From: Carlton Winbery (winberyc@speedgate.net)
Date: Tue Mar 21 2000 - 22:01:23 EST
Theodore Mann wrote;
>Here's what I don't understand: (1) TOU QEOU appears in p46. The
>witnesses listed by Metzger are, I believe, of later vintage. Now, if a
>variant appears in a really early witness, what difference does it make
>if it is not included in later witnesses? Doesn't the fact that it
>appears so early prove its early existence, and diminish the importance
>of its absence in later documents? In the case of 1 Cor. 2:14, I gather
>that (unlike UBS3), UBS4 and NA27 include TOU QEOU without comment, but
>what about other similar situations? (2) With reference to 1 Cor. 2:14,
>Metzger indicates that the UBS3 committee considered the possibility that
>TOU QEOU might have been added by copyists. But are there any witnesses
>earlier than p46 that exclude it? If not, how can one make such a
>determination?
>
Steven Miller and Polycarp both gave good answers to this question. A
saying of George Kilpatrick to the effect that all manuscripts are corrupt
needs to be repeated. I'm sure you will get some support from Jim West
about the earliest manuscripts, but papyri can be wrong. A place where P46
is surely wrong is the famous variant at Rom. 8:28. P46 reads OIDAMEN DE
hOTI TOIS AGAPWSIN TON QEON PAN SUNERGEI hO QEOS EIS AGAQON. Even
Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, 81 and the Sahitic agree in including hO QEOS. The
N-A27 has OIDAMEN DE hOTI TOIS AGAPWSIN TON QEON PANTA SUNERGEI EIS AGAQON.
I agree with N-A27 here because it is impossible to explain how or why hO
QEOS would have been omitted. It is also very easy to explain that a scribe
would make explicit what he saw as the meaning of the text. Another aspect
of the statement is that the omission of hO QEOS would be in keeping with
Pauline style to omit the name God wherever possible. His intended meaning
is expressed very well by the reading in P46. He intended us to read "We
know that for those who love God, he always helps for good." When it comes
to divine names scribes tended to add not to take away.
Dr. Carlton L. Winbery
Foggleman Professor of Religion
Louisiana College
winbery@speedgate.net
winbery@andria.lacollege.edu
Ph. 1 318 448 6103 hm
Ph. 1 318 487 7241 off
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