The H. Milton Haggard Center for New Testament Textual Studies at NOBTS has announced their newly released digital edition of the Greek New Testament. The Center announced their multi-year project at the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) in November.  

The edition of the Greek New Testament is nearing full completion, and a majority of the edition is available online now. It will soon be available on iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows.   

Although this Greek New Testament addition will primarily be available digitally, a printed edition may also be available in the future.  

William Warren, professor of New Testament and Greek and director of the Textual Center, said this new edition of the Greek New Testament is groundbreaking because of its accessibility and purpose.  

The Textual Center, made up of NOBTS students and staff, has been hard at work on the project for more than three years. Warren said a project of this magnitude would normally take 10 to 15 years.  

He said the ultimate purpose of the project is for missionaries and Bible translators to have easy access to the Greek New Testament to aid in fulfilling the Great Commission.  

“This edition of the Greek New Testament is academically responsible, openly accessible and it is for everyone who studies the New Testament, not just those within the textual criticism field,” Warren said.  

“This is being done to help Bible translators have totally free access to the Greek New Testament text and this access includes ability to download the text. It will revolutionize access to the Greek New Testament around the world, and it has been an amazing amount of focused work by our Textual Center. 

“When people pick up a Bible in the future, there will probably be some input or influence from this project on what that Bible is saying.” 

Warren, along with two NOBTS research students and one Ph.D student, unveiled the project during a presentation at ETS. The presentation served as the initial public announcement of the project and described how it was completed over the past couple of years, which represented another unique feature of the edition.  

This Greek New Testament was created by the Textual Center by examining the New Testament manuscripts themselves, rather than beginning by looking at a previously published edition of the Greek New Testament.  

The Textual Center tirelessly and carefully examined the manuscripts, making decisions about how the final edition should read. Textual variants were carefully considered, and the project was then double-checked for grammar and punctuation.  

Warren said there is a sense in which a project like this is always on-going as new textual evidence is always being discovered, but the majority of the work has now been completed.  

The Textual Center worked with several other Christian organizations such as Biblica, a well-respected American Bible society, to produce the edition. It is available for free without any copyright attached to it.  

Norris Grubbs, NOBTS provost and professor of New Testament and Greek, spoke about the incredible impact this project from the Textual Center will have in the field.  

“The Greek New Testament will be a tremendous blessing to the global church,” Grubbs said. “This work that Dr. Warren has led will help more people read the Bible in their own language, and we pray God uses that mightily.” 

Warren spoke about the support the Textual Center has received from seminary leadership over the years.  

“We’re one of the leading North American Centers for studying textual criticism on the Greek New Testament, and our seminary’s leadership is committed to keeping it that way,” Warren said.  

“I’ve been at the seminary over the course of three administrations, and we have a long-term history in this area as a seminary. The support under President Dew has been fantastic, and we are very blessed in that area.” 

He once again emphasized the ultimate missional purpose of the project.  

“This is not a money-making venture because we’re giving it away for free,” Warren said. “It was made with a missional purpose, and I wouldn’t have been interested in pursuing it otherwise. 

“Part of reaching our world for Christ is making the Bible available in the languages of the world, and this Greek New Testament provides a good foundation for those translations. We wanted to provide the best foundation possible and make it accessible.  

“Missions is at the heart of the Gospel. If we lose our focus on missions, we’ve lost our focus on what God is trying to do in and through us. This is more than an academic project. The missions need is what propelled this project in my mind. We are privileged to have a role in this” 

Register to get free access to the edition here.