Q. Is it correct to say that the Holy Spirit has providentially preserved (and will continue providentially to preserve) the Bible throughout history?
Yes, I would agree with this statement. I cannot think of a specific passage in Scripture that says this explicitly. But certainly we see throughout the Bible how God wants people to have his word and how God wants his people to treasure and safeguard his word. We can also see in history that while there have been continual widespread attempts to wipe out the Bible, it has not only been preserved, it has been translated and distributed to more and more groups of people. (The organization I am currently working with, unfoldingWord, states as its purpose, “The church in every people group, the Bible in every language,” and that goal could be reached in our own generation.) While the agency of the Holy Spirit in preserving the Bible is not literally visible in history, I believe that we can discern it by faith.
Author: Christopher R Smith
The Rev. Dr. Christopher R. Smith is an an ordained minister, a writer, and a biblical scholar. He was active in parish and student ministry for twenty-five years. He was a consulting editor to the International Bible Society (now Biblica) for The Books of the Bible, an edition of the New International Version (NIV) that presents the biblical books according to their natural literary outlines, without chapters and verses. His Understanding the Books of the Bible study guide series is keyed to this format. He was also a consultant to Tyndale House for the Immerse Bible, an edition of the New Living Translation (NLT) that similarly presents the Scriptures in their natural literary forms, without chapters and verses or section headings.
He has a B.A. from Harvard in English and American Literature and Language, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell, and a Ph.D. in the History of Christian Life and Thought, with a minor concentration in Bible, from Boston College, in the joint program with Andover Newton Theological School.
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Good Question 
Nope, not at all. Look at the very first verse of Dr. Luke.
I imagine you are referring to the prologue to the Gospel of Luke: “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”
What Luke writes indicates that there were a variety of accounts of the life of Jesus circulating in his day. This prompted Luke to undertake diligent research and write a careful account. It seems to me that this was just the kind of project that the Holy Spirit would inspire in order to preserve the genuine story of redemption. As I wrote in this post, “While the agency of the Holy Spirit in preserving the Bible is not literally visible in history, I believe that we can discern it by faith.” Personally, I feel that I do discern by faith the Holy Spirit’s activity in prompting Luke to write his carefully researched account.