The Need For Textual Criticism

THE NEED FOR TEXTUAL CRITICISM
We have already noted what Textual Criticism is - the study of copies in order to determine the content of the original text. But why is Textual Criticism needed? The reason for Textual Criticism is because we do not have the original manuscripts of the Scriptures. They have long since either been lost or destroyed or crumbled to dust. All that we have left are copies that have been made. For hundreds of years, the documents of Scriptures were copied by hand. Occasionally, a scribe might make a mistake as he was transcribing a manuscript. Years later, that mistake would be copied by another scribe who was using that manuscript as a source. Thus, certain errors might be copied in succeeding copies. As a general rule, the older manuscripts are thought to have the fewest errors. This is because there was less of a chance for errors to creep in from the source manuscripts from which they were copied. Hence a third-generation copy might be considered to be more accurate than a sixth-generation copy. For example, perhaps a scribe was copying from a manuscript which had been copied from the original text. He source text would then be a “second-generation” copy. As our scribe comes to Romans 8:1, he pauses for a moment to stretch his cramped fingers. Then as he begins again, his eyes slip down several lines and he begins to copy this phrase:

...who do not walk according to the flesh.

Then he continues on to Romans 8:2 and the verses which follow (keeping in mind that the verse divisions had not yet been added). Do you see what has happened? The scribe has made a mistake in copying. The source text reads:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

However, the scribe's new copy now reads differently. It says:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh. In the years that follow, other scribes use this new manuscripts as their source text. Naturally, they will copy the same mistake that was previously made. Perhaps one of these scribes will make still another alteration so that his copy now reads (his reason might be to further clarify the text):

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. In the years that follow, other scribes use these new manuscripts as their source text. Naturally, they will copy the same mistake that was previously made. Further on down the line, still another scribe skips over the small Greek word mh, thus changing the text still further. Now it reads:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. As a result of this last mistake, we now have fourth and fifth generation manuscripts which also contain this error.

Original|There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.|
First Error|There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh.|
Second Error|There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.|
Third Error|There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.|