First edition
A New Approach to Textual Criticism
An Introduction to the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method
Peter J. Gurry; Tommy Wasserman · 2017
Atlanta: SBL Press; Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2017.
Overview
Wasserman and Gurry give the first book-length English introduction to the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method used in the Catholic Epistles and Acts of the Editio Critica Maior. They explain local stemmata, potential ancestors and descendants, pre-genealogical and genealogical coherence, textual flow diagrams, contamination, and the relationship between editorial decisions and computer-assisted analysis. Worked examples show how the CBGM can expose or challenge existing judgments without functioning as an automatic text-generating algorithm.
The book is exceptionally clear about both the power and the limits of the method. It stresses that editors first decide the direction of variants, that the resulting genealogical data can then feed back into those decisions, and that versional and patristic evidence were not yet fully integrated. That candor makes it a reliable guide even for readers who dispute the method's initial-text goal.
Overview
Wasserman and Gurry give the first book-length English introduction to the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method used in the Catholic Epistles and Acts of the Editio Critica Maior. They explain local stemmata, potential ancestors and descendants, pre-genealogical and genealogical coherence, textual flow diagrams, contamination, and the relationship between editorial decisions and computer-assisted analysis. Worked examples show how the CBGM can expose or challenge existing judgments without functioning as an automatic text-generating algorithm.
The book is exceptionally clear about both the power and the limits of the method. It stresses that editors first decide the direction of variants, that the resulting genealogical data can then feed back into those decisions, and that versional and patristic evidence were not yet fully integrated. That candor makes it a reliable guide even for readers who dispute the method's initial-text goal.
Editorial Evaluation
Purpose Fulfillment
Does the work accomplish what it claims to accomplish?
Brief assessment
The authors succeed exceptionally well in making a technically difficult method intelligible without pretending that it is simple or automatic.
Full rationale and supporting references
The authors succeed exceptionally well in making a technically difficult method intelligible without pretending that it is simple or automatic. Evidence reviewed: complete supplied edition, including all chapters, diagrams, worked examples, glossary, bibliography, and indexes (PDF pp. 1–162).
Editorial Evaluation
Source Quality
Does it use the appropriate primary and secondary sources?
Brief assessment
The account rests on ECM data, official CBGM documentation, worked variation units, direct editorial experience, and the principal methodological literature.
Full rationale and supporting references
The account rests on ECM data, official CBGM documentation, worked variation units, direct editorial experience, and the principal methodological literature. Evidence reviewed: complete supplied edition, including all chapters, diagrams, worked examples, glossary, bibliography, and indexes (PDF pp. 1–162).
Editorial Evaluation
Citation Accuracy
Are quotations, references, and claims verifiable and in context?
Brief assessment
Figures, tables, variation units, terminology, software concepts, and scholarly claims are carefully documented and traceable.
Full rationale and supporting references
Figures, tables, variation units, terminology, software concepts, and scholarly claims are carefully documented and traceable. Evidence reviewed: complete supplied edition, including all chapters, diagrams, worked examples, glossary, bibliography, and indexes (PDF pp. 1–162).
Editorial Evaluation
Evidence Coverage
Does it address the relevant evidence, including contrary evidence?
Brief assessment
Numerous worked examples demonstrate each major concept, though an introduction cannot independently validate the full ECM dataset or every editorial stemma.
Full rationale and supporting references
Numerous worked examples demonstrate each major concept, though an introduction cannot independently validate the full ECM dataset or every editorial stemma. Evidence reviewed: complete supplied edition, including all chapters, diagrams, worked examples, glossary, bibliography, and indexes (PDF pp. 1–162).
Editorial Evaluation
Historical Accuracy
Are people, dates, editions, events, and settings handled correctly?
Brief assessment
The short history of genealogy and eclectic method is accurate and helpful.
Full rationale and supporting references
The short history of genealogy and eclectic method is accurate and helpful; rapidly developing editions and software mean some implementation details will age. Evidence reviewed: complete supplied edition, including all chapters, diagrams, worked examples, glossary, bibliography, and indexes (PDF pp. 1–162).
