Autocorrect

Posted on April 27, 2017 by

“I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies” (Psalm 119:5).

When we approach Scripture, may we be willing to let it automatically correct us!

In this age of computers, especially smartphones and other personal electronic devices, we have become more associated, for better or worse, with a feature called “autocorrect.” If you have typed a word or letter by mistake, special software automatically corrects your error. This is very handy—especially if you are a poor speller. However, the downside is that the computer may misinterpret you. Perhaps you wish to spell someone’s name, a location, or a specialized term—something probably not found in the average dictionary. Or, maybe you are quoting words that were originally misspelled. Perhaps you are using a foreign word. Whatever the case, the automatic “correction” is damaging rather than helpful. “Autocorrect” would be incorrect!

Sadly, people, even professing Christians, function just like autocorrect software and “correct” the Bible. They mean well—hopefully—but they are better off not commenting about matters in which they are unskilled. They have an overestimation of their Bible understanding: they believe they are qualified to change Scripture at will. Just as the software would “think” a unique word is misspelled, so people assume they can adjust God’s words to make them fit human reasoning. This flawed approach to Scripture drives textual criticism—the “scholarly” science of “reconstructing” the Bible text that was supposedly “lost” in the centuries since the Apostles. These “restorations” are a series of critical works surviving even to this present hour—namely, Greek New Testaments (about 30 different ones) and their resulting English translations (100-plus different ones)!

It is silly to point out, but it must be said. Computer software, since it is not living, cannot approach the Bible in faith. We, however, can and should use spiritual understanding to see why the King James Bible text says what it does, before we mindlessly change what it says. Whenever we alter the Bible, we cannot fathom the depths of ignorance in which we have just placed ourselves. Friends, we do not correct the Bible; it is perfect (Proverbs 30:5,6). Brethren, we let the Bible correct us; we are imperfect (2 Timothy 3:16,17). source

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