CBGM = coherence based genealogical method
Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM) is a modern approach to New Testament textual criticism developed at the Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung (INTF) in Münster, Germany, primarily by scholar Gerd Mink. It uses computational tools to analyze relationships between manuscript readings by focusing on coherence—how well a reading fits within the broader manuscript tradition—rather than relying solely on traditional stemmatics or text-type classifications.
The method operates on the idea that textual transmission is complex and often contaminated, making it difficult to trace direct lineage between manuscripts. Instead of assuming a simple family tree, CBGM evaluates genealogical relationships between different textual states (called “witnesses”) across variants. It uses pre-genealogical coherence—a quantitative analysis of agreement rates among manuscripts—to identify patterns of similarity, and genealogical coherence to assess whether one reading is likely ancestral to another.
CBGM does not make final textual decisions but provides a visual and data-driven model of the textual tradition. It has been applied in major scholarly editions like the Editio Critica Maior (ECM) and the 28th edition of Nestle-Aland and 5th edition of United Bible Society (UBS), particularly in the Catholic Epistles, where it led to significant textual revisions.
While praised for its statistical rigor and ability to handle large datasets, the method is criticized for overemphasizing internal evidence, potentially downplaying the weight of early or historically significant manuscripts, and requiring expert interpretation despite its computational basis.
