Research Associate and Project Coordinator
Institute for New Testament Textual Research (INTF)
Gregory S. Paulson is Research Associate and project coordinator at the Institute for New Testament Textual Research (INTF) at the University of Münster, Germany. He completed his doctorate at the University of Edinburgh with a dissertation on scribal habits and singular readings in Codex Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi, Bezae, and Washingtonianus in the Gospel of Matthew. In 2014, he joined the INTF as a postdoctoral researcher contributing to the revision of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece. He later served as an editor of the Kurzgefasste Liste and manager of the New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room (NTVMR). He now serves as co-editor of the Editio Critica Maior (ECM), sub-editor of the Nestle-Aland 29th edition, and oversees the development of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM). His current research focuses on the history of the Nestle-Aland and on laying the groundwork for a critical edition of the Greek New Testament lectionary.
Friday, May 29 | 9:30-10:20 | Main Room
The CBGM: Were We Better off Without It?
The Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM) serves as the methodological backbone of the Editio Critica Maior (ECM). It enables editors, through philological analysis, to assess genealogical relationships among variant readings and their witnesses, thereby providing a basis for reconstructing the initial text. Despite its increasing prominence, the CBGM has often been misunderstood. Critics have described it as unnecessarily convoluted, as replacing traditional criteria wholesale, as inherently biased, or as generating textual decisions without human input. Such perceptions have fostered skepticism regarding its merits and pessimism about its contribution to editorial decision-making in the ECM.
Taking these criticisms seriously, this presentation evaluates both the benefits and limitations of the CBGM, drawing on insights from the nearly thirty-year history of ECM publications. By highlighting examples from these editions, I will assess whether the CBGM—especially its core concept of genealogical coherence—constitutes a significant innovation within the field of New Testament textual criticism when compared with earlier approaches.
After a brief historical overview of how variant readings were evaluated prior to the CBGM, I will situate genealogical coherence within the larger tradition of text-critical criteria, clarifying its function as a criterion in practice. I will analyze passages in ECM volumes where genealogical coherence proved decisive, as well as cases where its impact was limited. The presentation ultimately aims to clarify the role of the CBGM in the production of the ECM volumes, address persistent misunderstandings, and provide greater transparency into the editorial process, inviting critical reflection on whether the method constitutes a genuine advancement to the field.