The originals ALONE were inspired and perfect, as NO translation ever has been, nor are they required to be such!
“
Originals Only are Perfect” is purely a faith based statement that comes from Modern Scholars and it is not a statement that actually comes from what the Bible teaches.
In the Bible: We can see a pattern of God preserving copies of His Word, and not the original autographs.
(a) Moses destroyed the original 10 Commandments on tablets of stone (the original autograph) (
Exodus 32:19), and yet a copy was perfectly made to replace it (
Exodus 34:1-4).
(b) King Jehoiakim burns the scroll of Jeremiah (
Jeremiah 36:22-23), but God had Jeremiah make another copy (
Jeremiah 36:27-28).
(c)
Proverbs 25:1 says, “These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.” (
Proverbs 25:1).
In the New Testament, Philip heard the Ethiopian eunuch read from a manuscript of Isaiah.
“And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?” (
Acts of the Apostles 8:30).
Although Scripture does not specifically say this was a copy of Isaiah, and not the original autograph of Isaiah, logic dictates that the most plausible explanation is that the Ethiopian eunuch had a copy of a manuscript of Isaiah (and not the original). For the odds of him just happening to have the original would seem highly unlikely.
Philip calls this copy of Isaiah he possessed as Scripture.
“Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” (
Acts of the Apostles 8:35).
2 Timothy 3:16 says
all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.
So the copy of this Scripture was inspired by God.
So the belief of “
Originals Only are Perfect” that says that we need to look to the original autograph because it is perfect, and the copies are flawed and full of errors is unbiblical. Believers in God's Word can trust that God has preserved a copy of His Word for us today that is perfect (Which would be consistent in the way God operates involving the preservation of His Word). This then leads us to conclude that there must be a perfect Bible that we can find today.