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Original Manuscripts of the Bible

Q. Have any of the original manuscripts of the Bible survived?

A. No. The books of the Bible are so ancient, and were hand-copied so many times over the centuries, that all we have surviving are copies of copies of copies. In no case do we have what some would call the autograph of a book — that is, the original copy, such as one of the actual letters that was penned by the Apostle Paul.

Think how priceless — both materially and spiritually — even one of these original manuscripts would be. So why did God allow them all to be lost?

Some speculate that God knew we would be tempted not just to venerate but to idolize the original manuscripts if we had them in our possession. So He has kept them from us. But only the Lord himself knows for sure His reasons for allowing them all to be lost.

PT

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