Tag: text

In Theaters, April 24th Only: “Fragments of Truth: Can we trust the Bible?” (by Faithlife Films)

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

This week, on Tuesday only, there is a one-day showing of a new documentary exploring the trustworthiness of the Bible. The movie is produced by Faithlife Films, and features Dr. Craig Evans and Dr. Dan Wallace among others. John Rhys-Davies (known for playing Gimli in The Lord of the Rings) is the narrator (he also narrated a documentary on the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible).

From everything I have heard and seen about the film, this looks like a good one to go see. Here is its description:

Can we trust the Bible?

Our faith is based on the New Testament—but can we really trust the Bible? Skeptics say no, arguing that the Gospel manuscripts have been doctored to push a theological agenda.

In this new Faithlife original film, Dr. Craig Evans takes this claim head-on, traveling the globe to track down the most ancient New Testament manuscripts. Along the way, he highlights groundbreaking new evidence, demonstrating that the case for the reliability of the New Testament manuscripts is stronger than ever.

Watch the trailer and click here to purchase tickets at a theater near you. Learn more about the film here.

UPDATE: If you go see the movie, you can get a $20 coupon to be used at Logos.com – details here.

Charles E. Hill on Developments in New Testament Textual Criticism

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

A common assumption among critics of Christianity is that the New Testament was standardized after a long period of textual flux. Only by the fourth century A.D., it is argued, were the competing texts consolidated into standard recensions that became the Alexandrian text and later the Byzantine text. This two to three hundred year period of textual flux gives skeptics room to assume that along with the text, received doctrines such as the deity of Christ and the role of subsitutionary atonement  were also only lately agreed upon.

While there had been textual evidence that seemed to suggest great textual fluidity in the first two centuries after Christ, the more we study the early NT papyrii (over 60 significant portions of NT manuscripts that date from the apx. A.D. 125 to the 400s) the shorter any period of textual flux becomes. Last year, Dr. Charles E. Hill delivered the Spring academic lecture at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando on the topic of the early development of the New Testament text. And his lecture which is available online, does much to clear up this question (see the lecture description here). In 53 minutes (he begins at the 6 minute mark) he gives an overview of the history of textual criticism and details how the scholastic consensus from textual critics familiar with the evidence has shifted in the last few decades. The takeaway from his lecture is that the New Testament text is much more solid than skeptics would have us believe.

If you are interested in textual debates, the new atheism, or textual criticism, this lecture will be informative. Even for those who may be majority text proponents, the recounting of the current state of textual criticism today will prove instructive. Hill is the John R. Richardson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando, and has graduate degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary California (M.Div.) and the University of Cambridge (Ph.D.). He is the author of several books, and was co-editor and contributor to The Early Text of the New Testament (Oxford University Press, 2012).

“NIV Greek and English New Testament” edited by John R. Kohlenberger III

~ Bob Hayton

NIV Greek and English New Testament edited by John R. Kohlenberger IIIBook Details:
  • Editor: John R. Kohlenberger III
  • Category: Bibles
  • Publisher: Zondervan (2012)
  • Format: hardcover
  • Page Count: 976
  • ISBN#: 9780310495901
  • List Price: $52.99
  • Rating: Highly Recommended

Review:
The NIV Greek and English New Testament is a Greek student’s dream. In one volume both the Greek and English New Testaments are beautifully presented for devotional reading. The 2012 edition, contains the text of the newly updated New International Version (NIV) on one side, and its underlying Greek testament on the other. An introduction to the NIV Greek and English New Testament is included along with the preface to the 2011 NIV. To make the volume complete, at the back is a condensed Greek-English dictionary, edited by William D. Mounce.

The text of this volume is clear and readable, and the margin is nice and wide at 1 inch. It uses a single column format and includes some footnotes, although nothing compared to what one would find in a study Bible or a Greek NT apparatus. The Greek footnotes primarily document differences between the NA27/UBS4 Greek text and the text given which underlies the NIV (600+ differences). They also provide the underlying Greek text for some of the additional variant readings the NIV text footnotes, often involving differences from the text of the King James Bible. The complete English text footnotes are included on the right side of the leaf, where the English text is found. This book is available in imitation leather bound, but works nicely in hardback, as I have it. The pages are thin and lay smooth, yet are of a slightly heavier weight than those found in a typical New Testament. This makes them suitable for the wear and tear of a highlighter and pen, yet still light enough to turn easily for devotional reading.

