The Theological Tendency of Codex Bezae Cantebrigiensis in Acts

An investigation into to what extent textual variants in the New Testament were caused by dogmatic interference with the text.

Professor Epp's purpose in this investigation is to discover to what extent textual variants in the New Testament were caused by dogmatic interference with the text. Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, a late fifth-century manuscript of the Gospels and Acts, is the leading Greek representative of the so-called 'Western' text, and a natural starting point for an inquiry into theological bias behind the striking variants in that textual tradition. Professor Epp makes a detailed comparison between the 'Western' text and the 'Neutral' text of Acts, and discloses a strongly heightened anti-Judaic tendency in the Western text. He concludes that a theological motive for these variants can hardly be questioned, since the Western text of Acts is more consistent in delineating its particular viewpoint and more abundant in its evidence than could reasonably be expected of an aberrant textual tradition. This theological approach to textual criticism is not new, but it has been confined hitherto to isolated passages.