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Scribes, Motives, and Manuscripts: Evaluating Trends in New Testament Textual Criticism

In this volume Alan Mugridge reviews claims that scribes of New Testament manuscripts altered the text of their copies to further their own beliefs, to stop people using them to support opposing beliefs, or for some other purpose. He discusses the New Testament passages about which these claims are made in detail, noting their context, exegesis, and supporting manuscripts. He concludes that while a small number of such claims are valid, most are doubtful because, unless a scribe's habits are clear in one manuscript, we cannot know how the changes came about, why they were made, who made them, and when they were made. He argues that the bulk of the erroneous readings in New Testament manuscripts reviewed were made by scribal slips during the copying process, and not in order to further anyone's personal agenda, adding strength to the reliability of the Greek New Testament text available today, despite the need to refine current editions to be as close as possible to the original text.

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Table of Contents:

1. Text of the New Testament – Comparative Texts

   1. Greek literary texts

   2. Jewish texts in Greek

   3. Christian texts in Greek

2. Issues in New Testament Textual Criticism

   1. The “original” text

   2. The need for New Testament textual criticism

       a. Reproducing texts in the Greco-Roman world

       b. Reproducing New Testament texts in early Christian circles

       c. Origins of variant readings

       d. Extent of variant readings

   3. “Canons” of New Testament textual criticism

       a. “External” factors

       b. “Internal” factors

       c. Exegesis

       d. Emendation

       e. Context

   4. Gospels, sources, and textual relationships

   5. “Orthodoxy” and “heresy”

3. Focus on a Text: The Gospels, Revelation, and the Gospel of Matthew

   1. The Gospels

       a. The Lord’s prayer

       b. Divorce and remarriage

       c. Minor agreements of Matthew and Luke against Mark

       d. Luke 22–24

      e. The Fourth Gospel

   2. Revelation

       a. Singular readings in Codex Sinaiticus (ℵ)

       b. Singular readings in Codex Alexandrinus (A)

       c. Singular readings in Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C)

       d. Further discussion and conclusions

   3. The Gospel of Matthew

       a. Singular readings in Codex Sinaiticus (ℵ)

       b. Singular readings in Codex Vaticanus (B)

       c. Singular readings in Codex Bezae (D)

4. Focus on a Manuscript: Codex Bezae (in the Acts of the Apostles)

   1. Anti-Judaic tendencies

       a. The Jews and Jesus

       b. The Jews, Gentiles, and Christianity

       c. The Jews and the Apostles

   2. Anti-woman tendencies

5. Focus on Manuscripts: New Testament Papyri

   1. P⁴– Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (Suppl. Grec 1120 ii 3)

   2. P⁴⁶ – P. Beatty III (Pap. 2) & Suppl. + P. Mich. inv. 6238

   3. P⁶⁶ – P. Bodmer II + P. Köln V 214 + P. Beatty XIX

   4. P⁶⁹ – P. Oxy. XXIV 2383

   5. P⁷² – P. Bodmer VII-VIII

   6. P⁷⁵ – Hanna Papyrus 1 (Mater Verbi) (P. Bodmer XIV-XV)

6. Miscellaneous Variants

7. Conclusion

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