Subject: Re: Alternatives

From: [email-masked] (U. Schmid)
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 16:15:09 +0100

Although I very much like the idea of having a closed list, I personally
won't like the result according to the requirements proposed by Jimmy
Adair:

>I would
>suggest that the tc-pro list be limited to those who have published
>something in the area of biblical textual criticism and perhaps also those
>who teach textual criticism in a college or seminary setting.

1. The mentioned criteria would include, e.g., R.F. Shedinger, who
published an article in *New Testament Studies* (43, 1997, pp. 58-71), as
well as E. Metzing, who published a *Miszelle* in *Zeitschrift fuer die
Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft* (88, 1997, pp. 126-129). Both authors give
ample evidence that they don't know what they are talking about, yet they
have something out on TC.

2. Since there are so many schools and seminaries in the US, I can hardly
tell what qualifies, e.g., "Prof." XY, teaching TC at Bible Seminary YZ,
for a TC-pro list. Although this notion may display European arrogance, it
took me a hard time to learn that there are a lot of schools and seminaries
that do not play in the same league as those I am more familiar with from
my European perspective. This is not meant to disqualify each and every
school and seminar or their teachers of which/whom I never heard. But the
reverse isn't true either.

3. On the other hand, the mentioned criteria would disqualify some (e.g.,
Bob Waltz and, perhaps, Jean Valentin) who, in my view, already qualified
themselves by virtue of their contributions to the list.

Quite frankly, having a closed list would do me a great favour. As a German
I am used to rather clear cut scholarly environments where I can easily
locate most contributions related to TC. I may also come to terms with the
European scale, but I fail to adequately deal with the US scale (see 2.).
It's very easy to fool me with all sorts of degrees, titles, and
institutions. Additionally, as a non-native speaker I'm inclined to
overestimate native speakers' contributions. Even if I have some doubts
right from the start, it usually takes more time for me to figure out the
background of contributors I do not know. It might be due to my limited
linguistic abilities to fully understand the issue. Therefore, I sometimes
enter or prolong fruitless discussions.
Having said all this, I would also like to emphasize point 3 (above).
Apparently there are other qualifications for contributing to TC
discussions as publishing or teaching. Training (formal as well as
informal) does not always show up in publications or teaching duties. On
the other hand, publishing and presumably teaching as well can be performed
without displaying any sort of training.

Ulrich Schmid,
Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies