The Identity of the New Testament Text IV

There are over 5,000 known Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, over half of which are continuous text copies, the rest being lectionaries. They range in size from a scrap with parts of two verses to complete New Testaments. They range in date from the second century to the sixteenth. They come from all over the Mediterranean world. They contain several hundred thousand variant readings (differences in the text). The vast majority of these are misspellings or other obvious errors due to carelessness or ignorance on the part of the copyists—such are not proper variant readings and may be ignored. However, many thousands of variants remain which need to be evaluated as we seek to identify the precise original wording of the Text. How best to go about such a project? This book seeks to provide an answer.