Loading...In some of my previous posts I’ve indicated that since I was known as a textual critic (one who worked with Greek manuscripts of the New Testament in order to determine both what the authors originally wrote and how the text came to be changed over the centuries) I was not widely seen as a candidate for writing a New Testament textbook for undergraduates. Several readers have expressed some perplexity over this. Aren’t textual critics, by their very nature, background, and training, proficient in the wider field of New Testament studies?
The answer may surprise you: it may be that they should be, but many (at one time, most) are not.
It’s a little hard to explain why, but I’ll try. As is my wont, I’ll start autobiographically.
In my case, the great bulk of my graduate training actually had very little to do with textual criticism. When I came to Princeton Theological Seminary as a master’s student ) in 1978 (after I had finished my BA in English at Wheaton college), I was required to take all the courses for the Masters of Divinity Program (which is always a three-year program). That was the only degree that PTS offered. And so if I wanted to study there, that’s what I had to do. The reason I wanted to study there was because the leading textual critic in the country, arguably in the world, Bruce Metzger, taught there, and I wanted to study with him. But in fact, I could not take many courses with him (since I had to take a full schedule and he didn’t offer a huge number of different courses), and most of the ones I did take had nothing to do with textual criticism.
As an MDiv student I was required to take courses in…
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Facinating. I very much look forward to reading more along this line.
Bart, I really appreciate the autobiographical background in how you honed your skills as a textual critic. Before this post I was wondering how such a nice Christian boy from Lawrence, Kansas who went to Moody Bible Institute, and then to Billy Graham’s alma mater, Wheaton College chose such a bastion of liberal theology as Princeton Theological (say, instead of Dallas Theological). Now I realize you wanted to study with the foremost authority in the field, Bruce Metzger, and as they say, the rest is history! Now too I realize why you’re not all that fond of Fundamentalists who have forsaken the more reliable earlier manuscripts for the Majority text. I too have an evangelical background with a connection to Billy Graham: I attended a Christian high school near Orlando, Florida, Hampden DuBose Academy with Billy’s daughter, Bunny. We had mandatory Sunday night “dates” watching Moody Bible Science films. But I never worked up the courage to ask Bunny out. I was afraid I might do something wrong and word could leak to Billy…scary high school stuff.
Thank you for your tireless research and sharing your results with such skill, engagement and understanding for the common man.
After almost a year of reading your blog and books, a question for you; If cults are identified by the traits of: Obsession with a single individual (historical Jesus) shunning members who have “wrong” beliefs (rejecting writings with alternative views or getting kicked out of the church for speaking in error), systematic indoctrination (bible studies, prayer meetings, Sunday school, not to exclude Moody Bible Institute and Bob Jones), community isolation (do not associate with the unclean of this world), manipulative and authoritarian control over its members (guilt and humiliation for being a sinner), aggressive proselytizing (you’re going to hell for disbelief), social control (the bible says do this, don’t do that, don’t wear this, don’t eat that, etc) and on and on . . .
Why has Christianity never been labeled as a cult when they match all the traits?
Some ancient pagans would indeed have labeled it as a cult, had they had such a term (instead they call it a “dangerous superstition.”) The reason modern scholars don’t is that it lacks some of the key elements. E.g., the Christian communities were not always manipulative, and they did not have a living leader who was a charismatic figure who drove them to do whatever he wanted. (Jesus was dead)
What advice would you give to someone who is earning a phd in text crit aside from “Don’t do a phd in text crit.”?
Master the fields of New Testament interpretation/exegesis and early Christian history!!!
“…courses in public speaking, homiletics (i.e., preaching), pastoral theology (i.e. counseling), Christian education (teaching in the church), …”
In your academic career, have you found any of the “pastoring” skills you studied at Princeton Theological Seminary to be at all useful?
Yes, indeed, in many ways! These courses trained me to do lots of things I do (lecture, lead discussions, talk to students, and so on….), and forced me to learn how to keep things clear and interesting.