Quarles: Introducing New Testament Textual Criticism for the 21st Century

It seems to me that we are due for an up-to-date introduction to NT textual criticism since the standard classic in our field (Metzger-Ehrman) is out of date in some key areas (e.g., re: text-types and computer tools like the CBGM) and since others like Jongkind's and Anderson's are brief by design. That's why I was pleased to see Chuck Quarles's new introduction that came out in March of this year. I asked Chuck if he would mind telling our readers a bit about what motivated him to write it and what distinguishes it. —Peter

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Several respected introductions to New Testament textual criticism have guided New Testament students in the exercise of restoring the New Testament text for generations. These volumes are generally considered to be “tried and true,” and professors and students may be reluctant to replace them or even supplement them with the latest book on the topic. I sympathize with that sentiment. These trusted volumes have shaped my own approach to the discipline in important ways and I am grateful for them.

However, as I taught master’s courses and PhD seminars in New Testament textual criticism over the last decade, I became increasingly convinced that a new introduction was badly needed. The standard introductions masterfully explain the methods and approaches to textual criticism applied in most of the 20^th century. Yet, these leave readers unaware of some of the sweeping changes that occurred in the field in the late 20^th and early 21^st century.

For example, the standard introductions still affirm the old text-type approach, even though the leading specialists in the field have offered persuasive evidence that the approach is flawed. Among other problems, old theories about the relationships between texts were sometimes based on a relatively small sample of variant units or shared tendencies. However, developments in computer technology enable researchers to track the level of agreement between two texts on every shared variant unit resulting in much more accurate information about the relationships between texts. The data demonstrates that leading representatives of the so-called Western text have greater similarity to representatives of other textual groups than with witnesses supposedly belonging to the same text type! (see Appendix III of the book)

Computer applications made other advances possible too. Westcott and Hort famously argued that “ALL TRUSTWORTHY RESTORATION OF CORRUPTED TEXTS IS FOUNDED ON THE STUDY OF THEIR HISTORY, that is, of the relations of descent or affinity which connect the several documents.” They called for the development of a “genealogical tree of transmission” and stated that the more exactly text critics are “able to trace the chief ramifications of the tree, and to determine the places of the several documents among the branches, the more secure will be the foundations laid for a criticism capable of distinguishing the original text from its successive corruptions.”

New Spanish Intro to NTTC by Juan Chapa

I have just learnt that my friend and colleague Juan Chapa Prado, professor of New Testament at the Facultad de Teología (Universidad de Navarra) and one of the editors of The Oxyrrhynchus Papyri has just published a new introduction to New Testament textual criticism in Spanish: La transmisión textual del Nuevo Testamento Manuscritos, variantes y autoridad, Biblioteca de Estudios Bíblicos, 163 (Salamanca: Ediciones Sigueme, 2021).

Since Chapa is a skilled papyrologist, there is excellent coverage of the material aspects and the earliest manuscripts on papyrus. Apart from the traditional topics in introductions to the field, Chapa discusses concepts like "initial text," "living text," "narrative textual criticism," canon, authority of scripture, regula fidei, the relationship to oral tradition and many other interesting topics.

Table of contents and introduction is available here.

New Introduction by Anderson and Widder: Textual Criticism of the Bible

A new introduction, Textual Criticism of the Bible: Revised Edition (Lexham Methods Series) is in the pipeline. The first edition of this introduction was authored by Wendy Widder in 2014. Widder, who is more a specialist on the Hebrew Bible and language, has now been joined by our own co-blogger Amy Anderson, which means that the aspect of New Testament textual criticism has been significantly improved in the revised edition.

According to Amazon. the book is scheduled to come out on 24 October, so you should be able to get your signed copy at SBL.

My blurb:

With this handbook Anderson and Widder provide a clear and helpful introduction to Old and New Testament textual criticism. In a time of increasing specialization and fragmentation, a handbook that takes what the two fields have in common – in particular scribal habits – as the starting point, is very welcome. Clear explanations, definitions of key-words, lucid tables and illustrating examples make this introduction particularly suitable for the beginning student.

Tommy Wasserman

Professor of Biblical Studies, Ansgar Teologiske Høgskole, Norway

Blogging the Tyndale House Edition of the Greek New Testament

Over at the Tyndale House website, we are now hosting a blog dedicated to the Greek New Testament we have been preparing. This blog will be devoted to that project only, but rest assured, with the exception of the first introductory post, we will cross-post everything to our beloved ETC Blog, which will also be the place where comments are welcomed (there is a direct link between the two). Rather than asking you to check (or subscribe to) an additional address, it seems better to keep things centralised. The blog at the Tyndale House address functions to give the posts a sense of thematic continuity and visibility and catch some of the search traffic that is targeted at our edition.