The presentation of the book is first-rate, but it is not meant to supplant the place of a standard United Bible Societies (UBS) or Nestle-Aland (NA) Greek New Testament. This book came out just as the NA28 hit the presses. But with so few changes in the NA28 from the NA27, this should not harm the value of this study tool. Of course, it would not have provided the NA28 text since the NIV 2011 was not based on it – but it could have included footnotes to the differences between its text and that of the NA28. I am confident that future editions of this resource will do so, provided the NA28 meets the widespread acclaim that its predecessor has.

Another drawback to this work is that it does not footnote all significant differences. Sometimes a significant variant between the KJV and the NIV receives no comment in the English or the Greek footnotes, as in the case of 1 Tim. 3:16 (ος “he who” vs. θεος “God”). In other places, the NIV footnote points out a difference, but the Greek footnotes do not provide the underlying KJV Greek text, as in Jn. 1:18 (μονογενης υιος “only Son” vs. μονογενης θεος “only God”). Sometimes it is unclear if the NIV is referring to an obscure manuscript reading which is not in a published text or not, and the lack of a Greek note makes this more difficult to determine, as at Rom. 8:11 and 1 Cor. 8:2-3. Equally frustrating to someone turning to this resource for help with the Greek text, are places where the NIV mentions textual differences yet the Greek footnote tells the researcher to look up Metzger’s Textual Commentary for the desired information. This is found at Jude 22-23, where it must be noted that plenty of white space exists for the delineation of a few of the textual variants the English footnote alludes to.

Ultimately, however, it is unfair to complain that this tool is not the be-all, end-all resource for textual criticism. It was not designed to be this, after all. It will not replace your Greek testament’s apparatus, but it will make for an easier trip to class or Sunday service. Instead of bringing along a Greek New Testament and your English version of choice, you can tout your NIV Greek and English New Testament and follow along, making a few trips to the dictionary in the back if you get stuck.

Now, not everyone is going to fall in love with the 2011 NIV. Many of us prefer our ESV, or the 1984 NIV, thank you very much! But this tool will meet the needs of some and may warm others up to the fresh NIV translation. Not many translations today provide their underlying Greek, but the NIV does. And in places where you think the new translation gets it wrong, there is plenty of room for jotting your observation down in the margin. This is a fine volume and a useful resource for anyone who is familiar with NT Greek (or hopes to be). I highly recommend it.

Author Info:
John R. Kohlenberger III (MA, Western Seminary) is the author or coeditor of more than three dozen biblical reference books and study Bibles, including The Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament, NRSV Concordance Unabridged, Greek-English Concordance to the New Testament, Hebrew-English Concordance to the Old Testament, and the Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Abridged Edition. He has taught at Multnomah Bible College and Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon.

Where to Buy:
Hardcover edition
  • Christianbook.com
  • Amazon
  • direct from Zondervan
Leather edition
  • Christianbook.com
  • Amazon
  • direct from Zondervan

Disclaimer:
Disclaimer: This book was provided by Zondervan. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

“Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (3rd Ed.)” by Emanuel Tov

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

Book Details:
  • Author: Emanuel Tov
  • Category: Academic, Biblical Language
  • Publisher: Fortress Press (2012)
  • Format: hardcover
  • Page Count: 512
  • ISBN#: 9780800696641
  • List Price: $90.00
  • Rating: Recommended

Review:
Reading Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible by Emanuel Tov was both a joy and a challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in the world of the Hebrew Bible. Ancient manuscripts, Dead Sea Scroll finds, ancient versions, textual variants — all of these things stir the Bible-geek in me. At the same time, the state of current scholarship with regard to the Old Testament text can be a bit troubling to an evangelical Christian. While the New Testament stands affirmed by numerous manuscript discoveries to the extent that almost all textual critics can agree on the vast majority of the minute details of the text, the same cannot be said for the Hebrew Old Testament.

