That is why nearly every book on the subject focuses on the textual criticism of either the Old or New Testament. In fact, the task of textual criticism is so daunting and detailed that it is divided between Old Testament textual critics and New Testament textual critics. Sorting out the errors and determining the original wording is the task of textual criticism. And despite the most careful and painstaking efforts of scribes and publishers down through the centuries, errors of one sort or another have crept in and have been reproduced. Some have erroneously tried to argue that Textus Receptus, or common Greek text of the New Testament, represents the ipsissima verba, written by the inspired men throughout.The Bible has been on a long historical journey since its original composition. In the preservation of His word, God has not given us a single manuscript collection for either the Old or New Testament texts. In the inspiration of the originals, God gave the church an inspired and infallible written revelation. We both recognize the divine inspiration of the original writing of Scripture and God’s preservation of it. Indeed, far from confusing these two matters, conservative scholars would insist on making a very sharp distinction between them.”1 It is by virtue of these two separate considerations - the immediate inspiration of the sacred writings in their original form and the singular divine care and providence - that the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek are to be regarded as authentical (I.viii). Quite distinct from the inspiration of the original manuscripts have been the care and providence whereby the Scriptures have been kept pure.
The Old Testament in the Hebrew and the New Testament in the Greek - the Scriptures in the languages in which they were given - were immediately inspired by God (I.viii). “According to the, the canonical books were given by inspiration of God (I.ii). One of the first things we have to recognize in this discussion is the distinction between the inspiration of the original text of Scripture, given by God in Hebrew in the Old Testament and in Greek in the New Testament, and the preservation of the original manuscripts.
#Old testament textual criticism how to
Since most pastors are generalists rather than specialists, it is important for them to know how to approach variants in their exposition of books of the Bible. How much should a pastor talk about textual variants when preaching through books of the Bible? How should ministers address a textual variant when it is a more questionable reading of the text of the book through which he is preaching? These and many other questions are important for the simple reason that any minister preaching faithfully through the books of the Bible will inevitably be confronted with the difficult task of navigating the variants and using textual criticism. The number of factors at play makes textual criticism a specialist rather than a generalist science. Perhaps the most important factor in textual criticism is understanding how to approach textual variants in preaching. Textual criticism involves a vast amount of linguistic consideration, transmission theory, historiographical data, philosophical reasoning, archeological discovery, and intertextual comparison.
In the realm of the theological sciences, no subject is as difficult to navigate as that of Old and New Testament textual criticism.
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