Critical Texts

Dr. Greg Paulson & Dr. Katie Leggett

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Critical Texts is the academic blog of Dr. Gregory Paulson and Dr. Katie Leggett, offering reflections and resources about Greek New Testament manuscripts and critical editions.
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Nearly Three Years After the British Library Cyberattack: What Happened to Its Greek New Testament Manuscripts?

by Katie LeggettAugust 28, 2026 2 Comments

On October 28, 2023, one of the world’s most important research libraries effectively disappeared from the internet. The attack was not a temporary outage: it crippled the British Library’s digital infrastructure, shut down its catalogues and online collections, and...

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Greek New Testament Manuscripts on Mount Athos

by Katie LeggettAugust 11, 2026 11 Comments

For more than a millennium, daily prayers have been offered on Mount Athos. Described as “the spiritual heart of Orthodoxy,” this secluded peninsula in northeastern Greece is regarded by many as one of the most sacred places on earth.1...

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Kurt Aland and the American Road Not Taken

by Greg PaulsonJuly 12, 2026 1 Comment

Kurt Aland is remembered today as a German scholar whose name is inseparable from Münster, the INTF, and the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (NTG). That connection now seems so firmly established that it is difficult to imagine the story unfolding any...

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Weekly Lectionary Reading

Featured Manuscripts

GA 2159, formerly at Simonopetra Monastery, Mount Athos; now at the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. According to Lambros, the scribe’s colophon, dated 1281, was on the manuscript’s final leaf, now lost.
GA 2159, formerly at Simonopetra Monastery, Mount Athos; now at the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. According to Lambros, the scribe’s colophon, dated 1281, was on the manuscript’s final leaf, now lost.
L 1675, a 12th/13th-century lectionary formerly in H. Willoughby’s collection, missing for over 60 years before resurfacing in the possession of Bryan Blakemore of Springfield, Illinois.
L 1675, a 12th/13th-century lectionary formerly in H. Willoughby’s collection, missing for over 60 years before resurfacing in the possession of Bryan Blakemore of Springfield, Illinois.
L 2562 (Melikian Collection, Phoenix, AZ) 17th century lectionary with readings from the 3rd Sunday of Ρascha and 3rd Saturday and Sunday of Lent
L 2562 (Melikian Collection, Phoenix, AZ) 17th century lectionary with readings from the 3rd Sunday of Ρascha and 3rd Saturday and Sunday of Lent
L 1996 (currently for sale) 11th century lectionary on parchment, has circulated through numerous private hands since it first appeared in the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps.
L 1996 (currently for sale) 11th century lectionary on parchment, has circulated through numerous private hands since it first appeared in the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps.
L 844, (Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg) 1 of only 12 so-called Jerusalem lectionaries, which are early lectionaries that preserve an order of readings distinct from the Byzantine tradition.
L 844, (Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg) 1 of only 12 so-called Jerusalem lectionaries, which are early lectionaries that preserve an order of readings distinct from the Byzantine tradition.
ga 2955
ℓ 2581 (Urechia Public Library, Galați, Romania) the newest lectionary in the Liste. Formerly erroneously catalogued as GA 2955; after obtaining digital images, it was determined to be a lectionary.
ga 2571
GA 2571 (Museum of Paleokastritsa Monastery, Corfu), 11th century Tetraevangelion on parchment. Pictured is the opening of Mark. Curiously, the Gospel of Mark is bound entirely out of order in this manuscript.
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GA 2779 (Museum of Christian Art, Crete) 15th century, formerly housed at the Historical Museum of Crete and the Monastery of Saint George Epanosifis. Interestingly, the book of John is split between the beginning and end of the codex.
ga 2132
GA 2132 (National Library of Russia), 11th century purple parchment folios at the beginnings of Luke and John. Only 2 other minuscules are known to have purple parchment: GA 565 and 1143.
ga l2555
GA ℓ2555 (St. Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai), 10th century back flyleaf of a lectionary with an excerpt from John 1:4–9, 15–17.
ga l 1734
ℓ 1734 (National Library, Sofia) after digitization, an additional folio was identified and added; these folios likely belong with ℓ2038 at the Panagia Olympiotissa Monastery in Elassona.
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GA 61 (Dublin), a complete NT codex and the first Greek manuscript discovered to contain the Comma Johanneum (4th line from bottom). This folio is in markedly worse condition than the rest, likely from repeated examination.
ga 087
GA 087 (National Library of Russia), 6th century uncial on parchment with Mt. 21:22-24. According to the National Library, Tischendorf was the previous owner.

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