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Product Description

The Text of the New Testament is a brief introduction for the lay person into the process whereby the New Testament came to be. It describes the basics of ancient writing tools, manuscripts, the work of scribes, and how to think about differences in what the various manuscripts say. This is a revised and expanded edition with a completely new chapter on how contemporary English translations fit in with our understanding of the New Testament text. Geared to the lay person who is uninformed or confused about textual criticism, Greenlee begins this volume by explaining the production of ancient manuscripts. He then traces the history of the development of the New Testament text. Readers are next introduced to the basic principles of textual criticism, the concept of variant readings, and how to determine which variant has the greatest likelihood of being the original reading. To illustrate the basic principles, several sample New Testament texts are examined. The book concludes by putting textual criticism in perspective as involving only a minute portion of the entire New Testament text, the bulk of which is indisputably attested by the manuscripts.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
1. What Ancient Books Looked Like
2. How Ancient Manuscripts Were Written
3. The Ancient Records of the Greek New Testament
4. The New Testament Through the Centuries
5. The New Testament Meets the Printing Press
6. More Manuscripts, and What They Revealed
7. Determining the Correct Reading
8. Looking at Some New Testament Variants
9. The New Testament Text and Modern Translations
10. What Shall We Say to These Things?
Bibliography
Subject-Name Index
Scripture Reference Index

“Other ancient authorities read . . . ”; “some manuscripts lack this verse”; “several later manuscripts add . . . .” So say those teasing, marginal notes in our modern translations of the Bible. But there’s a lot they don’t tell you—which manuscripts? How old are these manuscripts, and how reliable? Where are they located? What are they made of? What are “ancient authorities”? How do scholars determine what text to translate? And especially, are there any essential beliefs of Christians that are based on uncertain texts? If you’ve ever wondered about any of these questions, this book is for you. It’s a goldmine of information, written by a bona fide New Testament scholar yet in non-technical language that’s easy to follow and enjoyable to read. Greenlee takes the reader on an illustrated journey from the pens of the apostles to the printing press and beyond. It’s as rare as it is refreshing to read such a sane book that rises above the cluttered traffic and confusing signals on the information highway.”
–– Daniel B. Wallace, Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, Executive Director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, and author of Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics

“In all of his writings, Harold Greenlee''s overriding concern is to show that New Testament textual criticism, far from being a secondary or indifferent matter, is a matter of supreme importance. Once the student has started reading Greenlee, he or she will find that this soft-spoken man has relevance to one of the most crucial areas of biblical studies today. Certainly this revision of Greenlee''s classic textbook will be a welcome addition to any pastor or student''s library. I thank God that He has given His church such a warm-hearted and capable scholar.”
–– David Alan Black, Professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of New Testament Textual Criticism

Reviews

“This is one of the clearest expositions of the science of textual criticism one is likely to find. A thorough revision of an earlier work entitled Scribes, Scrolls and Scripture (Eerdmans, 1985), this small volume traces the history of writing, book-making, the various types of materials (papyrus, parchment, paper) and their implications for biblical manuscripts, the work of the scribes and copyists, the art of textual criticism, and the work of translation. Written for a lay audience, it combines sound scholarship with an explanatory style that makes it ideal as a resource for introductory courses on the New Testament or as informative reading for anyone interested in this important aspect of the biblical literature.”
—The Bible Today

“The name of J. H. Greenlee is well known in connection with New Testament textual criticism. This book is a revision of his Scribes, Scrolls, and Scripture. Dr. Mark House has been responsible for the up-dating of the whole, expanding chapters 6 to 8 and contributing a new chapter, 'The New Testament and Modern Translations'.
An obvious advantage of this book is that it is aimed at the general reader, not the trained New Testament scholar. It starts with a discussion of how ancient manuscripts were written, using good diagrams to explain how papyrus manuscripts were made and the difference between scrolls and codices. The link between English and the ancient work of the scribes is displayed in the words borrowed from Greek: biblos (the pith of the papyrus plant; cf. also bibliography and Bible); tome (a separate scroll of one part of a work); chart (a papyrus sheet); minuscule (rather small handwriting).
The Greek manuscripts are discussed with explanations of their characteristics and how the numeration system for them has developed and operates. The history of New Testament criticism is set out in helpful summary form, along with a very clear discussion of general princlpks upon which textual decisions are made. The various modern translations (NRSV, NLT, NET, ESV, REB, NKJV) are surveyed in regard to their textual base, with good summaries, of their acknowledged textual preferences. The book closes with a quotation from Sir Frederick Kenyon’ book. The Story of the Bible: ‘It is reassuring at the end to find that the general result of all these discoveries and all this study is to strengthen the proof' of the authenticity of the Scriptures, and our conviction that we have in our hand, in substantial integrity, the veritable Word of God.
The obvious advantage of Greenlee’s discussion is that he explains New Testament textual criticism without assuming knowledge of Greek. Anyone can pick up this discussion and find intricate questions relating to textual criticism discussed with simplicity and clarity.
The bibliography is brief but good. Greenlee's discussion goes well with R. L Omanson's .A Textual Guide to the Greek Testament, which is a non-technical adaptation of Bruce Metzger’s Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, and aimed especially at Bible translators.
Greenlee is a former missionary, international translation consultant, and retired professor of New Testament Greek. It is good that at the age of 90 he is still pursuing his love of the New Testament. His hope and prayer is •that ‘this little volume will bring illumination to many people concerning God's word and encouragement to believe that this message has been preserved in the versions of the New Testament we read today'.”
—Reformed Theological Review

“This book is written by a scholar in plain language, it sets out the history of the manuscript evidence that lies behind the New Testament. Ten chapters introduce important issues dealing with such things as:
• ancient books and manuscripts (including autographs, papyri, uncials, minuscules, lectionaries, versions & patristic quotations),
• the New Testament through the centuries (including families of manuscripts)
• the New Testament and the arrival of the printing press
• the Textus Receptus replaced by an eclectic text resulting in NA27 and UBS4 (the Nestle-Aland 27th and the United Bible Societies 4th editions of the Greek New Testament)
• principles for determining the 'correct' / better readings (including internal and external evidence, text types and intentional variants)
• an examination of some variants
• modern English translations of the New Testament, and a considered conclusion

“Frequently, this most important aspect of the New Testament is ignored. However, to rightly interpret the New Testament every student should be familiar with the insights presented by Greenlee. In the latter part of the book Dr Mark House has updated chapters 6–8 and written chapter 9. Greenlee has taken a very complex issue and presented it in clear straightforward terms. His balanced judgment is evident throughout. This text is excellent for an introduction to the subject, it is scholarly based, soundly balanced and challenging. Worthwhile, it is as an introductory window into a very important subject.”
—Theological Book Review

Prior to his retirement, J. Harold Greenlee was professor of New Testament Greek, a missionary with OMS International, and an International Translation Consultant with Wycliffe Bible Translators. He is also the author of Introduction to New Testament Textual Criticism and A Concise Exegetical Grammar of New Testament Greek.

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