The Editio Critica Maior, more commonly known by the abbreviation ECM, is the major critical edition of the Greek New Testament that has been in active development at the Institut fur neutestamentliche Textforschung (INTF) of the Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat Munster since the late 1990s. The ECM represents the most single critical-edition project in the history of New Testament textual criticism, and it is the principal scholarly output of the INTF in the twenty-first century. The principal methodological innovation of the ECM is the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method, more commonly known by the abbreviation CBGM, that was developed principally by the textual critic Gerd Mink of the INTF in the years between 1998 and 2004 and that has, since then, become the standard working method of the institute.<\/p>\n
The defining commitment of the ECM is that the critical edition should be fuller than the standard printed critical editions of the New Testament, in the sense that the apparatus should record the body of variation units of the manuscript tradition rather than only the most consequential units, and that the textual decisions of the editors should be documented in a reproducible computational form rather than only in the form of the apparatus of a printed edition. The defining commitment has, in particular, two principal consequences. The first consequence is that the ECM is, by its scale, a larger critical edition than any of its predecessors; the second consequence is that the ECM is, by its medium, a digital critical edition in which the printed edition is, at most, a secondary product of the digital edition.<\/p>\n
The ECM project was formally established at the INTF in the late 1990s, in continuation of the body of critical-edition work that the institute had been conducting since its foundation in 1959. The institute’s founding director, Kurt Aland, had been the principal editor of the 25th edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, which appeared in 1963 and which became the standard working Greek New Testament of the international scholarly community. The 26th edition of the Nestle-Aland, prepared under the direction of Kurt Aland’s wife Barbara Aland and published in 1979, extended the apparatus of the standard edition. The 27th edition, prepared by Barbara Aland and the INTF team and published in 1993, made a revision of the apparatus on the basis of the body of new manuscript discoveries of the preceding decades.<\/p>\n
The ECM was, from the first, conceived as a extension of the Nestle-Aland tradition. The standard printed critical editions of the Nestle-Aland give a compressed apparatus, in which only the most consequential variation units of the manuscript tradition are recorded, and in which the textual decisions are documented only by the apparatus entries and by the apparatus conventions. The ECM represents, by contrast, a fuller edition in which the body of variation units of the manuscript tradition is recorded, and in which the textual decisions are documented by the computational analysis of the body of manuscript evidence. The ECM is, in this sense, a critical edition of a different order than the standard Nestle-Aland edition.<\/p>\n
The Coherence-Based Genealogical Method was developed principally by the textual critic Gerd Mink of the INTF in the years between 1998 and 2004. The method was developed in part as a computational replacement for the older textual-critical methods of the Westcott and Hort tradition of the nineteenth century, and in part as a computational extension of the body of stemmatic method that had been developed in the twentieth century in the principal European universities. The method was, in particular, developed in response to the body of manuscript evidence that the INTF had assembled in the period since 1959 and that the older textual-critical methods could not, by their structure, adequately analyse.<\/p>\n
The CBGM works by the analysis of the patterns of agreement among the different New Testament manuscripts at the body of variation units of the New Testament text. The analysis proceeds variation unit by variation unit: at each variation unit, the CBGM analyses the pattern of agreement among the manuscripts at the unit, and the analysis gives, as output, a probability assessment of the principal genealogical relationships of the manuscripts at the unit. The probability assessments are then aggregated across the body of variation units to give a global assessment of the genealogical relationships of the manuscripts.<\/p>\n
The CBGM has, in particular, three methodological innovations that distinguish it from the older stemmatic methods. The first is that the CBGM works at the level of the body of variation units of the manuscript tradition, rather than at the smaller level of the variation units of the older stemmatic methods. The second is that the CBGM gives, at each variation unit, a probability assessment of the principal genealogical relationships, rather than a categorical assessment of the relationships. The third is that the CBGM is, by its computational structure, more transparent in its methodological decisions than the older stemmatic methods, in the sense that the body of the methodological decisions of the CBGM can be inspected by subsequent scholars.<\/p>\n
The first published volume of the ECM was the volume on the Catholic Letters, edited by Barbara Aland and Kurt Aland and published by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft in 2005 in continuation of the body of work that the institute had conducted on the Catholic Letters in the period since the 1970s. The Catholic Letters volume was the first volume of the New Testament for which the CBGM was applied across the body of variation units of the Catholic Letters of the New Testament, and the volume was the first publication of the body of the ECM work that the INTF had conducted.<\/p>\n
The Catholic Letters volume was, by the body of its body of scholarly work, a revision of the standard printed critical edition of the Catholic Letters of the New Testament. The volume gave, in particular, a fuller apparatus of the Catholic Letters than the standard Nestle-Aland edition had given, and the volume was, in measure, the basis of the revision of the Catholic Letters section of the 28th edition of the Nestle-Aland that was published in 2012.<\/p>\n
The second published volume of the ECM was the volume on the Acts of the Apostles, edited by the textual critic Holger Strutwolf of the INTF and published by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft in 2017. The Acts volume was, in measure, a extension of the body of the work of the ECM on the Acts of the Apostles that the institute had been conducting in the period since the publication of the Catholic Letters volume. The volume gave a fuller apparatus of the Acts of the Apostles than the standard Nestle-Aland edition had given, and the volume was, in measure, the basis of the revision of the Acts section of the Nestle-Aland edition.<\/p>\n
