Wed Oct 23 13:24:08 1996

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Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 11:38:15 -0700
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From: "Robert B. Waltz" 
Subject: Re: Textual Criticism Theories
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On Wed, 23 Oct 1996, jgvalentin@arcadis.be (Jean Valentin) wrote:

>>Is it possible for a version to preserve a better reading than the
>>original language?  Why is it that we seem to concentrate so heavily on
>>the Greek New Testament and virtually ignore the Latin, Syriac, Coptic,
>>Georgian, Slavonic . . . Is it that we feel the versions have little to
>>offer, or is it simply the difficulty of mastering all the
>>languages?
>>
>
>I agree with this. One of the things I regret most in greek NT editions
>(specially NA27) is that they hardly use the versions at all.

Hear, hear! NA27 ignores the Armenian and Georgian, often fails to
cite the Coptic versions, and is inadequate for the Old Latin (for
many variations you can't tell which Latins read what).

[ ... ]

>I think there are some reasons why NT scholars don't study the versions:

[ ... ]

>2. Confessional and theological influences. Most NT scholars come from
>theological circles. Some might have begun learning their greek in
>seminary, and theological institutions are often not the place to study,
>say, georgian, middle dutch or arabic. There is already so much to study in
>the fields of dogmatics and pastoral theology. Thelogical education is not
>adequate for a discipline like textual criticism as it is a _literary_
>discipline.

Again, a very good point. In fact, I think the "perfect" textual
critic will have *four* kinds of training.

1. Linguistic
2. Mathematical (to deal with the statistical study of manuscripts. As
   a mathematician, I can only state that very many textual studies have
   been *very* mathematically bad).
3. Literary
4. Folkloric. Folklore and folk music is the only field which allows us
   to see tradition in action. Admittedly this is oral tradition, and
   the NT tradition is primarily written -- but we all know that the
   Biblical tradition also contains oral elements.

Notice that I did not list theological training. Obviously those with
theological training are usually those most interested in NT textual
criticism -- but it may also cause them to develop bias.

And I should note that I do not meet my own critera. I am a
horrible linguist. I am a decent mathematician, I have a passing
knowledge of literary phenomena, and I am a fair folklorist (perhaps
the best on this list, but that may not be saying much :-).

I wonder if anyone has *ever* met all the criteria?

>Also, at least in America (which is where most of you live) the
>religious scene is dominated by protestantism, and often by non-liturgical
>forms of it. As I work in the two fields of NT textual criticism, I notice
>that both fields are intimately related, as characteristics of a liturgical
>tradition will also be seen in the text it uses. On example to illustrate
>this : the appearance, then dominance of the Byzantine text in the
>Jerusalem patriarchate coincides with (1) the loss of power of its
>patriarch, residing then in Constantinople, and (2) the introduction of the
>St John Chrysostom liturgy (also byzantine) in place of the older, local,
>St James liturgy). But liturgy, and especially history of the eastern
>liturgies and churches, doesn't receive much attention in the formation of
>evangelical ministers - and it's quite normal. Only, when this minister
>wants to become a scholar, will he have to take some supplementary courses
>in those disciplines.

I'll agree that liturgy and text are intimately related. Though I don't
see why not growing up with the liturgy would keep us from understanding
its influence.

>I notice that what I write might sound harsh to some of you - I don't know,
>I'm sorry if this is so, it's probably because I write in a language that's
>not mine (I speak french) and I don't intend to be offensive at all!

I don't think this sounds harsh; I think most of what you said is true.

Of course, I am neither a trained textual critic nor a person who
subscribes to the usual textual theories. So much for my opinions. :-)

Robert B. Waltz  - - - - - - - - Ballad Index Editor
2095 Delaware Avenue
Mendota Heights, MN 55118-4801
612-454-8994 - - - - - - - - - - e-mail: waltzmn@skypoint.com

The Ballad Index Web Site:
http://www.csufresno.edu/forlang/folklore/bdindxengl/BalladIndexTOC.html

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