QUESTION:  If there is a perfect Bible in English, doesn't there also 
           have to be a perfect Bible in French, and German, and 
           Japanese, etc.?
   
ANSWER:  No.  God has always given His word to one people in one 
language to do one job--convert the world.  The supposition that there 
must be a perfect translation in every language is erroneous and 
inconsistent with God's proven practice.
   
EXPLANATION:  This explanation comes in three parts:  the Old 
Testament, the New Testament, the entire Bible.
   
(1) The Old Testament:
   
It is an accepted fact that, with the exception of some portions of 
Ezra and Daniel, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew.  It is also 
accepted that it was divinely given to the Jews.
   
Thus God initiates His pattern of operation.  He gave His words to one 
people in only one language.
   
God, apparently unintimidated by modern scholarship, did not feel 
obligated to supply His words in Egyptian, Chaldean, Syrian, 
Ethiopian, or any other of the languages in use on the earth at the 
time the Old Testament was written.
   
(2) New Testament:
   
It is also an accepted fact that the New Testament was written in 
Greek, Koine Greek to be exact.  Again, the Lord apparently saw no 
reason to inspire a perfect original in all of the languages of the 
world extant at that time.
   
Only this time, instead of giving His Book to a nation, such as 
Israel, He simply gave it to the Christians who were told to go out 
and convert the world (Matthew 28:19).  His choice of Greek as the 
language of the New Testament was obvious in that it was the 
predominant language of the world at the time.
   
(3) The Entire Bible:
   
It is obvious that God now needed to get both His Old Testament and 
His New Testament welded together in a language that was common to the 
world.  Only English can be considered such a language.
   
The English language had been developing for many centuries until the 
late sixteenth century.  About that time it finally reached a state of 
excellence that no language on earth has ever attained.  It would seem 
that God did the rest.  He chose this perfect language for the 
consummation of His perfect Book.
   
First England and later the United States swept the globe as the most 
powerful nations on earth, establishing English in all corners of the 
globe as either a primary or secondary language.
   
Today nations who do not speak English must still teach English to 
many of their citizens.  Even nations antagonistic to the West such as 
Russia and Red China must teach English to their business and military 
personnel.
   
Thus in choosing English in which to combine His two Testaments, God 
chose the only language which the world would know.  Just as He has 
shown in His choosing only one language for the Old Testament and only 
one language for the New Testament, He continued that practice by 
combining those two testaments in only one language.
   
But let us not forget the fact that, by choosing the English language, 
God has given us a mandate to carry out the great commission.  He did 
not give us a perfect Bible to set placidly on the coffee table in our 
living room to let our guests know that we are "religious." He did not 
give it to us to press a flower from our first date, or to have a 
record of our family tree.  He gave it to us to read!  And to tuck 
under our arm and share with the lost world the good news of Jesus' 
payment for sin that is found inside.
   
Let's get busy!

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