Wilbur N. Pickering, The Identity of the New Testament Text, rev. edition (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1980). Paperback, 250 pages.  Grade level 10-12.

You may have heard of the “King James Version” controversy.  If so you are aware that there is a lot of emotion on both sides. Those advocating the King James Version maintain that the Greek manuscripts used for this translation and the work of the translators is the very best in available. They maintain that all other versions contain corruptions. Yet other people (including the majority of New Testament scholars) find this argument unsubstantiated and encourage believers to use translations based on different Greek texts employing current English language. At times the rhetoric on both sides tends towards demeaning accusations.

Honest disclosure:  I am an advocate of the Byzantine textual tradition, which is a group of about 95% of the existing New Testament manuscripts that largely support the texts used for the King James Version (NKV) and the New King James Version. Thomas Nelson Publishers is the printing house that has published the New King James Version, an updated version of the KJV. They also publish Pickering’s book.

Most modern translations use Greek texts gathered from many sources (eclectic). For instance, the New American Standard Bible, New International Version, Living Bible, and New Living Bible all use an eclectic text. These texts are chosen by scholars and do not represent a single textual tradition.

Pickering presents one of the most cogent arguments for the Byzantine textual tradition in recent print.  Essentially his argument is that this tradition is best represented geographically, in numbers, in early and late translations (2^nd to 5^th centuries), and in lectionaries.  Although there are many very early manuscripts that support other readings, the Byzantine reading is every bit as viable and indeed was most widely accepted throughout Greek speaking Christendom.  He finds that alternative readings are due to textual corruption from copying errors or doctrinal errors.

 
Also these web sites present his position:

http://www.esgm.org/ingles/imenu.html.  This site is a sequel to Pickering’s book.  It contains the most straight-forward and scholarly presentation of this position on the web.

 http://www.esgm.org/ingles/appendh.h.htm. “What Difference Does it Make?” In this article Pickering discusses differences between the Majority and Eclectic textual traditions.  It is difficult to read for the uninitiated but excellent.  Grade level 12-14.