Equipping University

Textual Criticism 201: The Textual Apparatus 07.05.2008 59:08 ↓

In "Misquoting Jesus," Bart Ehrman writes of the variants in several familiar passages (none of which is new material) but curiously leaves out much important information. Ehrman does not discuss the manuscripts behind the passages and gives the impression that there is mass confusion over the readings. While quick to count the manuscripts and variants, nowhere does he weigh the manuscripts or giv...

Textual Criticism 101: A General Introduction 30.04.2008 1:01:47 ↓

The very phrase textual criticism conjures up an abstract academic exercise which leads many to remain unconvinced of the need to learn of this science. Pastors are ignore the subject for fear that church members will find it boring, overly technical, impractical, or that their faith (their own and the congregations') may be undermined in the process. Pastors fear the fallout of church members lea...

Textual Variants 16.04.2008 58:36 ↓

The standard Greek New Testament of today has 138,162 words. It is a simple fact that out of the 5,745 biblical manuscripts that we have through the end of 2006, we find all sorts of variations between them. These variations are called "variants," which are "any place among the manuscripts of the New Testament where there is not uniformity of wording." How many textual variants are there? The best...

The Transmission of the NT: The Manuscripts 02.04.2008 54:25 ↓

It is amazing that we know anything of the New Testament. The early church had no great libraries or sanctuaries in which to store its books. Persecution began early and continued for a few hundred years. During the first three hundred years of persecution and the years after of freedom, the New Testament was continuously copied and recopied as believers held fervently to the only thing that could...