Studies in the Theory and Method of New Testament Textual Criticism

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar 1998 by Wallace, Daniel B

Studies in the Theory and Method of New Testament Textual Criticism. By Eldon J. Epp and Gordon D. Fee. Studies and Documents 45. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993, $39.99.

Although some might quibble whether Eldon Epp and Gordon Fee are in a class by themselves regarding matters text-critical, it is indisputable that-as Bum Phillips once said of running back Earl Campbell-whatever class they are in, it takes little time to call the roll. These two North American scholars have followed in Colwell s train: They have both refined the methods employed (especially Fee) and have criticized the guild from within (especially Epp). Their presence in the field of NT textual criticism is ubiquitous, and deservedly so, for their judgments are consistently sober.

The book has 17 chapters (seven by Epp, ten by Fee) organized under six different headings: General and Historical Overview (two chapters), Definitions (two chapters), Critique of Current Theory and Method (six chapters), Establishing Textual Relationships (two chapters), Papyri and Text-Critical Method (two chapters) and Method and Use of Patristic Evidence (three chapters). A bibliography and complete set of indexes conclude the tome. The beginner will gain much from the introductory chapters, as well as the six chapters on theory; seasoned scholars will benefit the most from the latter chapters on method.

There is almost nothing new in this volume. Sixteen of the seventeen chapters have been published elsewhere (chap. 4, "On the Types, Classification, and Presentation of Textual Variation" [Fee], being the exception), though not all the original publications have been easily accessible. Chapter 10, "The Majority Text and the Original Text of the New Testament" (Fee), is the only chapter substantially reworked, being a collation and revision of four separate articles. Although the essays were published separately, the present volume is generally coherent with few lacunae.

The value of a book such as this can be measured in the classroom: In an elective course I teach on NT textual criticism, most of these essays have been part of the core reading material for years. No one can understand the current climate of textual criticism without reading Epp and Fee. To have several of their articles compiled in one place is a great convenience; that they are in the Eerdmans Studies and Documents series is a testimony to their tremendous worth. This is a book both for the specialist and the interested Neutestamentler.

I do have a couple of niggly criticisms, however. First, the book could have been organized a bit differently. For example, although "p75, pss, and Origen: The Myth of Early Textual Recension in Alexandria" (Fee) is in the section on Papyri and TextCritical Method, it could just as easily have been placed under Critique of Current Theory and Method. This essay demolishes the early Alexandrian recensional view that is vital for majority-text theorists (namely, if P75 is not recensional, then its high agreement with Vaticanus suggests that they both followed "a relatively pure line of descent from the original text" [p. 272]). By placing the chapter where it is, many neophytes to the discipline will overlook a valuable contribution to theory. Second, some of the essays were dialogical originally and now we only hear one side (e.g. Epp on the interlude in NT textual criticism, Fee on the majority-text theory). The present format partially skews the debate and, to some degree, lacks continuity.

We conclude this review by noting an unusual feature of this work. One of Eldon Epp's most provocative essays is conspicuous by its absence: "New Testament Textual Criticism in America: Requiem for a Discipline" (JBL 98 [1979] 94-98). It is largely to Epp's and Fee's credit that this essay is no longer accurate.

Daniel B. Wallace

Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX