Byzantine priority theory

John William Burgon was a famous advocate of the Byzantine priority theory.

The Byzantine priority theory, also called the Majority Text theory, is a theory within Christian textual criticism held by a minority of textual critics. This view sees the Byzantine text-type as the New Testament's most accurate textual tradition, instead of the Alexandrian text-type or the Western text-type.[1][2][3] Known advocates of this view include Maurice Robinson, Zane Hodges and John Burgon.[4][5] The Majority Text theory is distinguished from the view of those who advocate the Textus Receptus, as although the Byzantine text is very similar to the Textus Receptus as the Textus Receptus mostly relies upon Byzantine manuscripts, it contains a few minority readings which Byzantine priorists reject.[6]

Byzantine priority is most commonly taught among conservative Evangelical and Eastern Orthodox circles.[7]

  1. ^ Quarles, Charles L.; Kellum, L. Scott (2023-06-20). 40 Questions About the Text and Canon of the New Testament. Kregel Publications. ISBN 978-0-8254-7590-0.
  2. ^ Pierpont, William G.; Robinson, Maurice A. (2019-12-17). The Case for the Byzantine Priority. Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US. ISBN 978-1-6764-0916-8.
  3. ^ White, James R. (June 2009). The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust Modern Translations?. Baker Books. ISBN 978-0-7642-0605-4.
  4. ^ Hodges, Zane (1961). "The ecclesiastical text of Revelation: does it exist?". Bibliotheca Sacra.
  5. ^ Heuer, Mark (1995). "An Evaluation of John W. Burgon's Use of Patristic Evidence" (PDF). The Evangelical Theological Society.
  6. ^ "The Majority Text and the Original Text: Are They Identical? | Bible.org". bible.org. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  7. ^ Ehrman, Bart D.; Holmes, Michael W. (2012-11-09). The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis. Second Edition. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-23655-4.