Gospel of John & Methods of NT Research Flashcards
(35 cards)
What is textual Criticism?
Canon Criticism?
Source Criticism?
Form Criticism?
Redaction Criticism?
Textual Criticism: establishing the true text.
Canon Criticism: establishing the Canon of Scripture.
Source Criticism: evaluating the sources, searching for the oldest.
Form Criticism: the oral sources and their Sitz in Leben.
Redaction Criticism: how editors handled the source material.
When did interest in textual criticism begin?
It began in the late Renaissance, as they got interested in other ancient texts.
When was the first bible printed and by who?
Gutenberg printed Vulgata (Latin Bible) 1450.
When did the frist Greek edition come out?
1514: first Greek edition
What did Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466 – 1536) try to do with regard to textual criticism?
He tried to bring about a new bible that was closer to the original, and he used two 13th century texts for this.
Who published the first bible with an apparatus with different varriants applicable to the text, and who followed suit in 1581?
Stefanus.
Theodor Beza continues 1581, and his editions are bases for KJV 1611
What does Textus Receptus, coined in 1624?
“The Received text,” meaning the text which the church has received as the right one.
What is the weakness of textus receptus?
It is not the earliest manuscripts. It is less close to the original. Although the majority of the manuscripts support textus receptus, it is not the majority that is right but the oldest.
Which scholar gathers the manuscript in 3 groups in the 1770’s? What are the groups?
Griesbach.
- Alexandrian (Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus)
- Western (Italian, African)
-
Byzantine text (Majority Text) > Textus Receptus
This (the first!) division has become extremely influential
What is the two criterias for the best manuscripts?
(2 latin names)
_lectio brevior_ (the shortest is the original), _lectio difficilior_ (the most difficult is the best)
What German scholar rejected Textus Receptus in 1831?
Lachman
Who search for new manuscripts all over the globe and published 8 editions of NT with apparatus up to 1872?
What was his most important exploit in terms of manuscript?
Tischendorf.
Codex Sinaiticus. (st. Chaterine’s monestary)
Who are the most well-known early textual critics? They developed cirtical methods (2) 1881
Westscott & Hort.
What material did ancient writers write on? When did the Arabic paper arrive on the scene?
What kind of formats were the writings collected in?
They wrote on Papyrus (expensive) or Pargament (animal skin). Arabic paper appeared about 800 A.D.
The format was first Scrolls (max 35 feet) and later Codex (book)
From when is the oldest papyri?
What is Greek uncials, and from what year do they date from?
What are the Greek miniscules?
Papyri: 120’s A.d
Uncials (codex siniaiticus & only Captial letters). 4th Century
Miniscules: masses of text, from later peak at 8th cent.
How do we judge internal proof?
How do we judge external proof?
Internal proof:
what is the most likely rendering of the author;
which is the most likely change by a scribe?
External proof:
Quantity-quality: the quantity is no proof of authority
Genealogy: looking at textual families
Sound principles: Old texts + geographical distribution = probable
What are the five typical mistakes of Scribes?
A) because of sight: omikron and theta, (hos/theos) gamma, pi, tau (agapais or apatais);
B) similar ending might make you jump over a line (homoeoteleuton)
C) because of hearing: itacism, long-short
D) wrong ‘thought’: replacing one word with a synonym: changing order of letters/words
E) by purpose:
theology
language
harmonising
mixing of manuscripts
There are 3 Stadiums in Gospel Research, which?
A) Oral Stadium,
B) Source Stadium
Different (many) people began to gather material, oral and written
C) Written Stadium
- They probably used common source material and all basically used the same chronological plan
therefore there are
likenesses in order
verbal likenesses
Why are there differences in amongst the Gospel writers?
Yet they were different personalities with different opportunities and skills, therefore there are:
- differences in mentality
- in language
- in purpose
- in point of view
What does the Synoptic gospels entail?
- The scope: which is the literary relationship between the gospels
- syn-opto: to see the same thing
- the synoptic gospels are: Mt, Mk, Lk—John traditionally is treated on its own
- there is a tool, used in gospel research: the Synopsis, setting up the four (!) gospels in parallel columns, useful for comparison
What has been some of the big questions regarding the Gospel?
- a big discussion, especially the last 200 years:
- is there an Urevangelium?
- did the early church gather oral texts?
- is there a literary dependence?
- could eyewitnesses have seen and recorded as accurate as this?
What are the two main hypotheses regarding how and in which way the Gospels were written?
- the Griesbach hypothesis: the first synoptic hypothesis—Mt was first, then Luke, then Mark
- Dominating two-source hypothesis: Mark + Q
What does Quelle mean?
- Q: means Quelle, Source, “The Sayings source Q”
- Papias talks about logia, saying
- Luke says (1:1-4) that he used sources. Q should be considered as a source of different sayings, not a whole narrative (meaning not the passion narrative for example).
The logic behind Q: Q is the material where Mt and Lk agree which is not in Mark:
Q=Mt/Lk-Mk
How valid is the Q hypothesis?
- Q is only a hypothesis, but it must be evaluated for its explanatory power. We don’t know if it existed at all, and therefore it becomes problematic to talk about Q redactions (like a specific theology of Q).
- Q does not explain everything since Mt-Lk is also has their own content.
