The Acts of the Holy Spirit in Codex Bezae

Since Theodore Beza first presented the major uncial manuscript, a Greek-Latin diglot, in 1581 to Cambridge University, the Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis has been extensively analyzed and compared with the Alexandrian text-type. The last century has seen many attempts toward explaining the reason for the many variants and, subsequently, the debate has grown stronger for evidence of not only the manuscript's antiquity, but also of its importance as a 'primary' source.

The purpose for this discussion is to analyze the theological affect of the textual variants on our current understanding of Pneumatology. Specifically, an attempt will be made to ascertain the influence in Acts directly connected with the "Holy Spirit" on current debates concerning 'reception of the Spirit', intention, and normative experience. This research will attempt to suggest answers to the question: How do the variants in Codex Bezae affect our understanding of the nature and work of the Holy Spirit for...

(1) ...conversion-initiation versus Spirit reception,

(2) the theological intention of Luke, and

(3) the significance of glossolalia with Spirit reception, and ultimately...

(4) ...the importance of cooperation with the Spirit?