The Ancient Text of the New Testament

“It is strange that in the realm of modern textual criticism all types of searchers and sceptics are given a place, but that those who revert to a former certainty are disqualified as renegades.” ~ Jakob van Bruggen

Among all uncertainties of this 20th century, we, however, can point to one great, lasting certainty in the modern textual criticism - a certainty that serves as starting point and keeps stimulating much conscientious work and constant research. One can even say that the modern textual criticism of the New Testament is based on the one fundamental conviction that the true text of the New Testament is at least not found in the great majority of the manuscripts. The text which the Greek church has read for more than 1000 years, and which the churches of the Reformation have followed for centuries in their Bible translations, is now with certainty regarded as defective and deficient: a text to be rejected... This rejection of the traditional text, that is the text preserved and handed down in the churches, is hardly written or thought about any more in the 20th century: it is a fait accompli...

It is striking how emotionally people often speak about this one certainty. The textus receptus, which stands very close to the Byzantine text, is considered a "tyrant" that finally "died a slow death". Sometimes it seems as though a certain frustration about the continual absence of certainty concerning the right text of the New Testament leads to aggressive statements about the old certainty of the textus receptus. It is striking how Epp in his earlier mentioned retrospection leaves room for many questions and uncertainties, yet suddenly speaks very denigratingly about some people who in the 20th century have dared to make positive statements concerning the textus receptus. It is strange that in the realm of modern textual criticism all types of searchers and sceptics are given a place, but that those who revert to a former certainty are disqualified as renegades.

Jakob van Bruggen, The Ancient Text of the New Testament (11; 13)

The Ancient Text of the New Testament, by Jakob van Bruggen (.pdf) http://www.cspmt.org/pdf/resources/The%20Ancient%20Text%20of%20the%20NT%20-%20Van%20Bruggen.pdf