Want to Understand the Transmission of the NT Text? Here is a Great New Resource
Whenever I teach textual criticism to my seminary students, I usually get two very different responses. For some students, their eyes glaze over and they tune out as soon as they hear the word “paleography” for the first time.
For others, they find themselves fascinated by how texts were transmitted and copied in the ancient world. And they are excited by the fact that we can go to museums and see actual NT manuscripts–the earliest artifacts of Christianity. This archaeological component to textual criticism makes it a very tangible enterprise.
One thing that really helps teach students about this complex subject is finding the right text book. But, admittedly, this … Continue reading...
How Is the Authority of the New Testament Being Attacked Today (and What Can We Do About It)?
I recently spent some time in Chattanooga speaking to various groups about the authority of Scripture. I spoke to college students from RUF at the University of Tennessee (Chattanooga) and Covenant College about “Five Misconceptions about the Origins of the New Testament.”
Then I spoke to Alternate Seminary on “How Do We Know the Bible is God’s Word?” Alternate Seminary is doing some great work training African American pastors and leaders. Here is a twitter post from my visit there:
Pleased to speak on biblical authority 4 Alt.Sem. in Chatt, TN. Great work for African American pastors pic.twitter.com/cpfX9jTcaH
— Mike Kruger (@michaeljkruger) March 5, 2015
Then I gave two lectures … Continue reading...
Do We Have the Original Text? Some Optimism in Textual Criticism
Over the last few decades, the world of textual criticism has had a less than an optimistic feel about it. While the central purpose of textual criticism has traditionally been the recovery of the “original” text (regardless of whether one is dealing with the New Testament or any ancient text), some are now suggesting that it should not necessarily be the goal of the discipline.
Bart Ehrman, commenting on the attempts to recover the original text, declares, “It is by no means self-evident that this ought to be the goal of the discipline…there may indeed be scant reason to privilege the ‘original’ text over forms of the text that developed … Continue reading...
Is the Church over the Bible or is the Bible over the Church?
It is well known that misconceptions and misunderstandings regarding the origins of the NT (and OT) canon abound on the internet. Da Vinci Code style claims are in plenteous supply–ranging from the claim that the Council of Nicea established the NT canon to the claim that apocryphal gospels were as popular (if not more so) than the canonical gospels.
Of course, if one were to respond to each and every erroneous claim on the internet there would be time for little else. But every now and then, an article combines so many misconceptions about the canon is a single place, that a response is warranted. This is the case with … Continue reading...