The Textual History of the Greek New Testament: Changing Views in Contemporary Research (Text-Critical Studies)

This collection of essays by respected scholars represents the state of the art of textual criticism as applied to the New Testament. Addressing core topics such as the causes and forms of variation, contamination and coherence, and the goals and the canons of textual criticism, it presents a first-class overview of traditional and innovative methodologies as they are applied to reconstructing the initial wording of the New Testament writings. In this context, the new Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM) is introduced and discussed extensively. Integrating established approaches and procedures, the CBGM features a new category of external evidence: genealogical coherence of witnesses. The contributors are Klaus Wachtel, Michael W. Holmes, D. C. Parker, Holger Strutwolf, David Trobisch, Ulrich Schmid, Eldon J. Epp, J. K. Elliott, and Gerd Mink. The Textual History of the Greek New Testament: Changing Views in Contemporary Research......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Abbreviations......Page 8 Klaus Wachtel and Michael W. Holmes: Introduction......Page 10 1. The Initial Text: Construction or Reconstruction?......Page 11 2. Causes and Forms of Variation......Page 17 3. Contamination and Coherence......Page 18 4. The Canons of New Testament Textual Criticism......Page 19 5. Summary......Page 21 1 D. C. Parker: Is “Living Text” Compatible with “Initial Text”? Editing the Gospel of John......Page 22 2 Holger Strutwolf: Original Text and Textual History......Page 32 1. The Lord’s Prayer according to Luke (Luke 11:2–3)......Page 34 2. Matthew 19:17......Page 41 3. Conclusions......Page 48 3 David Trobisch: The Need to Discern Distinctive Editions of the New Testament in the Manuscript Tradition......Page 52 4 Ulrich Schmid: Conceptualizing “Scribal” Performances: Reader’s Notes......Page 58 1. Current Thinking about Scribal Performances......Page 59 2. Reader’s Notes as Nonscribal Activity......Page 61 3. Scribal Challenges as Reflected by the Ancients: The Problem with Marginal Notes......Page 66 4. Gospel Variants Interpreted as Reader’s Notes......Page 68 5. The Process of Literary Production/Reproduction in Antiquity......Page 71 1. Introduction......Page 74 2. Definition of Terms......Page 75 3. Examples of How “Mixture” Occurs......Page 77 4. Effects and Consequences of Mixture......Page 79 5. Reconceptualizing the Role of Recensio......Page 84 6. Conclusion......Page 87 1. The Emergence of External and Internal Criteria for the Priority of Readings......Page 88 2. Terminology for the “Canons of Criticism”......Page 97 3. A Listing of Current External and Internal Criteria/Probabilities......Page 101 4. Tasks and Goal(s) of New Testament Textual Criticism......Page 135 7 J. K. Elliott: What Should Be in an Apparatus Criticus? Desiderata to Support a Thoroughgoing Eclectic Approach to Textual Criticism......Page 138 Manuscripts to Be Included in an Apparatus......Page 145 8 Gerd Mink: Contamination, Coherence, and Coincidence in Textual Transmission......Page 150 1. CBGM and Other Methods......Page 151 2. A Brief Explanation of Basic Terms......Page 152 3. References......Page 153 4. The New Material......Page 154 5. The Need for Novel Methodological Considerations......Page 157 6. Basic Assumptions......Page 160 7. Contamination......Page 164 8. Agreement of Variants as Indicator of Relatedness......Page 166 9. Divergence between Variants as Indicator of Genealogical Relatedness of Witnesses......Page 168 10. Potential Ancestors......Page 171 11. What Is the Use of Lists of Potential Ancestors?......Page 174 12. Textual Flow Diagrams—How Coherent Are Attestations?......Page 182 13. A Practical Example: Is ΠΑΣΑΝ ΨΥΧΗΝ the Initial Text in Jude 15/14-16?......Page 190 14. Constructing Optimal Substemmata......Page 198 15. Conclusions: How the CBGM Copes with Contamination: The Character of the Iterative Process......Page 211 16. Outlook......Page 213 Appendix: Figures 21–28......Page 215 1. The Initial Text......Page 226 2. Causes and Forms of Variation......Page 229 3. Contamination and Coherence......Page 230 4. The Canons of New Testament Textual Criticism......Page 232 5. ECM and CBGM: Future Prospects......Page 233 The Textual History of the Greek New Testament: Changing Views in Contemporary Research 4 Contents 6 Abbreviations 8 Klaus Wachtel and Michael W. Holmes: Introduction 10 1. The Initial Text: Construction or Reconstruction? 