CNTTS Receives Major TC-related Collection

The H. Milton Haggard Center for New Testament Textual Criticism (CNTTS) is pleased to announce the donation by Dr. Glen L. Thompson of part of his collection, with the donation including 78 volumes in the fields of papyrology and textual criticism. Professor Thompson has served as professor of history at Wisconsin Lutheran College since 2002, and is currently teaching at Asia Lutheran College in Hong Kong.

The Thompson Collection includes an impressive number of works on papyrological topics such as Coptic and Demotic linguistics and papyrology. In the process of assessing the value of the library, CNTTS’ Scholar-in-Residence James M. Leonard discovered that about half of the collection consists of books no longer available at major book vendors or even in the extensive holdings of major specialist libraries such as Tyndale House, Cambridge. Dr. Bill Warren, the CNTTS Director and Landrum P. Leavell II Professor of New Testament and Greek, noted, “This thoughtful donation by Glen Thompson is a prime example of the type of attitude and action that will keep our field moving forward by enhancing the research options both for those here and for visiting scholars and students.” This is the second substantial library donation to CNTTS in the past year, the first being the Gordon D. Fee Collection.

The Thompson Collection will be a part of the Seminary’s John T. Christian Library which contains about 250,000 bound volumes, the largest theological library in the Gulf Coast region of North America with about 250,000 bound volumes. The collection will be housed at the CNTTS and available for use onsite by researchers and visiting scholars. CNTTS is located at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the five largest accredited seminaries in North America. Currently, 10 full-time and part-time researchers are employed at CNTTS, with 4 PhD students working on dissertations in New Testament textual studies.

CNTTS Featured in Major Newspaper Article

The title ‘Changes to the Bible through the ages are being studied by New Orleans scholars’ was a bit unfortunate, but the Center for New Testament Textual Criticism at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was featured in a major newspaper article.

The news writer attempts to explain CNTTS’ 10 year project to produce an exegetical commentary on the (non-original) variants.

Gordon Fee Donates Specialized Collection to NOBTS

The H. Milton Haggard Center for New Testament Textual Studies (CNTTS), New Orleans, happily announces its receipt of Gordon Fee’s personal textual criticism library. The specialized volumes and other materials have been designated The Gordon D. Fee Collection on the New Testament Text.

The collection is comprised of rare and newer books which Dr. Fee amassed in his half century as a text critic. The collection also includes extensive documentation supporting his work on textual criticism projects.

Noteworthy is Dr. Fee’s collation files on Luke and John, including his signature graphic depiction of the textual variants. The quality of the graphic depiction of the variants in Luke and John is such that the center hopes to digitize the data, make them freely available, and to use them for the center’s own research. Also included are Dr. Fee’s files on the text of various church fathers.

In 2005, Dr. Fee was honored with Evangelical Textual Criticism blog’s Lifetime Achievement Award, 2005 (award; cf. nomination).

In donating his collection, Dr. Fee was passionate that his materials be made available for the advancement of the discipline. In this regard, CNTTS is particularly suited to receive the collection. There are currently nine students working toward a textual criticism PhD at the center’s home at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and 10 part-time researchers at the center. CNTTS has produced its own extensive apparatus of the variants of the Greek New Testament (Bible Works, Accordance), and has commenced a ten year exegetical commentary project on the meaning of the (non-original) variants; the project will be made accessible on the web in due course. CNTTS also cooperates with the International Greek New Testament Project and with the Virtual Manuscript Room project sponsored by the Institut für neuetestamentliche Textforschung (INTF) in Münster.

The acquisition was coordinated by James M. Leonard (PhD cand., Cambridge) who is the current recipient of the CNTTS’ post-doctoral research grant as Visiting Scholar. Leonard served as Dr. Fee’s teaching assistant and worked under him in the capacity of Exegesis Assistant at Regent College (1991-1993). Both Leonard and 2008 recipient of the center’s post-doctoral grant Michael Theophilus (PhD, Oxford) studied with Fee at Regent College, Vancouver.

New Dissertations from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

The Center for New Testament Textual Studies and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary announce details on two tc dissertations.

Yesterday, Min-Seok Jang successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled “A Reconsideration of the Date of Papyrus 46.” Jang (BA Yonsei University; MDiv Korea Baptist Theological Seminary; ThM NOBTS) compared 15 characteristics of p46 to a large number of papyri. In addition to the 80 papyri examined in previous p46 research , Jang examined 154 documentary papyri, 108 literary papyri, and 48 reformed documentary papyri, all categorized into five periods ranging from the second half of the first century to the second half of the third century. He concluded that p46 appears to have more in common with the papyri produced between A.D. 75 and A.D. 200 than with papyri from the later period. A narrower range between A.D. 100 and A.D. 150 is possible, but problematic.