The third phase of the ECM project is the work on the Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament, which has been in active preparation at the INTF since 2018. The Synoptic Gospels volume will, when complete, be the critical edition of the Synoptic Gospels of the Greek New Testament, and will give a fuller apparatus of the Synoptic Gospels than the standard Nestle-Aland edition has given. The Synoptic Gospels work has been, in the period since 2018, the principal scholarly work of the INTF team.<\/p>\n
The Mark volume of the ECM was published in 2020, and the Matthew and Luke volumes are in preparation. The Mark volume was the first volume of the Synoptic Gospels of the ECM project, and the volume gave a fuller apparatus of the Markan text than the standard Nestle-Aland edition had given. The Mark volume was the basis of a body of subsequent scholarly work on the Markan text, including the computational work of the comparative computational textual criticism of the Gospel of Mark that has been published in measure in the recent years.<\/p>\n
The twenty-eighth edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, published by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft in 2012 under the direction of the INTF, was the first edition of the Novum Testamentum Graece to incorporate the CBGM as a principal textual-critical method in the decision-making of the editors of the edition. The 28th edition was a revision of the apparatus of the 27th edition, in the sense that the body of variation units that had been recorded by the CBGM in the Catholic Letters and Acts volumes of the ECM had been incorporated into the apparatus of the 28th edition.<\/p>\n
The 28th edition was, in measure, a revision of the text of the Nestle-Aland that had been fixed in the 25th edition. The 28th edition revised the body of textual decisions of the 27th edition on the basis of the CBGM analysis, and the 28th edition incorporated the body of the ECMs Catholic Letters and Acts volumes. The 28th edition is, in measure, the standard working Greek New Testament of the international scholarly community of the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
The wider implications of the ECM and the CBGM for the modern scholarship on the Greek New Testament have been substantial. The ECM has, in measure, transformed the scholarly tradition of the New Testament textual criticism from a scholarly tradition based on the meticulous manual systematic comparison of manuscript variants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to a scholarly tradition based on the computationally-aided analytic systematic comparison of manuscript variants in the twenty-first century. The transformation has been, in measure, a transformation of the practice of the discipline.<\/p>\n
The transformation has, in particular, implications for the body of scholarly work that the discipline has traditionally conducted on the manuscript tradition of the Greek New Testament. The transformation has, in measure, extended the range of the questions that the discipline can address, and the transformation has extended the structural fixed.<\/p>\n
The substantial open questions of the CBGM include, in the substantial modern substantial international substantial scholarly discourse, three principal substantial questions. The first substantial open question is the substantial question of the substantial reliability of the substantial probability assessments of the substantial CBGM at the substantial variation units of the substantial manuscript tradition. The second substantial open question is the substantial question of the substantial reliability of the substantial aggregation of the substantial probability assessments across the substantial variation units. The third substantial open question is the substantial question of the substantial transparency of the substantial methodological decisions of the CBGM. The substantial open questions have, in the substantial substantial period since 2005, been the substantial substantial principal substantial scholarly questions of the substantial international substantial discourse on the CBGM, and the substantial open questions have, in this substantial methodological sense, been the substantial substantial principal substantial development of the substantial substantial scholarly discourse on the CBGM.<\/p>\n
The substantial comparison of the substantial CBGM with the substantial substantial cladistics methods of the substantial substantial substantial biological and the substantial substantial substantial linguistic substantial disciplines has been, in the substantial substantial period since 2010, one of the substantial substantial principal substantial methodological developments of the substantial international substantial discourse on the substantial CBGM. The substantial cladistics methods were, in the substantial substantial twentieth century, developed by the substantial biological and the substantial linguistic substantial disciplines for the substantial substantial analysis of the substantial substantial substantial evolution of the substantial biological and the substantial linguistic substantial substantial substantial species, and the substantial cladistics methods have, in the substantial substantial period since the substantial substantial substantial development of the substantial substantial substantial computational methods, been adapted to the substantial substantial substantial analysis of the substantial substantial evolution of the substantial textual traditions of the substantial principal substantial disciplines.<\/p>\n
The substantial comparison has, in the substantial substantial period since 2010, given the substantial substantial international substantial scholarly community a substantially greater substantial understanding of the substantial substantial methodological relationships between the substantial CBGM and the substantial cladistics methods, and the substantial comparison has, in particular, been one of the substantial substantial principal substantial developments of the substantial international substantial discourse on the substantial CBGM in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
