Jude 1  Prologue:  Truth and Textual Critics

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v1Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified /loved by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

I. God has given us His Word to inform, guide and empower us re His will, and serve as the basis of blessing and judgment. 

Ps 138:2 worship...and praise Your name for Your hesed and Your truth; for You have magnified Your Word above all Your name (acts)

Mt 5:18 Assuredly, I say till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Jn 12:48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges--- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

Jn 17:Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth.  Jn 16:13 However, when He, The Spirit of Truth has come He will  guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

Mt 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

II. Therefore God makes sure that His Word is preserved, accurate, and understandable by His faithful children

2Tim 3:16 All Scripture given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2Pt 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy Scripture is of any private interpretation,21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved/conveyed/borne along by the Holy Spirit

III. Satan was the first and ever present Textual Critic Gen 3 “God has not said” 

Lk 4:8 Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' " 9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.10 For it is written: ' He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,'12 And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' "

IV. “Academic Expert Opinion” has moved from The Majority (BYZ -Textus Receptus-KJV) to Minority (Alex-A/B NIV et al) text types

No major doctrine of the Christian faith (in modern times) is at all in doubt/dispute as a result of the variants in the extant texts.

A. Distribution/external and  Family trees and Internal evidence “Older is not better” Looking good, being bad. Not used, trash heap

5200 extant MSS agreement with TR; 18-25k copies of versions in the BYZ or Majority Texttype (Spain to India)

Peshitta Version AD150; Old Latin Vulgate 157; Italic 157; Waldensian 120+; Gallic S Fr 177; Gothic 330-350; Old Syriac 400
Armenian Bible (AD 400) There are 1244 copies of this version still in existence.

"B was written on fine vellum (tanned animal skins) and remains in excellent condition. It was found in the Vatican Library in 1481 AD. In spite of being in excellent condition, it omits Genesis 1:1-Gen.46:28, Psalm 106-138, Matt.16:2-3, the Pauline pastoral Epistles, Heb 9:14-13:25, and all of Revelation. Seldom used because of so many omissions, alterations, errors, additions, deletions, 

y "For one thing…Vaticanus and Sinaiticus disagree with each other over 3000 times in the gospels alone…

A (Sinai trash;  and B (Vat ~4^th c/1475/1845);  are not older than the earliest versions of the Bible: the Peshitta (150-180AD; Syria- Antioch capital), Italic 157, Waldensian 120? and the Old Latin Vulgate(157 cx 382 Jerome): versions which agree with the Majority text. These ancient versions are some 200 years older than A and B. Yes A and B are older than other Greek mss, but for anyone to suggest that they are more accurate is absurd. 'You will find the greatest TRUTH being preached in the oldest cathedrals of the world, 

Dr Scrivener: Codex Sinaiticus is covered with alterations... brought in by at least ten different revisers,some of them systematically spread over every page, others occasional or limited to separated portions of the MS, many of these being contemporaneous with the first writer, but the greater part belonging to the sixth or seventh century.'  

Westminster Dictionary of the Bible p624 “The Vaticanus was available to the translators of the King James Bible, but they did not use it because they knew it is unreliable."  Martin: 'B' exhibits numerous places where the scribe has written the same word or phrase twice in succession.” In the Gospels alone, Vatican leaves out words or whole clauses no less than 1,491 times. It bears traces of careless transcriptions on every page. Smythe states: "From one end to the other, the whole manuscript has been traveled over by the pen of some...scribe of about the tenth century."  www.angelfire.com/la2/prophet1/mintext1.html

“Since the discovery of the Papyrus 45,1932 ~AD150), Papyrus 46 (~AD175), and Papyrus 66 (1952 ~AD150), proof is available that occasionally?? the Byzantine text preserves a reading that dates from early witness.“ (cx A&B from Westcott Hort (1881)

NIV Translation Committee: Col 1:12 made y’all sufficient into the portion of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” You’re going to have to decide what “sufficient” (??????) means. BDAG glosses it as, “to cause to be adequate, make sufficient, qualify.” However, “qualified” to me sounds like somehow we now deserve it, so I would never go with that option (contra NASB, ESV, NIV, NET). Much better “enabled” (CSB, NRSV, NLT).

Questions for Reflection/Discussion/Response:

1. Do you think God would “hide” the “correct” version of the Scripture on a Vatican shelf or Monastery trash heap for 1k years?

2. How could two “unused”, highly emended, inconsistent, and inaccurate texts obtain prominence among very intelligent people? 

3. How could a common, disdained text/translation, derided for centuries be used by God to change lives and the world?

4. Why are“educated” people more cognizant of sports scores/statistics, stock prices , shows than of immense eternal/present values?

5.  Do you judge the Scriptures and conform them to your opinions about life, or let them judge you and conform your life to them?