A New Approach to Textual Criticism: An Introduction to the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method by Tommy Wasserman and Peter J. Gurry

Abstract

Reviewed by: A New Approach to Textual Criticism: An Introduction to the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method by Tommy Wasserman and Peter J. Gurry Peter Malik tommy wasserman and peter j. gurry, A New Approach to Textual Criticism: An Introduction to the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (SBLRBS 80; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2017). Pp. xvi + 146. Paper $19.95. There seems to be no shortage of introductions to textual criticism, with few of them having long-term value and utility. This book by Tommy Wasserman and Peter J. Gurry certainly belongs to the latter. The authors aim to introduce the theoretical foundations and practical workings of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM), a new computerized method developed by Gerd Mink at the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung (INTF) in Münster. Most importantly, the INTF has utilized the method as a central working tool in preparing the text of the Editio Critica Maior (ECM). Given the complexity of the method and the fact that it has been used almost exclusively by the ECM editors, there has been a good deal of misunderstanding and reservation on the part of "outsiders." Although there have been numerous specialized studies published on the subject (including G.'s recent monograph, A Critical Examination of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method in New Testament Textual Criticism [NTTSD 55; Leiden: Brill, 2017]), for a long time a plain introduction has been a desideratum. The New Approach is just such a text. In the space of six concise, clearly structured chapters, followed by an annotated bibliography and a glossary, W. and G. elucidate the CBGM in such a way that even a nonspecialist may be able to understand its basics. Each chapter retains a consistent structure, starting with a few sentences of a summary, followed by the main contents and conclusion, as well as a short list of key terms. In the introductory chapter, the authors outline the basic aspects of text-critical inquiry, especially as they relate to the changing landscape of the current state of discipline. Naturally, the CBGM lies at the very heart of this change, and the authors outline the most notable effects of its application to the study of the NT text. The rejection of text types and the renewed appreciation for the mainstream Byzantine text are, perhaps, the most striking ones. The next chapter provides a general overview of the method. Here G. and W. sketch out the method's historical development, as well as the key problems and concepts. Since the CBGM is a stemmatic method based on the analysis of two types of textual coherence, the concepts of "coherence" and "stemma" are foundational and hence are also the subject of the following three chapters. In chap. 3, W. and G. consider "pregenealogical coherence," which is basically the percentage of agreement between witnesses at all the variation units where they are compared. The example they use to illustrate its use is the famous variation at Mark 1:1, to which W. is known to have dedicated no small scholarly attention (T. Wasserman, "The 'Son of God' Was in the Beginning [Mark 1:1])," JTS 62 [2011] 20–50; idem, "Historical and Philological Correlations and the CBGM as Applied to Mark 1:1," TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism 20 [2015] 1–11). Perhaps the most important end to which this evidence can be directed is to adjudge where the agreement between witnesses is more likely to be coincidental and where genetic. At the same time, the main limitation of pregenealogical coherence is that it does not tell us anything about the direction of change within a given variation unit (i.e., a "local stemma")—the editors must make up their own minds. This information is, at each point, fed into a database. The sum total of pregenealogical evidence and editorial judgment derived from all the local stemmata constitutes the second type of coherence, namely, "genealogical coherence." [End Page 564] The ins and outs of genealogical coherence are discussed in chap. 4 and illustrated by helpful examples from the Catholic Epistles and Acts. Next, chap. 5 concerns the "global stemma." The authors define it as "the simplest hypothesis about how the text of our...