In History of the Pauline Corpus in Texts, Transmissions, and Trajectories , Chris S. Stevens examines the Greek manuscripts of the Pauline texts from P46 to Claromontanus. Previous research is often hindered by the lack of a systematic analysis and an indelicate linguistic methodology. This book offers an entirely new analysis of the early life of the Pauline corpus. Departing from traditional approaches, this text-critical work is the first to use Systemic Functional Linguistics, which enables both the comparison and ranking of textual differences across multiple manuscripts. Furthermore, the analysis is synchronically oriented, so it is non-evaluative. The results indicate a highly uniform textual transmission during the early centuries. The systematic analysis challenges previous research regarding text types, Christological scribal alterations, and textual trajectories.
Chris S. Stevens, Ph.D. (2019) McMaster Divinity College, is a pastor and independent researcher. He has published on Greek linguistics, ancient manuscripts, and Paul.
"The book makes a novel contribution to the discussion by providing a new vantage point from which to compare texts and a new approach for delineating variants." â Garrick V. Allen, University of Glasgow, in: Journal for the Study of the New Testament Booklist 2022 44.5, August 2022
Acknowledgements List of Figures, Tables and Charts Abbreviations
Introduction
1 New Testament Textual Criticism: History and Highlights
â1âHistory of Textual Criticism
â2âTextual Criticism during the Early Church
â3âTextual Criticism after the Printing Press
â4âConclusion
âExcursus: Original Text Form and the Goal of Textual Criticism
2 Contemporary Textual Criticism Methods for New Testament Studies
â1âMajority Text
â2âSingle Text Theory
â3âByzantine Text Form
â4âEclecticism: Reasoned and Thoroughgoing
â5âStemmatics
â6âCoherence-Based Genealogical Method
â7âConclusion of History and Methods
3 Method for Direct Evaluation of Textual Uniformity
â1âComparative Methods
â2âDefinition of a Unit of Variation
â3âNew Method of Textual Comparison
â4âProcedure for the Comparison of Manuscripts: Counting and Numerical Majority
5 Textual Features Explored and Weighed
â1âSurprising Scribal Skill
â2âSpelling
â3âScribal Choices and Inconsistencies
â4âBrevior Lectio vs. Verbose Additions
â5âGeneral Patterns
â6âSummary of Highlighted Features
â7âSensible Results out of Nonsense
â8âWeighted Conclusion
â9âConclusion
6 Application to Contemporary Research
â1âText Types and Textual Assessment
â2âTextual Uniformity
â3âTextual Agreement Rates of Other Ancient Texts
â4âTextual Agreement Rates in Other Projects
â5âP46 and Textual Agreement
â6âSummary
â7âThe Alandâs Figures of Textual Agreement
â8âConclusion
7 Narrative Textual Criticism: Textual Variation Used for Sociohistorical Narratives
â1âBackground and Development of Narrative Textual Criticism
â2âBenefits and Weaknesses of NTC
â3âNTC Approach Popularized by Bart Ehrman
â4âEhrman versus the Evidence
â5âSummary
â6âConclusion
8 Source and History of the Pauline Corpus
â1âBefore AD 200
â2âHistorical Consistency Rather Than Diversity Followed by Recension
â3âWhen Does the Pauline Corpus Originate? Theories of Publication
â4âConclusion
Conclusion
Appendix 1: Textual Analysis of the Pauline Corpus
â1âPauline Corpus: Thirteen Letters
â2âRomans: Commentary and Results
â3â1 Corinthians: Textual Commentary and Results
â4â2 Corinthians: Textual Commentary and Results
â5âGalatians: Commentary and Results
â6âEphesians: Commentary and Results
â7âPhilippians: Commentary and Results
â8âColossians: Commentary and Results
â9â1 Thessalonians: Commentary and Results
â10â2 Thessalonians: Commentary and Results
â11â1 Timothy: Commentary and Results
â12â2 Timothy: Commentary and Results
â13âTitus: Commentary and Results
â14âPhilemon: Commentary and Results
â15âStatistical Conclusions of the Textual Comparison Appendix 2: Examination of Textual Differences for Christological Tendencies
â1âOrthodox Base Position
â2âMethod of Christological Evaluation
â3âTextual Differences Possibly Impacting Christology
â4âCitations and Comments by Ehrman
â5âConclusion of Christology Data
â6âKey Findings
â7âConclusion Bibliography Modern Author Index Subject Index
All interested in the early history of the Pauline corpus regarding its early circulation and transmissional stability versus fluidity.