A New Approach To Textual Criticism

An essential introduction for scholars and students of New Testament Greek With the publication of the widely used 28th edition of Nestle-Aland’s Novum Testamentum Graece and the 5th edition of the United Bible Society Greek New Testament, a computer-assisted method known as the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM) was used for the first time to determine the most valuable witnesses and establish the initial text. This book offers the first full-length, student-friendly introduction to this important new method. After setting out the method’s history, separate chapters clarify its key concepts, including genealogical coherence, textual flow diagrams, and the global stemma. Examples from across the New Testament are used to show how the method works in practice. The result is an essential introduction that will be of interest to students, translators, commentators, and anyone else who studies the Greek New Testament. Features A clear explanation of how and why the text of the Greek New Testament is changing Step-by-step guidance on how to use the CBGM in textual criticism Diagrams, illustrations, and glossary of key terms

New Testament textual criticism is an important but often overlooked field of study. Results drawn from textual studies bear important consequences for interpreting the New Testament and cannot be ignored by serious students of Scripture. This book introduces current issues in New Testament textual criticism and surveys the various methods used to determine the original text among variant readings. These essays from Eldon Jay Epp, Michael Holmes, J. K. Elliott, Maurice Robinson, and Moisés Silva provide readers with an excellent introduction to the field of New Testament textual criticism.

This study offers the first sustained examination of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM), a computerized method being used to edit the most widely-used editions of the Greek New Testament.

A renewed interest in textual criticism has created an unfortunate proliferation of myths, mistakes, and misinformation about this technical area of biblical studies. Elijah Hixson and Peter Gurry, along with a team of New Testament textual critics, offer up-to-date, accurate information on the history and current state of the New Testament text that will serve apologists and offer a self-corrective to evangelical excesses.

The book is going through its biggest revolution since Gutenberg. Thanks to computer tools and electronic publication, the concept and realization of critical editions are being rethought. David C. Parker looks at how new methodology changes what an edition is for and how we use it, using the example of the New Testament texts.

A Readable, Updated Introduction to Textual Criticism This accessibly written, practical introduction to Old Testament textual criticism helps students understand the discipline and begin thinking through complex issues for themselves. The authors combine proven expertise in the classroom with cutting-edge work in Hebrew textual studies. This successful classic (nearly 25,000 copies sold) has been thoroughly expanded and updated to account for the many changes in the field over the past twenty years. It includes examples, illustrations, an updated bibliography, and a textual commentary on the book of Ruth.

Before the 1960s, the goal of New Testament Textual Criticism was singular: to retrieve the “original text” of the New Testament. Since then, the goalpost has incrementally shifted away from the “original text” to retrieving “any text” or “many texts” of the NT. Some scholars have even concluded that the “original text” is hopelessly lost and cannot be retrieved with any confidence or accuracy. Other scholars have gone a step further to claim that the idea of an “original text” itself is a misconception that needs to be abandoned. If this new approach in NTTC is correct, then the authority of Scripture is weakened or no longer valid. It will be shown in this book that such is not the case. Furthermore, emphasis will be placed on the need to return to the traditional goalpost of NTTC, i.e., to retrieve the original text. Without a generally definitive text, the door will be left wide open to recreate any desired text of the NT. An unsettled original text will result in an unsettled biblical theology due to a lack of any authoritative and standard text. Consequently, it will lead to an unsettled Christian faith and practice.

This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable. The field of textual criticism remains an exciting one. Thousands of manuscripts have been recovered in recent years. Using the methods of textual criticism, translators have been able to discern from these manuscripts a probably reading of the original New Testament text, a difficult but important task. Several scholarly books describing the process of textual criticism have already been written, but Encountering New Testament Manuscripts is uniquely different in its approach. Here students have an opportunity to see and read portions of the chief manuscripts for themselves and to learn firsthand the principles of textual criticism. Included are twenty-four photographs of some of the oldest and most important manuscripts, including papyri, parchment, and paper texts with both uncial and miniscule script. Through the steps of transcribing the original manuscripts and organizing the various evidences presented, the student learns to develop conclusions about the reading of the original text. A comprehensive introductory chapter surveying the nature and history of textual criticism and a concluding chapter on the question of methodology make this book a complete course on the subject. Helpful indices and lists of important New Testament manuscripts make it an excellent resource volume as well.