Richard Simon Critical History of the Text of the New Testament

Book excerpt: In Critical History of the Text of the New Testament, 17th century Oratorian Richard Simon (1638-1712), ‘father’ of modern biblical criticism, surveys the genuineness, accuracy, authority, and reliability of all then known sources of the New Testament. He makes rigorous, objective, and expert use of a staggering quantity of material relating to the text—Greek and Latin manuscripts, early versions, quotations from the Old Testament in the New, from the Church Fathers and other commentators of all periods. Though in his day Simon was contradicted, opposed, persecuted, and silenced, it is precisely because, three centuries ago, he dared to be different, and because of his knowledge and his scrupulously “scientific” approach, that his work deserves to reach a wider audience.