Textus Receptus

From: Mike Adams (mikadams@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Fri Dec 08 1995 - 09:53:24 EST


I have been wading through my first and only (so far) book concerning
the history of the New Testament, Metzger's "The Text of the New
Testament". I am a complete novice in this aspect, but I found the
chapter on the Textus Receptus most interesting, and I think applicable
to the current thread, so here's the story as I understand it:

The printing press was invented in about 1450, and subsequently several
Latin editions of the Bible were published. The 1500's saw a push to
print the scriptures in Greek. The first two endeavors of this kind
were the Complutensian (Polyglot), and Erasmus's Greek New Testament.
The Polyglot, being a more ambitious work took longer to produce, and
was by far more bulky and expensive. The the work of Erasmus was,
according to Metzger, "inferior in critical value to the Complutensian,
yet because it was the first on the market and was available in a
cheaper and more convenient form, it attained a much wider circulation
and exercised a far greater influence than its rival". (p 103)
Due to its popularity Erasmus's work became the foundation of that of
Stephanus and Beza. In 1624 the Elzevir brothers also published a Greek
Testament. As printers, not scholars, they safely chose what seemed the
generally accepted text at that time, Beza's 1565 edition, and did not
presume to significantly alter it. They explain this in their
introduction to their second edition: "Textum ergo habes, nunc ab
omnibus receptum: in quo nihil immutatum aut corruptum damus." (p. 106)
Now my knowledge Latin isn't that great, coming only from my
pre-ecumenical years as a Catholic, but isn't there a double meaning
here? Did not the whole precept of inerrancy stem from this little
printer's blurb which has been misunderstood and misapplied?

I am reminded of one of the Constitution of the United States, most
fundamental provisions "separation of church and state", which is
universally accepted and applied in our legal system, and which,
unfortunately, has been most succesful in restricting our religious
freedom.

Selah!

Ellen Adams



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