Editio Critica Maior is a critical edition of the Greek New Testament being produced by the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung - which is famous, for example, for the Novum Testamentum Graece - in collaboration with other international institutes. The ECM is the printed documentation of the expressions of Christian faith communities as they transmitted the New Testament in time through Greek manuscripts, translations, and ancient citations in the first 1,000 years of New Testament transmission. The difference between earlier and later readings is shown by the concept of 'direction' in the ECM, with the earliest expression of the Christian readings printed in the main text. The Coherence Based Genealogical Method systematic assessment of witnesses, 2) a mature consideration of those witnesses, 3) a reconstruction of the oldest form of the recoverable text, or initial text, 4) a complete and systematic apparatus, and 5) a full explanation and justification of its methodology and conclusions. The Editio Critica Maior project is supported by the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities. It is to be completed by the year 2030.
The beginnings
Since the founding of the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung in 1959 by Kurt Aland, manuscripts – some of which had previously been unknown or lost, were traced and photographed, and all known manuscripts were photographed and cataloged. The INTF thus acquired over 90% of the known material on microfilm or photo.
First evaluation
Initially, in the mid-1980s, a text program was developed. Uniform texts, which, as is well known, constituted the main part in the transmission of the High Middle Ages, were set aside. After the elimination of these texts, the relevant material for the textual history of primarily the first millennium was made available; in addition to the manuscripts of this period, there are numerous later manuscripts that reflect an older textual history. The still very high number of relevant manuscripts has gradually been transcribed and subjected to a complete text comparison. The results are recorded in databases. For the first time, this allows a computer-assisted exploration of all the material. Above all, the acquisition of genealogical data is important, as it illuminates the textual history and especially its beginnings. The specific problems that exist in the transmission history are now evident.
The digitization
The institute uses digital methods at all levels of its philological work: handwriting is captured in the highest possible quality as digital photos. These photos are the basis for the transcriptions to be made on the computer. Additionally digitized material from other institutes is taken into consideration. The software Collate is then used to prepare the critical edition.
The result
In 1997 the first installment of this edition was published by Barbara Aland. The Catholic Letters and also The Acts of the Apostels are available printed and digitally. In cooperation with the International Greek New Testament Project, the Gospel of John is in preparation. In addition an edition, that has been published in printed form, a digital platform - the New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room has been developed, which allows online access to all data collected during the work on the ECM. This includes above all the diplomatic transcripts of all the manuscripts used in the ECM and the databases on which the ECM is based on. The recent editions of Nestle-Aland in the 28th edition and the 5th edition of the Greek New Testament of the United Bible Societies are in the text after the ECM, as far as it has been published so far.
