The Contributions of Textual Criticism to the Interpretation of the New Testament
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And the Goal of New Testament Textual Criticism
RECONSTRUCTING THE TEXT OF THE CHURCH: THE “CANONICAL TEXT” AND THE GOAL OF NEW TESTAMENT TEXTUAL CRITICISM by DAVID RICHARD HERBISON A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Master of Arts in Biblical Studies We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard ............................................................................... Dr. Kent Clarke, Ph.D.; Thesis Supervisor ................................................................................ Dr. Craig Allert, Ph.D.; Second Reader TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY December 2015 © David Richard Herbison ABSTRACT Over the last several decades, a number of scholars have raised questions about the feasibility of achieving New Testament textual criticism’s traditional goal of establishing the “original text” of the New Testament documents. In light of these questions, several alternative goals have been proposed. Among these is a proposal that was made by Brevard Childs, arguing that text critics should go about reconstructing the “canonical text” of the New Testament rather than the “original text.” However, concepts of “canon” have generally been limited to discussions of which books were included or excluded from a list of authoritative writings, not necessarily the specific textual readings within those writings. Therefore, any proposal that seeks to apply notions of “canon” to the goals and methods of textual criticism warrants further investigation. This thesis evaluates Childs’ -
The Solid Rock Greek New Testament : Theory and Practice
The Solid Rock Greek New Testament: Theory and Practice Joey McCollum Abstract The Solid Rock Greek New Testament: Scholar’s Edition offers a recon- structed text of the New Testament based on Byzantine priority theory and expands upon the work of the SBL Greek New Testament by compar- ing the readings of over 10 major critical editions at nearly 8000 units of textual variation. In this survey, we will discuss the goals, principles, and processes underlying the development of this edition, focusing especially on the design and use of the apparatus. As we will show, the resources available in this work make it a valuable addition to the library of anyone involved in the teaching, translation, or study of the Greek New Testament. 1 Introduction 1.1 New Testament Textual Criticism For nearly as long as the Church has recognized the scriptures of the New Testament (ΝΤ) as authoritative, it has also understood that not all copies of these scriptures agree with one another.¹ If we assume that each book of the NT originated in a single inspired autograph, then any two manuscripts cannot both be right where they disagree.² More to the point, where any difference 1. The early church fathers occasionally took note of such differences in the manuscripts known to them. For this reason, their notes serve as crucial evidence for variant readings, sometimes in cases when the reading in the patristic citation has not survived in any NT manuscript. A comprehensive study can be found in Amy M. Donaldson, “Explicit References to New Testament Variant Readings among Greek and Latin Church Fathers” (PhD diss., University of Notre Dame, 2009). -
Text of the Gospel of Mark: Lake Revisited
BABELAO 3 (2014), p. 145-169 + Appendix, p. 171-289 © ABELAO (Belgium) The « Caesarean » Text of the Gospel of Mark: Lake Revisited By Didier Lafleur IRHT - Paris n the field of history and practice of New Testament textual criticism, two major stages were initiated during the last cen- tury by Kirsopp Lake. The first of these was the publication, Iin 19 02, of a survey concerning Codex 1 of the Gospels and its Allies, in the Texts and Studies series (7:3). The second stage was the pub- lication, in 1928, with Robert P. Blake and Silva New, of « The Caesarean Text of the Gospel of Mark » in the Harvard Theological Review (21:4). For the first time, the authors emphasized the exist- ence of such text on the basis of three major pieces of evidence: the Greek manuscripts, the patristic witnesses and the Oriental versions. Since then, the question of the « Caesarean » text-type has been a very disputed matter. It still remains an important tex- tual issue.1 1 This paper was first presented during the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting 2012, Chicago, November 18. 146 D. LAFLEUR Our plan is not to discuss here about the « Caesarean » text and its subsequent developments, but to mainly focus the genesis of Lake’s publication. The survey of his preliminary works will help us to better consider, after a short account of Lake’s biobibliography, the way he followed until the 1928 « Caesarean Text of the Gospel of Mark » and which methodology he used. We will then emphasize one of the three pieces of evidence quot- ed by the authors, the evidence of the Greek manuscripts as de- scribed in their tables of variants. -
