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!
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In a previous post I briefly wrote about the topic of Textual Criticism and recommended a few resources to help start you on your journey. If you have already watched Dan Wallace's excellent series on TC, and/or read Dave Black's NT Textual Criticism, then let me introduce you to what is probably the most significant contribution ever to TC.

Upon opening, it is not hard to see how this textual commentary is the most helpful tool on the planet for TC. Without bogging the reader down, Bruce Metzger has chosen all of the important Textual Variants in the Greek New Testament and compiled a commentary explaining the support for and against the different readings.

One of the many benefits of this work is that it addresses the significant variants between the Alexandrian and Byzantine Manuscripts (The Alexandrian or Critical Texts were used for the NASB/ESV, whereas the Byzantine were used for the KJV/NKJV). Metzger also provides excellent research and commentary on passages such as John 7:53-8:11 (the woman caught in adultery), and the much debated Mark 16:9-20, and discusses based on evidence, whether they were originally in the New Testament or were later additions.

A few notes about using this commentary:

• In order to fully utilize this tool, the UBS4 GNT is needed. It is linked to below.
• Also, at least one year of Greek Grammar is needed to be able to use this. In other words, you need to have a working knowledge of the language.

A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (Companion to the UBS4 Greek NT) - Bruce Metzger

The UBS Greek New Testament 4th Edition

What is Textual Criticism (TC) as regards the Bible and namely the New Testament? Is it good or bad? Is it important? If so, should it be practiced? These are questions and are worthy of answers. Much has been said and written of TC over the past 60 years, though today much clarification is needed. TC is far too often spoken of and thought of in a negative light. It is commonly viewed as a dangerous and skeptical practice to be avoided. This could not be farther from the truth. It is true that TC tends to make people nervous, possibly because some Christians do not want to think about the "human side" of the Scriptures. So what do we mean when we speak of New Testament Textual Criticism?

In the words of Daniel B. Wallace, Textual Criticism is:

• The study of the copies of any written document whose original (autograph) is unknown or non-existent, for the primary purpose of determining the exact wording of the original.

When it all comes down to it, we do not have the original manuscripts or autographs of any New Testament document today. If the original text of the NT still existed, if we had them with us today, then there would be no need for textual criticism, but since we do not have the original autographs, it is a very necessary practice. If all of the many copies and fragments of NT manuscripts which we do have today were exactly alike, textual criticism would not be possible.

But as we have it, there are around 5,700 copies and fragments of New Testament Greek manuscripts which we do have today, none of which are completely identical. Then there are also thousands of manuscripts which have been translated into other languages, as well as quotes and citations from Greek to Greek or Greek to other languages. The total of all known manuscripts today, both of Greek and translations of Greek, is around 25,000. There are an estimated 400,000-500,000 Textual Variants-Differences between all of these manuscripts available to us. That seems astounding. Many of them though are small errors/differences such as spelling mistakes, though others are quite significant. TC is the practice of sifting through all of this and carefully deciding what is the closest to the actual wording of the original text. We have Greek New Testaments today because of the careful work of many scholars who have labored diligently to find out what the closest thing to the exact reading of the original autographs is. And so we today, as a result, have our English Bibles. God has preserved His Word for us over many years and through a diversity of means, but this does not mean that TC is no longer needed.

Since TC is sometimes looked down upon, there are several common misunderstandings-objections to this practice that should be mentioned and responded to.