Jeff Cate Reviews “The Early Text of the New Testament”
One of the classic debates among New Testament scholars pertains to the state of the New Testament text in the earliest centuries (2nd-4th). Was the text transmitted in a “wild” and “uncontrolled” fashion? Or did it exhibit a degree of stability and tenacity (as the Alands would put it)?
My friend Chuck Hill and I engaged this question in 2012 when we edited the volume The Early Text of the New Testament for Oxford University Press. In this volume, we collected together over 20 of the finest textual scholars today to address these important questions. The volume did not answer every issue, nor did all its contributors even agree with … Continue reading...
Two Recent Reviews of “The Early Text of the New Testament”
I was pleased to see two recent positive reviews of my co-edited volume (with Chuck Hill), The Early Text of the New Testament (Oxford, 2012). As a side note, the book is now out in paperback for only $45 (which I mentioned in a prior post here).
Over at the Review of Biblical Literature, Amy Donaldson concludes her review:
…For anyone interested in the early text of the New Testament, the state of research, and further avenues of study in this topic, this book is a valuable introduction and reference tool. For those interested in specific books of the New Testament or patristic authors, the individual chapters on
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“The Early Text of the New Testament” is Now in Paperback
In 2012, Oxford University Press published The Early Text of the New Testament, edited by myself and my friend Chuck Hill. The volume was designed to assess the most primitive state of the NT text available from our sources. It covered three main subject areas: (1) The textual and scribal culture of early Christianity; (2) The manuscript tradition itself; and (3) Citations of the NT in early Christian writings.
Contributors included Tjitze Baarda, Jeff Bingham, Juan Chapa, Scott Charlesworth, Carl Cosaert, J.K. Elliott, Paul Foster, Harry Gamble, Peter Head, Juan Hernandez, Larry Hurtado, Tobias Nicklas, Stan Porter, Dieter Roth, James Royse, Billy Todd, Christopher Tuckett, Joseph Verheyden, Tommy Wasserman, … Continue reading...
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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Review of “The Early Text of the New Testament”
This past year, Charles Hill and I edited a volume for Oxford University Press entitled, The Early Text of the New Testament. This is a compilation of essays from scholars around the world exploring the state of the NT text at its earliest (accessible) stages. Although the book was released in the UK in June, it was not available in the US until around Sept 1st. So, there has been no time for any reviews to be published.
However, my friend Tommy Wasserman has pointed out that there has been an online review over at Rick Brannon’s website, ricoblog. Thanks to Rick for this very positive review! Here … Continue reading...