Last week, David Champagne (BS Florida State University; BS Mississippi College; MA NOBTS; ThM NOBTS) passed his PhD comprehensives and has now begun work on his dissertation tentatively entitled, “An Analysis of Superscription and Subscription Traditions in New Testament Manuscripts.”

Bill Warren's 20th

Congratulations to ETC blogger Bill Warren who was celebrated today by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for his 20 years of service to the seminary.

Seminary President Charles Kelley especially highlighted Dr. Warren's initiative in the creation of the H. Milton Haggard Center for New Testament Textual Studies, mentioning also the growth of its endowment under Dr. Warren, its development in resources and collections, and its work in training text critics.

Panel on Textual Criticism and Exegesis in New Orleans III

Jim has already posted on Larry Hurtado's presentation. Next was my presentation, entitled "Surrounded by a Cloud of Witnesses." I have already described it briefly here, but to rehearse a little, my main point was this:

Variants that are judged as textual corruptions of the initial text, nevertheless stand in a direct or indirect hermeneutical relationship to the initial text, and as such they are more or less valuable for understanding that text.

I used Luke 10:41-42 (Jesus' response to Martha) in order to illustrate the point. The NASB text reads:

But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but {only} one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

My own interpretation of this passage is the following: Jesus is saying to Martha that there is one thing in life that is more important than everything else, and that is to be in his presence. That is what Mary has chosen and she should not be blaimed for doing so. According to the poll here on the blog 29 responses agreed with this interpretation, whereas 9 responses disagreed, so the small sample at least indicates that this is a common interpretation.

Now the UBS committee thought that the third reading, which is reflected in the NASB translation, is the most difficult reading because of the absolutenss of ενος (one thing) which can be perceived as a strong rebuke of Martha – scribes asked: Weren’t Martha’s preparations necessary? and so the other smoother readings originated.

As a result of the absolute interpretation on the part of some scribes, the first change that happened in the textual tradition according to the committee was a substitution of ολιγων (a few things) for ενος, in order to stress that Martha’s activity was also important, although Mary made a better choice (την αγαθην μεριδα). This is the second reading. Then the fourth reading developed as a conflation, that is, a combination of the second and third reading, combining ενος and ολιγων, with ”disastrous results as to sense” but is this scenario really likely from the viewpoint of external evidence?

Is it possible that the fourth reading, attested by a wide array of important witnesses including 𝔓3, Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, could have developed from the second reading extant only in one Greek minuscule, 38, and some versions? Theoretically, it is not impossible, but it is very unlikely. Besides, even the word order of the fourth reading speaks against this possibility.

Gordon Fee has argued persuasively that the real choice is between the third and fourth readings, one is clearly a revision of the other. The real question is which variant that can best be explained as the revision of the other. The choice must be made on internal grounds given that both readings are so well attested.

What then is the meaning of the fourth reading, ”but few things are necessary, or only one”? Jonathan Borland drew the attention to a 19th century commentator, Wilhelm Meyer who thought it originated because of the explanation which takes the passage and the word ENOS as referring to one dish. Martha worried about many things, but just a few or one dish was necessary to prepare. However, Fee follows Godet’s interpretation which is less culinaric, ”few things are necessary,” that is, for the body, ”or only one,” that is, for the soul. Fee identifies this as the more difficult reading which led a scribe to clarify by omitting the perplexing reference to a ”few things,” because ultimately only one thing is necessary and that is what Mary chose.

Fee further thinks the variation between γαρ and δε among witnesses in the third reading reflects the fact that the fourth reading, where γαρ makes more sense, is original. The γαρ introduces an explanation, ”but few things are necessary, or only one, for [γαρ] Mary has chosen the good part...”

Okay, but if the fourth reading is initial, and the third reading is smoother, is there another way of interpreting it than a strong rebuke of Martha? Otherwise we just have one difficult reading originating from another difficult reading. Fee does not answer this question clearly in his treatment. In fact, when he concludes his argument for the fourth reading he says that "if we accept the fourth reading then the text is not so much a ’put down’ of Martha, as it is a gentle rebuke for her anxiety." So in the end Fee implies that he still interprets the third reading as a "put down," which hardly makes it a smooth reading. He does, however, point out that the third reading never seems to have given anyone trouble in antiquity among those who comment on the text.

So is there an alternative smooth interpretation of this reading? I suggest the following:

Jesus could have meant that Martha worried about many things when only one thing was necessary for the moment, that is, focus on what you are doing and don’t worry about the many things that you cannot attend to now. And then he went on to say that Mary focused on one thing and that was the good part (or the best part if you will).

In conclusion, external and internal evidence in my opinion suggest that the fourth reading has priority. Notwithstanding, the study of the readings in the passage made me aware of several alternative interpretations, specifically a smooth interpretation of that reading which is now adopted in NA27.

Finally, if any reader was there at NOBTS and took a picture of us, I would be grateful to have a copy.