Ancient Manuscript Appreciation

  When studying manuscript evidence about the New Testament, you tend to hear a lot about "textual criticism."  So, the question then arises, is textual criticism a good thing or a bad thing?  Is it helpful or does it add unnecessary confusion? It helps to understand what textual criticism is and how it applies to the Bible we have today. There are around 25,000 whole or fragmentary manuscripts of the New Covenant writings (aka the New Testament) held in human care today.  The original New Covenant Biblical texts were hand-copied many times over, and very rapidly at that, in various languages and dialects --- often by copyists who were not professional scribes.  Due to this factor, many of these manuscripts developed some level of variation(s).  Textual critics, many who are not Christians, have carefully examined these variants and were able to conclude that we easily have 98.33% of the original readings today, with the 1.67% remaining still fully intact within the variants

 Recto    Verso   ---Papyrus 52--- Date: Approximately 100 AD Discovered: Egypt Location: Manchester England (John Rylands University Library) Contains: John 18:31-33, 18:37-38  Text Type: Category 1 - Undetermined text type. (This Papyrus closely aligns with the Byzantine & Alexandrian text types, although is sometimes categorized as proto-Alexandrian, in part because of age.) Language: Greek Important Notes: This papyrus is usually considered to be the earliest New Covenant manuscript still in existence.  It was placed in Category 1 because of its age.   ~ A picture of the Papyrus is above. Below I will post the Greek text and a translation of the Papyrus as well as a comparison to the Majority Text with additional commentary following .~   Recto ΟΙ ΙΟΥΔΑΙΟΙ ΗΜΕΙΝ ΟΥΚ ΕΞΕΣΤΙΝ ΑΠΟΚΤΕΙΝΑΙ ΟΥΔΕΝΑ ΙΝΑ Ο ΛΟΓΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΙΗΣΟΥ ΠΛΗΡΩΘΗ ΟΝ ΕΙ- ΠΕΝ ΣΗΜΑΙΝΩΝ ΠΟΙΩ ΘΑΝΑΤΩ ΗΜΕΛΛΕΝ ΑΠΟ- ΘΝΗΣΚΕΙΝ ΙΣΗΛΘΕΝ ΟΥΝ ΠΑΛΙΝ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΠΡΑΙΤΩ- ΡΙΟΝ Ο ΠΙΛΑΤΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΕΦΩΝΗΣΕΝ ΤΟΝ ΙΗΣΟΥΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΙΠΕΝ ΑΥΤΩ ΣΥ

  Genesis 1:1  - Hebrew Masoretic / DSS - 4Q2Genesisb & 4Q7Genesisg 7225   [e]    1 bə·rê·šheeṯ    1 בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית     In the beginning    1 Prep‑b | N‑fs    1 1254   [e] bā·rā בָּרָ֣א created V‑Qal‑Perf‑3ms 430   [e] ’Elōhîm; אֱלֹהִ֑ים God N‑mp 853   [e] ’êṯ אֵ֥ת (alef-tav) DirObjM 8064   [e] ha·šhā·ma·yim הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם the heavens Art | N‑mp 853   [e] vêṯ וְאֵ֥ת and Conj‑w | DirObjM       .       776   [e] hā·’ā·retz. הָאָֽרֶץ׃ the earth Art | N‑fs Genesis 1:1 -  Aramaic Peshitta & Targumim Commentary Peshitta: ܒܪܫܝܬ ܒܪܐ ܐܠܗܐ܂ ܝܬ ܫܡܝܐ ܘܝܬ ܐܪܥܐ܂ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. --- Targum Paraphrases/Commentary : [Targum Onkelos] בֲקַדמִין בְרָא  י ו י  יַת שְמַיָא וְיַת אַרְעָא׃ In the beginning YHWH created the heavens and the earth. [Samaritan Targum] בקמאותא טלמס אלהה ית שומיה וית ארעה׃ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.                                                      Genesis 1:1  - Greek Septuagint Translation   1:1    1722  

  The terms " Biblical Inerrancy " and " Biblical Infallibility " are often seen as synonymous terms and are used interchangeably, however, there are subtle and distinguishable differences between these two doctrines at their core.   - Biblical Infallibility is the belief that what the Bible says regarding matters of faith and Christian practice is wholly useful and true. It is the "belief that the Bible is completely trustworthy as a guide to salvation and the life of faith and will not fail to accomplish its purpose." (McKim, DK, Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, John Knox Press, 1996.)   - Biblical Inerrancy is the belief that the Bible "is without error or fault in all its teaching"; (Geisler, NL. and Roach, B., Defending Inerrancy: Affirming the Accuracy of Scripture for a New Generation, Baker Books, 2012) OR, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact." (Grudem, Wayn