Yes, we can trust that our Bible is the preserved Word of God—but the answer requires careful distinction between what God has promised to preserve, what that preservation looks like in history, and what the Bible actually claims about itself.

1. What the Bible actually promises about preservation.

God has promised to preserve His Word—but the promises are specific and do not extend to flawless transmission of every copy or translation. Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” And Matthew 24:35 says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” These verses show that God’s Word will endure eternally in its message and authority. (Psalm 12:6-7 is used by some to try to prove the infallibility of certain translations, but it must be pointed out that the word “them” in “thou shalt preserve them” refers to preserving the godly, not perfect manuscript copies.) Everything God has said will abide forever and Scripture affirms that His Word is reliable, authoritative, and sufficient for faith and practice—but none promise that every handwritten copy, every manuscript, or every translation will be letter-perfect or free from scribal error.

2. What we actually have: preservation through the manuscript evidence.

The Bible has been preserved remarkably well—far better than any other ancient document—through thousands of manuscripts. The New Testament is supported by over 25,000 partial and complete manuscript copies, a number that vastly exceeds the manuscript evidence for any other ancient work, such as Homer’s Iliad (~1,800) or Plato’s works (~27). These manuscripts are not only numerous but also notably close in proximity to the original writings, with some fragments, like portions of the Gospel of John, dating to within 50-100 years of the original compositions, and complete books preserved within 200-300 years. This proximity to the originals enhances confidence in their fidelity. Additionally, over 36,000 quotations from early Christian writers are so extensive that nearly the entire New Testament could be reconstructed from these alone, providing an independent corroboration of the manuscript tradition. When we compare these manuscripts, we have a New Testament Greek text that is over 99.5% certain—which is a far higher confidence than for Plato, Homer, or Caesar.

For the Old Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls (dating to around 150 BC) demonstrate exceptional preservation, with the Isaiah scroll being 95% word-for-word identical to later texts. The Bible’s text has been transmitted with extraordinary accuracy. This robust manuscript evidence, combined with early dating, consistency across copies, and external corroboration, underscores the Bible’s reliability as a historical and religious document, offering a strong foundation for its validity.

The Bible is the best-preserved ancient document in existence.

3. Rebuttal: There’s no such thing as an “inspired translation.”

The idea that any translation is inspired or inerrant is not biblical and is rejected by virtually all serious conservative scholars—including most KJV-only advocates who are careful with their language. Inspiration applies only to the original autographs—God inspired the prophets and apostles as they wrote (2 Tim. 3:16). No translation is inspired because they are all human efforts to render the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into another language. All translations have some degree of interpretive choice, and all contain minor inaccuracies or ambiguities (no perfect translation exists because languages are not 1:1 equivalent).

Even the KJV translators themselves disclaimed inspiration for their work. In their 1611 preface they wrote, “As the King’s speech, which he uttereth in Parliament, being translated into French, Dutch, Italian, and Latin, is still the King’s speech, though it be not interpreted by every Translator with the like grace, nor peradventure so fitly for phrase, nor so expressly for sense, everywhere.” The false doctrine of inspired translations (especially the extreme KJV-only claim that the KJV is the only inspired Word of God in English) is a post-1900 invention and contradicts the Bible’s own teaching about inspiration.

4. So, can we trust our Bible?

Yes, we can trust our Bible—not because any translation is perfect or inspired, but because God has preserved His Word sufficiently through the manuscript evidence—the text we have today is reliable and trustworthy. Furthermore, the main doctrinal content of the Bible (who God is, what sin is, who Christ is, how we are saved, etc.) is clearly and consistently presented across the manuscript tradition. The gospel that Christ died for sins, was buried, and rose again is not affected by any textual variant.

We can trust that our Bible is the preserved Word of God because He promised to keep His Word, because thousands of manuscripts overwhelmingly confirm its accuracy, and because the Holy Spirit bears witness to its truth in the hearts of believers.

See also: Why You Can Trust the Bible – Part 5 (Episode 254 of TBG)