Can the Bible be trusted? Not only did God promise to protect the Word, the way He presented it speaks volumes about the attention He gives to preserving its purity.
2 Peter 1:19-21 (NIV) “We also have the prophetic message as something COMPLETELY RELIABLE, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by THE PROPHET’S OWN INTERPRETATION of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God AS THEY WERE CARRIED ALONG BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.” (Emphasis added.)
Notice three descriptions of the presentational approach of God.
1. Peter assures the readers that they could take full confidence in the messages of prophecy because they are “completely reliable.” Conclusion: God presents and protects reliability.
2. God did not depend upon the “prophet’s own interpretation” for sourcing. Peter seems to go out of his way to say that readers need not be concerned about human influence. Conclusion: God safeguards His presentation from human interpretation.
3. Inspired presentations did not originate in the human will but came about as humans were “carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Conclusion: God maintains control over the Source of His presentation.
While the full inspirational process might very well be outside the ability of the human mind to grasp, we can know this, God’s message is “reliable”, safeguarded from human “interpretation,” and the Source is fully controlled by Him. As a result of that Divine effort in presentation, it seems reasonable to conclude that the same efforts are Divinely assigned to the preservation of Scripture?
When leaders within Catholicism, Calvinism, Reformed Theology, etc., make the elitist claim that they must filter Scripture in order for us common folks to understand it, they return us to the Dark Ages. Not only does God promise to protect His Word (see #1), He even presented it in such a way that elitist tampering was put on notice. (See also Revelation 22:18-19.) In order to be sure of God’s message, always let the Bible interpret the Bible.