The Reliability of the New Testament: Bart Ehrman and Daniel Wallace in Dialogue

142 Pages·2011·1.671 MB·English

by  Robert B. Stewart

THERELIABILITY OFTHE
NEW TESTAMENT
THE RELIABILITY OF THE
NEW TESTAMENT
BART D. EHRMAN & DANIELB. WALLACE IN DIALOGUE
Robert B.Stewart,Editor
FORTRESSPRESS
Minneapolis
THERELIABILITYOFTHENEWTESTAMENT
BartD EhrmanandDanielB WallaceinDialogue
Copyright©2011FortressPress Allrightsreserved Exceptforbriefquotationsincriticalarticlesorreviews,nopartofthis
book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher Visit http://
wwwaugsburgfortressorg/copyrightsorwritetoPermissions,AugsburgFortress,Box1209,Minneapolis,MN55440
Unlessotherwisenoted,ScripturequotationsaretakenfromtheNewRevisedStandardBible,copyright©1989bytheDivision
ofChristianEducationoftheNationalCouncilofChurchesofChristintheUSA Usedbypermission Allrightsreserved
SomescriptureistakenfromTheNewKingJamesVersion(NKJV),copyright©1979,1980,1982ThomasNelson,Inc Used
bypermission Allrightsreserved
Coverartanddesign:JoeVaughan
Bookdesign:ChristyJ P BarkerandDouglasSchmitz/TimothyW Larson
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
ThereliabilityoftheNewTestament/BartD EhrmanandDanielB Wallaceindialogue;
RobertB Stewart,editor
p cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex
ISBN978-0-8006-9773-0(alk paper)
1 Bible—Evidences,authority,etc I Wallace,DanielB II Stewart,RobertB III Title
BS2332E372011
2251—dc222010049012
ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmericanNationalStandardforInformationSciences—
PermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials,ANSIZ32948-1984
ManufacturedintheUSA
151413121112345678910
ForRhynePutman
CONTENTS
Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction:WhyNewTestamentTextualCriticismMatters:ANon-Critic’s
PerspectiveRobertB.Stewart
1.TheTextualReliabilityoftheNewTestament:ADialogueBartD Ehrmanand
DanielB.Wallace
2.TextandTransmissionintheSecondCenturyMichaelW Holmes
3.TheNecessityofaTheologyofScriptureDaleB Martin
4.WhatIstheTextoftheNewTestament?DavidParker
5.WhoChangedtheTextandWhy?Probable,Possible,andUnlikelyExplanations
WilliamWarren
6.AssessingtheStabilityoftheTransmittedTextsoftheNewTestamentandthe
ShephierdofHermasK.MartinHeide
7.TextualCriticismandTextualConfidence:HowReliableIsScripture?CraigA.
Evans
8.AuthorsorPreservers?ScribalCultureandtheTheologyofScripturesSylvieT.
Raquel
Notes
SubjectIndex
ScriptureIndex
CONTRIBUTORS
Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North
CarolinaatChapelHill,wherehehasserved asboththeDirectorofGraduateStudiesand the
Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. A graduate of Wheaton College, Professor
Ehrmanreceivedboth hisM.Div. andPh.D.from PrincetonTheological Seminary,wherehis
1985 doctoral dissertation was awarded magna cum laude. Since then, he has published
extensivelyin the fields of NewTestament and EarlyChristianity, having written or edited
twenty-onebooks, numerousscholarlyarticles,anddozensofbookreviews. Amonghis most
recent books are a Greek-English edition of the Apostolic Fathers for the Loeb Classical
Library, anassessmentofthe newlydiscovered Gospel of Judas, andthree NewYork Times
best sellers: Jesus Interrupted(2010), on what scholars have longsaid but layreaders have
notheardabout thecontradictions,discrepancies, andforgeriesoftheNewTestament; God’s
Problem (2008), an assessment of the biblical views of suffering; and Misquoting Jesus
(2007),anoverview ofthe changesfound in the survivingcopiesofthe NewTestament and
ofthescribeswhoproducedthem.
