The New Testament Canon and Manuscripts

UPDATE: Michael Kruger responds to my post on his own blog here.

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In this post, I briefly lay out some of Michael Kruger’s argument for the NT canon from the MSS to evaluate its worth for determining early canonicity of NT books. This is a pilot post, not finished research. I welcome your feedback in the comments.

In Canon Revisited, ch. 7, Kruger treats the “potentially fruitful” but often overlooked “study of the New Testament manuscripts themselves” (233) to discern what they might tell us about the formation of the NT canon. This chapter is divided into (1) The Quantity of Early Manuscripts, (2) Early Manuscript Collections with subsections treating the Gospels, Pauline Epistles, Catholic Epistles/Acts, Revelation, (3) The Early Christian Use of the Codex, and (4) Public and Private Manuscripts. Kruger notes that the first three areas focus on the broad features, while the last area treats internal features of early Christian MSS, noting the difficulty in attempting to separate public from private use (254).

Review of Holmes' Apostolic Fathers

Timothy Sailors, who presented in the Working with Biblical Manuscripts unit at the SBL Int. in Rome recently has written a review in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.07-08 of Michael W. Holmes (ed.), The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations. 3rd edition. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007. Pp. xxv, 806. ISBN 9780801034688.

Conclusion:

Many of the critical observations in this review apply equally to other editions of the Apostolic Fathers (including the Loeb edition), though in some areas, Holmes offers marked improvements upon these. The serious student will still need to consult Lightfoot for fuller discussions and textual evidence.18 Moreover, more detailed introductions will have to be sought elsewhere: either in the Loeb edition, in the (recent or recently augmented) Sources chrétiennes volumes, or in commentaries on individual Apostolic Fathers (especially those in the Kommentar zu den Apostolischen Vätern series). Holmes has nevertheless met the need for a reliable, single-volume critical edition of the Greek texts of the Apostolic Fathers with English translations. His revision commends itself in many ways as the standard hand edition of this corpus.

Holmes' 3rd edition Apostolic Fathers debuts at SBL

The third edition of the Apostolic Fathers by fellow blogger Michael Holmes was on display at both ETS and SBL at the Baker Academic bookstall.

It is a beautiful piece of bookmaking, so nice that the many on this blog who already own an earlier edition will want to get a copy of this one. I noticed that a very large consignment was brought in at the beginning of SBL and on Baker's table. It rapidly dwindled and the whole consignment seemed to be gone before the end of the conference.

The book is a small, green hardback, and approximately the same size as the small NA27. The paper has good opacity yet is so thin that the 800 pages are only slightly thicker than the NA27's 800 pages. The paper is also whiter than the creamy NA27. Most pleasant of all for reading is the font and generous leading (whitespace between lines). One's impression while reading is that this is delightfully 'clean' and 'clear'. They chose the GentiumAlt font with its lunate (should we say 'selenic'?) perispomenos tonos. A stiched, gold-ribbon place marker allows one to restrain the English side of the book and to comfortably read with one hand.

The Apostolic Fathers, Greek Texts and English Translations, 3rd edition, edited and translated by Machael W. Holmes, after the earlier work of J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer. Baker Academic, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8010-3468-8.

For those interested, 'the dove' περιστερά, is now included in Martyrdom of Polycarp 16.1, and the textual apparatus in general has been "significantly expanded". At the same time, references in the text to the apparatus have been simplified so as not to distract from smooth reading.

Incidently, Michael dedicated the edition to his father William Holmes and to Bruce Metzger (doktorvater), both of whom passed away in 2007.

Michael is deservedly happy with the outcome of this edition and we on the blog will want to extend a sincere 'Congratulations'. I know that he worked hard with the publisher in producing this.

εὖ ἐποίησας, Μιχαήλ.

The Pastoral Epistles in the Apostolic Fathers

The first major reception of the texts of the New Testament is of course from the Apostolic Fathers. Rick Brannan has done an interesting job of putting together a list of Potential Quotes, Allusions, or References of the Pastoral Epistles in the Apostolic Fathers (see the links therein). The Apostolic Fathers are significant as they are among our first major witnesses to textual traditions of the New Testament and give evidence of how the New Testament writings were being interpreted within a generation of their composition.

Otherwise, more generally, note the following volumes on the New Testament and the Apostlic Fathers by Andrew Gregory and Christopher Tuckett:

Trajectories through the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers

The New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers 2 volume set

The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers