Wednesday, October 17, 2007

"Textual Criticism and Theology"

Over at Evangelical Textual Criticism, I've posted a summary of and interaction with David Parker's recent article on "Textual Criticism and Theology" from the Expository Times.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In an article entitled "New Testament Theology - Method" by M.F. Bird, he write:

"A final area worthy of investigation is how a [New Testament] document was initially received and interpreted in the early church as a key into its theological meaning."

This is an interesting comment for many reasons, but above all because, though it is placed LAST on the list and given little thought, it is actually the most pronounced in contemporary textual criticism and biblical theology. For example, so long as there is "Evangelicalism," i.e., a group of people with a predetermined set of beliefs, then there will always be a barrier to one's understanding, especially if he/she desires truth.

Consider, for instances, Matthew 27:49b. Here the soldier runs up and gives the final blow that kills Jesus (contray to John 19:31-37). Both gospels cannot be correct, unless one is told they are both correct.

Mark Thunderson.