For believers, understanding how we got the Bible is essential. Yet, like many Christians, I once assumed the Bible’s path to us was simple and miraculous in a way that shielded it from human error. Twelve years ago, I held a King James-only view, convinced that God had preserved every single word without variation. But as I began studying, my assumptions were challenged, and I found that the Bible’s journey from inspiration to canonization, transmission, and translation was more complex than I’d realized.

The Bible didn’t fall from the sky. Rather, it was written by more than 40 authors over 1,500 years. God “breathed out” these words, as Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16, and the early church recognized which books were inspired, forming the 66-book canon. This canon was not chosen by a few but accepted by the broader church, though debates occasionally arose. Yet even with this confidence in the canon, I had never considered the transmission of the text—how it reached us today or how God preserved it despite human frailty.

For centuries, the Bible was copied by hand. Both Old and New Testaments were painstakingly replicated until the printing press emerged in the 15th century. With each generation, these copies and translations spread across regions and languages, adding layers of complexity. This process was not flawless, as human error in copying was inevitable. Yet, remarkably, God preserved his message through it all.

When I examined the 1611 King James Bible, I discovered revisions, footnotes suggesting alternative translations, and a preface by the translators themselves. Surprisingly, the translators didn’t claim perfection for their work, acknowledging that no translation could capture every detail precisely. In fact, they stated that even a poor translation still carried God’s Word, just as the King’s speech retains its meaning even when translated differently.

This challenged my view that only a “perfect” translation could be trusted. I realized that while God’s message remains intact, exact wording often varies. For example, the Gospels sometimes record Jesus’ words differently, yet the message is unified. The apostles themselves cited the Greek Septuagint, even though it had differences from the Hebrew text, showing us that variations do not negate the divine authority of Scripture.

Recommended reading

New Cambridge Paragraph Bible edited by David Norton

Know How We Got Our Bible by Ryan M. Reeves and Charles Hill

Scribes and Scripture: The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible by John D. Meade and Peter J. Gurry

The Forgotten Preface: Surprising Insights on the Translation Philosophy of the King James Translators by Joshua Barzon

Holy Bible: King James Version, 1611 Edition by Hendrickson Publishers

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