HISTORY OF THE PAULINE CORPUS: TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF MSS. FROM THE SECOND TO THE FIFTH CENTURY

Abstract

The goal of this dissertation is to examine the texts of the majuscules and papyri of the Pauline corpus from P46 to Ephraemi-Rescriptus plus Claromontanus. The dissertation asks different questions of familiar material to arrive at distinctive insights. While the orientation and methodology of textual criticism are typically diachronic and evaluative, this project is synchronic and non-evaluative. Previous methods of comparison are often hindered by an indelicate linguistic methodological approach. Therefore, two distinct methodological changes are created. First, by adopting Systemic Functional Linguistic, the approach differentiates discrete linguistic elements to enable both the comparison and weighing of textual differences among the manuscripts. Second, using a synchronic orientation permits comparing texts without the bias of a base text. Both methodological changes enable new avenues for the measurement of textual transmission with a more accurate means of textual calculations. The results indicate a textual rate of agreement for direct manuscript comparison ranging from ninety-four percent to over ninety-eight. When the textual variation is weighed rather than merely counted, over ninety-nine percent of the Pauline text is uniform among the early majuscules. The degree of textual uniformity and the lack of patterns in variation serve to challenge previous research regarding text types, scribal alterations, and historical sources.