Guest Post
Kevin Schaal, in a recent post, commented that our grounds for using a preferred Bible translation is something “we need to talk more about…not less.” A positive development in the recent conversation is that we seem to be focusing more and more on reading comprehension and less and less on textual criticism. Yes, textual criticism matters, but the majority of believers are just plain unqualified to productively wade into an array of subject matter that rivals the board game The Campaign for North Africa for byzantine complexity. No one should take this as an insult. Textual criticism is simply very, very demanding. Nowhere else in biblical studies, perhaps, will you encounter so many technical terms: lectio difficilior lectio potior, the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method, Text und Textwert! This is a specialized science, even an art. Anyone brandishing it as a weapon for the translation debate would do well to heed Kurt and Barbara Aland’s words of caution:
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