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If you have followed this website for any length of time you know that one of our passions is Textual Criticism, and how it builds trust in God's Word. Many of us know Daniel Wallace for his work in Greek grammar studies. What we may not know is his passionate and profound work in Textual Criticism, which you can find here.
In the following two part lecture, given at Biola University in 2011, he presents the question ''Is What We Have Now What They Wrote Then?". Are our Bibles today what the original writers wrote then, or have the become corrupted through years of copying and omissions?
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The topic of the Canon and Textual Criticism are two fascinating and important topics of biblical study. They are, however, far too often neglected, and in many cases unheard of by many common church goers.
Many of us blindly believe that the bible is the Word of God, but on what basis? How do we know that the 66 books in our bibles belong there? How do we know these are the ones God wanted us to have? The study of the Canon shows us how exactly these books which are in our bibles came to belong there. For a detailed study on the Canon I highly recommend reading the masterpiece from F.F. Bruce: The Canon of Scripture. Below Dr. Bill Mounce gives a passionate and convincing lecture on these two great fields. Enjoy!  Daily Dose of Greek is a website and ministry run by Rob Plummer. He is a New Testament professor at Southern Baptist Theology Seminary in Louisville, KY.
He states that this website has 3 objectives: learn Greek from scratch, a daily dose/study, and recommended resources. If you are a student of NTG and do no subscribe to him you should should consider it. One thing I'm really excited about are his lectures that coincide with Dave Black's wonderful introductory grammar ''Learn to Read New Testament Greek". You have seen me recommend over and over the great work by Bill Mounce "Basics of Biblical Greek". This grammar by Dave Black is also one I recommend without hesitation. His teaching style is fun and keeps you captive while not sacrificing depth. Even if you have gone through another first year grammar, or if you are just beginning, get a copy of Dave's book and follow along with Rob. You can find his lectures here.  The study of the Canon is one of my favorite topics and areas of interest. I have been greatly blessed by it, and if nothing else, it has strengthened my faith in God and His Word. Thankfully, we have been blessed with the excellent and highly recommended work of F.F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture, which is in my opinion, the reference standard on the subject.
Michael Kruger has written a book that all students of Scripture and the Canon should take a serious look at. He takes a different approach than Bruce, and while it does not seek to correct Bruce's work, as necessary as it was, rather it complements it. I will leave you with the publishers description, as it does a great job of what lies ahead: ''Given the popular-level conversations on phenomena like the Gospel of Thomas and Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus, as well as the current gap in evangelical scholarship on the origins of the New Testament, Michael Kruger's Canon Revisited meets a significant need for an up-to-date work on canon by addressing recent developments in the field. He presents an academically rigorous yet accessible study of the New Testament canon that looks deeper than the traditional surveys of councils and creeds, mining the text itself for direction in understanding what the original authors and audiences believed the canon to be. Canon Revisited provides an evangelical introduction to the New Testament canon that can be used in seminary and college classrooms, and read by pastors and educated lay leaders alike. In contrast to the prior volumes on canon, this volume distinguishes itself by placing a substantial focus on the theology of canon as the context within which the historical evidence is evaluated and assessed. Rather than simply discussing the history of canon-rehashing the Patristic data yet again-Kruger develops a strong theological framework for affirming and authenticating the canon as authoritative. In effect, this work successfully unites both the theology and the historical development of the canon, ultimately serving as a practical defense for the authority of the New Testament books.'' This book can be purchased here. It has been a long time since new content or updates were posted here. I want to let anyone reading know that I am well, and will be continuing the website and blog. We are not going anywhere. It remains my desire to be able to help encourage others in their pursuit of reading the New Testament in its mother language.
Where have I been? To put it simply; life happened. Being a husband and father, moving, work, etc, has taken all of my time. I feel now that I am at a place where I can continue with this project. Thank you to anyone who has followed and supported the page over the years. I truly am grateful and appreciate it. Please feel free to write with any questions, to share your studies, and always be sure to check our Facebook page for updates.  With the release of the UBS5 GNT last year we knew it was just a matter of time before the UBS4 GNT and UBS4 Reader's Edition would be discontinued. And, at last, they have been, sadly. You can still find used editions of UBS4 out there, and will be able to for years though.
Thankfully the Reader's Edition is still being printed. Now, however, you'll find it in the 5th Edition. You can purchase it here. The UBS5 Greek New Testament - A Reader's Edition  During the life of Rod Decker (1953-2014) he made many contributions to the body of Christ. Before passing into eternity he left us with what is a refreshing, ground breaking, and needed first year Greek Grammar.
We have been immensely blessed in the past 2 decades with first year Grammar books (Mounce, Black), yet they are both 20+ years old, and have their own individual teaching styles. What Decker offers is a new face, fresh voice, and distinct style. I highly recommend both Mounce and Black, but this new book should not be ignored, and would make a great companion to one of the other volumes, if not a primary. You can visit Rod's blog here. It contains a lot of interesting and helpful information from years past. His grammar can be purchased here. The UBS4 Reader's Edition GNT has been out of print for nearly a year. We knew this would happen sometime after the release of UBS5. BUT! I just noticed on CBD that it is being sold for $19.95. My guess is as good as yours, it won't be there long. CBD must have bought up some extra stock. Get yours while they last.
Any of you who have followed this blog for a while know that the UBS Reader's GNT is a favorite of mine. The font is larger and easier to read than the standard UBS, not to mention the rare forms and vocabulary are listed at the bottom, making this a great daily devotional Reader. The UBS Greek New Testament: Reader's Edition  An excellent interview with Miles Van Pelt on the importance of the Original Lanuages and the importance of studying, learning, and maintaining them for ministry. Miles Van Pelt, Associate Professor of Old Testament and Academic Dean at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS speaks about the importance of the original languages for biblical study. Miles has helped produce several popular books and resources for original language study including Basics of Biblical Hebrew and Vocabulary Guide to Biblical Hebrew. Dr. Van Pelt encourages pastors and scholars to a renewed sense of the importance and efficacy of biblical study in Greek and Hebrew. Michael Kruger has a very helpful website called Canon Fodder, that I would encourage anyone interested in the study of the New Testament to check out. In this article he discusses some of the benefits of learning and maintaining the languages after initial study. I encourage you to visit the link below and give it a read.
Why the Biblical Languages Matter - Even if You Forget Them |