New Testament Textual Criticism: A Concise Guide

This is a good introduction to New Testament criticism, but definitely concise. It's more of a booklet size. It is informative and has a few exercises at the end of the chapters which I enjoyed. Highly recommend!

This first thing about this book is that it is really short! I read it in a day while riding the subway. The author gives a very concise overview of just about everything that goes into textual criticism of Biblical texts and does his best to give unbiased explanations.I particularly like his emphasis on the important role of textual criticism in interpreting the Bible (that's the whole reason for me getting into it in the first place). Anyone who is teaching the Bible to others needs to know why the Bible translation they use says what it does should be aware of the variants in whatever passages they are teaching, in order to come to their own conclusions about which reading is the best.What's also nice is that the 3rd (and last) chapter gives the reader the opportunity to see textual criticism at work with a few examples from the New Testament. I was overjoyed to see that the author didn't just blindly follow the UBS/Nestle-Aland decisions for which texts to use, but gave valid reasons to support different variants if suitable. This is particularly refreshing in a world where the church at large seems to take at face value anything from the Alands, Fee, Metzger, and the rest of that camp without questioning their decisions in selecting certain texts over others. The appendices are very helpful for future study and the bibliography provides the reader with the next steps for anyone who wants to go deeper.My only complaint is that book was a bit pricey considering how small it is and the large font used. It's a very easy read for those who aren't scholarly inclined and can also serve as a "reality check" to bring back to basics those who have gotten themselves buried too deep in scholarly wonderland.

New Testament Textual Criticism is an excellent introduction to the field of textual criticism. It assumes that most of it’s readers will be going further into the study of textual criticism, but it remains a useful primer for those only interested in the absolute basics. If you already know the basics of New Testament textual criticism then there probably won’t be anything new for you in this book. However, if you want a very brief introduction to textual criticism, New Testament Textual Criticism is an excellent place to start. Due to its short length I would highly recommend finding a cheap, used copy.

I think Black did an excellent job introducing the reader to textual criticism. If you have no idea concerning the subject, this is the place start!

If you want to get a very basic idea of how the New Testament translators and scholars do their job, this is the perfect book. It is brief and very clear and gives you a great picture of what goes on behind the text of whatever translation you use. It explains how the original Greek text is put together, agreed (or disagreed upon) and what kind of discussions are still going on. It also gives some pointers if you want to start doing some textual criticism of your own. Instead of dumping information on you to make you feel stupid and never want to learn more again, it gets your feet wet just enough as to want to try it on your own. A great resource to start with. It also recommends some great resources for further reading which will be useful if you decide to do more.

This is a great book... but it seems too brief. Black does a great job at explaining the science of Textual Criticism, but after reading and reviewing it, I'm left wanting more... I guess he is attempting to be streamlined to give readers what they need, but not overload them with minutia. While it is a bit minimal for my taste, it certainly will prove to be a valuable reference asset in the future, and it will sit in the 'busy' section of my bookshelves.

The author gives a very unbiased review of the science and art that underlies Bible translation. I believe that this book has the ability to dispel the fog that many, through ignorance, have interjected into this topic. If someone sincerely desires to have a factual understanding of what the word of God actually is, I would recommend this book. It is technical but not too technical to be read by a layman. This would be a very good addition to every church library.

This concise guide to Textual Criticism is an excellent introduction to the topic. The writer gives just enough information to provide the reader a sense of what Textual Criticism is, as well as providing the reader with the basic tools necessary to perform their own analysis of the textual evidence.