A Further Response to Brice Jones
In a prior post, I responded to Brice Jones’ original critique of my chapter in The Early Text of the New Testament. He has taken a moment to respond on his website here. I want to thank Brice for this interesting and stimulating interaction. Certainly anyone should be thanked who is willing to read and interact with a $140 book! I will offer just a few final reflections here.
I only want to address the following paragraph where Brice summarizes his complaint:
…The main difficulty that I find with your essay is your move from a few select passages that do not refer to attitudes toward reproduction
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Brice Jones Reviews The Early Text of the New Testament
Over at his website, Brice Jones just reviewed The Early Text of the New Testament (Oxford, 2012), edited by myself and Chuck Hill. In general, he offers a positive summary, “Overall, this book is an important addition to our field and thus is to be recommended to anyone interested in the text of the New Testament.”
However, Brice was critical of my own essay, “Early Christian Attitudes to the Reproduction of Texts,” arguing that it had a “theological agenda.” Not sure what he meant by theological agenda, since he never gets specific about where I do this in the article. He does, however, express disagreement over my analysis of … Continue reading...
The Complete Series: Ten Basic Facts About the NT Canon that Every Christian Should Memorize
For the last month or so, I have been working through a new series on the NT canon designed to help Christians understand ten basic facts about its origins. This series is designed for a lay-level audience and hopefully could prove helpful in a conversation one might have with a skeptical friend.
Given that there are already four installments in this series, I thought would be helpful to have them listed all in one spot. Thus, I will list the current installments below, and plan to update this list as the series progresses. Also, note that the bottom left of my website has a link to all my blog series.… Continue reading...
Witherington Reviews “The Early Text of the New Testament”
My recent book (c0-edited with my friend Chuck Hill) is The Early Text of the New Testament (Oxford, 2012). That volume is a collection of essays designed to address the state of the NT text at the earliest observable stages. Unfortunately, one might have to mortgage their home to purchase it at $140 (ouch). Sorry, seminary students.
As a result of the high price, I am particularly grateful when someone takes the time to get a copy and review it. Ben Witherington has recently reviewed the book over at his website and I am appreciative of his kind remarks. Here are some excerpts:
…Technical monographs are important, not least because
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New Publication: “Manuscripts, Scribes, and Book Production in Early Christianity”
A number of years ago my wife purchased a Kindle e-reader from Amazon. Now, she reads a number of her books digitally. And she is not alone. It seems like our modern world has become to digest books more and more in a digital format–e-readers, ipads, digital phones, etc. Much of this technical innovation is positive. People can easily access material in ways never before available.
However, in the midst of this technological innovation, our modern concept of the “book” has been transformed. It has largely ceased to be a physical object that you can touch, hold, and smell, and now has become entirely digital. Books are merely words, and … Continue reading...