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#90 - MBE's use of "readings" of Holy Writ

by Robert Nguyen Cramer

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Question/insight #90:

What did Mary Baker Eddy meaning by the word "readings" when she wrote in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (S&H 139:15):

Response #90:

You can obtain a detailed answer to your question by reading Bruce Metzger's The Texts of the New Testament, Second Edition. As an additional aid, below is a definition of "reading" from Webster's 1828 Dictionary, which is the English dictionary standard that Mary Baker Eddy used.

Additional listings and explanations of the various "readings" can be found in the following:

In his Oxford Companion to the Bible article, Dr. Metzger mentions that as of 1989 there were 5488 manuscripts representing parts of the Greek New Testament. This does not include early manuscripts in other ancient languages. No mention is made of the number of Hebrew or Greek manuscripts of the Old Testament.

 

Copyright 1996-2002 Robert Nguyen Cramer