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The Text of the New Testament
s/t: A Short Introduction
If unfamiliar with the textual criticism of the NT, you can get a good idea from: The Text of the New Testament, A Short Introduction, by Vincent Taylor 1887-1968, (London: Macmillan, 1961, 1963 2nd edition). Contents include;
Prefaces
Purpose & Methods of Textual Criticism
Notation & Types of Text
Papyrus Period
Uncial Period
Minuscule Manuscripts & the Lectionaries
The Versions
Patristic & Other Early Quotations
Printed Editons of the Greek New Testament
Textual Theory of Westcott & Hort
Contribution of B.H. Street
Et cetera
If unfamiliar with the textual criticism of the NT, you can get a good idea from: The Text of the New Testament, A Short Introduction, by Vincent Taylor 1887-1968, (London: Macmillan, 1961, 1963 2nd edition). Contents include;
Prefaces
Purpose & Methods of Textual Criticism
Notation & Types of Text
Papyrus Period
Uncial Period
Minuscule Manuscripts & the Lectionaries
The Versions
Patristic & Other Early Quotations
Printed Editons of the Greek New Testament
Textual Theory of Westcott & Hort
Contribution of B.H. Street
Et cetera
124 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1961
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October 2, 2024
AN EXCELLENT OVERVIEW OF THE SUBJECT
Vincent Taylor (1887–1968) was a Methodist Biblical scholar and theologian, who was both Principal of Wesley College from 1930–58 and Professor of New Testament Language and Literature. He wrote many other books, such as 'The Life And Ministry Of Jesus,' 'The Atonement in New Testament Teaching,' 'Jesus and His Sacrifice,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1961 book, “This book is intended to be a short introduction to the textual criticism of the New Testament. There is, I believe, need for a work of this kind to provide preliminary studies… It is based on a lifetime’s study of the subject and many years’ experience of teaching in this field… How can we study the history of doctrine with profit unless we have not only an accurate text, but the ability to see why it is accurate, and at the same time have the knowledge to distinguish between variant readings?... textual criticism has an appeal all its own because in it we can have the conviction that we are approaching nearer to the original autographs of the New Testament which it has pleased God not to protect from the accidents and fortunes of scribal transmission.”
He explains in the first chapter, “the New Testament writings were neither written nor copied as literary works. Many copies indeed must have been written by private persons of varying degrees of literary skill… as the New Testament books were not yet regarded as sacred writings, glosses and marginal comments would sometimes come to be inserted into the text itself. Finally, papyrus material is very perishable. Most of the papyrus MSS which have survived consist of broken fragments, with the result that restored readings are conjectural.” (Pg. 10-11)
He says of early Uncial [i.e., all capital letters] manuscripts, “These… should be studied in the light of the evidence as a whole. Besides the Old Latin and the Old Syriac they are often supported by later citations. Religious in tendency, harmonistic, and explanatory, they appear in some cases to rest on early tradition. They illustrate the freedom with which the text of Lk/Acts was treated in the first half of the second century.” (Pg. 22)
He observes, “Manuscripts must be grouped and considered from the standpoint of their genealogy. If, let us say, of ten MSS nine agree against one, but the nine have a common original, it is simply a question of one reading against another.” (Pg. 50) He summarizes the principles used by Westcott and Hort: “(1) Of Individual readings the most probable is that which best explains the origin of its rivals; (2) The knowledge of documents must precede a final judgement upon divergent readings; (3) Authorities must be grouped in families of MSS descended from a common ancestor; (4) The character of the groups must be estimated.” (Pg. 50)
After discussing a number of variant readings, he summarizes, “they may easily leave the impression… that much of the text of the New Testament is uncertain, since experts differ so greatly. In a measure this uncertainty exists, and is an impressive warning against the claim that the Bible is verbally inspired. But the degree of uncertainty is small when it is measured proportionately in the New Testament as a whole… In [Westcott and Hort’s] opinion the words still subject to doubt amount to only one-sixtieth of the entire New Testament… Textual criticism … is a tonic in times of religious depression, and a source of confidence in the solidity of Scripture testimony.” (Pg. 106-107)
Though more than fifty years old, this book is still a very helpful introduction to the subject, that will still be quite valuable to anyone wanting to know more of New Testament textual criticism.
Vincent Taylor (1887–1968) was a Methodist Biblical scholar and theologian, who was both Principal of Wesley College from 1930–58 and Professor of New Testament Language and Literature. He wrote many other books, such as 'The Life And Ministry Of Jesus,' 'The Atonement in New Testament Teaching,' 'Jesus and His Sacrifice,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1961 book, “This book is intended to be a short introduction to the textual criticism of the New Testament. There is, I believe, need for a work of this kind to provide preliminary studies… It is based on a lifetime’s study of the subject and many years’ experience of teaching in this field… How can we study the history of doctrine with profit unless we have not only an accurate text, but the ability to see why it is accurate, and at the same time have the knowledge to distinguish between variant readings?... textual criticism has an appeal all its own because in it we can have the conviction that we are approaching nearer to the original autographs of the New Testament which it has pleased God not to protect from the accidents and fortunes of scribal transmission.”
He explains in the first chapter, “the New Testament writings were neither written nor copied as literary works. Many copies indeed must have been written by private persons of varying degrees of literary skill… as the New Testament books were not yet regarded as sacred writings, glosses and marginal comments would sometimes come to be inserted into the text itself. Finally, papyrus material is very perishable. Most of the papyrus MSS which have survived consist of broken fragments, with the result that restored readings are conjectural.” (Pg. 10-11)
He says of early Uncial [i.e., all capital letters] manuscripts, “These… should be studied in the light of the evidence as a whole. Besides the Old Latin and the Old Syriac they are often supported by later citations. Religious in tendency, harmonistic, and explanatory, they appear in some cases to rest on early tradition. They illustrate the freedom with which the text of Lk/Acts was treated in the first half of the second century.” (Pg. 22)
He observes, “Manuscripts must be grouped and considered from the standpoint of their genealogy. If, let us say, of ten MSS nine agree against one, but the nine have a common original, it is simply a question of one reading against another.” (Pg. 50) He summarizes the principles used by Westcott and Hort: “(1) Of Individual readings the most probable is that which best explains the origin of its rivals; (2) The knowledge of documents must precede a final judgement upon divergent readings; (3) Authorities must be grouped in families of MSS descended from a common ancestor; (4) The character of the groups must be estimated.” (Pg. 50)
After discussing a number of variant readings, he summarizes, “they may easily leave the impression… that much of the text of the New Testament is uncertain, since experts differ so greatly. In a measure this uncertainty exists, and is an impressive warning against the claim that the Bible is verbally inspired. But the degree of uncertainty is small when it is measured proportionately in the New Testament as a whole… In [Westcott and Hort’s] opinion the words still subject to doubt amount to only one-sixtieth of the entire New Testament… Textual criticism … is a tonic in times of religious depression, and a source of confidence in the solidity of Scripture testimony.” (Pg. 106-107)
Though more than fifty years old, this book is still a very helpful introduction to the subject, that will still be quite valuable to anyone wanting to know more of New Testament textual criticism.
November 10, 2014
This is an excellent introduction to the textual criticism of the Christian Scriptures, both in terms of inferred sources and redaction traditions. From it, as I recall, I obtained the information that at the time of publication (1961) there were over 15,000 discrete holographs upon which modern translations of the Christian Scriptures ought refer--so much for biblical inerrancists!
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