CraigA. Evansisthe PayzantDistinguished ProfessorofNewTestamentatAcadiaDivinity
College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. He received his Ph.D. from Claremont and his
D.Habil.from Budapest. ProfessorEvans is theauthor ofseveralbooks, includingJesus and
HisContemporaries(1995), Jesus and theOssuaries (2003), and with N. T.Wright, Jesus,
the Final Days (2009), as well as many articles and studies in scholarly journals such as
Biblica,Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Journal of Biblical Literature, NewTestament Studies,
and Novum Testamentum. He also edited the Dictionary of New Testament Background
(2000)andthe Encyclopedia of theHistorical Jesus (2008). Professor Evans haslectured at
universities and museums around the world, including Cambridge, Durham, Oxford, Yale,
andthe Field MuseuminChicago. Hehasalsoappearedinseveral televisiondocumentaries
concernedwiththeBibleandarchaeology.
K. Martin Heide is Associate Professor for Semitic Languages at Philipps-Universität
Marburg. He published the editio princeps of the Testaments of Isaac and Jacob (Die
Testamente Isaaks und Jakobs, 2000), and just recently prepared a critical edition of the
ArabicandEthiopictextsoftheTestament ofAbraham(DasTestamentAbrahams,2011). He
haspublishedseveralHebrewostracafromtheFirstTempleperiodandhaswrittenabook on
NewTestament textual criticism, Der einzig wahre Bibeltext? Erasmus von Rotterdam und
dieFragenach dem Urtext [TheOnly TrueBible? Erasmus of Rotterdamand theQuest for
theOriginal Greek](2006). He alsocollatedthe EthiopicBible forthe EditioCritica Maior
andeditedandtranslatedtheSyriaccitationsforanewonlineSeptuagintdatabase.
Michael W. Holmes is University Professor of Biblical Studies and EarlyChristianity and
Chair ofthe Departmentof Biblical and Theological Studies at Bethel University, St. Paul,
Minnesota.He holdsdegreesfromTrinityEvangelicalDivinitySchool(M.A.), andPrinceton
Theological Seminary (Ph.D.). A specialist in New Testament textual criticism and the
Apostolic Fathers, he has edited and translated The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and
English Translations (3rd edition, 2007), edited with BartD. Ehrman TheText of the New
Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis (1995), and co-
authoredwithBartD.Ehrmanand GordonFeeTheTextof theFourthGospel intheWritings
ofOrigen, volume 1:Introduction, Text, and Apparatus (1992). He isthe author of 1 and 2
Thessalonians: TheNIV Application Commentary (1998)and editor of TheNewTestament in
theGreekFathers.
DaleB. MartinisWoolseyProfessorofReligiousStudiesatYaleUniversity. He specializes
in NewTestament andChristianorigins,includingattention tosocialand cultural historyof
the Greco-Roman world. He has also published on the politics and ideology of modern
biblical interpretation, especially with regard to family, gender, and sexuality. His books
include Slavery as Salvation: TheMetaphor of Slavery in PaulineChristianity (1990); The
Corinthian Body (1999); Sex and the Single Savior: Gender and Sexuality in Biblical
Interpretation(2006);InventingSuperstition:FromtheHippocraticstotheChristians (2007)
;and PedagogyoftheBible:AnAnalysis and Proposal(2008). He hasedited several books,
including (with Patricia Cox Miller) The Cultural Turn in Late Ancient Studies: Gender,
Asceticism, and Historiography (2005). He was an associate editor for the revision and
expansionofthe Encyclopediaof Religion, publishedin 2005. Hehasheldfellowships from
the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
(Germany), the Lilly Foundation, the Fulbright Commission (USA-Denmark), and the
Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theologyand Religion. In 2009, Martin was
electedtotheAmericanAcademyofArtsandSciences.
