I. Number of Variants (the serve)
A. And the variants are…
1. 400,000/140,000
2. There are thousands of variants because there are thousands
of manuscripts.
And the Greek manuscripts are..
3. 5,600 manuscripts
4. 2.6 million pages of text
5. 100s of witnesses for every book of the NT
B. And the Other Manuscripts are…
1. 10,000 in Latin
2. 20,000 altogether in Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Georgian, Gothic,
Ethiopic, Armenian, and others
A. Consider this:
1. IF there was only one copy of the New Testament in existence,
it would have 0 variants. Does that mean it is reliable?
A. And the witnesses are…
1. Church father
2. Homilies and commentaries on the NT
II. Number of Variants (the return)
A. The number of manuscripts is irrelevant
B. The vast majority of them are late anyway (later than 1000 AD) -- 85% in
fact.
III. Number of Variants (the save)
A. 15% of 5,600 isn't bad
1. 838 Manuscripts from 1st millennium
2. 124 from first 4 centuries (12 from 2nd and 64 from 3rd, and
48 from the fourth)
B. Most of the early manuscripts are fragments but, collectively, the whole
New Testament text is found in them multiple times.
A. Consider this:
1. There are, in fact, three times as many manuscripts of the NT
within 200 years as there are the average classical author's
work within 2000 years of composition.
IV. Number of Variants (the return)
A. Regardless of the number of NT manuscripts, the vast majority are
worthless for reconstructing the text of the NT because they are so late.
B. This throw the integrity of these later copies into a precarious position
V. Number of Variants (the save)
A. These later manuscripts add less than 2% to the material
B. Compared to other works, the NT manuscripts are still far earlier and
more reliable.
A. In terms of extant manuscripts, the NT textual critic confronted with an
embarrassment of riches.
I. The Nature of Textual Variants
A. Neither viable nor meaningful
1. Spelling differenced account for 70% of textual variants
2. Nonsense readings come about form inattentive fatigue
scribes.
B. Viable but not Meaningful
1. Use of the definite article
2. Word order variants
C. Meaningful but Not Viable
1. These make sense and are appropriate to the context, but are
supported only by insignificant or late manuscripts
2. Harmonization in the Synoptic Gospels included among
these.
A. These first three categories of alterations constitute the overwhelming
majority of textual variants found in the New Testament manuscripts.
A. Meaningful and Viable
1. Smallest category (less than 1%)
2. These change the meaning of the text to some degree, but not
necessarily a lot.
3. EX:
1. Romans 5:1
2. Matthew 27:16-17
3. Ending of Mark
4. John 7:53-8:11
II. Theological Issues Raised by Textual Variants
A. Even though scholars have argued about the theological issues raised are
HUGE, the evidence simply cannot be twisted in the direction.
B. What effect does this have on Inerrancy?
1. Inerrancy applies to the autographs
2. The doctrine of inerrancy does not mean that differences in
spelling, grammar, or idioms are relevant.
3. Not one viable text problem has compelled evangelical
scholars to abandon this doctrine.
