A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. I.Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose
Religion
A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. I.
Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose
Bible. New Testament -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
frequent use of the apostrophus and of the mark > (_see above_, p. 50) on
some sheets and their complete absence from others (Collation, &c. pp.
xvi-xviii; xxxii; xxxvii), that at least two, and probably more, persons
have been employed on the several parts of the volume(122).
It is indeed a strange coincidence, although unquestionably it can be
nothing more, that Simonides should have brought to the West from Mount
Athos some years before one genuine fragment of the Shepherd of Hermas in
Greek, and the transcript of a second (both of which materially aided
Tischendorf in editing the remains of that Apostolic Father), when taken
in connexion with the fact that the worth of Codex Sinaiticus is vastly
enhanced by its exhibiting next to the Apocalypse, and on the same page
with its conclusion, the only complete extant copy, besides the one
discovered by Bryennios in 1875, of the Epistle of Barnabas in Greek,
followed by a considerable portion of this self-same Shepherd of Hermas,
much of which, as well as of Barnabas, was previously known to us only in
the Old Latin translation. Both these works are included in the list of
books of the New Testament contained in the great Codex Claromontanus D of
St. Paul’s Epistles, to be described hereafter, Barnabas standing there in
an order sufficiently remarkable; and their presence, like that of the
Epistles of Clement at the end of Codex Alexandrinus (p. 99), brings us
back to a time when the Church had not yet laid aside the primitive custom
of reading publicly in the congregation certain venerated writings which
have never been regarded exactly in the same light as Holy Scripture
itself. Between the end of Barnabas and the opening of the Shepherd are
lost the last six leaves of a quaternion (which usually consists of eight)
numbered 91 at its head in a fairly ancient hand. The limited space would
not suffice for the insertion of Clement’s genuine Epistle, since the head
of the next quaternion is numbered 92, but might suit one of the other
uncanonical books on the list in Cod. Claromontanus, viz. the Acts of Paul
and the Revelation of Peter.
With regard to the deeply interesting question as to the critical
character of Cod. א, although it strongly supports the Codex Vaticanus in
many characteristic readings, yet it cannot be said to give its exclusive
adherence to any of the witnesses hitherto examined. It so lends its grave
authority, now to one and now to another, as to convince us more than ever
of the futility of seeking to derive the genuine text of the New Testament
from any one copy, however ancient and, on the whole, trustworthy, when
evidence of a wide and varied character is at hand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account