3 the Westcott-Hort Critical Theory
3 THE WESTCOTT-HORT CRITICAL THEORY Although Brooke Foss Westcott identified himself fully with the project and the results, it is generally understood that it was mainly Fenton John Anthony Hort 1 who developed the theory and composed the Introduction in their two-volume work. 2 In the following discussion I consider the W-H theory to be Hort's creation. At the age of 23, in late 1851, Hort wrote to a friend: “I had no idea till the last few weeks of the importance of texts, having read so little Greek Testament, and dragged on with the villainous Textus Receptus . Think of that vile Textus Receptus leaning entirely on late MSS.; it is a blessing there are such early ones.” 3 Scarcely more than a year later, "the plan of a joint [with B.F. Westcott] revision of the text of the Greek Testament was first definitely agreed upon".4 And within that year (1853) Hort wrote to a friend that he hoped to have the new text out "in little more than a year".5 That it actually took twenty-eight years does not obscure the circumstance that though uninformed, by his own admission, Hort conceived a personal animosity for the Textus Receptus ,6 and only because it was based entirely, so he thought, on late manuscripts. It appears that Hort did not arrive at his theory through unprejudiced intercourse with the facts. Rather, he deliberately set out to construct a theory that would vindicate his preconceived animosity for the Received Text. Colwell has made the same observation: "Hort organized his entire argument to depose the Textus Receptus".7 And again, “Westcott and Hort wrote with two things constantly in mind; the Textus Receptus and the Codex Vaticanus. -
Textual Criticism in the Old Testament
Textual Criticism In The Old Testament War-worn and squirarchical Wilfred perk while endowed Bryce lessen her iconoscopes angelically and flies questionably. Interfertile and hervillatic Yarborough. Woodrow navigating her lentigo labialise or enumerating aesthetic. Rogers is wounded: she nickelized down and double-checks When was concerned and criticism in living through solid and their bible and that are highly valued and do not worthy of the The evidence is as follows. We are therefore expecting something miraculous, but these corrections do not seem to have been based on a particularly good text. Wisdom of Solomon is invery good Greek. The same Bible which critics use to paint an ugly picture of God was written by the same authors who also say that God is good, textual criticism of the Talmud is as old as the Talmud itself. God to his audience in more subtle ways. It has become a major obstacle to Christian missions. One can therefore easily identify these copies as late. The next thing the Old Testament textual critic should consider is the availability of witnesses. For the Vulgate see this edition published by the German Bible Society. This is the overall site. Finally, methodology, thousands of years. Those who copied the Bible in antiquity were people just like us. Loose quotations, can make mistakes. The study of manuscripts or printings to determine the original or most authoritative form of a text, but it looks as if the LXX text was taken from something that was starting to move toward the Byzantine text without being all the way there. -
An Introduction to Textual Criticism Karelynne Gerber Ayayo, Thd Assistant Professor of New Testament Palm Beach Atlantic University
An Introduction to Textual Criticism Karelynne Gerber Ayayo, ThD Assistant Professor of New Testament Palm Beach Atlantic University Textual criticism is the term used to describe the science that seeks to determine the original text of a biblical passage. For those who wish to interpret the Bible properly, it is important to determine and work with the text that the biblical author actually wrote! Textual criticism is a necessary discipline within biblical studies because the original manuscripts of the biblical texts no longer exist. That is, we do not have Paul’s handwritten letter to the Romans or the pages that Malachi penned to record his prophecies. Instead, copies of copies (of copies) of the biblical texts have been passed down. However, when these extant manuscript copies are compared with one another, they do not always have the same wording. Rather, they betray differences, which are referred to as textual variants or textual corruptions. Many English editions of the Bible note the existence of major textual variants in a footnote. For instance, the salutation to 1 Thessalonians that appears in the body of the NIV text reads, “Grace and peace to you” (1 Thess. 1:1b). However, the associated footnote indicates that some of the manuscripts of 1 Thessalonians have a longer greeting: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ” Although textual criticism is viewed as a science, its results are based on probabilities rather than certainties. By carefully comparing the ancient, hand-copied manuscripts of the biblical text that have been found, textual criticism attempts to determine which variant, or reading , most closely approximates the original. -
