Textual Criticism of New Testament Manuscripts
Our Rich Deposit of Manuscripts
In recent posts, we looked at how scholars try to determine the original reading of Old Testament texts. Now we will turn to how this is done for the New Testament. Even though the writings of the Old and New Testament form one book – the Bible – there are differences in how scholars try to determine the original reading for New Testament texts. This is because of the different times, languages, and circumstances in which they were written and transmitted.
To begin with, it is important to look at the rich deposit of New Testament manuscripts available to scholars today. In all, there are over 6,000 manuscripts, codices, or portions of the New Testament writings extant. To put it simply, no other ancient writing is even in the same galaxy with the number and quality of manuscripts that are available for the New Testament. As a comparison, compare Homer’s Iliad – one of the best-supported ancient writings. There are approximately 650 manuscripts or portions of the Iliad – approximately 10% of the number for the New Testament. And this does not even include all of the NT manuscripts in other languages or quotes from early Church Fathers!
Furthermore, we have New Testament manuscripts that are much closer to the original date of authorship than those for other ancient documents. The typical time lapse between the writing and the oldest known manuscript for most works of Greek literature is around 800 years, yet we have manuscripts of most of the NT within approximately 100 years of the original writing!
These manuscripts and codices can contain anywhere from a few verses, to entire books or collections of books, to even the entire New Testament. Thus, the New Testament is in a league of its own. No other ancient document even comes close to the rich resources we have to determine the original autograph of the writing!
In future weeks we will look at some of the important early fragments, papyri, and codices. But for now, take a moment to give thanks to God for how He has preserved His Word to give it to us. What a priceless treasure we have in the Word of God!
In Christ,
Bret