Textual Criticism

Definition and Meaning

Textual criticism is the work of comparing the differences among hand-copied biblical manuscripts in order to reconstruct the text closest to the autograph, the original document as first written by its author. The word "criticism" here does not mean disparaging the Bible; it is an academic term for weighing evidence and reaching judgments. It is also called "lower criticism" to distinguish it from "higher criticism," which deals with the authorship, dating, and sources of biblical books. Scholars determine which reading is original using criteria such as a manuscript's date, its geographical origin, and the types of scribal error it exhibits.

Biblical and Historical Background

No original manuscripts of the Bible survive; the text has been transmitted through numerous handwritten copies and ancient translations. For the Old Testament, the Masoretic Text serves as the base text. It is compared with other witnesses, including the Septuagint, a Greek translation, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered beginning in 1947. For the New Testament, scholars collate thousands of Greek manuscripts together with ancient versions such as the Vulgate.

In 1516 Erasmus published the Greek New Testament in printed form, and the text of this tradition later came to be called the Textus Receptus ("Received Text"). The Textus Receptus became the basis for translations of the Reformation era and for the King James Version. From the nineteenth century onward, as older manuscripts were discovered and studied, scholarship progressed by way of the Westcott and Hort text (1881) to the present day, when the Nestle-Aland edition and the United Bible Societies edition of the Greek New Testament are widely used.

Notable passages that are present in some manuscripts and absent from others include:

• Mark 16:9–20
• John 7:53–8:11 (the account of the woman taken in adultery)
• Part of 1 John 5:7–8

Practice in the Korean Church

Korean Bibles also reflect the results of textual criticism. The New Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Standard Version include marginal notes on certain verses, such as "Some manuscripts read …," to indicate differences among manuscripts. Most graduate schools of theology teach the basics of textual criticism in their biblical-language courses.

The reception of textual criticism varies by denomination and theological position.

• The evangelical wing of major denominations such as the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Holiness churches generally regards textual criticism as a tool for ascertaining the inspired original text. Those in this camp often explain that biblical inerrancy applies to the autographs rather than to the copies.
• Some independent churches and certain Baptist circles support the Textus Receptus and the King James Version. They argue that modern critical editions rely excessively on a small number of older manuscripts.

This issue is one of the principal points of contention in the Bible translation debate.