Corrections To Qur’ān And New Testament Manuscripts: Snapshots Of Scribal Concerns And Textual History -- By: Keith Small

Journal: Christian Apologetics Journal
Volume: CAJ 10:2 (Fall 2012)
Article: Corrections To Qur’ān And New Testament Manuscripts: Snapshots Of Scribal Concerns And Textual History
Author: Keith Small


Corrections To Qur’ān And New Testament Manuscripts: Snapshots Of Scribal Concerns And Textual History

Keith Small

Corrections to ancient manuscripts present important information concerning scribal practices and textual transmission. They provide a snapshot, a still photograph as it were, of the brief moment when a scribe exercised his individual judgment and skill over a singular issue of concern while copying a portion of sacred text onto a piece of parchment or papyrus. In New Testament manuscript studies, the examination of corrections has provided valuable insights into the textual histories of several significant manuscripts as well as the form of the text in general.1 As clear expressions of an intentional choice of

a scribe, they can potentially provide a glimpse into a specific era of ecclesiastical and theological history and even into specific doctrinal and political issues of import in the time of the scribe. They can reflect concerns over heresy and also concerns of maintaining a tradition with fidelity and accuracy in spite of turmoil and upheaval.

The Value Of Comparing Textual Histories

Comparing this phenomenon between different manuscript traditions can illumine further issues of history and transmission. In many popular discussions of the effect of New Testament textual criticism, appeals are made to the relatively greater numbers of New Testament manuscripts available to scholars than to other ancient literatures.2 In these discussions, however, there is a noticeable lack of reference to Qur’an manuscripts. This is true even in cross–disciplinary studies comparing aspects of various scriptural traditions.3 One major reason for this is simply the lack of available studies concerning Qur’an manuscripts. In both Islamic countries and in the West, such studies in the textual criticism of manuscripts are in very early stages compared to the work that has been done in the Greek and Latin Classics, the New Testament and the Hebrew Bible, and Medieval literature. For example, there is no one central catalogue of extant Qur’an manuscripts in the world, nor catalogues that seek to bring together major collections either in the Middle East or in the West. There is not even a central catalogue of Qur’an manuscripts that are available in European collections.4

Though well developed for the New Testament, textual criticism of this type on the text of the Qur’an is still in its very early stages. However, in...

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