Page:The New Testament in the original Greek - 1881.djvu/86

 Ixxviii INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.

scnts the labour of forty years. He had a natural passion for the study of MSS. ; made extensive literary journeys ; collated about 102 MSS. (among them A, C, and D) with greater care than had been done before, and introduced the system of citing them by Latin letters and Arabic nu- merals. His Prolegomena are disfigured by the long and painful history of his controversy with his narrow ortho- dox opponents, Iselin and Frey ; he depreciated the merits of Bengel ; but his New Testament is still valuable as a storehouse of parallel passages from the ancient classics.

During the next twenty years little was done for textual criticism. JOHANN SALOMO SEMLER, the father of German rationalism (1725-91), but, in what he called "Privat-From- migkeit" (personal piety), a pietist and an earnest oppo- nent of deism, re-edited Wetstcin's Prolegomena with val- uable suggestions (Halle, 1764), and stimulated the zeal of liis great pupil Griesbach.

2. SECOND PERIOD : TRANSITION FROM THE TEXTUS RE- CEPTUS TO THE UNCIAL TEXT. FROM GRIESBACH TO LACHMANN A.D. 1770-1830.

This period shows enlarged comparison of the three sources of the text, the discovery of critical canons, a gradual improvement of the Textus Receptus, and approach to an older and better text ; but the former was still re- tained as a basis on a prescriptive right.

(10.) The period is introduced by the honoured name of JOHANN JACOB GRIESBACH (1745-1812), professor of di- vinity at Halle and then at Jena. He made the study of textual criticism of the Greek Testament his life-work, and combined all the necessary qualifications of accurate learn- ing, patient industry, and sound judgment. His editions

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