let's say you want to create the 1st mainstream english bible. the NIV, KJV, NASB, RSV, etc, has not been created as of right now. at this point in time, the printing press has not yet been invented, which means copyists of the bible ARE subject to some error, depending upon how careless they are. you have to be careful, as you know this bible will influence the rest of 20th century and beyond americans and englishmen. this will become the essential word of god(or word of satan, if this bible becomes corrupted). you have a variety of texts to choose from. cost is not an issue. how can you approach this? there are 2 ways in mind...

well, if you truly believe that god has preserved his word to always be with his people and not let it become corrupted over time(as stated in the scriptures), you could compare the majority of current hebrew and greek texts used throughout the world. you could gather the majority of the texts together that agree with each other. if one copy is false(ie does not match up with the other 95%), you assume it was a sloppy copy and throw it away. you pool together these scriptures that agree with one another, then use these as a basis for writing a new english bible.

or, if you truly believe that the word of god has become corrupted up to this point in time, that would mean you should look for the earliest manuscripts possible. these will be used for the basis of creating the new english bible. the fact is that there are too many factors that influence the bible, that we must simply choose the earliest manuscripts to ensure least amount of error. copyists are prone to error, and so, when all is said and done, it's better to look as far back as possible.

what would you do? think about it for a sec, and if you want, reply in the comments. or not. but seriously think about it. because this is what's really been preoccupying my mind lately. i'll post the results later this week. i already know what the answer is. however, it's more of a matter of research for me now to make sure all of this is true; this is why it's now my turn to do research on what i have never truly thought about before; this subject has popped up before for me; but i brushed it aside.