Emanuel Tov takes readers of all scholastic levels by the hand as he surveys the field of Old Testament textual criticism. This third edition of his classic textbook, explains things for the novice and scholar alike. Careful footnotes and innumerable bibliographic entries will impress the scholar, while charts, graphs and numerous glossaries keep the would-be scholar feeling like he is getting somewhere. I have no problem admitting that I am one of the would-be scholars, with barely a year of Hebrew under my belt. Yet I was able to work my way through this book, becoming sharper in my Hebrew and awakening to the many facets of the intriguing study of OT textual criticism.

Tov has departed from a more traditional stance in his earlier versions, opting instead to follow the evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls and contemporary studies. He manages to keep away from a fatal skepticism, however, arguing that textual evaluation still has merit. The aim is still to recover the earliest possible text, but the recognition that there are often two or three competing literary editions of the text complicate the matter. An example would be the different editions of Jeremiah, with the Septuagint (LXX) Greek version differing drastically from the Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT). 1 Samuel provides another example with a Dead Sea Scroll offering perhaps a third different competing literary edition. Tov points out the two very different versions of the story of David and Goliath and Hannah’s prayer as he expounds on the problem.

Rather than trying to solve each exegetical or specific textual problem, Tov aims to illustrate the challenges facing the would-be textual critic. He surveys the textual data, and reconstructs the history of the text – giving more attention to the accidents of history, such as the destruction of the Jewish state in A.D. 70, as weighing into the nature of the textual evidence we have. Rather than the Masoretic Text gradually gaining dominance, it was the de facto winner of the “text wars”. The LXX-style Hebrew texts (which the Dead Sea Scrolls and other finds have confirmed existed), were ignored by the Jews as Christianity had owned the LXX as its own. The Samaritans had their version of the Pentateuch, and the existence of a variety of other text forms, such as those found at Qumran (the DSS) were forgotten with the cessation of a normal state of existence for Jewish people. The Masoretic text found itself with little real competition and over the years came to be further refined and stable. I should clarify here, that this is not to downplay the Masoretic text, as it manifestly preserves very ancient readings, and Tov repeatedly affirms the remarkable tenacity of the MT. Instead, Tov is saying that the majority position the MT holds among the textual evidence and in the minds of the Jewish communities in the last 1800 years should not prejudice the scholar to consistently prefer MT readings. Tov in fact claims that text types, such as are commonly discussed in NT textual criticism, are largely irrelevant in dealing with the OT text. Internal considerations are key in textual evaluation. I will let Tov explain further:

Therefore, it is the choice of the most contextually appropriate reading that is the main task of the textual critic…. This procedure is as subjective as can be. Common sense, rather than textual theories, is the main guide, although abstract rules are sometimes also helpful. (pg. 280)

Tov’s textbook goes into glorious detail concerning all the orthographic features that make up paleo-Hebraic script, and the square Hebrew script we are familiar with. His knowledge is encyclopedic, to say the least. The numerous images of manuscripts that are included in the back of the book are invaluable. His discussion on the orthographic details of the text should convince even the most diehard traditionalists, that the vowel points and many of the accents were later additions to the text, inserted by the Masoretes. Some still defend the inspiration of the vowel points, but Tov’s explanation of numerous textual variants that flow from both a lack of vowel points and from the originality of paleo-Hebraic script (and the long development of the language and gradual changes in the alphabet, and etc.) close the door against such stick-in-the-mud thinking.

Tov’s book details the pros and cons of different Hebrew texts, as well as discussing electronic resources and new developments in the study of textual criticism. His work is immensely valuable to anyone interested in learning about textual criticism, and of course is required for any textual scholars seeking to do work in this field.

Tov doesn’t add a theology to his textual manual, however. And this is what is needed to navigate OT textual criticism. After having read Tov, I’m interested in seeing some of the better evangelical treatments of the textual problems of the Hebrew Bible. I believe we have nothing to fear in facing textual problems head on. Seeing different literary editions of the text can fill out our understanding of the underlying theology of the Bible as we have it. Some of the work of John H. Sailhamer illustrates this judicious use of contemporary scholarship concerning the literary strata of the text.

