What the layman should know about textual criticism (3): The right method
Prof. Douglas Kuiper explains the proper methodology for textual criticism as taught at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary, focusing on how to determine the most authentic New Testament readings when manuscript variants exist. The article surveys the four categories of textual evidence (Greek manuscripts, early versions, church fathers, and lectionaries) and critiques approaches that assign reliability based on manuscript families rather than examining evidence holistically, reflecting a high view of Scripture.
Previous article in this series: January 15, 2024, p. 206. In the last article we surveyed the history of textual criticism (see footnote for definition).1 We learned that some textual critics have a high view of Scripture, while others have a low view. Their view of Scripture affects why and how they do the work of textual criticism. We also learned that within the last 150 years some textual critics divided all Greek manuscripts into four families, and considered some families to be more...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org