Source CriticismA Suggested Procedure Using BibleWorks

MGVHoffman2015.02

1: Get your textsGo to your text in

BibleWorksOpen the Synopsis Tool

(‘hit the juggling balls’)Do you see the Greek and

English you want? If so, skip the next slide...

What if I don’t see my text?What if there is only Greek or an English version I don’t want?If so, see the next slide...

Setting up Synopsis TextsIn the Synopsis Tool

window: File > Open Use a SDF file that does what

you wantIf you don’t see what you want...

File > Edit Type in something like this in

the first two lines >>> Then, File > Save

and name it as you wish Then, File > Run To get back to your text, close

the Synopsis tool and reopen that window (juggling balls!)

2A: Set up your Word documentOpen your word

processorDepending on your

software and version, get to the Page Setup

Perhaps use Home > Margins > Custom

Try using the parameters in my suggested setup

2B: Set up your Word documentGive your page a titleInsert a tableUse 3 rows: Text reference / Greek Text / English TextUse as many rows as you need depending on number of

parallels

3: Copy and paste in your textGoing back and

forth between BibleWorks and Word, copy / paste your texts into the appropriate cellsorWith Word, try using CTRL-SHIFT-B

If necessary, adjust column widths and/or font sizes

4: Organize the text

Use paragraphs to line up sense units and breaks in the text

MARKMatthew

uses Mark

Special MATTHE

W Q

Special LUKE

Luke uses Mark

Matthew and Luke use Mark

Coloring Scheme

5A: Marking up the textThe following instructions use MS Word, but it should be similar in other word processing softwareHighlight the word/s you

wantClick on the highlighter tool

and choose the color you want

It goes faster if you use the Format Painter (the little paintbrush) to repeat the coloring you are using > Double-click it to make it persist

There is no orange highlighter in MS Word! >> Highlight the word/s and use the Fill Tool

You can be as precise as you want in highlighting. I tend to be somewhat loose and highlight a word even if it is in a different tense, but maybe you could partial highlighting or shades of a color.

5B: Marking up the text > What about John?First mark up

Matthew, Mark, and Luke as you normally would

Now apply those colors to the John text where appropriate

Matt 26:6-13 Mark 14:3-9 Luke 7:36-50 John 12:1-8

6: Drawing conclusions about sourcesIs there enough shared text to think that they are telling the same story?Matthew & Mark = common and purple text:

Does it make sense that Matthew was using Mark?Luke & Mark = common and green text:

Does it make sense that Luke was using Mark?Matthew & Luke = orange text = Q material in Matthew and Luke but not Mark

Does it make sense that Matthew and Luke were using a Q source?(Or would it be easier to think that Luke was using Mark and Matthew?)

If there is a parallel in John, is there any reason to think that he knew one of the synoptic Gospels? Or is it more likely that he knew some version of the story that precedes or is otherwise related to the synoptic versions?

Red, blue, or yellow texts unique to each gospel: We will go into more detail of explaining the differences between the versions in each gospel when we do Redaction Criticism!