Tov’s book is not law, and he sufficiently qualifies his judgments. He stresses that textual criticism, especially for the Old Testament, is inherently subjective. It is an art. And those who don’t recognize that, are especially prone to error in this field. This book equips the student to exercise this art in the best possible way. Tov walks the reader through evaluating competing textual variants, and his study will furnish the careful reader with all the tools to develop their own approach to the text. Tov’s findings won’t erode the foundations of orthodox theology. I contend that they will strengthen it. As with NT textual criticism, paying attention to the textual details has unlooked-for and happy consequences. It strengthens exegesis, and allows for a greater insight into the meaning of the text. And it can build one’s faith.

Bible-geeks, aspiring scholars, teachers and students alike will benefit from this book. Understanding the current state of OT textual criticism puts many of the NT textual debates into perspective. Christians don’t know their Old Testaments well enough, and studying the text to this level is rare indeed. I encourage you to consider adding this book to your shelf, and making it a priority to think through the challenges surrounding the text of the Hebrew Bible.

Author Info:
Emanuel Tov is J. L. Magnes Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Editor-in-Chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Project. Among his many publications is The Greek and Hebrew Bible-Collected Essays on the Septuagint (1999).

Where to Buy:
  • Christianbook.com
  • Amazon
  • direct from Fortress Press.

Disclaimer:
Disclaimer: This book was provided by Fortress Press. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

“The Constantine Codex” by Paul L. Maier

~ Bob Hayton

Only if Indiana Jones were to discover a lost book of the Bible, battle his way past Islamic terrorists and later sneak into the inner recesses of the Vatican — only then, would an adventure story compare favorably with those envisioned by Dr. Paul Maier, professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University. Dr. Maier is famous for his academic work which includes accessible editions of Eusebius and Josephus. His fiction works, however, have sold millions of copies, and with A Skeleton in God’s Closet, he virtually created a new genre of fiction: the archaeological/theological thriller.

The Constantine Codex, released by Tyndale House this May, is the third book in the “Skeleton” series. It continues the story of archaeologist and Christian scholar Jonathan Weber and his escapades. The tale begins with the discovery of a few leaves from the lost works on early church history written by Hegesippus, on whom Eusebius leaned in part for his monumental work on the early church. The contents of those leaves hint at a previously unknown book from the pen of Luke, the author of a Gospel (bearing his name), and the book of Acts — both of which are in the Christian New Testament. Fascinated by the implications, Jonathan Weber and his wife Shannon (who unearthed the missing leaves) plan to embark on a mission of discovery — searching for authentication of their discovery, and the cooperation of the librarians of many of the greatest treasures of ancient Biblical manuscripts. Before they can leave, a world-wide commotion erupts over the Arabic translation of Weber’s influential textbook on the New Testament, and Weber ends up on the receiving end of a fatwa (a death warrant given by a Muslim ayatollah). With the CIA fearing for their safety, the Webers push on and embark on their trip in pursuit of a lost chapter of church history. What they eventually find will change their lives, and the history of Christianity, forever.

This fast-paced tale takes the Webers from the Roman tomb of St. Paul, to a dark subterranean chamber reserved for manuscripts in disrepair, and leads to a world-class debate with a leading Muslim intellectual in no less a venue than the Hagia Sophia. And all of this pales in comparison to the incredible discovery of lost portions of the New Testament and the challenge this presents to Weber and his foundation of leading Christian scholars of multiple disciplines.

As Maier weaves this tale he includes equal potions of intrigue and suspense, with wonder and raw emotion. His technical discussion of the authentication of manuscript finds and ancient scribal practices is spot on, and his ability to describe and draw you into the scene is superb. Archaeology, theology, textual criticism, church history and intra-church politics — all of these disciplines and more are tapped as Maier expertly crafts this story. The result is a tale which is intellectually satisfying, experientially rich and a fantastic read to boot.

Maier is a master writer, and The Constantine Codex stands testimony to that. Having not read Maier before, I was pleased to find that this did not detract from following the storyline of this book at all. If you’re looking for a great adventure tale, and especially if you are fascinated by archaeology, theology or textual studies, you will want to read this book.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Tyndale House Publishers. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

You can purchase a copy of this book from any of these fine retailers: Christianbook.com, Amazon.com or direct from Tyndale.