English translation with introduction and annotation
Critical History of the Text of the New Testament
Wherein Is Established the Truth of the Acts on Which the Christian Religion Is Based
Richard Simon; translated, introduced, and annotated by Andrew Hunwick · 2013
Richard Simon, Critical History of the Text of the New Testament, trans., intro., and ann. Andrew Hunwick (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2013).
Overview
This scholarly edition makes Richard Simon’s seventeenth-century Critical History accessible in English with an introduction and annotations by Andrew Hunwick. Simon’s work is a major primary witness to the development of early modern historical criticism of the New Testament text, raising questions about manuscripts, versions, Fathers, and the relation of textual history to theological certainty.
The edition is essential for historical study precisely because it should not be anachronistically assimilated to either later critical eclecticism or confessional Protestant bibliology. It provides a rich historical object for examining how questions about textual transmission, ecclesiastical authority, and historical criticism were configured before modern textual criticism became institutionalized.
Overview
This scholarly edition makes Richard Simon’s seventeenth-century Critical History accessible in English with an introduction and annotations by Andrew Hunwick. Simon’s work is a major primary witness to the development of early modern historical criticism of the New Testament text, raising questions about manuscripts, versions, Fathers, and the relation of textual history to theological certainty.
The edition is essential for historical study precisely because it should not be anachronistically assimilated to either later critical eclecticism or confessional Protestant bibliology. It provides a rich historical object for examining how questions about textual transmission, ecclesiastical authority, and historical criticism were configured before modern textual criticism became institutionalized.
Editorial Evaluation
Purpose Fulfillment
Does the work accomplish what it claims to accomplish?
Brief assessment
The edition strongly fulfills its purpose of making Simon’s important historical work accessible with scholarly framing.
Full rationale and supporting references
Purpose Fulfillment: The edition strongly fulfills its purpose of making Simon’s important historical work accessible with scholarly framing. This is a source-controlled preliminary editorial rating. It evaluates the supplied edition and the stated source loci, not the author’s motives and not every possible edition or response. Evidence reviewed: Supplied Brill edition, title and copyright pages, Hunwick introduction, and Simon’s critical history.
Editorial Evaluation
Source Quality
Does it use the appropriate primary and secondary sources?
Brief assessment
The primary work and the modern translation are situated in a substantial scholarly series with attention to relevant witnesses and historical context.
Full rationale and supporting references
Source Quality: The primary work and the modern translation are situated in a substantial scholarly series with attention to relevant witnesses and historical context. This is a source-controlled preliminary editorial rating. It evaluates the supplied edition and the stated source loci, not the author’s motives and not every possible edition or response. Evidence reviewed: Supplied Brill edition, title and copyright pages, Hunwick introduction, and Simon’s critical history.
Editorial Evaluation
Citation Accuracy
Are quotations, references, and claims verifiable and in context?
Brief assessment
The edition is professionally annotated and bibliographically documented, though particular historical claims remain open to specialist verification.
Full rationale and supporting references
Citation Accuracy: The edition is professionally annotated and bibliographically documented, though particular historical claims remain open to specialist verification. This is a source-controlled preliminary editorial rating. It evaluates the supplied edition and the stated source loci, not the author’s motives and not every possible edition or response. Evidence reviewed: Supplied Brill edition, title and copyright pages, Hunwick introduction, and Simon’s critical history.
Editorial Evaluation
Evidence Coverage
Does it address the relevant evidence, including contrary evidence?
Brief assessment
It gathers the kinds of historical evidence central to early modern textual criticism, without by itself exhausting every competing confessional account.
Full rationale and supporting references
Evidence Coverage: It gathers the kinds of historical evidence central to early modern textual criticism, without by itself exhausting every competing confessional account. This is a source-controlled preliminary editorial rating. It evaluates the supplied edition and the stated source loci, not the author’s motives and not every possible edition or response. Evidence reviewed: Supplied Brill edition, title and copyright pages, Hunwick introduction, and Simon’s critical history.