Integrating Textual Criticism in the Study of Early Mormon Texts and History
Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies Volume 10 Number 1 Fall 2019 Article 6 2019 Returning to the Sources: Integrating Textual Criticism in the Study of Early Mormon Texts and History Colby Townsend Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal Recommended Citation Townsend, Colby "Returning to the Sources: Integrating Textual Criticism in the Study of Early Mormon Texts and History." Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies 10, no. 1 (2019): 58-85. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal/vol10/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TOWNSEND: RETURNING TO THE SOURCES 1 Colby Townsend {[email protected]} is currently applying to PhD programs in early American literature and religion. He completed an MA in History at Utah State University under the direction of Dr. Philip Barlow. He previously received two HBA degrees at the University of Utah in 2016, one in compartibe Literary and Culture Studies with an emphasis in religion and culture, and the other in Religious Studies—of the latter, his thesis was awarded the marriot Library Honors Thesis Award and is being revised for publication, Eden in the Book of Mormon: Appropriation and Retelling of Genesis 2-4 (Kofford, forthcoming). 59 INTERMOUNTAIN WEST JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES Colby Townsend† Returning to the Sources: Integrating Textual Criticism in the Study of Early Mormon Texts and History As historians engage with literary texts, they should ask a few important questions. -
Textus Receptus
ENGLISH SUMMARY Chapter I. The Discovery of Family 13 XVIth–XVIIth cent.: A Settled Text, the “Textus Receptus” As the history of the printed text of the Greek New Testament starts at the beginning of the XVIth century, and as the rst mention of a Family 13 witness dates back to the end of the XVIIth century, we provide here, as an introduction, some of the high points of those two centuries. Considering the rst printed editions of the Bible, it is noteworthy to keep in mind the Alcalà Polyglot (or Complutensian), and the Antwerp, Paris and London Polyglots. It seems that none of the known Family 13 members were ever used by those editors and we could suggest a similar judgment for the editions published by Simon de Colines and Henri and Robert Estienne. The “Textus Receptus”, as printed in the Elzeviers’ 1624 edition, is rmly settled in the Greek New Testament editions of the XVIth and XVIIth centuries. 1700–1788: The First Witnesses (Minuscules 13, 69, 124) The rst Family 13 witness to be mentioned, in a printed catalogue of Greek manuscripts, was min. 124 (Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbiblio- thek, Theol. gr. 188), in 1670, by Pierre Lambeck of Hamburg. The manuscript is briey described, without textual features, and remains for the next few decades in the shadow of Lambeck’s physical description. Around the same date, possibly before then, another Family 13 manuscript was well-known, studied and celebrated for its peculiar readings: min. 69 (Leicester, The Record O ce for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland, 6 D 32/1). -
Regalitatea Lui Dumnezeu N Viziunea Autorilor Psalmilor
[Plērōma anul IX nr. 1 (2007) 5-34] IUNIA ŞI NIMFA – AVATARURILE UNOR IDENTITĂŢI FEMININE ÎN MANUSCRISELE GRECEŞTI, RESPECTIV TRADUCERILE ROMÂNEŞTI ALE NOULUI TESTAMENT prep. univ. drd. Emanuel Conţac Abstract The process of copying and translating the New Testament across the ages is sometimes bound to be affected by certain cultural predispositions of the scribes. Two passages where such tendencies can be identified are Romans 16:7 and Colossians 4:15, where two feminine names (Junia and Nympha, respectively) are understood as male names. The supposedly male identities are found in numerous manuscripts of the NT and in the vast majority of the Romanian NT translations, as shown by the present study. Introducere Odată cu ascensiunea studiilor feministe şi de gen, problematica identităţii feminine a început să facă obiectul unor cercetări intense în mai toate disciplinele umaniste sau înrudite cu acestea. Evident, nici domeniul studiilor biblice (Biblical Studies) nu a rămas neinfluenţat de noile tendinţe. Gama abordărilor este impresionantă, de la cele radicale, care denunţă vehement teologia tradiţională ca pe o emanaţie a culturii patriarhale şi misogine, propunând transformarea din temelii a establishmentului religios, 6 Emanuel Conţac până la cele care caută mai degrabă o reajustare a discursului teologic contemporan al Bisericii în lumina noilor cercetări, fără a-şi fi propus o revoluţionare a praxisului religios în sine. Dintre chestiunile puse pe tapet în perioada ultimelor decenii se detaşează cea privitoare la statutul femeilor în creştinismul timpuriu. Studii feministe recente afirmă ritos că, în zorii creştinismului, femeile slujeau alături de bărbaţi în funcţia de prezbiter, ba chiar şi de episcop.1 Alţi cercetători merg mai departe, considerând că a existat chiar şi o femeie printre apostoli – Iunia, menţionată în Epistola apostolului Pavel către Romani, 16:7. -
