Fundamentals of New Testament Textual Criticism

by Stanley E. Porter

Fills the need for a truly mid-level, quality textbook on New Testament textual criticism
 
Presenting all the essential, foundational elements necessary to grasp textual criticism of the New Testament, Stanley Porter and Andrew Pitts accurately define the subject of textual criticism, discuss the canon and manuscripts of the New Testament, outline methodological principles, and more, concluding with a chapter on New Testament translations and how to evaluate them.
 
Part of a coordinated Greek study curriculum, this volume is designed to function as a companion to Fundamentals of New Testament Greek and its accompanying workbook (Eerdmans, 2010); an intermediate grammar of New Testament Greek is forthcoming.

Genres: New Testament

218 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2015

About the author

Stanley E. Porter (PhD, University of Sheffield) is president, dean, and professor of New Testament, and Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Wolrdview at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. He has authored or edited dozens of books, including How We Got the New Testament and Fundamentals of New Testament Greek.

Reviews

[Kendall Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Largely does what it says on the tin. Very accessible and introduces some of the basic debates fairly well. I have just two gripes. The first is the claim that external criteria are somehow more objective and reliable than internal criteria. There wasn’t really a very thorough argument presented for this claim. It was assumed to be just obvious. I also don’t feel like it helped me, as a non-specialist in this area, to use external criteria when making text critical decisions.

[Jonathan Ammon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent update and complement to Alan Black’s. While Black focuses on giving a short overview and an easy method for students to do their own textual criticism, Porter gives a better overview of the various issues involved and focuses on teaching students how to use the tools and resources created by textual experts.

[Jaden A · Rating 5 out of 5]

In lieu of a book on the person of Christ (I was waiting for the mail delivery) I decided to read this resource. Unfortunately, despite being published in 2015, this book is no longer in print. I was able to snag a copy for $50, that while despite being a bit of a gamble, I think paid off in the end. According to Michael Kruger, Porter & Pitt’s book is the “Goldilocks” of books related to textual criticism for first year seminarians, superior to Greenlee’s ‘Introduction to New Testament Textual Criticism’ featured in Greek II at RTS. See here: https://michaeljkruger.com/want-to-un...

A general overview of the book:

1. What is Textual Criticism? Definitions and Aims
2. Canon: The Domain of New Testament Textual Criticism
3. Materials and Methods of Classification
4. The Major Witnesses to the Text of the New Testament
5. Text-Types
6. What Is a Textual Variant? Definitions and Boundaries
7. Methodology (1): Modern Text-Critical Methodologies
8. Methodology (2): Weighing External Evidence
9. Methodology (3): Weighing Internal Evidence (1): Transcriptional Probabilities
10. Methodology (4): Weighing Internal Evidence (2): Intrinsic Probabilities
11. Modern Critical Editions: A Brief History
12. A Guide to Text and Apparatus of UBSGNT4/5 and NA27/28
13. Text and Translation

I skipped chapter 12 as I have no working knowledge of Greek. In my opinion, a thoughtful reader can handle the rest of the material.

I found it interesting reading about Constantine Tischendorf, a 19th century “Bible hunter,” who collected the most ancient biblical texts in history. I cannot but help as picture him as an Indiana Jones-like figure, although that is probably not accurate. I also valued having learned about the different text-type families, which aids a person to understand why KJV only fanatics are clearly in the wrong given that the KJV is based on the Byzantine text family, having manuscripts that do not appear until 12th century A.D. This stands in comparison to Codices Vaticanus (nearly complete) and Sinaiticus (complete), two 4th century codices that are of the Alexandrian text type that are the basis of the modern Greek NT.

Chapter 9 dealt with some of the arguments of Bart Erhman’s featured in ‘Misquoting Jesus.’ Understanding chapters 1-8 help one to understand how objectively poor Erhman’s arguments are concerning best practice of text criticism. This also illustrates the importance of pastors to be at least somewhat acquainted with textual criticism in refuting information that is outright false.

Until the 19th century, the NT was based on the Textus Receptus, translated by Erasmus in 1516, based on manuscripts from the Byzantine text family. It was the second edition of Erasmus’s Greek NT that Luther made his discovery of the mistranslation of ‘repentance,’ etc. in Jerome’s Latin Vulgate.

Also, interesting to learn that John 7:53 – 8:11 and Mark 16:9 – 20 are not to be found in the earliest NT manuscripts and should probably be treated like the Apocrypha (WCF 1.3). NT translators typically do not remove these passages (despite there being good reason to) because these passages have been part of the tradition of the church for hundreds of years, and to remove them would raise great suspicion.

Overall, this book gave me a greater appreciation for textual criticism and why it is important, in addition to the uniqueness and reliability of the NT text compared to other works of antiquity. Additionally, a realization that has repeatedly occurred to me is that there is a strong case to be made that modern-day Christians are the most privileged of Christians in all of history. I mean this specifically with respect to the accuracy of our modern translations of the OT and NT, knowledge amassed in both biblical and non-biblical fields, and excellent Christian scholarship. Reading this book will only give you a newfound confidence in the Oracles of God.

[Georg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Porter and Pitts Fundamentals of New Testament Textual Criticism is a very good and inspiring mid-level textbook. They argue that textual criticism (henceforth: TC) must aim at determining the original text in the context of the canon. Very helpfully they discuss books and literacy in the first century and survey writing materials and methods of classifying them. They also survey the major witnesses to the text of of the New Testament (henceforth: NT) and their text-types. They set forth their linguistically based understanding of what textual variants are. In four chapters they discuss TC methodology: They give an overview of modern TC methodologies and discuss weighing external (e.g., date and provenance) and internal methodologies, some of which focus on transcription and scribes, while others are concerned with the content that the author (most probably) wrote (or not). Finally, they survey the history of modern critical editions from the Complutensian Polyglot Bible to NA27/28 and UBSGNT4/5 and go through the TC apparatuses of both the NA and the UBSGNT. The book concludes with a chapter on text and translation and a helpful appendix with tools for further text-critical study as well as two indices (modern authors and ancient sources). Each chapter closes with recommended literature.