Editorial Evaluation
Historical Accuracy
Are people, dates, editions, events, and settings handled correctly?
Brief assessment
The book is indispensable for the history of early modern criticism and is edited with strong historical awareness.
Full rationale and supporting references
Historical Accuracy: The book is indispensable for the history of early modern criticism and is edited with strong historical awareness. This is a source-controlled preliminary editorial rating. It evaluates the supplied edition and the stated source loci, not the author’s motives and not every possible edition or response. Evidence reviewed: Supplied Brill edition, title and copyright pages, Hunwick introduction, and Simon’s critical history.
Editorial Evaluation
Subject Competence
Does the author demonstrate competence in the relevant disciplines?
Brief assessment
Hunwick’s edition demonstrates high specialist competence, and Simon is a historically consequential critical voice.
Full rationale and supporting references
Subject Competence: Hunwick’s edition demonstrates high specialist competence, and Simon is a historically consequential critical voice. This is a source-controlled preliminary editorial rating. It evaluates the supplied edition and the stated source loci, not the author’s motives and not every possible edition or response. Evidence reviewed: Supplied Brill edition, title and copyright pages, Hunwick introduction, and Simon’s critical history.
Editorial Evaluation
Logical Coherence
Do the conclusions follow from the premises and evidence?
Brief assessment
The historical inquiries are often penetrating, but the move from historical complexity to a theory of textual authority remains contested.
Full rationale and supporting references
Logical Coherence: The historical inquiries are often penetrating, but the move from historical complexity to a theory of textual authority remains contested. This is a source-controlled preliminary editorial rating. It evaluates the supplied edition and the stated source loci, not the author’s motives and not every possible edition or response. Evidence reviewed: Supplied Brill edition, title and copyright pages, Hunwick introduction, and Simon’s critical history.
Editorial Evaluation
Methodological Transparency
Are the method and controlling assumptions identifiable and consistent?
Brief assessment
The translation and scholarly apparatus make the source’s historical and methodological posture visible.
Full rationale and supporting references
Methodological Transparency: The translation and scholarly apparatus make the source’s historical and methodological posture visible. This is a source-controlled preliminary editorial rating. It evaluates the supplied edition and the stated source loci, not the author’s motives and not every possible edition or response. Evidence reviewed: Supplied Brill edition, title and copyright pages, Hunwick introduction, and Simon’s critical history.
Editorial Evaluation
Strongest-Form Engagement
Does the work address the strongest opposing case rather than a caricature?
Brief assessment
The edition documents Simon well but does not serve as a full response to later confessional accounts of providential preservation.
Full rationale and supporting references
Strongest-Form Engagement: The edition documents Simon well but does not serve as a full response to later confessional accounts of providential preservation. This is a source-controlled preliminary editorial rating. It evaluates the supplied edition and the stated source loci, not the author’s motives and not every possible edition or response. Evidence reviewed: Supplied Brill edition, title and copyright pages, Hunwick introduction, and Simon’s critical history.
Editorial Evaluation
Clarity and Research Usefulness
Is it intelligible, navigable, and useful for further study?
Brief assessment
It is a major research resource for understanding the genealogy of modern textual-critical questions.
Full rationale and supporting references
Clarity and Research Usefulness: It is a major research resource for understanding the genealogy of modern textual-critical questions. This is a source-controlled preliminary editorial rating. It evaluates the supplied edition and the stated source loci, not the author’s motives and not every possible edition or response. Evidence reviewed: Supplied Brill edition, title and copyright pages, Hunwick introduction, and Simon’s critical history.
Scripture Passage Coverage
1 John 5:7–8
Brief treatment · textual-history discussions
Discusses without decidingRelevant to early modern discussion of editions and textual history.
John 7:53–8:11
Brief treatment · textual-history discussions
Discusses without decidingRelevant to the historical criticism of New Testament textual witnesses.
Mark 16:9–20
Brief treatment · textual-history discussions
Discusses without decidingRelevant to Simon’s treatment of witnesses and transmission.