David Parker is Edward Cadbury Professor of Theologyat the University of Birmingham,
United Kingdom, and a director of the Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic
Editing. Hispublicationsinclude CodexBezae: An Early Christian Manuscript and its Text
(1992); The Living Text of the Gospels (1997); An Introduction to the New Testament
Manuscriptsand their Texts (2008); Manuscripts, Texts, Theology:Collected Papers, 1977–
2007; and Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of theWorld’s Oldest Bible (2009). He is Executive
Editor of the International Greek New Testament Project, making editions of John and the
lettersofPaulinthe Editio CriticaMaior, andhascopublishededitionsofthe papyri(1993)
andmajuscules (2007)and ofthe Byzantine text(2007). He iscoeditorofTexts and Studies
(thirdseries)andArbeitenzurneutestamentlichenTextforschung.
SylvieT.RaquelisAssociateProfessor ofNewTestamentatTrinityInternational University.
Dr. Raquel, who received both her M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from New Orleans Baptist
TheologicalSeminary(NOBTS),combinesherareasofspecialization(textualcriticismofthe
NewTestament, the SynopticGospels, and Revelation)withher interest inapologetics. She
hasconductedresearchatthe CenterofNewTestamentTextual StudiesinNewOrleans. Her
doctoral dissertation, “The Text of the Synoptic Gospels in the Writings of Origen,” is in
revisionforpublication. She haspublished book reviewsandarticlesinseveraljournalsand
haspresentedpapersatcolloquiumsandprofessional meetings.Sheisacontributorto Essays
on Revelation: Appropriating Yesterday’s Apocalypse in Today’s World (2010) and the
revised Quest Study Bible (2011). She is also a member ofthe editorial boardofthe Sacred
Tribesjournal.
RobertB.Stewart isAssociateProfessor ofPhilosophyandTheologyatNewOrleans Baptist
Theological Seminary, whereheisGreer-HeardProfessor ofFaith and Culture. He received
bothhisM.Div. andPh.D.from Southwestern Baptist TheologicalSeminary. He iseditor of
The Resurrection of Jesus: John Dominic Crossan and N. T. Wright in Dialogue (2006);
Intelligent Design: William A. Dembski and Michael Ruse in Dialogue (2007); and The
FutureofAtheism:AlisterMcGrathandDanielDennettinDialogue(2008),allfromFortress
Press. In addition, he is author of The Quest of the Hermeneutical Jesus: The Impact of
Hermeneutics on theJesus Research of John DominicCrossan and N. T. Wright (2008). A
contributor to the Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity and the Revised Holman Bible
Dictionary,hehaspublishedarticlesandbookreviewsinnumerousjournals.
Daniel B. Wallace is Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary
and Executive Director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts. He
received both his Th.M. and Ph.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary and has done
postdoctoral studies at Tyndale House, Cambridge; the Institut für neutestamentliche
Textforschung, Münster, Germany;and Universität Tübingen, Germany. He isa member of
Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, Institute for Biblical Research, Society of Biblical
Literature, and the Evangelical Theological Society. He has published dozens ofarticles in
academictheological journals, andhas authored, edited, or contributedto more than twenty
books, including Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New
Testament(1996); NewEnglish Translation/NovumTestamentumGraece(2004);Reinventing
Jesus:HowContemporarySkepticsMisstheRealJesusandMisleadPopularCulture(2006);
Dethroning Jesus: Exposing Popular Culture’s Quest to Unseat the Biblical Christ (2007);
GranvilleSharp’s Canonand Its Kin: Semantics and Significance (2009); and, forthcoming,
Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament: Manuscript, Patristic, and Apocryphal
Evidence(2011).
William Warren is Professor of New Testament and Greek at New Orleans Baptist
Theological Seminary, where he holds the Landrum P. Leavell II Chair of New Testament
Studies. Professor Warren, who received both his M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from New
Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, is the founding director of the H. Milton Haggard
CenterforNewTestament Textual Studies.He isthe editor ofLaTeologíadela liberación:
unarespuesta evangelica [LiberationTheology:An Evangelical Response](1990);translator
of Introducción a la crítica textual [Introduction to Textual Criticism] (2004); author of
Luke:AStudy Guide(1997); andSenior Project Directorand Editorforthe CNTTS Textual
Apparatus,anelectronic textualapparatus forthe GreekNewTestament(2003topresent).A
contributor to the Revised Holman Bible Dictionary, he has published articles and book
reviewsinnumerousjournalsinbothSpanishandEnglish.