Editorial Evaluation
Subject Competence
Does the author demonstrate competence in the relevant disciplines?
Brief assessment
Both authors demonstrate exceptional command of the method's theory, its editorial application, and the wider discipline's questions.
Full rationale and supporting references
Both authors demonstrate exceptional command of the method's theory, its editorial application, and the wider discipline's questions. Evidence reviewed: complete supplied edition, including all chapters, diagrams, worked examples, glossary, bibliography, and indexes (PDF pp. 1–162).
Editorial Evaluation
Logical Coherence
Do the conclusions follow from the premises and evidence?
Brief assessment
The feedback loop between local decisions and global coherence is explained coherently, with circularity risks recognized and constrained rather than ignored.
Full rationale and supporting references
The feedback loop between local decisions and global coherence is explained coherently, with circularity risks recognized and constrained rather than ignored. Evidence reviewed: complete supplied edition, including all chapters, diagrams, worked examples, glossary, bibliography, and indexes (PDF pp. 1–162).
Editorial Evaluation
Methodological Transparency
Are the method and controlling assumptions identifiable and consistent?
Brief assessment
The book is exemplary in stating what the computer does, what editors decide, what 'initial text' means, and what the current data omit.
Full rationale and supporting references
The book is exemplary in stating what the computer does, what editors decide, what 'initial text' means, and what the current data omit. Evidence reviewed: complete supplied edition, including all chapters, diagrams, worked examples, glossary, bibliography, and indexes (PDF pp. 1–162).
Editorial Evaluation
Strongest-Form Engagement
Does the work address the strongest opposing case rather than a caricature?
Brief assessment
Criticisms of circularity, contamination, and editorial subjectivity receive serious answers, although theological and received-text objections lie mostly outside the book's scope.
Full rationale and supporting references
Criticisms of circularity, contamination, and editorial subjectivity receive serious answers, although theological and received-text objections lie mostly outside the book's scope. Evidence reviewed: complete supplied edition, including all chapters, diagrams, worked examples, glossary, bibliography, and indexes (PDF pp. 1–162).
Editorial Evaluation
Clarity and Research Usefulness
Is it intelligible, navigable, and useful for further study?
Brief assessment
Glossary, diagrams, stepwise examples, limitations, and a disciplined vocabulary make this the standard first guide to the CBGM.
Full rationale and supporting references
Glossary, diagrams, stepwise examples, limitations, and a disciplined vocabulary make this the standard first guide to the CBGM. Evidence reviewed: complete supplied edition, including all chapters, diagrams, worked examples, glossary, bibliography, and indexes (PDF pp. 1–162).
Scripture Passage Coverage
1 John 5:6
Substantial treatment · worked CBGM examples
Discusses without decidingIllustrates the construction and use of local stemmata.
1 Peter 1:23
Substantial treatment · worked CBGM examples
Discusses without decidingUsed to explain coherence and potential ancestry.
1 Peter 4:16
Substantial treatment · worked CBGM examples
Qualified or mixed conclusionDemonstrates how genealogical coherence may affect an editorial decision.
1 Peter 5:10
Substantial treatment · worked CBGM examples
Discusses without decidingUsed in analysis of textual flow and witness relationships.
2 Peter 3:10
Substantial treatment · worked CBGM examples
Qualified or mixed conclusionShows how a difficult variation unit is modeled and reconsidered.
Acts 1:26
Brief treatment · Acts examples
Discusses without decidingProvides an example from the later application of the method to Acts.
Acts 20:28
Brief treatment · Acts examples
Qualified or mixed conclusionDiscusses competing readings in relation to the evolving ECM text.
James 2:23
Substantial treatment · worked CBGM examples
Discusses without decidingIllustrates local stemmata and the evaluation of variant relationships.
Mark 1:1
Brief treatment · future applications
Discusses without decidingUsed to illustrate possible application beyond the Catholic Epistles and Acts.