Questions tagged [textual-criticism]
The scholarly discipline of identifying and removing transcription errors in texts like the Bible
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What do we know about the author of "The Patristic Gospels: An English Version of the Holy Gospels as They Existed in the Second Century"?
The author's name given in the book is as follows: Roslyn D'Onston. I saw a footnote in reference to this book while doing some reading so I looked it up. I was happy to find that the work was ...
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The Historicity of David, Pilate, and the Philistines
I've looked at the discoveries of things like the Tel Dan Inscription or the Pilate Stone which testify to the existence of David and Pilate. I read that before such archeological discoveries, the ...
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In the Lord's Prayer, do some Churches Omit "Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory," as a later addition?
In my local community's Bible study last night I was surprised that the RSV's rendition of the Lord's Prayer did not include the phrase usually rendered as "for thine is the Kingdom and the Power ...
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Does this quote from Origen prove the Bible is corrupt?
The differences among the manuscripts have become great, either
through the negligence of some copyists or through the perverse
audacity of others; they either neglect to check over what they have
...
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What are arguments for the divine inspiration of the longer ending of Mark (Mark 16:9-20)?
Simple question: What are the best arguments for the divine inspiration of the longer ending of Mark (Mark 16:9-20), according to believers in its inspiration?
These are examples of articles ...
user50422
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How do proponents of the 'Critical Text' respond to the claim that it preserves an anti-Trinitarian corruption dating from the fifth century?
When Dr Vance Smith, a Unitarian, was appointed to the Committee to revise the Authorised Version, public opinion objected to the appointment and Drs Westcott and Hort (Hort, also, leaning towards ...
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What evidence does the LDS Church offer regarding claims of degradation of Biblical texts?
Based upon answers and comments to this question it appears that the LDS Church teaches that the Bible translations in use by all other Christian traditions have suffered some unspecified level of ...
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How much of the text of the Gospel of John can be substantiated by early copies and quotes from early Church Fathers?
It's interesting that a person will claim passages were added at a later date without considering the textual evidence.
A fragment of the Gospel of John dates in the first half of the second century. ...
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Did 17th century Reformed Christians reject textual criticism?
The Westminster Confession says the following:
WCF 1.8: The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which at the time of ...
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ESV verse removed? Where are the explanations found?
I was wondering where I can find the actual simple online reasons for the removal of the "accepted" verses in the KJV, in the ESV bible version listed on this site, because I have not found them so ...
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Cultural evidence or origins that name order indicated importance or authority
In the situation with Priscilla and Aquila, name order is often an argument within the egalitarian/complementation debates.
Listing order has been used to point out significance or importance in a ...
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Why does the NRSV-CE omit mentioning prayer and fasting in Matthew 17?
The NRSV-CE omits mentioning prayer and fasting, explaining in footnote (g):
Matthew 17:20 Other ancient authorities add verse 21, But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting
...
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What are the objections to Newton's critique of 1 John 5:7 and 1 Timothy 3:16?
In "An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture", Isaac Newton argued that 1 John 5:7 was a corruption of the early church and did not appear in the original Greek ...
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How is it possible to have a high view of the authority of the Bible and a positive view of textual criticism?
I know not all people will have the view that is programmed into the question. But for someone who does, or who understands someone who does, how would you answer this?
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Were Malachi and Isaiah normally bound or grouped together?
This is probably not a surprised to scripture veterans, but noticed that Mark 1:2-3 is a quotation from two separate sources, Isaiah and Malachi, but it is ascribed only to Isaiah by the author of ...
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Was Matthew 28:19 changed? The greatest commission [closed]
The original texts are "baptize them in my name" or "in Jesus name". The texts had been changed to "in the name of the Father, the son and holy Spirit".
If it's true that the verse was changed, why ...
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Why were some words omitted in Luke 18: 24 in Catholic editions of NT?
We see different kinds of presentation of Luke 18: 23-24 concerning the rich man wanting to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. For instance we read ....
" But when he heard this, he became sad; for he ...
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What are the major criticisms of the NIV?
