Bible Question:
Great post Rextar! I did have one question though! It is my understanding that the Majority and the Testus Receptus are not based upon the Byzantine manuscripts only. They simply give more weight to them because they are more numerous. However, they both use manuscripts from many different areas. In the same way, the Critical text does rely only upon Alexandrian manuscripts. It simply gives more weight to their readings because of the perceived quality of the manuscripts and their early date. I especially appreciated your comments about the quality of the text that we have in the Bible. To me, this is one of the great evidences for the inspiration and continuing protection of God's Word by the Holy Spirit. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
Bible Answer: Hi Tim! Technically that is correct for the MT and the CT. I am not sure about the TR, as Erasmus used what he had, which I think was only late Byzantine manuscripts. I am sure the CT relies on more Byzantine manuscripts that the MT relies on the Alexandrian manuscripts because of the limited number of Alexandrian manuscripts available. Both the CT and the MT look at all available manuscripts, as you say, so my “source” statement was a little misleading. Here’s what I meant. The CT is always going to go with the oldest and the MT is always going to go with the majority. However the CT would always go with the Alexandrian if it disagreed with a Byzantine for the simple reason that the Alexandrian text would almost always be older. By the same token the MT would always go with the majority, which will almost always be the Byzantine text. I am far from an expert here, folks, so if someone has more, please share. God Bless! |