New Testament Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Textual variation== {{Main|Textual variants in the New Testament|Textual criticism of the New Testament}} [[Textual criticism]] deals with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the [[Writing|texts]] of [[manuscripts]]. Ancient [[scribes]] made errors or alterations (such as including non-authentic [[Interpolation (manuscripts)|additions]]).{{sfn|Ehrman|2005|p=46}} The New Testament has been preserved in more than 5,800 [[Greek language|Greek]] manuscripts, 10,000 [[Latin]] manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages including [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Slavic languages|Slavic]], [[Ethiopic]] and [[Armenian language|Armenian]]. Even if the original Greek versions were lost, the entire New Testament could still be assembled from the translations.<ref name="Strobel, Lee 1998">Strobel, Lee (1998). ''The Case for Christ''. Chapter Three, when quoting biblical scholar [[Bruce Metzger]].</ref> In addition, there are so many quotes from the New Testament in early church documents and commentaries that the entire New Testament could also be assembled from these alone.<ref name="Strobel, Lee 1998"/> Not all biblical manuscripts come from orthodox Christian writers. For example, the [[Gnostic]] writings of [[Valentinus (Gnostic)|Valentinus]] come from the 2nd century AD, and these Christians were regarded as heretics by the mainstream church.{{sfn|Bruce|1981|p=14}} The sheer number of witnesses presents unique difficulties, but it also gives scholars a better idea of how close modern Bibles are to the original versions.{{sfn|Bruce|1981|p=14}} On noting the large number of surviving ancient manuscripts, [[Bruce Metzger]] sums up the view on the issue by saying "The more often you have copies that agree with each other, especially if they emerge from different geographical areas, the more you can cross-check them to figure out what the original document was like. The only way they'd agree would be where they went back genealogically in a family tree that represents the descent of the manuscripts.<ref name="Strobel, Lee 1998"/> ===Interpolations=== In attempting to determine the original text of the New Testament books, some modern textual critics have identified sections as additions of material, centuries after the gospel was written. These are called [[Interpolation (manuscripts)|interpolations]]. In modern translations of the Bible, the results of textual criticism have led to certain verses, words and phrases being left out or marked as not original. According to [[Bart D. Ehrman]], "These scribal additions are often found in late medieval manuscripts of the New Testament, but not in the manuscripts of the earlier centuries."{{sfn|Ehrman|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/misquotingjesuss00ehrm/page/265 265]}} Most modern Bibles have footnotes to indicate passages that have disputed source documents. Bible commentaries also discuss these, sometimes in great detail. While many variations have been discovered between early copies of biblical texts, almost all have no importance, as they are variations in spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Also, many of these variants are so particular to the Greek language that they would not appear in translations into other languages. For example, order of words (i.e. "man bites dog" versus "dog bites man") often does not matter in Greek, so textual variants that flip the order of words often have no consequences.<ref name="Strobel, Lee 1998"/> Outside of these unimportant variants, there are a couple variants of some importance. The two most commonly cited examples are the [[Mark 16|last verses of the Gospel of Mark]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Nave |first=Guy D. |year=2002 |title=The Role and Function of Repentance in Luke-Acts |page=194}}</ref><ref>Spong, John Shelby (26 September 1979). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604055133/http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1256 "The Continuing Christian Need for Judaism"]. ''Christian Century''. p. 918. Archived from [http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1256 the original] on 4 June 2011.</ref><ref>Levine, Amy-Jill; Blickenstaff, Marianne (2001). ''A Feminist Companion to John, Vol. II''. Feminist Companion to the New Testament and Early Christian Writings, Vol. 5. A&C Black. p. 175.</ref> and the story of [[Jesus and the woman taken in adultery]] in the Gospel of John.<ref>{{cite web | title = NETBible: John 7 | publisher = Bible.org | url = https://net.bible.org/#!bible/John+7 | access-date =17 October 2009}} See note 139 on that page.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Keith | first = Chris | title = Recent and Previous Research on the ''Pericope Adulterae'' (John 7.53β8.11) | journal = [[Currents in Biblical Research]] | volume = 6 | issue = 3 | pages = 377β404 | year = 2008 | doi = 10.1177/1476993X07084793 | s2cid = 145385075 }}</ref>{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|loc="Pericope adulterae"}} Many scholars and critics also believe that the [[Johannine Comma]] reference supporting the [[Trinity#Theology|Trinity doctrine]] in the [[First Epistle of John]] to have been a later addition.{{sfn|Ehrman|2005|p=80-83|ps=: "on one condition: that his opponents produce a Greeks manuscript in which the verse could be found (finding it in Latin manuscripts was not enough). And so a Greek manuscript was produced. In fact, it was produced for the occasion. It appears that someone copied out the Greek text of the Epistles, and when he came to the passage in question, he translated the Latin text into Greek, giving the Johannine Comma in its familiar, theologically useful form. The manuscript provided to Erasmus, in other words, was a sixteenthcentury production, made to order."