Intermediate · ABOUT 240 MINUTES
Manuscripts, English Bible history, translation philosophy, Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, lexicons, and textual variants.
Primary passage: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Biblical books were transmitted in handwritten manuscripts before printing. Textual criticism compares surviving witnesses to evaluate variants and recover the earliest attainable text.
Primary passage: Psalm 119:105
English Bible history includes Wycliffite translations, Tyndale, Coverdale, Geneva, Bishops’, Douay-Rheims, KJV, and later revisions and translations.
Primary passage: Genesis 1:1
Most of the Old Testament is Hebrew with some Aramaic; the New Testament is primarily Koine Greek. Real grammar and syntax matter more than mystical letter meanings.
Primary passage: Mark 16:9-20
Some familiar passages have significant manuscript questions. Responsible translations disclose them rather than hiding them. Christian confidence need not depend on pretending variants do not exist.
