Textual Criticism

In recent blog posts, we have been looking at how differences can creep into copies of ancient texts. As a result, it becomes important to determine which manuscript copy is closer to the original text. This is of particular importance for biblical texts for two reasons. First, the Bible is the Word of God! Second, the Bible has a far greater number of manuscripts, created at many more places and across greater periods of time than any other ancient manuscript. This is a blessing – but it does make it certain that more differences will creep in over time. Today we will look at how scholars try to determine which “reading” is correct (closer to words in the original writing). This is known as textual criticism.

Textual criticism is the process of evaluating the various manuscripts presently available in order to determine the reading which is closest to the original text. In the case of Scripture, we want to know what Moses, David, Solomon, Paul, Peter, Matthew, John, and the other biblical authors actually wrote, and textual criticism is the process that helps us to determine that. Remember, this is done for all ancient texts, not just the biblical texts. We should also note that while there are similarities in the principles of textual criticism used for any old texts, there are also distinctions for different texts that arise because of the language, the practices of the particular scribes, the number of manuscripts available, the number of older translations of the text under view, and other historical circumstances. As you can see, this is a complicated matter!

Because of this, we will see that there are even different considerations for evaluating Old Testament and New Testament writings. They were written in different languages and under very different historical circumstances. In the coming articles, we will look at each in turn.

Before we do, however, I want to remind us that although there are many variations in the text of the Old Testament and New Testament, they are mainly relatively minor, and NO major doctrine is affected by these variations. God has providentially ensured that His Word has been well preserved, and we have far greater confidence regarding the Biblical text than any other ancient manuscripts. We take comfort from knowing that when we pick up our bible, we are reading the very word of God!

In Christ,

Bret