Bible Textual Criticism

An Introduction to Textual Criticism

Learn about textual criticism with the help of Alpha & Omega Ministries.

An Part 1–Introduction

Part 2–The Writing and Transmission of Ancient Documents

Part 3–Textual Errors

Part 4–The Role of Church History in Textual Criticism

Part 5–The Received Text

Part 6–The Challenge to the Received Text

Part 7–The Task of Textual Criticism: Weighing the Evidence

Part 8–“Traditional Text” Positions: Textus Receptus and Majority Text Only

Part 9–“Traditional Text” Positions: The Ecclesiastical Text

Part 10–“Traditional Text” Positions: Byzantine-Priority

Part 11–The Eclectic Text Position: “Thoroughgoing Eclecticism”

Part 12–The Eclectic Text Position: “Reasoned Eclecticism”

Part 13–Concluding Thoughts

The Text

Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century when it began, it was based on two things: a concern to avoid dogma and bias by applying a neutral, non-sectarian, reason-based judgment to the study of the Bible; the belief that the reconstruction of the historical events and the history of how the texts developed would lead to a correct understanding of scripture.

The scholarly influences of biblical criticism were rationalist and Protestant in orientation. People began to study the life of Jesus through a historical lens, breaking with the traditional focus on the nature of his divinity. This historical turn marked the beginning of a search for the historical Jesus, which has remained an interest to this day.