Subject: Teaching Textual Criticism

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 17:56:17 -0400

tc'ers,

I am planning on teaching a unit on textual criticism to my 2nd year Greek
students next semester. I am interested in hearing your comments on A) what
texts are best for a short unit, i.e. 6-9 hours of class time B) what
teaching methodology works at an undergrad level and C) which topics within
the whole arena of tc are best to cover. 

Suggestions?

Kevin Grenier
Colorado Christian University

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 22:26:51 -0700

>Colorado Christian University
I have taught a brief (1 session) seminar on textual criticism such as you are describing and found 
that a text book is not practical.  I used a few classic examples of textual variants and demonstrated 
the procedure while I taught the principles.

I began the seminar by taking a passage from Matt. ("he who has ears *to hear* let him hear . . .), 
made four typewritten copies of the verse with the different variant readings (one with all capital 
letters, one without spaces or punctuation, etc.) and had a manual copying process happen starting the 
four copies at four different points in the room.  Each person copied from their neighbor's copy.  When 
each student in class had his own hand written copy of the verse, we created our own "textual 
apparatus" on an overhead transparency.  We actually obtains some additional "variants" that weren't in 
the Biblical text.  We then utilized the principles of internal and external evidence to determine 
which was the most probable original reading using the concept of families of manuscripts, scribal 
hapits, etc.  It was a VERY EFFECTIVE methodology to teach people who had never studied the topic.

After the actual hands on experience with the exercise, I then explained the formal principles and used 
a couple of other classic examples (Rom 5:1, etc.) to apply the principles.

THe class was very responsive to this approach and I got some excellent feedback.  The only references 
to "textbooks" I used were to Metzger's standard text, reading excerpts from the book as we discussed 
the princples of internal and external evidence, type of writing materials, etc.

For a short seminar setting, the practical hands on experience, I feel, goes much further than academic 
reading exercises.

Paul Lorenzen
Instructor of New Testament Greek
Northern Sierra Bible Institute
Carson City, Nevada

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Paul Lorenzen -- Sparks, Nevada  -- Email - [email-masked]
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ptl/lorenzen.htm

Only one life, 'twill soon be past; 
only what's done for Christ will last!
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