While researching for this answer and reading different posts on this site over the past few days, I've come across some criticisms of the NIV I'd never heard before. I've seen articles claiming that ...
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Did Jesus or any of the New Testament authors ever quote a textual variant?
Among many (good) arguments against KJV-onlyism, I have heard the following argument:
The idea that “preservation” requires us to have 100% accurate knowledge of the original words of scripture is ...
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What Greek manuscripts were used for the KJV NT other than the Novum Instrumentum omne?
Erasmus famously only had 7 manuscripts on hand when he compiled the first edition of his "Novum Instrumentum omne". However presumably as his text underwent several revisions after that, and then ...
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Use of single and double quotation marks in Isaiah 7
Isaiah 7:4 (NIV) starts with
Say to him, 'Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid.
where the first single quotation mark doesn't seem to have a close pair - even reading much further in the ...
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How many New Testament Manuscripts do we have from the period between the first century and the fourth century?
How many early New Testament Manuscripts do we have from the first four centuries of the Christian faith?
(It does not have to be a complete manuscript of a book to count)
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Did the Christian bible corrupt Isaiah verse 8:23 [closed]
Did the Christan bible corrupt Isaiah verse 8:23?
(Jewish version)
8:23For there is no weariness to the one who oppresses her; like the first time, he dealt mildly, [exiling only] the land of ...
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Introduction to Greek Texts; Byzantine vs. Alexandrian
I'm trying to learn more about the process by which our current Bibles came to be. In doing so I'm wanting to learn more about the Greek Manuscripts from which they are derived, from my current (and ...
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What effect did the 1897 decree regarding the Johannine Comma have on Catholic scholarship?
The Comma Johanneum, found in some versions of 1 John 5:7–8, such as the KJV, is a disputed text that has been used since at least the Middle Ages to defend trinitarian doctrine. Scholars now widely ...
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Mark 1:41 - Was Jesus indignant or compassionate? [closed]
http://biblehub.com/mark/1-41.htm
New International Version
Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"New Living Translation
Moved ...
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Why does the NIV have 16 verses missing from the Bible? [duplicate]
Why does the NIV have 16 missing verses from the Bible?
Matthew 17:21
Matthew 18:11
Matthew 23:14
Mark 7:16
Mark 9:44
Mark 9:46.
Mark 11:26.
Mark 15:28
Luke 17:36.
John 5:4
Acts 8:37.
Acts 15:...
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How do apologists defend against Bart Ehrman's arguments that Church scribes corrected and changed the Bible to fit their theology?
Bart Ehrman seems to be the atomic bomb of the Christian community, having released books like Misquoting Jesus and Jesus Interrupted, which call into question the reliability and inerrancy of the ...
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Why do some Bible Translations omit John 7:53-8:11?
When I tried to look at the verses quoted in this question Ihttp://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/5903/what-did-jesus-write-on-the-ground/
I found that in the New World Translation of the ...
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What is the Biblical basis for favoring the Majority Text?
I would like to understand the Biblical evidence that is brought to bear to support a doctrine that either favors a priori or exclusively endorses the Majority Text (commonly referred to in text ...
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How are emendations to the Masoretic Text viewed within the doctrine of inerrancy?
This was prompted by an answer to another question of mine which quoted a source that noted alternative vocalization of the Masoretic text as an example of liberal tendencies in the NRSV.
This ...
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Doctrine of biblical inerrancy and Pope Benedict XVI questioning the historicity of passage in the Gospel of Matthew?
"In his 2011 book, Pope Benedict XVI, besides repudiating placing blame on the Jewish people, questioned the historicity of the passage found only in the Gospel of Matthew which has the crowd saying, "...
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What order were the Pauline epistles written, according to evangelical critical scholarship?
I am unaware whether this is a hotly contested issue or not, but if it is, I would be looking for the majority opinion among evangelical scholars, that is, scholars who affirm Pauline authorship, ...
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Is 1 John 5:7-8 (the Comma Johanneum) a Latin corruption?
