Since the unexpected popularity of Bart Ehrman's bestselling Misquoting Jesus, textual criticism has become a staple of Christian apologetics. Ehrman's skepticism about recovering the original text of the New Testament does deserve a response. However, this renewed apologetic interest in textual criticism has created fresh problems for evangelicals. An unfortunate proliferation of myths, mistakes, and misinformation has arisen about this technical area of biblical studies. In this volume 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 Christian students even as it offers a self-corrective to evangelical excesses.

List of Figures and TablesForeword by Daniel B. WallaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations1. Introduction (Peter J. Gurry and Elijah Hixson)2. Myths about Autographs: What They Were and How Long They May Have Survived (Timothy N. Mitchell)3. Math Myths: How Many Manuscripts We Have and Why More Isn't Always Better (Jacob W. Peterson)4. Myths about Classical Literature: Responsibly Comparing the New Testament to Ancient Works (James B. Prothro)5. Dating Myths, Part One: How We Determine the Ages of Manuscripts (Elijah Hixson)6. Dating Myths, Part Two: How Later Manuscripts Can Be Better Manuscripts (Gregory R. Lanier)7. Myths About Copyists: The Scribes Who Copied Our Earliest Manuscripts (Zachary J. Cole)8. Myths About Copying: The Mistakes and Corrections Scribes Made (Peter Malik)9. Myths About Transmission: The Text of Philemon from Beginning to End (S. Matthew Solomon)10. Myths About Variants: Why Most Variants Are Insignificant and Why Some Can't Be Ignored (Peter J. Gurry)11. Myths About Orthodox Corruption: Were Scribes Influenced by Theology, and How Can We Tell? (Robert D. Marcello)12. Myths About Patristics: What the Church Fathers Thought About Textual Variation (Andrew Blaski)13. Myths About Canon: What the Codex Can and Can't Tell Us (John D. Meade)14. Myths About Early Translations: Their Number, Importance, and Limitations (Jeremiah Coogan)15. Myths About Modern Translations: Variants, Verdicts, and Versions (Edgar Battad Ebojo)BibliographyList of ContributorsImage CreditsName IndexSubject IndexScripture IndexAncient Writings IndexManuscript Index