Does its inclusion in the Majority Text prove the story of the adulteress to be a part of John’s original Gospel?

 

This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 1992.

I do most certainly believe that John placed the Pericope Adulterae in his Gospel, and in its present position, right from the start. I do not hold that view because this Pericope is found in the Majority Text. In fact, to be honest, I hold that the 'Majority Text position' is false, as are a number of arguments that are commonly used to support it.

It is a matter of regret to me that the New King James Version still adheres to the principle of following the Majority Text, and therefore perpetuates, for instance, the false reading at Revelation 22:14 NKJV, which not only goes against John's style in the rest of the Revelation, but is a contradiction of the gospel.

Moreover, while I am not an expert in the textual criticism of the New Testament, I have worked for some years on the problems of the text of the Old Testament, where the Majority Text position is generally quite untenable, and indeed, if it were adopted, would convict the Holy Spirit himself of having favoured the wrong reading in Hebrews 11:21.

I mention these things, however, not in order to reopen a discussion that has now gone on for a long time in the Christian journals and in numerous books.

Yours very sincerely in Christ,

 
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Is the use of literary symmetry in a historical work, such as Luke’s Gospel, consistent with strict historicity?

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