Is the biblical passage at 1 John 5:7-8 (the Comma Johanneum) a Latin corruption that has entered the Greek manuscript tradition?
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How sound are the arguments that Melchizedek invoked a Canaanite deity when he met Abraham?
Melchizedek serves an important theological role in the book of Hebrews. The author of Hebrews interprets Psalm 110 to speak of Jesus' priestly order (Melchizedek), thus resolving the potential ...
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Why do the later versions of the Book of Mormon contain added phrases that seem to change the nature of Christ?
The original 1830 Book of Mormon contained statements to the effect that "Jesus Christ is God the Eternal Father" in three separate places (1 Nephi 11:21, 32, 13:40, source). Only recently did I ...
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Six-hundred-sixty-six or six-six-six or six-one-six
Regarding the passage of Revelation 13:18, which is likely the most proper way to present the Beast's number?
600+60+6 (six hundred and sixty six)
6-6-6 (six six six)
600+10+6 (six hundred and ...
user9485
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What are the responses to the "Radical's Critics" argument concerning Genesis 1 and 2?
The Radical's Critics argue that there is a discrepancy between the Genesis 1 account of creation and the Genesis 2 account, and thus proving that the doctrine of inerrancy is false.
Has this been ...
user8844
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Why is the Lord's Prayer different in the NIV and KJV?
Why is Matthew 6:13 different in the NIV that some other translations?
NIV (the latest version, I think is 2010)
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
KJV
And lead ...
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Why are some verses missing in the NIV?
I'm wondering why some passages in the NIV are missing when compared to the KJV, like:
Matthew 17:21
Matthew 18:11
Mark 9:44
Mark 11:26
Mark 15:28
Luke 17:36
…and more. Also there are some passages ...
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How does scholars' denial of the possibility of NT autographs affect the Christian doctrines of biblical inerrancy and infallibility?
Modern textual critics have adopted the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method as opposed to the traditional Local Text-Types Theory (reflected in the updated NA28 standard text). Along with this shift ...
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Paul's knowledge of Jannes and Jambres the magicians of Egypt
Per Paul in:
2 Timothy 3:8 ESV
Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the
truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.
Which is cross ...
user1054
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Did Protestants get "Thine is the Kingdom etc..." from the Didache?
So, I was writing an answer to a question a few minutes ago, and I was going to smugly tell all you Protestants that your "thine is the Kingdom" doxology is so non-Biblical, it's apocryphal.
Well, ...
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Where did the idea of the Trinity come from? [duplicate]
As noted here about 1 John:
The passage is called the Johannine Comma and is not found in the
majority of Greek manuscripts.
Which implies that this has been recently added to scripture. It is ...
user1054
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If the Bible has been changed over the years, can we still trust it?
I read that there are passages that exist today that are not in some of the oldest scrolls. Since these passages were added along the way—maybe to help explain something—can we trust that ...
user1054
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What official statements represent Christianity's position on the Gospel of Barnabas?
The Gospel of Barnabas is a text that has turned up in the form of 16th century manuscripts in Italian and Spanish. The text claims to be the witness of Jesus' disciple Barnabas, however its content ...
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How should a Christian deal with destructive higher criticism of the Bible? [closed]
In recent times authorship of Biblical books has been called into question by modern scholars.
It is believed that Isaiah didn't write Isaiah, John didn't write John, Matthew didn't write Matthew, ...
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Why is Acts 8:37 missing in the NIV?
During bible study I noticed that Acts 8:37 was missing from my bible. Verse 36 goes straight onto verse 38. Some cursory Google searches show that this happens in the NIV but not the KJV.
Is there ...
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What major discrepancies exist between "versions" of the Bible?
Based on a comment from @AndrewThompson,
'the' Bible (any one you care to name) is no more evidence of anything than the BOM is. You might take the numerous discrepancies between versions of 'the' ...
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Can seeking arguments against Christianity strengthen Christianity? [closed]
Some take the position that some knowledge is the work of Satan. Some take the position that critical analysis can strengthen good ideas and weaken bad ones. Should Christians seek out information ...
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