Textual Criticism: What the Layman Should Know

This book has three primary goals:

First, it aims to demystify the science by explaining the technical nature of New Testament textual criticism in a way laypeople can understand. Reading book this will not make you an expert-true expertise requires a lifetime of study-but it will provide a solid foundation.

Second, it seeks to build confidence in Scripture. The aim is to ensure that when you see footnotes in modern versions (like the NIV or ESV) questioning certain verses, your faith remains unshaken and you can confidently defend those passages as the inspired Word of God.

Third, it defends the King James Version by demonstrating the reliability of the Greek text which underlies it. In the late 1800s, scholarship shifted, leading almost every modern English translation since to use a different base text. The King James Version and the New King James Version stand apart in maintaining the original textual basis.

Douglas J. Kuiper is Rector and Professor of Church History and New Testament Studies at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary.