Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 24:3 (Fall 2020)
Article: Where Inspiration Is Found: Putting The New Testament Autographs In Context
Author: Timothy N. Mitchell

SBJT 24:3 (Fall 2020) p. 83

Where Inspiration Is Found: Putting The New Testament Autographs In Context1

Timothy N. Mitchell

Timothy N. Mitchell is a PhD student in the area of New Testament Textual Criticism under the supervision of Dr. Hugh Houghton at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom. He earned his MDiv at Luther Rice Seminary, Lithonia, Georgia. He is one of the contributing authors for Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism (IVP Academic, 2019). Mitchell has also written articles and reviews for the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Bibliotheca Sacra, Themelios, and Bryn Mawr Classical Review. He regularly publishes articles and reviews on New Testament Textual Criticism and early Christian book culture over on his blog The Textual Mechanic. Tim currently works as a UH60 Blackhawk helicopter mechanic. He and his wife Angela have three children, Emmaline, Elizabeth, and Jason, and have fostered four children.

Introduction

At the center of nearly every discussion over the inspiration of the New Testament (NT) are references to the “originals,” or, to the “autographs” of the scriptures. Arguments against the inspiration or inerrancy of the NT often focus at the level of “autograph.” In his bestselling work Misquoting Jesus, Bart Ehrman wrote that,

[R]ather than actually having the inspired words of the autographs (i.e., the originals) of the Bible, what we have are the error-ridden copies of the autographs.2

SBJT 24:3 (Fall 2020) p. 84

As he explains in his book, Ehrman was addressing, head on, the Christian doctrines of inspiration as he understood them and his personal inability to reconcile these doctrines with the rich textual history of the Greek NT.3 His criticism of divine inspiration focuses mainly on the “autographs” or “originals” because the commonly understood evangelical doctrine of scripture place God’s act of inspiration upon the “autographs” of the NT (however one defines this) and not upon any one manuscript or manuscript tradition.4 These multivalent terms used to describe inspiration or to formulate these doctrines often lead to a lack of clarity, or a misrepresentation concerning the divine origin of the scriptures. Bart Ehrman is a well-known example of how this misunderstanding can lead to the abandonment of a high view of scripture altogether.5