Table Of ContentPeter E. Lorenz
A History of Codex Bezae’s Text in the Gospel of Mark
Arbeiten zur
Neutestamentlichen
Textforschung
Herausgegeben im Auftrag des
Instituts für Neutestamentliche Textforschung
der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität
Münster/Westfalen
von David C. Parker und Holger Strutwolf
Band 53
Peter E. Lorenz
A History of Codex Bezae’s Text
in the Gospel of Mark
ISBN 978-3-11-074605-1
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-074686-0
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-074693-8
ISSN 0570-5509
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021947720
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The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
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To Karen and Rachel, Hannah, Naomi, and Esther
Preface
The present study began with a deep curiosity regarding the so-called “Western”
text of the gospels and Acts. Due to concerns though about the rather ill-defined
quality of such a topic untethered to a particular artifact, I settled eventually on
a somewhat narrower investigation of the text of Codex Bezae in the gospel of
Mark, whose Greek tradition had recently been collated in preparation for the
Editio Critica Maior of Mark and whose Latin tradition was then being published
in installments by Professor J.-C. Haelewyck for the Vetus Latina edition of Mark.
Given that it was Bezae’s puzzling text, after all, which prompted the whole
theory of a “Western” text back in the eighteenth century and that its text remains
to this day the most often cited concrete representative of this theory, my
curiosity has been amply rewarded despite the more limited topic.
Early on in my investigations into the “Western” text, I was troubled by a
certain dissonance between the confidence and near unanimity with which the
theory was espoused as a basic fact of textual history and the ambiguity of the
evidence that such a text ever really existed in the form implied in the literature,
whether as a great recension, a popular prevailing form of text, a pool of ancient
readings, or a general trajectory of the Greek tradition. The texts most often cited
in Justin Martyr and the anti-Marcionite heresiologists prove unsatisfactory for a
variety of reasons, while the few sparse parallels with Irenaeus in Acts present a
different set of problems. At one point, I pursued the possibility of a Syriac
solution only to be disappointed by the lack of substantive parallels, issues of
timing, and the problem of inferring Greek readings through the translation
event. These problems are summarized in Chapter 1, while the notable exception
of the Harklean apparatus is discussed in Chapter 3. In short, the case for an
ancient “Western” text is surprisingly weak considering it as the broad
consensus. Behind this theory of a “Western” text lies a method indebted to the
source-critical quest of the nineteenth-century and the self-assurance of
Enlightenment critics beguiled by elusive notions of objectivity concerning what
may or may not have constituted a reasonable enterprise for historical actors
living in a context quite remote from their own. I found myself unable to
corroborate their findings. At the same time, it is certainly remarkable that our
principal Greek witness to this text survives in a late bilingual majuscule with an
accompanying Latin column, a fact that turns out to supply crucial contextual
clues as to its probable origins. In light of Professor Parker’s dating of the
manuscript to c. 400, I found it more productive to consider this text as an artifact
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VIII | Preface
of the fifth-century context in which it was produced. The results of this
investigation are presented below in the main study.
To the reader or reviewer who is unable to read the entire work chapter by
chapter, I would suggest starting with the research questions, method, and
survey in the introduction. The chapter summaries supply additional detail not
covered in the survey, while the conclusion in Chapter 8, provides an overview of
the full argument.
Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Fulbright U.S. Student
Program in covering the first year of my two-year research sabbatical in Germany
at the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung (INTF) at the University of
Münster. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the generous support of the
Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes in allowing me to continue my research
sabbatical for a second year in Germany. Without the generosity of these
institutions and their belief in the relevance of my work as a contribution to the
study of ancient religious texts and to human knowledge in general, it would not
have been possible for me to complete the present book.
I would like to acknowledge Prof. David C. Parker, Professor of Digital
Philology at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, for his suggestion
of the topic of this study.
I would like to acknowledge Dr. Bruce Morrill for his initial introductions to
the colleagues who would later make this study possible. I would like to
acknowledge my colleagues at the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung,
Münster, Germany, in particular, Dr. Klaus Wachtel, Dr. Georg Gäbel, Dr. Troy
Griffitts, and Volker Krüger, for their encouragement, feedback, and assistance
in gathering the necessary data. I would like to thank Prof. Ulrich B. Schmid for
encouraging me to perform this research in Germany. In addition, I would like to
thank the many collators whose work in transcribing the gospel of Mark made
this work possible.
I would like to thank the faculty, the committee, and the dean of the school
of evangelical theology at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster for the
opportunity to submit and defend the dissertation that ultimately became this
book for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. I would like to thank Prof. Eve-Marie
Becker for reading and commenting on my dissertation.
I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to my Doktorvater, Prof. Holger
Strutwolf, Professor of Theology at the University of Münster, Germany, and
Director of the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung in Münster,
Germany, who supervised my dissertation, accepted me as his doctoral student,
arranged for my research visa, hosted me at the Institute, supported me in
accommodating my family’s stay in Germany and our return to the USA, prepared
recommendations for my two research grants, guided me in my research, read
and commented on the first drafts, inspired me with his warmth, wisdom, and
breadth of knowledge of early church history and New Testament textual studies,
and supplied me with a model of excellence in scholarship and service to the
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X | Acknowledgments
church. Without his kindness and generosity, I could not have completed the
present study of Codex Bezae and its place in the history of the church.
I would like to thank the editors of Arbeiten zur Neutestamentlichen
Textforschung, Prof. David C. Parker and Prof. Holger Strutwolf, for accepting
this book for publication in the series and Dr. Albrecht Döhnert for arranging for
its publication. I would like to thank Alice Meroz and Charlotte Webster for their
kind assistance in preparing the manuscript for production.
I would like to acknowledge my parents for introducing me to the Christian
faith at a young age. I would like to acknowledge my father, Prof. Edward C.
Lorenz, for instilling in me a love for history, and my mother, Marilyn J. Lorenz,
for inspiring me with a love of language. Their support has been a steady source
of encouragement throughout this project.
Finally, I would like to thank my family, my children, Rachel, Hannah,
Naomi, and Esther, and especially my wife, Karen, for their constant support and
willingness to move to Germany for two years so that I could complete this book.