Porter and Pitts have several very helpful recommendations here and there. The most important is that one should not only read about the NT manuscripts, but study them and learn how to form ones own opinion on text-critical matters, especially if one is to write a commentary.

Fundamentals of New Testament Textual Criticism is a very good introduction, but it will also serve well for those who want to refresh their knowledge on TC.

PS: The edition published by Logos Bible Software has a number of typos, especially in the Greek quotations. They will no doubt be fixed.

[Todd Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a number of books on this subject - some deeper and some more elementary. This work is very accessible for even a lay person with the exception, perhaps, of Chapter 12 which is simply a guide to the apparatus in Greek editions.

Since all English Bible translations are based on textual criticism (to one degree or another), church leaders need to be aware of how it works. This is a great book to get started in the study.

Disclaimer: The authors prefer the Critical Text of the New Testament. However, they are not afraid to disagree with certain aspects of even that text. I thought they were quite fair in their information.

[George P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stanley E. Porter and Andrew W. Pitts, Fundamentals of New Testament Textual Criticism (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015).

This review originally appeared at InfluenceMagazine.com.

Stanley Porter and Andrew Pitts describe their Fundamentals of New Testament Textual Criticism as a “distinctively midlevel textbook on New Testament textual criticism for interested and serious students and with recent scholarly discussion in pertinent areas in mind.” It is, in other words, a textbook for students in college and graduate school who are majoring in New Testament studies. Why, then, do I think pastors and other Christian thought leaders should read this book too?

To answer that, go back with me to 2003, when Dan Brown published The Da Vinci Code. Although the book is fiction, Brown prefaced it with these words: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” Unfortunately, many of Brown’s allegedly “accurate” claims—especially about the Bible, Christian theology, and church history—were simply wrong, sometimes at the most basic, factual level.

Regardless, those claims left an impression on readers. Understandably so! Many readers nodded their heads when Leigh Teabing, one of the book’s characters, said this about the Bible: “Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book.” In other words, powerful people monkeyed around with the text of the Bible in order to confer divine status on their preferred ideology.

Two years later, Bart D. Ehrman published Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. Unlike Brown, who is a novelist, Ehrman is James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman wrote, “There are more variations among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament.” And one of the reasons for that is what Ehrman elsewhere calls “the orthodox corruption of Scripture.” In other words, the orthodox altered the text of the New Testament in order to give themselves a “biblical” weapon to use against heretics.

Now, imagine that you are a well-meaning Christian and you read The Da Vinci Code. It raises questions about the accuracy of the New Testament text. Your pastors say it’s bunk, but then you read Misquoting Jesus, and you start to wonder whether they know what they’re talking about. And then you start to wonder whether the Bible itself is trustworthy.

Notice how quickly a fictional narrative can lead to a factual question with serious spiritual implications. Pastors who are unaware of the questions percolating in popular culture and unprepared to provide serious, well-thought-out answers to them are not serving members of their congregation well. At some level, then, pastors must know how to answer the kinds of questions raised by Dan Brown’s and Bart Ehrman’s statements.

Which brings me back to Fundamentals of New Testament Textual Criticism. In this book, Porter and Pitts provide readers with a nuts-and-bolts explanation of that discipline. They define the goal of textual criticism as the “reconstruction of the original the [New Testament] documents based upon the manuscript traditions currently available.” They then walk readers through major witnesses to the New Testament text and the various text-types that arose over the centuries. They define what a textual variant is and outline how external and internal evidence help decide what the original text most likely said. They then conclude with their discussion with several chapters on modern critical editions of the Greek New Testament, as well as translations of it into English.

With the exception of a brief (and to my mind, conclusive) refutation of Bart Ehrman’s orthodox-corruption-of-Scripture thesis, the tone of the book is introductory rather than apologetic. Nonetheless, their introduction of the discipline of textual criticism has apologetic implications. If we can recover the original text of the New Testament with reasonable confidence, then we can be reasonably confident that it has not been corrupted for political (Dan Brown’s point) or theological (Bart Ehrman’s point) purposes. In other words, when we read the New Testament, we have access to the worldview, beliefs, and practices of Jesus’ earliest disciples. I would further argue that in having access to them, we have access to Him.

Again, Porter and Pitts do not make these apologetic points. Their focus is on introducing the discipline to students, and they do this well and objectively. Anyone interested in the textual criticism of the New Testament thus will find accurate information here. Still, as a minister, I can’t help but think that this introduction is capable of inoculating readers against certain viruses of the mind about the Bible contained in both pop culture and certain academic quarters.

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[David Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book stands as an excellent guide for textual criticism. It offers a walk through of understanding textual variants in translating a Greek text. Though this is at a basic level, there were times that the authors would delve into simple contributions and definitions and leave more complex ones as a mere summary. This made it difficult to follow at times.

[Justin Dewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, basic overview of the elements and key terms used in textual criticism. Great for anyone starting out in the field.

[Rob Vanhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use this book in 2nd Year Biblical Greek, as an introduction to the world of NT text criticism, and have found it very helpful.

[Brian Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great intro to NT textual criticism.

[John Pawlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Intro for NT criticism, really helpful with the apparatus as well.