For over forty years my passion has been studying issues relating to the origin and transmission of the Bible. I am especially interested in textual issues, such as evaluating textual variants and how they affect our understanding of the text. While I am not a scholar, I have a basic knowledge of New Testament (Koine) Greek and have had many years to expand my knowledge.
I was born in Troy, Tennessee, in 1945. I received a BA in English from Harding University (then Harding College) in 1968. In 1972 I received an MA in English from the University of Tennessee. I served in the United States Army with the Fourth Infantry Division in Vietnam from March 1969 to March 1970.
In 2009 I retired, and our family moved from Pinellas Park, Florida, to Lexington, South Carolina. I live there with my wife and our disabled adult son. We have another son who lives in Rhode Island with his wife who is a special education teacher.
In April 2014 I was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. This will certainly influence the future of this blog, but I plan to continue posting as long as I am able to do so.
Amen!!Look forward to more
Hello Gary!
I enjoy your blog and appreciate your insight regarding the textual history of the Bible. I read “How we got the Bible” by Lightfoot and learned a lot and found that it was quite an accessible book for layman. I am considering ordering Metzger’s The Text of the New Testament, It’s Transmission, Corruption and Restoration. (4th Ed. ). Have you read this book and if so did you find it accessible or was it more of a scholarly book? It don’t mind a challenging read but for a paperback costing $41 from amazon I would hate to get bogged down and not finish it.
I am following your new blog now also and look forward to more from you in this one too.
Thanks Gary!
Dave Anderson
Park Rapids, MN
Dave,
I am out of state for the next few days,so I can only give a short reply now. Give me a chance to check Metzgar’s book. He is good, but he might assume a certain background knowledge. Give me a couple of days, and I will check further.
Gary
Sent from my iPad
Ok thanks Gary. Take your time. I figured that you probably had read that book as it seems to be referred to quite frequently by a lot of authors. Thanks again.
Dave,
Thanks for giving me a few days. We have been visiting our son and his wife in New Hampshire, and I wanted a break.
Actually, I also wished to go into your question in a little more detail. I do not own Metzger’s book, and the price is the issue. I am retired, and there are a number of other things on my wish list.
This does not mean you should not buy Metzger’s book, but you should be aware of some things other than the price. First of all, Bruce Metzger was a great textual critic. He died in 2007 at the age of 93. Metzger was one of the translators for the Revised Standard Version in 1952. More recently he was also an editor for the United Bible Society’s Greek New Testament which is a standard Greek text. I cannot think of anyone in this century who has done more in the area of Biblical textual criticism.
As an academic, Metzger tends to write for people who have a background in textual studies. He may assume you have this background and not go into the detail you need. I would suggest you look at the online sample on Amazon. Examine the “Table of Contents” and the beginning which is available there. This should help you determine if this book is for you.
Dave, I don’t know your background or belief system. Indeed, I suspect my readers come with a variety of perspectives on the Bible. I may do a post this week delving into how I believe we should approach the Bible. I am saying this for one reason. You will also notice that the book has been revised and has additional material by Bart Ehrman. He is also a recognized and very competent textual critic, but he comes from a very particular perspective. Bart Ehrman did his undergraduate work at Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College, both fairly conservative institutions. He then went on to get a masters and PhD from Princeton (the same school Metzger attended and at which he taught). Perhaps because of the perspective Ehrman had earlier, some of the things he learned caused him to lose his faith. He is still a competent textual critic; however, his perspective gives him less confidence in the integrity of the history and transmission of the Bible than I have. I would just want you to be aware of his background. I am convinced everyone brings their individual experiences to their analysis (except me, of course). The issues Bart Ehrman (and others) bring up do not bother me, because I try to come to the Bible without preconceptions, whether it is studying authorship, textual transmission, or any other issue. I am committed to simply seeing what I find and going where the evidence tends to lead. As such, I have no preconceptions I feel bound to defend.
Wow, a long discourse. My final word is that both Metzger and Ehrman are competent textual critics. Just be aware that the material may be somewhat technical and academic. And be aware of the perspective. Other than that, enjoy.
Gary Cottrell
“Make a Difference”
Thank you for your reply Gary. I appreciated your discussion of Metzger and Ehrman.
I have read the excerpts of the book and wanted to buy it but I was hesitating because of the high price and trying to decide if what I had learned from Lightfoot’s book was enough. It is interesting that Metzger managed to retain his faith even after going so far in his field whereas Ehrman did not. I watched a debate between Ehrman and Craig Evans on utube and found his tone to be a little on the combative side. He obviously been under attack for his views.
I previewed an interesting looking response to Erhman’s contribution to the book edited by Daniel Wallace (who I really enjoy reading). The name of the book is:
Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament: Manuscript, Patristic, and Apocryphal Evidence (Text and Canon of the New Testament) [Paperback]
Daniel B. Wallace (Editor)
I would enjoy a post from you on how to approach the bible. In my opinion that is more important than most people realize. Part of the reason for my interest in textual criticism is to help me define my own approach.
Thanks again for your reply.
Dave Anderson
Thank you for your service!