Subject: tc-list N.T. Graece Inquiry

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 12:50:48 EDT

Fellow list members,

     As a new member to this list, please allow me to introduce myself. My 
name is Mark Hays. I consider myself to be a serious student of God's word, 
and that is what has prompted this inquiry.
     I have of course been using Nestle's (specifically N-A 27th) in my 
textual criticism / study, and have never had anyone satisfactorily explain a 
problem that I find in the Introduction. If any list members could help in 
this area, I would greatly appreciate it.
     In II. "The Text Of The Edition", Section 2."Critical Signs Used in the 
Text", in the paragragh describing the use of double brackets (p.50*), I find 
the following rather dogmatic statement to be peculiar:
     "Double brackets in the text ([[  ]]) indicate that the enclosed words, 
generally of some length, are known not to be a part of the original text."
     The next sentence compounds the problem, but for now, I would greatly 
appreciate any help that you may be in helping me to understand how this 
(stated as a ) fact, could be KNOWN.

Thanking you in advance I am,

Mark J. Hays

---

From: "Robert B. Waltz" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 13:51:16 -0500

>(stated as a ) fact, could be KNOWN.

It is not, of course, KNOWN. A better statement would be that the
committee is certain that these are additions.

In essence, the committee was certain that these passages (Mark 16:9-20,
John 7:53-8:11, etc.) are not part of the original text of the New
Testament. (Whether they are right is another question, but it's not
at issue here. :-) Ordinarily, these passages would have been excluded
from the text. However, all the passages placed in double brackets
are well-known and (in most cases) well-loved. They are regarded
as part of the Christian tradition even if they are not part of
the original text of the particular books.

By placing the passages in square brackets, the committee was able
to dodge the question of canonicity. They said that the passages
are not original, but made them available for those who wanted to
consider them canonical anyway.

A sound political move, if you ask me. :-)
Bob Waltz
[email-masked]

"The one thing we learn from history --
   is that no one ever learns from history."