UNDERSTANDING THE TIME, WORLD AND POWER OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

1. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATION CLASS NUMBER 3 SECTION ONE Introduction to Criticism UNDERSTANDINGTHE TIME, WORLD AND POWER OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

2. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS The NEW TESTAMENT HAS MORE THAN 5,000 DOCUMENTS BACKING IT UP MANY OF WHICH ARE DATED TO WITHIN 90 YEARS OF THE ACTUAL EVENTS THEY REPORT. NT COMPARISON

3. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS The first GREEK NEW TESTAMENT in modern times showed up Jan. 10, 1514. Vol. 5 of a polyglot Bible project commissioned by Cardinal Primate of Spain, Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros (1437-1517). NT HISTORY

4. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS The first PUBLISHED GREEK NEW TESTAMENT - Desiderius Erasmus (1469-1536), a Dutch scholar from Rotterdam. It was completed in 1516. Not a good copy but a good start to a trend in GREEK TXT revival. NT HISTORY

5. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS Instead of using only the LATIN VULGATE, now scholars were digging into the Greek and building a FOUNDATION for the translation that we benefit from today. NT HISTORY

6. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS By 1881, more and more Greek manuscripts emerged. It was a literal revival of GREEK NEW TESTAMENT work. This brought the advent of TEXTUAL CRITICISM. NT HISTORY

7. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS TEXTUAL CRITICS began to organize all the early evidence to try and capture as much of the original meaning of the New Testament documents. NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM

8. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS - Local transcripts in the ancient cities discovered. - Portable transcripts that were sent from one church to another. - Looked at local culture and archeological evidence. NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM

9. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS - FRENCH PRIEST – Richard Simon at the end of the 17th century, a key figure. - The Reformation unleashed an aggressive effort to unlock the Bible both to the people and the theologians. NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM

10. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS -John Mill, Anglican theologian, finally produced a Greek New Testament that became known as the “TEXTUS RECEPTUS” meaning the “RECEIVED TEXT” in 1707. NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM

11. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS TRANSLATIONS Latin Vulgate, AD 382 Commissioned by Pope Damascus 1st century texts

12. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS -Johann Albrecht Bengel – published another GREEK NEW TESTAMENT based upon more evidence found in the early material and published it in 1734. This became a very important edition of the foundational texts. NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM

13. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS - “BENGEL RULES” - Numbers are not everything. Lots of early texts do not always produce accurate translations. - How many “TEXT TYPES” say the same thing and come to the same conclusion? NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM

14. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS - “BENGEL RULES” - Which reading text is more likely to have generated other copies? - The more difficult or technical the reading, the more authority because it was probably produced by a scribe. NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM

15. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS - “BENGEL RULES” - Which errors are intentional and which are unintentional? - Intentional errors motivated by attempting to “improve” the meaning of the text. - Unintentional errors are spelling problems, for example. NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM

16. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS - “BENGEL RULES” - Try to get familiar with the author and his culture. - Look and pay attention to the TRENDS of the author. - Look at both the internal and external evidence for the text. NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM

17. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS - WHY IS HISTORICAL BACKGROUND IMPORTANT? The advent of TXT language. NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM “PlsTx Me DIR” “TrnRt on 2nd go 2 3rd go Lft. 2 km” “Wll u b there?” “Ys will c u there, TTYL”

18. New TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS - WHY IS HISTORICAL BACKGROUND IMPORTANT? The advent of TXT language. The advent of new terms. The culture communicates meaning. The culture often defines meanings of customs. NT TEXTUAL CRITICISM