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arose , we never knew accusation more completely unsupported by even the shadow of proof . The external evidence respecting the true reading of the text under our consideration is thus given by Mr . B . : il must observe that the testimony of MSS ., as far as regards the great bulk , ( namely , those three-ffths which have the readings Kv ^ U > ca < 0 £ ? or 0 e 8 v-ou Kvpfa , ) seems to prove no more than this , that in the M&S . which the Scribes used , the readings varied and fluctuated between Xpig-S [ QtS , we suppose ] and Kvp / s . These may therefore be considered as neutral . Now of the rest , the far greater number , ( including those venerable versions the Vulgate
and Syriac posterior , ) have 0 aa ; and as to the fathers , it is manifest that there the weight of authority is decidedly in favour of 0 eS ; since Chrysostom , Basil , Athanasius , Epiphanius , Ambrosius , &c , are far preferable to those on the other side , who are chiefly Latin fathers . The only Greek one of consequence among them is Origen , and he is too heterodox to be safely trusted in such a case . And as to the number of ancient MSS . that have Kvpfo , on which the advocates for that reading seem to lay such great stress , that is only four , and one of them is the famous or rather notorious Codex Cant ., which has been every where , and systematically interpolated and altered . Such testimony must evidently rather weaken than strengthen its genuineness . "—Vol .
V . p . 28 . Now , in the first place , it is not true that the MSS . having the compound readings can by any sound critic be regarded as neutral , because if 0 £ s he not the genuine reading , it must have been originally a gloss on the ambiguous word Kw /» , intimating that it here implies Divine nature . The
compound reading is much better accounted for by supposing one of the words a gloss on the other , than by supposing the Scribes to have consulted many MSS ., and found the one word in some , the other in others ; but on the supposition of one word having been introduced as a gloss , that word must follow the one which it explains ; now of sixty-nine authorities quoted in favour of the compound reading , one only reads ® £ » xa * Kvp /» . Let it even be granted that the double reading arose from fluctuation in the
authorities consulted by the Scribes—it is still probable that the word which had the best authority was placed first , so that we must consider the MSS . and versions having the compound reading as bearing testimony in favour of Kvpis . Of the remainder , the majority in favour of ® e& , is not so great as our author ' s words , " far the greater number , " would lead us to suppose ; eighteen , of which one only is uncial , in favour of @eS ; twelve , of which
four are uncial , for Kt / p /» . He prudently disclaims entering on the comparative merits of different MSS ., yet he does not forget to extol the only uncial MS . ( the Vatican ) on his own side , whilst he most unjustly condemns a very valuable one whose testimony is against him . The Vatican MS . is certainly most valuable , but no one copy can be implicitly followed , and this , as well as others , occasionally exhibits readings which are generally acknowledged to be spurious . When any of the best MSS . is found united with those which are modern and corrupt in opposition to those with which
it is usually associated , it loses its authority in such particular instance . We cannot both esteem the Vatican MS . as one of a group exhibiting in general the most ancient and purest text , and esteem it also when it differs from all the others Avhich constitute that group , being supported only by those whose testimony is on other occasions least regarded . The MSS . supporting Ki / p / s are the leading ones of both the Alexandrine and Western families , which , when they agree together , seldom fail to exhibit the true reading , especially when supported , as in this case they are , by the versions . Mr . B . boasts
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Bloomfield ' s Recensio Synoptica Annotationis Saeree . 157
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1829, page 157, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2570/page/5/
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