The Number of Textual Variants

The Basics of New Testament Textual Criticism

The right and wrong methods of counting the number of textual variants we have amongst the manuscripts of the New Testament text is discussed by Dr. Daniel B. Wallace of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM). The wrong way to count them is to count manuscripts that have a particular wording. The right way to count them is to count each difference in wording regardless of how many manuscripts support them. This brings the actual count of textual variants to 400,000-500,000.