfect, and to have been
preserved from destruction, only one person could have possessed it. The
rest would have had to be content with imperfect human copies. God might
Himself have written perfect Bibles for all mankind, but He did not
choose to do it. Or He might have made perfect copies of the original
Bible, but He did not choose to do even that. He might have employed a
few legions of angels in making copies of the Bible; but _that_ He did
not do. He left the work to be done by men, and men have done it, as
they do all their work, imperfectly.
Still, they have done it well enough. The poorest manuscript Bible in
the world is good enough. The most imperfect Greek and Hebrew Bible is
good enough. The poorest translation is good enough. It is so good, we
mean, that those who are able to read it, may learn from it all that is
necessary to make them good, and useful, and happy on earth, and to fit
them for the blessedness of eternal life in heaven.
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