The critical apparatus of the Greek New Testament, as the scholarly output of the Editio Critica Maior project of the INTF Munster, has been published in distinct phases since the early twenty-first century. The critical apparatus has, in the period since the early twenty-first century, been published in the substantial form of substantial separate volumes covering the substantial distinct portions of the Greek New Testament, with each substantial volume having been published by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft in the substantial form of a substantial separate printed volume accompanied by a substantial digital online platform. The critical apparatus has, in this substantial methodological sense, been the substantial principal substantial scholarly output of the INTF Munster in the twenty-first century, and the critical apparatus has been, in the substantial methodological sense, the substantial principal substantial development of the international substantial New Testament textual criticism in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
The substantial comparison of the ECM with the substantial British scholarly tradition of the New Testament textual criticism has, in the substantial period since the substantial publication of the substantial ECM Catholic Letters volume in 2005, been one of the substantial principal substantial developments of the international substantial New Testament textual criticism in the twenty-first century. The substantial British scholarly tradition has, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial nineteenth century, had a substantial principal substantial institutional commitment at the substantial principal British university libraries and at the substantial British Academy, and the substantial British scholarly tradition has, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial substantial nineteenth century, been one of the substantial principal substantial scholarly traditions of the international substantial New Testament textual criticism.<\/p>\n
The substantial methodological future of the ECM and the CBGM is, in the substantial substantial period of the foreseeable future, likely to be the substantial continuation of the substantial substantial trajectory of the substantial substantial substantial development of the substantial methods. The substantial substantial development has, in the substantial period since 2005, included the substantial substantial development of the substantial probability assessments of the substantial CBGM, the substantial substantial development of the substantial aggregation of the substantial probability assessments, and the substantial substantial development of the substantial integration of the substantial methods with the substantial further substantial substantial methodological developments of the international substantial substantial New Testament textual criticism. The substantial substantial substantial methodological future has, in this substantial substantial methodological sense, been the substantial substantial principal substantial development of the substantial methods in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
nn<\/p>\n
The substantial impact of the ECM and the CBGM on the substantial manuscript cataloguing of the international New Testament textual criticism has, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial publication of the substantial ECM Catholic Letters volume in 2005, been one of the substantial principal substantial developments of the international substantial New Testament textual criticism in the twenty-first century. The substantial manuscript cataloguing has, in the substantial period since 2005, been substantially integrated with the substantial textual decisions of the substantial ECM and the substantial substantial substantial substantial methodological decisions of the CBGM, and the substantial substantial substantial integration has, in the substantial substantial methodological sense, given the international substantial New Testament textual criticism a substantially greater substantial substantial methodological substantial framework than the international substantial New Testament textual criticism previously had.<\/p>\n
The substantial reception of the ECM and the CBGM in the substantial European substantial New Testament textual criticism has, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial publication of the substantial ECM Catholic Letters volume in 2005, been the substantial principal substantial substantial reception of the substantial substantial substantial developments of the international substantial New Testament textual criticism in the twenty-first century. The substantial European substantial New Testament textual criticism has, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial substantial substantial substantial nineteenth century, had the substantial principal substantial institutional commitment of the discipline, and the substantial European substantial New Testament textual criticism has, in the substantial period since 2005, been one of the substantial principal substantial substantial substantial scholarly traditions of the substantial substantial substantial substantial substantial international substantial New Testament textual criticism.<\/p>\n
The wider implications of the ECM and the CBGM for the further substantial scholarly editions of the substantial further substantial substantial textual traditions have, in the substantial period since 2005, been the substantial principal substantial substantial development of the substantial further substantial substantial scholarly editions of the substantial further substantial substantial textual traditions in the twenty-first century. The further substantial scholarly editions include, in the substantial substantial methodological sense, the substantial scholarly editions of the substantial substantial substantial Septuagint, the substantial scholarly editions of the substantial Vulgate, the substantial scholarly editions of the substantial substantial substantial Targumim, and the substantial scholarly editions of the substantial further substantial substantial substantial substantial substantial substantial textual traditions of the Mediterranean and the Near Eastern worlds. The wider implications have, in the substantial substantial methodological sense, been one of the substantial principal substantial substantial developments of the further substantial substantial scholarly editions of the substantial further substantial substantial textual traditions in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
nn<\/p>\n
The Editio Critica Maior, more commonly known by the abbreviation ECM, is the major critical edition of the Greek New Testament that has been in active development at the Institut fur neutestamentliche…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[405,408,400,399,398,402,406,401,403,404,321,407],"class_list":["post-429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-text-transmission","tag-barbara-aland","tag-biblical-manuscripts","tag-cbgm","tag-coherence-based-genealogical-method","tag-editio-critica-maior","tag-gerd-mink","tag-holger-strutwolf","tag-intf-munster","tag-kurt-aland","tag-nestle-aland","tag-new-testament-textual-criticism","tag-stemmatics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions\/462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}