William L. (“Bill”) Petersen (1950-2006) was a prominent Diatessaron scholar and New Testament textual critic. This collection brings together thirty-two of his essays, enabling an overview of his impressive and wide-ranging scholarship on Romanos the Melodist, Tatian and his Diatessaron, Patristic studies, and New Testament textual criticism. It will be of value for all those interested in the state and method of these fields of study, on which it offers engaging and sometimes provocative perspectives.

The status of the Christian Old Testament as originally Hebrew scripture had certain theoretical implications for many early Christians. While they based their exegesis on Greek translations and considered the LXX inspired in its own right, the Fathers did acknowledge the Hebrew origins of their Old Testament and in some ways defined their Bible accordingly. Hebrew scripture exerted its influence on patristic biblical theory especially in regard to issues of the canon, language, and text of the Bible. For many Fathers, only documents thought to be originally composed in Hebrew could be considered canonical, the Hebrew language was considered the primordial language subsequently confined to Israel, and the LXX, as the most faithful translation, corresponded precisely to the Hebrew text.

The seventeen studies in this volume provide a presentation and assessment of past and current methods applied to the New Testament text. Coauthors Epp and Fee offer an introductory survey of the whole field of New Testament textual criticism, followed by sections of essays on these topics: definitions of key terms; critiques of current theory and method; methods of establishing textual relationships; studies of the papyri with respect to text-critical method; and guidelines for the use of patristic evidence. --From publisher's description.

How much did the theological arguments of the church affect the copying of the New Testament text? Focusing on issues of textual criticism, this inaugural volume of the Text and Canon of the New Testament series offers some answers to that question and responds to some of Bart Ehrman's views about the transmission of the New Testament text. Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament will be a valuable resource for those working in textual criticism, patristics, and New Testament apocryphal literature.

The collection of essays focuses on the twin areas of research undertaken by Prof. Michael W. Holmes. These are the sub-disciplines of textual criticism and the study of the Apostolic Fathers. The first part of the volume on textual criticism focuses on issues of method, the praxis of editing and collating texts, and discussions pertaining to individual variants. The second part of the volume assembles essays on the Apostolic Fathers. There is a particular focus on the person and writings of Polycarp, since this is the area of research where Prof. Holmes has worked most intensively.

Mark Sheridan, an expert in early Christianity, explores how ancient Christian theologians interpreted Scripture in order to address the problem of attributing human characteristics and emotions to God.

Examines early Christian interpretation of the Bible from various perspectives.

"A Patristic Greek Reader provides primary Greek texts for translation by students past their first year of New Testament or Classical Greek and for pastors and scholars looking to refresh their Greek. The reader includes selections from fifteen early Christian texts; including the Didache, Ignatius; Justin Martyr, Eusebius, and John Chrysostom, ranked according to difficulty. Each selection is accompanied by a set of morphological and grammatical aids for the translator."--BOOK JACKET.

A renewed interest in textual criticism has created an unfortunate proliferation of myths, mistakes, and misinformation about this technical area of biblical studies. Elijah Hixson and Peter Gurry, along with a team of New Testament textual critics, offer up-to-date, accurate information on the history and current state of the New Testament text that will serve apologists and offer a self-corrective to evangelical excesses.