Since the end of the 19th Century, the church has been debating an issue that before that era, was not broadly contended – namely, whether or not God has faithfully preserved his word over time and between languages.

For millennia Psalm 12:6 and 7 was understood to mean that God could and would protect and preserve his scriptures.

…it reads “The words of the LORD [are] pure words: [as] silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

But by the late 1800’s modern academia had given rise to the critical text position, which postulated that the Bible we have, is not the Bible that God inspired.

Today, the commonly held position is that God’s word was captured in the original manuscripts but was lost over time by the unreliable hands of transcribers and the inherent shortcomings of the translation process.

The result of this critical view has led to an emphasis on scholarship; the archaeological, anthropological, and theological pursuit of the oldest and most eclectic text to produce the most thoughtful translation. This appeal to authority has led to an ever-expanding array of bible translations, in English as well as other languages — translations for which the scholars can not definitively say are the very words of God.

Today on the show we have Erion Vogli, a man on a mission to create a reliable translation of the Bible in his native Albanian language. What gives him the confidence that this is even possible? What are his methods and how can he know they are steadfast?

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We continue our unknown missionary series with Professor of Missiology James Fyffe. This time we trace the conversion and missions work of Henry Martyn (1781-1812). Henry left a life of comfort and ease in the West to labor for 6 short and meaningful years in the work of Bible translation and evangelism. His legacy is felt most today from the Middle East all the way through India where his Bibles are still being used for gospel and discipleship-centered church planting movements. Henry shows us believers what it means to burn bright for the Lord Jesus Christ, heeding the call to world missions.

Randy Foster of Heartland Baptist Fellowship in Harrisonville, MO shares his story of coming to faith after reading a booklet regarding the rapture. Randy then shares how he was discipled, caught a heart for missions in Belarus and quickly found himself leading in the mission. He tells us how God prepared him to preach through ministries such as Backyard Astronomy club.

After a long season of missions work in Zambia, Africa Randy was invited by Brian Hedges of Heartland Baptist Fellowship in Harrisonville, MO to help start a Bible school. Randy is now also trusting God to get the Word of God to the nations through Word First Publishing at Heartland which seeks to print and ship Bibles of various languages to peoples around the world.

We continue our church history series with Pastor Greg Axe of Crest Bible Church. We discuss the man often recognized as the key player of the Reformation, Martin Luther. We begin with his upbringing and salvation experience, and then discuss his unrest with the Roman Catholic Church, the 95 theses, as well as the ensuing debate and persecution. We also discuss Luther's influence after his escape to Germany and the translation of the Bible into German.

In this episode, we continue our conversation on church history with pastor Greg Axe of Crest Bible Church. This time, we look at the conditions that paved the way for the Reformation, including further corruption in the Church of Rome, as well as the positive factors. We also look at the lives of John Wycliffe and John Huss, as well as their contributions to getting the Bible into the hands of the common man.

In this episode of the Ps+ we look at the importance of adherence to God’s words by looking at 2 Samuel 6 and Exodus 2.

In this episode with Spanish Pastor Will Mata of Midtown Baptist Temple we discuss the cultural complexities regarding ministry to Spanish speakers. Will shares his heart God developed over the years after coming to faith and taking part in several ministry endeavors to Latinos. He shares what he believes will be the key to making a lasting investment in the Spanish speaking believers of the world as well as the urgency for the gospel.

In this episode of the Ps+ we take a look at some of the problems of a Dynamic Equivalent translation philosophy.

In this episode we continue with part two of our three part series on the King James Bible. Dr. Alan Shelby, Dean of the Living Faith Bible Institute, helps us to understand the history behind the King James Bible. In part two we address whether or not God continued to protect his words even within the translation process, what was the translation process like, why can we be confident that God has given us his very words today?

In this episode, we begin a three-part series on why the King James is God’s preserved word. Dr. Alan Shelby, Dean of Living Faith Bible Institute, discusses with us the doctrine of inspiration and preservation in order to better understand God’s character and purposes as it concerns scripture. In part 1 of our series, we address when inspiration occurred, why scripture goes beyond the original autographs, the problems with textual criticism, why we can trust God oversaw the process of transcription and translation, and much more.

We speak specifically here about the complex work of translating the Bible into other languages in order to disciple the nations.