}}{{sfn|Metzger|1994}} According to [[Norman Geisler]] and William Nix, "The New Testament, then, has not only survived in more manuscripts than any other book from antiquity, but it has survived in a purer form than any other great bookβa form that is 99.5% pure".{{sfn|Metzger|1994|p=367}} [[File:RossanoGospelsChristBeforePilate.jpg|thumb|The [[Rossano Gospels]], sixth century, a representative of [[Byzantine]] text]] The often referred to ''Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible'', a book written to prove the validity of the New Testament, says: "A study of 150 Greek [manuscripts] of the Gospel of Luke has revealed more than 30,000 different readings... It is safe to say that there is not one sentence in the New Testament in which the [manuscript] is wholly uniform."<ref>{{cite book |last=Parvis |first=M. M. |date=1962 |chapter=Text, [New Testament] |editor1-last=Buttrick |editor1-first=George A. |editor2-last=Kepler |editor2-first=Thomas S. |editor3-last=Knox |editor3-first=John |editor4-last=May |editor4-first=Herbert Gordon |editor5-last=Terrien |editor5-first=Samuel |editor6-last=Bucke |editor6-first=Emory Stevens |title=The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible: An Illustrated Encyclopedia |url=https://archive.org/details/interpretersdict04geor |url-access=registration |volume=4 (RβZ) |location=Nashville |publisher=Abingdon Press |page=595 |isbn=978-0-687-19273-1}}</ref> Most of the variation took place within the first three Christian centuries. ===Text-types=== By the 4th century, textual "families" or types of text become discernible among [[biblical manuscript|New Testament manuscripts]]. A "text-type" is the name given to a family of texts with similar readings due to common ancestors and mutual correction. Many early manuscripts contain individual readings from several different earlier forms of text. Modern textual critics have identified the following text-types among textual witnesses to the New Testament: The [[Alexandrian text-type]] is usually considered to generally preserve many early readings. It is represented, e.g., by [[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]], [[Codex Sinaiticus]] and the [[Bodmer Papyri]]. The [[Western text-type]] is generally longer and can be paraphrastic, but can also preserve early readings. The [[Acts of the Apostles#Manuscripts|Western version of the Acts of the Apostles]] is, notably, 8.5% longer than the Alexandrian form of the text. Examples of the Western text are found in [[Codex Bezae]], [[Codex Claromontanus]], [[Codex Washingtonianus]], the [[Vetus Latina|Old Latin]] (i.e., Latin translations made prior to the [[Vulgate]]), as well as in quotations by [[Marcion]], [[Tatian]], [[Irenaeus]], [[Tertullian]] and [[Cyprian]]. A text-type referred to as the "[[Caesarean text-type]]" and thought to have included witnesses such as [[Codex Koridethi]] and minuscule 565, can today be described neither as "Caesarean" nor as a text-type as was previously thought. The Gospel of Mark in [[Papyrus 45]], [[Codex Washingtonianus]] and in [[Family 13]] reflects a distinct type of text. Increasing standardization of distinct (and once local) text-types eventually gave rise to the [[Byzantine text-type]]. Since most manuscripts of the New Testament do not derive from the first several centuries, that is, they were copied after the rise of the Byzantine text-type, this form of text is found the majority of extant manuscripts and is therefore often called the "Majority Text". As with all of the other (earlier) text-types, the Byzantine can also occasionally preserve early readings. ===Biblical criticism=== {{Main|Biblical criticism}} [[Biblical criticism]] is the scholarly "study and investigation of [[Biblical manuscript|biblical writings]] that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Achtemeier|first=Paul|url=https://archive.org/details/harpersbibledict00tion/page/129/mode/2up|title=Harper's Bible dictionary|publisher=Harper & Row|year=1985|isbn=0060698632|location=San Francisco|pages=129}}</ref> Viewing biblical texts as having human rather than supernatural origins, it asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work in its production; what sources were used in its composition; and what message it was intended to convey. It will vary slightly depending on whether the focus is on the Old Testament, the letters of the New Testament, or the [[Canonical Gospels]]. It also plays an important role in the quest for the [[historical Jesus]]. It also addresses the physical text, including the meaning of the words and the way in which they are used, its preservation, history, and integrity. Biblical criticism draws upon a wide range of scholarly disciplines including [[archaeology]], [[anthropology]], [[folklore]], [[linguistics]], [[narrative criticism]], [[Christian Oral Tradition|Oral Tradition studies]], history, and [[religious studies]]. ===Establishing a critical text=== {{Main|New Testament manuscripts}} The [[#Textual variation|textual variation]] among manuscript copies of books in the New Testament prompted attempts to discern the earliest form of text already in antiquity (e.g., by the 3rd-century Christian author [[Origen]]). The efforts began in earnest again during the [[Renaissance]], which saw a revival of the study of ancient Greek texts. During this period, modern [[textual criticism]] was born. In this context, [[Christian humanism|Christian humanists]] such as [[Lorenzo Valla]] and [[Erasmus]] promoted a return to the original Greek of the New Testament. This was the beginning of modern [[New Testament textual criticism]], which over subsequent centuries would increasingly incorporate more and more manuscripts, in more languages (i.e., versions of the New Testament), as well as citations of the New Testament by ancient authors and the New Testament text in [[lectionary|lectionaries]] in order to reconstruct the earliest recoverable form of the New Testament text and the history of changes to it.{{sfn|Metzger|Ehrman|2005}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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