Hi folks.

It's been a few days since I've blogged. Don't worry, I'm still here. I've just been sucked up by an incredibly interesting (and complex) project for Logos that you're bound to hear (and see!) more about at the SBL annual meeting in Philadelphia. When I get sucked into projects like this, things tend to go quiet. I've also been spending more time outside of Logos with a special certain someone (yes, I'm talking about Amy). And there's also that paper for the SBL CARG Biblioblogger session that's just about 'in the can'. That all amounts to less bloggin' time for Rico.

But I have been reading a bit. Most of it has to do with scribal practices, as I've discussed in earlier posts (here and here). Here are some citations if you're interested.

The Bible in Modern Scholarship: Papers read at the 100th meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. Abingdon Press, 1965. Articles read include:

• Aland, Kurt. The Significance of the Papyri for Progress in New Testament Research. pp. 325-346.
• Metzger, Bruce M. Recent Contributions to the Study of the Ancient Versions of the New Testament. pp. 347-369.
• Colwell, Ernest Cadman. Scribal Habits in Early Papyri: A Study in the Corruption of the Text. pp. 370-389.

New Dimensions in New Testament Study. Zondervan, 1974. Articles read include:

• Fee, Gordon. P⁷⁵, P⁶⁶ and Origen: The Myth of Early Textual Recension in Alexandria. pp. 19-45.
• There are other articles in here I'd like to read but haven't read yet. These include:
• Longenecker, Richard N. Ancient Amanuenses and the Pauline Epistles. pp. 281-297.
• Burdic, Donald W. Οἰδα and Γινώσκω in the Pauline Epistles. pp. 344-356.
• On a side note: the copy of the book that I procured via AbeBooks.com had the name "Daniel B. Wallace" handwritten on the inside, no purchase date. Stuff like that makes a guy wonder ...

These are all cool essays, but they're dense -- I need to read through them again to really grok the content. In short, I'm learning a lot about inadvertent scribal errors, but not a whole lot about the psychology or process behind intentional changes to the text. Colwell and Fee both treat P⁷⁵ and P⁶⁶, so one can see how two different people examined the same papryi. Read Colwell first as Fee cites him directly in spots.

I've also read sizeable chunks of Arthur Vööbus' Early Versions of the New Testament: Manuscript Studies. Are there reasons (beyond lack of publisher interest) that this book isn't more widely available? The reading really isn't too technical and I find it quite readable and informative.

I'm also re-reading C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia (in the proper as-published order, not the new-fangled 'chronological' order). Those are quick reads, though. I'm through The Lion, The Witch and thd Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. I'll dig into Voyage of the Dawn Treader a little later tonight.