Textual Criticism of the New Testament

The first published Greek New Testament was

• the Complutensian Polyglot

• the Novum Instrumentum Omne

• the Textus Receptus

• The Geneva Bible

How many manuscript copies of the Greek New Testament are known to exist today?

• less than 50

• approximately 1,000

• 5,300

• approximately 5,700

A textual variant can be defined as

• the wording of a verse or passage found in one or more manuscripts

• a word or phrase found in at least one manuscript that differs from the wording of the text printed by the editor(s) of a Greek New Testament

• one of at least two readings of the same textual unit which is grammatically correct and logically possible

• any place where the original wording of a document is in doubt or is not uniform among the manuscripts

The prevailing theory of textual criticism held today is known as

• reasoned eclecticism

• majority text view

• rigorous eclecticism

• independent texttypes view

• providential preservation

The oldest complete New Testament known to exist today is

• P52 (also known as Rylands 457)

• Sinaiticus (א ,01)

• Vaticanus (03, B)

• Chester Beatty Papyri

Westcott and Hort were

• British scholars who developed a theory of textual criticism that is followed today in liberal seminaries

• Theological liberals whose text-critical views can be entirely dismissed because these men were theological liberals and thus biased against the Bible

• All of the above

• None of the above

The long ending to Mark’s Gospel (Mark 16.9-20) is not found in

• Sinaiticus and Vaticanus

• most ancient MSS

• the Alexandrian text type

• the earliest manuscripts from the first three centuries

The total number of textual variants among the Greek manuscripts, ancient versions, and patristic commentaries on the New Testament is estimated to be

• ten

• between 1000 and 1500

• approximately 100,000

• approximately 500,000

The most important rule for textual critics to follow when deciding on the wording of a particular textual problem is

• the harder reading is to be preferred

• the shorter reading is to be preferred

• the reading that best explains the rise of all others is to be preferred

• the reading supported by the majority of manuscripts is to be preferred

• the reading that most clearly affirms inerrancy is to be preferred

This scholar produced four different editions of the NT text (1565, 1582, 1588, and 1589). His 1589 version was heavily relied upon by the translators of the Authorized Version (1611). He made use of Syriac and Arabic versions in his editions.

• John Mill

• Robert Stephanus

• Theodore Beza

• Johann Salomo Semler