I hope this list will help people discern the bad and the good, and perhaps bring up some overlooked good Greek New Testament text critics.
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| Erasmus was the genius of pre-Reformation Europe, but clobbered by New Testament apostates (including Roland Bainton) for editing and polishing the Majority Text. |
Erasmus (1466 - 1536) rushed to get out his Greek New Testament, which became the basis for GNTs from that time onward, the source of Protestant translations, starting with Luther and Tyndale.
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| Johannes Bengel was a dour Pietist. |
Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687 - 1752) is one I have not researched so far. He is famous for his Biblical commentary called Gnomon, often cited by Lenski, and his Greek New Testament rules. He was a "dour Pietist" who predicted the end of the world.
Wettstein (1693 - 1754) was weak on the Trinity and often embattled because of it. He preferred "who" to "God" in 1 Timothy 3:16. His work is often found in theological libraries.
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| The Hebrew letter Aleph - Tischendorf used that to make his find in the monastery #1 on all the manuscript lists. The entire Aleph story is a series of lies, nothing but fraud and glory-mongering. |
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| Tischendorf |
Constantin von Tischendorf (1815 - 1874) had to drop out of college because his father died. He got back in but I wonder aloud if he did not spend his life trying to overcome the humiliation of being forced out of higher education and having to worm his way back in. His first splash was Ephraim Rescriptus, where he wrote down the Biblical text underneath the writing on top of it. His second big find was Codex Sinaiticus, an obvious fraud. His third and final trophy was his promotion of Codex Vaticanus, of dubious origin itself.
Westcott-Hort were friends and colleagues who worked together, with Hort doing most of the theorizing and speculating, Westcott supporting him. Both were highly regarded and prolific in publishing their views, much like Bengel and Wettstein. Hort hated the Majority Text and venerated Mary rather than Jesus Christ. These two came along when Cardinal Newman was busy undermining the Anglican Church in favor of Rome. Wescott-Hort aggressively guided the Revision of the KJV, using their developing Greek New Testament (my first GNT - and I have one today). As much as possible they forced their readings (untested by publishing) on the revision committees. They published their own GNT (with no explanatory notes) at the same time as the Revision was published. The Revision was reviled, and so was their GNT. However, their GNT became the basis for all future GNT editions. Hort made up fantastical rules to justify his final results. He wrote so much that future rationalistic critics had lots of material to bamboozle their readers.
Nestle
Eberhard Nestle (1851 - 1913) brings us into the modern era of snip and clip New Testaments. He edited a Greek New Testament - get this from Wiki - "This edition eliminated the extremes of Tischendorf, such as partiality to Sinaiticus, and of Westcott and Hort, such as partiality to Vaticanus.[2]"
But both odiferous codices schtinckt to high heavens, so how is a merger of them a gain? Nevertheless, the Nestle replaced the Majority Text from that point onward. My Latin professor, a Roman Catholic priest and former Dominican, wanted to know what edition of the GNT I used. I wondered then why he cared so much. Catholics do not like the Majority Text.
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| Kurt Aland worked with Nestle and produced the Nestle-Aland GNT. His second wife took over the Aland institute after his death. |
- Dean Burgon (1813 - 1888) destroyed W-Hot.
- Wilbur N. Pickering - The Identity of the NT Text
- David Otis Fuller (1903 - 1988)
- Edward Freer Hills
- Theodore Letis (Lutheran) - studied under Hills
- David W. Daniels - prolific KJV author
- Trinitarian Bible Society - good KJV materials
- Kenneth W. Clark (1898 - 1979) influenced Robinson.
- Maurice A. Robinson (1947 - ) extensive TR work.
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| Theodore Letis was tutored by Edward Freer Hills. |
