---

Introduction

• How have the books of the canon been preserved? We do not have any of the original books of the New Testament, only copies of copies of copies. So, how can we know what the original books said?
  • Textual criticism is “the study of copies of any written work of which the autograph (original) is unknown, with the purpose of ascertaining the original text.” – Greenlee 
• Key Terms:
  • Autograph – the original document
    • We no longer have any of the original documents of the NT, only copies of copies of copies
  • Manuscript – a handwritten document/copy
  • Variant Reading – where there is a difference between at least two readings of the one text
  • Extant – manuscript copies that are still in existence 
• Goals of Textual Criticism
  • Primary: Establish the original text
  • Secondary
    • Trace the history of transmission
    • Insights into the history of the church and theology 

Extant New Testament Manuscripts

• Types of Manuscripts
  • Papyri (137; beginning 2^nd century to mid 3^rd century)
  • Uncials or Majuscules (323; 4^th to 9^th century)
  • Minuscules (2,247; 9^th to 15^th century)
  • Lectionaries (2,227)
  • Versions (it, eth, cop)
  • Church Fathers & other early writings
• Text-Types 
  • Alexandrian – most important
  • Western
  • Caesarean
  • Byzantine
• Types of Errors
  • Unintentional (most are in this category)
    • Errors of sight
      • The division of words
      • Similar beginnings/endings
      • Haplography
      • Changes in word or letter order
    • Errors of hearing
    • Errors of memory
    • Errors of judgment
  • Intentional
    • Grammatical/Linguistic changes
    • Liturgical changes
    • Harmonization changes
    • Historical discrepancies
    • Conflations
    • Corrections
    • Doctrinal changes
      • Ethiopian Eunuch

Textual Criticism Theory

• Eclectic approach vs. Majority approach
• Not all evidence is created equal. It is not just a process of comparing all the manuscripts we have as if they are of equal importance.
• Weighing Evidence
  • External Evidence
    • Must be mapped out by order of significance
      • Papyri
      • Uncials
      • Minuscules
      •  Lectionaries
      • Versions
      • Church Fathers
    •  Dating
    •  Geographical spread
    • Textual history
    • Text-Type
  • Internal Evidence
    • Transcriptional evidence is based on the “tendency” of the scribe
      • Shorter reading preferred to longer
      • Harder reading preferred to easier
      • Reading preferred that is different from parallels (in other biblical books and in same book)
      • Reading preferred that best explains the origin of others
    • Intrinsic evidence is based on the writer and other literary considerations
      • Author’s style
      • Author’s theology
      • Literary flow
      • Other factors

---

Check Out the Rest of the Series

---