The Ancient Text of the New
Testament
By Dr. Jakob
van Bruggen
This is a
scholarly consideration of
modern textual criticism and how it has failed. We at
Sola Scriptura Ministries are deeply concerned
about this issue and feel that the scholars who have
dealt with it are simply ignored by the current status
quo. As van Bruggen himself puts this, “Bringing the
well-known, but rejected Byzantine text into use again
leads to a totally different scope of
the textual criticism. It will,
in a reformatory sense, set itself the task of
preserving this text. Here an appeal can be made to the
often unjustly-forgotten work of scholars such as
Nolan(90), Reiche(91), Scrivener(92), Burgon(93),
Birks(94) and Miller(95), who at the time confronted
themselves with the theories of Griesbach, Lachmann and
Westcott-Hort.” Added to this list are contemporary
scholars such as Edward F. Hills (though deceased),
Theodore Letis, and others.
About the
Author
Jakob van
Bruggen (1936) is professor of New Testament exegesis at
the Reformed Theological College in Kampen, The
Netherlands. He studied theology in Kampen and Utrecht.
In 1973, he obtained his doctor's degree under Prof. Dr.
W.C. van Unnik (Utrecht). His thesis was entitled: “Fourteen Years
Later”: The Meeting at Jerusalem of Galatians 2 and
New Testament Chronology (in
Dutch, with a summary in English). Professor Van Bruggen
published studies on Romans, on the future of Bible
translating, and on I Corinthians 11:2-16 ("Women's
Liberation and the Bible"). A contribution about the
chronology of Herod according to Josephus will appear
from his hand in a series of essays by Dutch New
Testament scholars. In his scholarly works, Professor
Van Bruggen defends the trustworthiness of the Bible as
the Word of God.
What this
Book is About (From the Back Cover)
In his The Ancient Text of
the New Testament, Professor Van Bruggen deals with
the confusion surrounding the text of the New Testament.
Since 1881 (Revised Version), most new translations
follow another type of Greek text than was followed in
the older Bible translations (e.g. King James Version).
However, this does not mean that there is unanimity
regarding the correct text. On the contrary. In the
newer translations, many changes occur because the
science of New Testament textual criticism continually
arrives at different conclusions. The Greek New Testament
of the United Bible Societies (1966) in many points
was established by a majority vote. Is the majority vote
of a few modern scholars worth more
than the majority vote of the
old manuscripts? Does the division of opinions that
exists today not indicate that there is reason enough to
return to the ancient ecclesiastical text? Van Bruggen
challenges the arguments raised against this ancient
text by Hort and others after him. Briefly he surveys
the field of textual criticism from Hort to Aland and
Metzger. In footnotes, he refers to much literature on
the topic. His conclusion is that the arguments against
the text found in most manuscripts nowadays are even
less convincing than in the past. For exegesis, as well
as for Bible translating, it is of significance which
manuscripts are used. Whoever wants to make his own
judgment about this matter will find a scientific and
succinct survey of the arguments in this book of Van
Bruggen.
Where To Get
It
This
book is available from Premier Publishing, One Beghin
Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R2J 3X5 for US$4.50 plus
postage and handling (Price subject to change).
Bookstores and Colleges enjoy an appropriate trade
discount. A good online source is http://www.abebooks.com.