PREFACE
T
he purpose of the Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum in Faith and Culture is to
provideavenueforfair-minded dialogueonsubjectsofimportanceinreligionorculture. The
intentionistohaveanevangelical Christiandialoguewithanon-evangelicalornon-Christian.
The forum is intended to be a dialogue rather than a debate. As such, it is a bit more
freewheelingthanatraditional debate,anditisnotscored. Thegoal isa respectful exchange
of ideas without compromise. So often in our culture the sorts of issues that the forum
addressesstokethe emotionsand, consequently, the rhetoricisofsuch a natureas to ensure
thatcommunicationdoesnot takeplace.There maybea placeandtimeforsuchpreachingto
thechoir, butmindsarerarelychangedas aresultofsuch activity—norare betterarguments
forthcoming as a result of gaining a better understanding of positions with which one
disagrees. The result often is that what passes for argument is really nothing more than a
prolongedexampleofthestrawmanfallacy.
The subject ofthe 2008Greer-HeardPoint-Counterpoint Forum in Faith andCulture was
“TheTextualReliabilityoftheNewTestament.” Thedialoguepartners wereBartEhrmanof
theUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHilland DanielB. WallaceofDallasTheological
Seminary.IwouldhopethateveryBiblereaderhasatleastsomeinterestinwhetherheorshe
isreadingwhattheauthorsoftheNewTestamentbooksactuallywrote.
The dialogue tookplace April 4 and5, 2008, in the Leavell Chapelon the campus of the
host institution, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. On that unusually fair April
evening in New Orleans, nearly a thousand people filled the Leavell Chapel to hear the
exchange. The audience was enthusiastic and appreciative. No doubt, the popularity of
Ehrman’sbest-sellingbook Misquoting Jesus:TheStory behind WhoChangedtheBible and
Whyhadmuchto dowith the size ofthe audience andits evident enthusiasm forthe topic.
The discussion between Ehrman and Wallace was spirited and direct but respectful,
punctuated with good-natured humor. It was obviousthat both menbelieved passionately in
theirpositionandfelttheyhadanimportantmessagetoconveytothoseinattendance.Oneof
theconsistent fruitsofthe forumhasbeen the realizationthatdisagreement does not haveto
be shrill or heated; one does not have check one’s convictions at the door in order for
respectfuldialoguetotakeplace.
Alongwith myintroductory chapter, this book includes a transcript ofthe April 4, 2008,
dialoguebetween Ehrmanand Wallace, aswellas thepapers presented thefollowingdayby
MichaelHolmes,DaleMartin,DavidParker,andWilliamWarren.
In addition to the essays presented at the Greer-Heard Forum, three other essays are
included.Thefirstauthor,K.MartinHeide,offersaContinentalperspectiveonissues related
to the NewTestament text. CraigA. Evans writes ofhow his trainingin criticalstudies has
affected his understanding ofthe NewTestament text andwhat this means forhis personal
faith.Kim Haines-Eitzen alsoagreedtocontribute a chapter forthe book but, unfortunately,
had to withdraw due to circumstances beyond her control. The final chapter is Sylvie
Racquel’scontributiondiscussingearlyChristianscribalpractices.
While one could easily note issues that are not addressed in this volume or think of
significant scholars whoare not included, these chapters make fora fuller treatment of the
issue.Readerswillhavetojudgeforthemselveswhetherthisis,infact,thecase.
Iam grateful that Fortress Press has seenfit to allow us to present the fruit of the 2008
Greer-HeardForum. Itrust that you will read it with an open mind and carefully consider
whateachauthorhastosay.Youwillbethericherforhavingdoneso.