Greek New Testament

supplemented by the consensus of several very ancient translators—most notably the Latin ones—and supported throughout by the testimony of the Church Fathers, we believe that these ancient sources alone, or nearly so, should be employed to restore the original writings of the evangelists and apostles. In doing so, we set aside the vast number of later manuscripts, regardless of how remarkably they agree with one another Tischendorf refers here to the "Majority Text" or "Textus Receptus," which was common in his day but based on much later medieval copies. In this approach, we are greatly encouraged by the judgment of Richard Bentley 1662–1742; an English scholar who was the first to propose using ancient manuscripts and the Latin Vulgate to reconstruct the oldest possible Greek text. For he—whose footsteps Karl Lachmann 1793–1851; a German philologist who applied rigorous scientific methods to create the first New Testament text entirely independent of traditional medieval editions also followed—when he devoted himself one hundred and fifty years ago to correcting, or rather restoring, the words of the sacred writers, judged that nearly the same path as our own must be taken.

In this endeavor, Bentley (whom Lachmann followed in turn) believed one should rest satisfied with the version of the text that was commonly read by the Church at the time of the Council of Nicaea The first ecumenical council of the Church in 325 AD. However, by the most fortunate providence of God, it has come to pass that we are now permitted to return even further back, at least to the era of Irenaeus c. 130–202 AD; a prominent early Christian theologian whose writings provide a window into the New Testament text used in the 2nd century.

      Written at Leipzig original: "Lipsiae" on the day of the Ascension of Christ, in the year 1869.