History of the Pauline Corpus in Texts, Transmissions and Trajectories

A Textual Analysis of Manuscripts from the Second to the Fifth Century
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-90-04-42822-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 14, 460 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 824 g

Reihe: Texts and Editions for New Testament Study

In History of the Pauline Corpus in Texts, Transmissions, and Trajectories, Chris S. Stevens examines the Greek manuscripts of the Pauline texts from P46 to Claromontanus. Previous research is often hindered by the lack of a systematic analysis and an indelicate linguistic methodology. This book offers an entirely new analysis of the early life of the Pauline corpus. Departing from traditional approaches, this text-critical work is the first to use Systemic Functional Linguistics, which enables both the comparison and ranking of textual differences across multiple manuscripts. Furthermore, the analysis is synchronically oriented, so it is non-evaluative. The results indicate a highly uniform textual transmission during the early centuries. The systematic analysis challenges previous research regarding text types, Christological scribal alterations, and textual trajectories.

Autoren/Hrsg.

S Stevens, Chris

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften Neues Testament: Exegese, Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements

List of Figures, Tables and Charts

Abbreviations

Introduction

1 New Testament Textual Criticism: History and Highlights

1 History of Textual Criticism

2 Textual Criticism during the Early Church

3 Textual Criticism after the Printing Press

4 Conclusion

Excursus: Original Text Form and the Goal of Textual Criticism

2 Contemporary Textual Criticism Methods for New Testament Studies

1 Majority Text

2 Single Text Theory

3 Byzantine Text Form

4 Eclecticism: Reasoned and Thoroughgoing

5 Stemmatics

6 Coherence-Based Genealogical Method

7 Conclusion of History and Methods

3 Method for Direct Evaluation of Textual Uniformity

1 Comparative Methods

2 Definition of a Unit of Variation

3 New Method of Textual Comparison

4 Procedure for the Comparison of Manuscripts: Counting and Numerical Majority

4 Summarized Results of the Textual Examination

1 Romans Summary

2 1 Corinthians Summary

3 2 Corinthians Summary

4 Galatians Summary

5 Ephesians Summary

6 Philippians Summary

7 Colossians Summary

8 1 Thessalonians Summary

9 2 Thessalonians Summary

10 1 Timothy Summary

11 2 Timothy Summary

12 Titus Summary

13 Philemon Summary

14 Conclusion

5 Textual Features Explored and Weighed

1 Surprising Scribal Skill

2 Spelling

3 Scribal Choices and Inconsistencies

4 Brevior Lectio vs. Verbose Additions

5 General Patterns

6 Summary of Highlighted Features

7 Sensible Results out of Nonsense

8 Weighted Conclusion

9 Conclusion

6 Application to Contemporary Research

1 Text Types and Textual Assessment

2 Textual Uniformity

3 Textual Agreement Rates of Other Ancient Texts

4 Textual Agreement Rates in Other Projects

5 P46 and Textual Agreement

6 Summary

7 The Aland’s Figures of Textual Agreement

8 Conclusion

7 Narrative Textual Criticism: Textual Variation Used for Sociohistorical Narratives

1 Background and Development of Narrative Textual Criticism

2 Benefits and Weaknesses of NTC

3 NTC Approach Popularized by Bart Ehrman

4 Ehrman versus the Evidence

5 Summary

6 Conclusion

8 Source and History of the Pauline Corpus

1 Before AD 200

2 Historical Consistency Rather Than Diversity Followed by Recension

3 When Does the Pauline Corpus Originate? Theories of Publication

4 Conclusion

Conclusion

Appendix 1: Textual Analysis of the Pauline Corpus

1 Pauline Corpus: Thirteen Letters

2 Romans: Commentary and Results

3 1 Corinthians: Textual Commentary and Results

4 2 Corinthians: Textual Commentary and Results

5 Galatians: Commentary and Results

6 Ephesians: Commentary and Results

7 Philippians: Commentary and Results

8 Colossians: Commentary and Results

9 1 Thessalonians: Commentary and Results

10 2 Thessalonians: Commentary and Results

11 1 Timothy: Commentary and Results

12 2 Timothy: Commentary and Results

13 Titus: Commentary and Results

14 Philemon: Commentary and Results

15 Statistical Conclusions of the Textual Comparison

Appendix 2: Examination of Textual Differences for Christological Tendencies

1 Orthodox Base Position

2 Method of Christological Evaluation

3 Textual Differences Possibly Impacting Christology

4 Citations and Comments by Ehrman

5 Conclusion of Christology Data

6 Key Findings

7 Conclusion

Bibliography

Modern Author Index

Subject Index

Über Autor(innen)

Chris S. Stevens, Ph.D. (2019) McMaster Divinity College, is a pastor and independent researcher. He has published on Greek linguistics, ancient manuscripts, and Paul.