And for the purists - one might notice the hand of Peter Gurry in its design.

Manuel de critique textuelle du Nouveau Testament (ed. Amphoux)

A new French introduction to New Testament textual criticism, edited by Christian-Bernard Amphoux, has just been published by Éditions Safran, Manuel de critique textuelle du Nouveau Testament. Introduction générale. Contributors include C.-B. Amphoux, J.C. Haelewyck, D. Gonnet, A. Boud’Hours, G. Dorival, D. Pastorelli, J. K. Elliott, D. Lafleur and J. Reynard.

Publisher’s description:

La critique textuelle est l’étude des documents à partir desquels on établit le texte d’une œuvre transmise par des manuscrits.

Le Nouveau Testament nous est parvenu à travers de nombreux manuscrits entre lesquels il existe d’innombrables variantes. Certaines, les plus nombreuses, sont de simples fautes de copie ; mais des milliers d’autres sont les indices de l’évolution du texte des évangiles et des autres écrits du recueil. Le texte du Nouveau Testament a donc une histoire et, par cette histoire, une diversité dans sa transmission.

Le premier volume de ce manuel propose une introduction générale qui rassemble les informations principales concernant le matériau dont nous disposons (manuscrits grecs, versions anciennes et citations patristiques), la méthode de traitement de ce matériau et ce que nous savons de l’histoire du texte du Nouveau Testament, d’abord manuscrit, puis imprimé à partir du XVIe siècle.

A second volume treating textual variants is in preparation.

More details including table of contents here.

Review of Parker's Introduction

In the latest Review of Biblical Literature we find a review of David Parker's An Introduction to the New Testament Manuscripts and Their Texts by Matteo Grosso. Recently, I met Matteo at the SBL in Rome, where he presented a paper. He is very appreciative of Parker's approach, although, like most other reviewers, he points out that this is not an actual handbook to NT TC:

[T]he most original features of this work pertain to its content. Certainly, this is not a handbook of New Testament textual criticism as such a genre has been traditionally conceived. Being rather An Introduction to the New Testament Manuscripts and Their Texts from a certain point of view, it offers much more: it starts from the specific treatment of the actual tradents of the New Testament text (the manuscripts), then covers the principal problems of the discipline. It is not just a matter of internal organization: the priority bestowed by the author to the manuscripts is palpable all through the book. Coherent with Westcott and Hort’s golden rule, according to which “Knowledge of documents should precede final judgment upon readings,” which Parker states in capital letters as early as page 2, his approach grants a special focus on the artifacts that carry the New Testament texts and the many ways to deal with them. In doing so, he effectively avoids the always impending danger of overlooking the fact that the text of the New Testament, as reconstructed in the various critical editions in use, is an abstract entity, while it existed (and exists) concretely in many different forms.

Read the whole review here.

In the same issue of RBL a review of Reuben J. Swanson's, Reflections on Biblical Themes by an Octogenarian, by Peter Penner may be of interest. There is an essay by Swanson that deals with textual criticism. Penner writes:

Textual Criticism”: The essay on text criticism is another helpful tool that the author has used with students and ministers interested in the topic of textual criticism. A helpful introduction, illustrations that challenge the reader, and solid work with Greek texts offer much help to the reader who looks for a good initiation to the area. The content demonstrates deep knowledge and years of Swanson’s experience in this field of New Testament scholarly work, even when one could disagree on the interpretation and the outcomes of the argument.

A Question for Cambridge Scholars

It is well known that Westcott and Hort supplied pre-publication fascicles of their in-progress Greek New Testament to the members of the English Revision Committee during the period 1870-1881, specifically as follows (from Hort, Introduction, p. 18):

The Gospels, with a temporary preface of 28 pages, were thus issued in July 1871, the Acts in February 1873, the Catholic Epistles in December 1873, the Pauline Epistles in February 1875, and the Apocalypse in December 1876.

These preliminary fascicles obviously were subject to comment and criticism from the Revision Committee, with the accepted and reasoned results of such being implemented into the final 1881 W-H edition. Hort notes (p. 18 once more) that “many corrections dealing with punctuation or otherwise of a minute kind, together with occasional modifications of reading, have been introduced into the stereotype plates within the last few months” prior to actual publication.

The question I have (knowing that certain of W-H’s letters and papers are stored within the Cambridge University Library) is whether any of these preliminary fascicles also are part of the Cambridge collection. If so, it would seem a fascinating study for someone first to reproduce in full the text of their “temporary preface”, and then to compile a collation of differences between the Greek text of the preliminary fascicles and that which actually was published.

(An added bonus would be the record of any handwritten notes that may have been placed on those fascicles by either Westcott or Hort).

Sounds like a good project for someone at Tyndale House to undertake.