11 2. Causes and Forms of Variation 17 3. Contamination and Coherence 18 4. The Canons of New Testament Textual Criticism 19 5. Summary 21 1 D. C. Parker: Is “Living Text” Compatible with “Initial Text”? Editing the Gospel of John 22 2 Holger Strutwolf: Original Text and Textual History 32 1. The Lord’s Prayer according to Luke (Luke 11:2–3) 34 2. Matthew 19:17 41 3. Conclusions 48 3 David Trobisch: The Need to Discern Distinctive Editions of the New Testament in the Manuscript Tradition 52 4 Ulrich Schmid: Conceptualizing “Scribal” Performances: Reader’s Notes 58 1. Current Thinking about Scribal Performances 59 2. Reader’s Notes as Nonscribal Activity 61 3. Scribal Challenges as Reflected by the Ancients: The Problem with Marginal Notes 66 4. Gospel Variants Interpreted as Reader’s Notes 68 5. The Process of Literary Production/Reproduction in Antiquity 71 5 Michael W. Holmes: Working with an Open Textual Tradition: Challenges in Theory and Practice 74 1. Introduction 74 2. Definition of Terms 75 3. Examples of How “Mixture” Occurs 77 4. Effects and Consequences of Mixture 79 5. Reconceptualizing the Role of Recensio 84 6. Conclusion 87 6 Eldon Jay Epp: Traditional “Canons” of New Testament Textual Criticism: Their Value, Validity, and Viability–or Lack Thereof 88 1. The Emergence of External and Internal Criteria for the Priority of Readings 88 2. Terminology for the “Canons of Criticism” 97 3. A Listing of Current External and Internal Criteria/Probabilities 101 4. Tasks and Goal(s) of New Testament Textual Criticism 135 7 J. K. Elliott: What Should Be in an Apparatus Criticus? Desiderata to Support a Thoroughgoing Eclectic Approach to Textual Criticism 138 Manuscripts to Be Included in an Apparatus 145 8 Gerd Mink: Contamination, Coherence, and Coincidence in Textual Transmission 150 1. CBGM and Other Methods 151 2. A Brief Explanation of Basic Terms 152 3. References 153 4. The New Material 154 5. The Need for Novel Methodological Considerations 157 6. Basic Assumptions 160 7. Contamination 164 8. Agreement of Variants as Indicator of Relatedness 166 9. Divergence between Variants as Indicator of Genealogical Relatedness of Witnesses 168 10. Potential Ancestors 171 11. What Is the Use of Lists of Potential Ancestors? 174 12. Textual Flow Diagrams—How Coherent Are Attestations? 182 13. A Practical Example: Is ΠΑΣΑΝ ΨΥΧΗΝ the Initial Text in Jude 15/14-16? 190 14. Constructing Optimal Substemmata 198 15. Conclusions: How the CBGM Copes with Contamination: The Character of the Iterative Process 211 16. Outlook 213 Appendix: Figures 21–28 215 Klaus Wachtel: Conclusions 226 1. The Initial Text 226 2. Causes and Forms of Variation 229 3. Contamination and Coherence 230 4. The Canons of New Testament Textual Criticism 232 5. ECM and CBGM: Future Prospects 233 Eight papers document an August 2008 colloquium held by the Institute for New Testament Textual Research and the Germany Bible Society. They cover editing the Gospel of John; original text and textual history; the need to discern distinctive editions of the New Testament in the manuscript tradition; conceptualizing scribal performances; theoretical and practical challenges of working with an open textual tradition; traditional canons of New Testament textual criticism; desiderata to support a thoroughly eclectic approach to textual criticism; and contamination, coherence, and coincidence in textual transmission. The proceedings are not indexed. The Society of Biblical Literature publishes the paperbound edition; Brill publishes the hardbound. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Papers presented at a colloquium held in August, 2008, in M'unster, Germany, by the Institute for New Testament Textual Research and the German Bible Society.