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The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and 

Restoration

Bruce M. Metzger & Bart D. Ehrman

35$ on Amazon but much cheaper
when classes are not starting!

This book is a very helpful introduction to anyone interested in the history of the New Testament Text. The style is detailed enough for the academically-oriented (read: seminary/biblical Greek student) but complete enough for the layperson to keep up with the conversation. The footnotes are abundant and very helpful for further research while not necessary to follow the flow of thought.

There are several chapters however, that the layperson (and probably most students) would prefer to gloss over and return to for reference. For example, the history of most significant witnesses to the NT is given at least in brief. (Manuscript histories can only hold my interest for so long. After two or three dozen of these I found myself counting down to the end of the chapter)

I also found myself questioning the motive of the author(s) as I came to the latter portion of the book. Around two-thirds of the way through the text there is an unnatural shift from broadly summarizing textual scholarship to representing a very one-sided perspective of modern textual research. (For several pages, each of the resource cited are other works from the author) Furthermore, the tone of this portion of the text becomes more critical (In the non-academic sense. Perhaps it could be described as cynical?) of contrary views. To put it simply, much of what is suggested could not be classified as “conservative” in the ecclesiastical sense. That being said, I hope and trust that this is simply an attempt to bring the first edition (c. 1964) up to speed with modern research and as such reflects current trends. I do wish that a greater diversity of opinions were presented.

Good book, definitely worth reading in light of modern “DaVinci Code and “Stigmata” discussions.

Four-and-a-half papyri out of five.