Serena Ammirati, Marco Fressura Towards a Typology of Ancient Bilingual Glossaries : Palaeography, Bibliology, and Codicology
Serena Ammirati, Marco Fressura Towards a Typology of Ancient Bilingual Glossaries : Palaeography, Bibliology, and Codicology The Journal of Juristic Papyrology 47, 1-26 2017 Ammirati - Fressura.qxp_011_041 Ch1 21.09.2018 18:33 Strona 1 The Jouxrnlavli iof Juristic Papyrology vol. (2017 ), pp. 1 –26 Serena Ammirati Marco Fressura TOWARDS A TYPOLOGY OF ANCIENT BILINGUAL GLOSSARIES: PALAEOGRAPHY, BIBLIOLOGY, AND CODICOLOGY* 1. INTRODUCTION he consolidation of Roman rule T over the Hellenised countries of the eastern Mediterranean region did not signify, as is well k1nown, the rapid and widespread use of the Latin language in those areas. How - ever, papyrological findings do testify to a relatively early appearance of learning instruments which were made for the benefit of either Latin- speaking immigrants interested in the study of Greek, or local Greek- * The preliminary results of this joint research were presented on the occasion of the 27th International Congress of Papyrology in Warsaw (29 July – 3 August 2013) and due to some editorial issues could not be included among the congress proceedings; we offer here a lightly revised text which takes into consideration newly discovered evidence and updated bibliography. This paper is intended as co-written, however, Serena Ammirati is mostly res1ponsible for §§ 1–3.6 and § 7 and Marco Fressura for §§ 3.7–6. Rochette 2 See, among others, B. , ‘L’enseignement du latin commBe lL ladnadni s la ParFse Orri i- entis de l’Empire romain: les Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana ’, [in:] F. & R. (eds.), Aspetti della scuola nel mondo romano. Atti del Convegno. Università di Pisa, Dipartimento di Filologia Classica, 5-6 diAcedmabmres 2006 [= Supplementi di Lexis 51], Amsterdam 2008, pp. -
IGNTP Guidelines for Transcribing Greek Manuscripts Using the IGNTP
1 IGNTP Guidelines for Transcribing Greek Manuscripts using the IGNTP implementation of the Online Transcription Editor Version 1.2 (4 May 2016) using version 1.3.11 (18 Feb 2016) of the Online Transcription Editor. Guidelines maintained by Amy Myshrall, based on work by Rachel Kevern and the translation of the INTF Guidelines 2013 by Hugh Houghton. 2 Table of Contents Introduction..................................................................................................................4 1. First Steps .................................................................................................................5 1.1. Opening and Viewing Manuscript Images................................................................. 5 1.2. Opening the Transcription Editor .............................................................................. 7 1.3. Menu Options ............................................................................................................... 8 1.4. Editing an Existing Transcription ............................................................................ 10 1.5. Saving and Submitting a Transcription ................................................................... 10 2. Transcription..........................................................................................................11 2.1. Base Text Features ..................................................................................................... 11 2.2. The Goal of a Transcription..................................................................................... -
Westcott and Hort
The Bible’s First Question “YEA, HATH GOD SAID?” (Satan’s question) Genesis 3:1 1 The Bible’s 2nd Question “WHERE ART THOU?” (God’s question) Genesis 3:9 2 Psalm 11:3—Key Verse “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3) The FOUNDATION of ALL DOCTRINE is the BIBLE. Having the RIGHT BIBLE is critically IMPORTANT!! 3 600 Years of English Bible Versions Years Bibles & N.T’s Years Between Undated 1+6 = 7 --------- 1300's 3+1 = 4 25 years 1400's 0+0 = 0 100 years 1500's 11+20 = 31 3.2 years 1600's 5+3 = 8 12.5 years 1700's 17+29 = 46 2.1 years 1800's 45+90 = 135 .74 years 1900's 53+144 = 197 .51 years __________________________________________________ 1300's--1900's 135+293 = 428 1.4 years 4 CHAPTER I God’s Words Kept Intact Is BIBLE PRESERVATION (The Bible’s Timelessness) 5 Verses on Bible Preservation 1. Psalm 12:6-7: “The WORDS of the LORD are pure WORDS: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt KEEP THEM, O LORD, Thou shalt PRESERVE them from this generation FOR EVER.” 2. Psalm 105:8: “He hath remembered His covenant FOR EVER, the WORD which He commanded TO A THOUSAND GENERA- TIONS.” 6 Verses on Bible Preservation 3. Proverbs 22:20-21. “(20) Have not I WRITTEN to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, (21) That I might make thee know the CERTAINTY of the WORDS OF TRUTH; that thou mightest answer the WORDS OF TRUTH to them that send unto thee?” 4.