Introduction to New Testament Interpretation NTS0510.RETI Spring 2015 Dr. Chuck Quarles Week 4: Is What We Have Now Really What Was Written Back Then? A Brief Introduction to New Testament Textual Criticism History of Writing and Publishing The printing press in Europe was invented by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450. Prior to that time, texts, including the text of the Bible, had to be copied by During the arduous task of hand copying the Bible, copyists (scribes) sometimes introduced into the text Thus ancient manuscripts may from one another Notes in Modern Translations 1 John 5:7-8 Mark 16:9-20 The Telephone Game Playing Telephone with the Word of God No television preacher has ever read the Bible. Neither has any evangelical politician. Neither has the pope. Neither have I. And neither have you. At best, we ve all read a translation a translation of translations of translations of handcopied copies of copies of copies of copies, and on and on, of
2 times. (Kurt Eichenwald, The Bible: So Misunderstood It s a Sin, Newsweek Jan 2, 2015) Problems with the analogy Enormous difference between oral and transmission Enormous difference between memory during distraction and sight in environment Enormous difference between changes introduced for entertainment and exercised by a scribe handling RESTORATION OF THE TEXT First step in Bible translation or exegesis is to establish the text of the NT Nearly Greek manuscripts of the NT or portions of it exist today and nearly manuscripts in this and other ancient languages Differences exist in the readings of these ancient manuscripts When differences exist in the manuscript tradition, scholars must compare the manuscripts and attempt to determine the original reading Legitimacy of the Process The process of textual criticism is not at odds with the affirmation of the of the NT Informed inerrantists limit inerrancy to the of the NT Copies and translation are inspired and inerrant only to the that they reflect the original Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978) Article X We affirm that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great. We further affirm that copies and translations
3 of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the. We deny that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of Biblical inerrancy or irrelevant. John Broadus Dr. John A. Broadus was exceedingly fond of teaching textual criticism. He used to say that it came nearer to being an exact than anything else in NT study. Robertson A. T. Robertson Today over 4000 Greek manuscripts of portions of the NT are known and new ones are discovered year by year. The very wealth of new material now available makes it possible to approximate the original text of the NT with an not possible for any ancient author. Important Terms Manuscript Uncial Minuscule Papyrus Parchment/vellum Palimpset Variant Text type Text Types Alexandrian Western
4 Caesarean Byzantine Important Manuscripts Sinaiticus Alexandrinus Vaticanus Ephraemi Bezae Chester Beatty Papyri Martin Bodmer Papyri Sinaiticus Vaticanus Alexandrinus Ephraemi Bezae Chester Beatty Martin Bodmer Process of textual criticism TC is the science which seeks to the original biblical text Step One: Examine evidence o of witnesses o distribution of witnesses o Reliability of the textual
5 Consider transcriptional probabilities o More reading is preferred o reading is preferred o More reading (in comparison to parallels) is preferred o Less reading is preferred Consider the possibility of unintentional change o Errors of (1 Tim. 3:16) o Errors of (Rev. 1:5) Evidence-What was original author most likely to have written? o Author's and o Immediate The reading that offers the best explanation for the of other readings is likely the original reading Exercises in Textual Criticism 1 John 5:7-8 Mark 16:9-20 John 7:53-8:11 2 Thessalonians 2:13 1 John 5:7-8 Mark 16:9-20 John 7:53-8:11 Reassurances While may be affected by a variant in a given passage, no doctrine is entirely dependent on a single variant
6 Although a few questions remain, the text of the OT and NT has been reconstructed with a high degree of accuracy (ex. Romans) o A- B-21 C-22 D- o In % of cases, text is certain or almost certain o Doubtful text is Romans 14:19 Remarkable Preservation This evidence compares very favorably to the textual evidence for important ancient works like (c. AD 100) o ancient copies o Oldest manuscript dates to the century This evidence compares very favorably with the lost gospels o Gospel of : 1 Coptic manuscript, 3 Greek fragments that differ considerably o Gospel of : 1 Greek fragment, another tiny fragment of 13 lines o : 1 manuscript written in a modern hand in the end papers of a modern book