I was pleased to see two recent positive reviews of my co-edited volume (with Chuck Hill), The Early Text of the New Testament (Oxford, 2012).  As a side note, the book is now out in paperback for only $45 (which I mentioned in a prior post here).

Over at the Review of Biblical Literature, Amy Donaldson concludes her review:

For anyone interested in the early text of the New Testament, the state of research, and further avenues of study in this topic, this book is a valuable introduction and reference tool.  For those interested in specific books of the New Testament or patristic authors, the individual chapters on a range of topics will provide a helpful point of intersection with this larger theme of the New Testament text leading into the fourth century.  As the editors acknowledge in the introduction, this volume is not meant to be the final word on this subject but is an initial step in moving forward the larger conversation on the early text of the New Testament and our comprehensive assessment of it in light of continuing research and new evidence.

In the Irish Theological Quarterly, Thomas O’Loughlin offers a positive assessment:

This collection [of essays] stands as a benchmark in a series of contemporary discussions by some of the best scholars writing in any language today. The collection is in three parts. The first concerns scribal culture—note that this category is far broader than the traditional ‘palaeography and codicology’—in early Christianity with four papers. That by Gamble (pp. 25–36) is, in effect, his book of lens through which we can now re-read his 1995 book; while that of Kruger (pp. 63–80) brings together evidence on attitudes to the reproduction of texts in a new and fascinating manner….

This is an important book of which biblical scholars will have to take account—and they will be rewarded for their attention—not least as a status quaestionis on many topics; that said, one can already sketch out other collections that will both fill out and balance the picture.

Thanks to Tommy Wasserman, a contributor to ETNT on the text of Matthew, for passing along this review!