A detailed examination of the facts must furnish the basis upon which all debate must be conducted between conservative and destructive critics.

Geerhardus Vos, The Mosaic Origin of the Pentateuchal Codes, 11.

I have hope in God . . . that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. Therefore I do my best always to have a clear conscience toward God and all people.

Acts 24:15-16

Being a critical edition of the Greek New Testament, the Nestle-Aland provides an eclectic text reconstructed from the tradition by means of a combination of external and internal criteria. The internal criteria are based on the intrinsic coherence of the text, its grammatical structure and its stylistic, linguistic and theological features. These cannot be applied without giving full weight to exegetical insights and studies. The external criteria are related to the quality and reliability of the witnesses supporting a variant. They are derived from the text-historical place and the transcriptional character of single witnesses and groups of witnesses.

Introduction to Novum Testamentum Graece (NA28)

Other New Testament editions have a much fuller apparatus, but we believe that this edition’s chief significance, like that of Westcott and Hort, lies not in its apparatus but in the text itself. The limited apparatus is designed primarily to illustrate the decision-making process, which has focussed [sic] on Greek witnesses of the first millennium. We recognize, of course, that versional and patristic witnesses add significantly to our knowledge of the history of the transmission of the New Testament text. Nevertheless, we have not felt that at any point their witness was strong enough to change the decisions we made on the basis of the Greek manuscripts. We are also aware that our focus on early Greek manuscript testimony differs from recent trends shown in the editing of the Catholic Epistles in the Editio Critica Maior produced under the auspices of the Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung in Münster. We acknowledge that at times a late manuscript may contain a text that is logically prior to and ancestral to that in the earliest extant manuscripts. However, our aim has been to produce a text with a high degree of directly verified antiquity so that users of this edition will have the benefit of knowing that any reading printed in this text rests on early testimony. Throughout the text, the editors sought to consider the most ancient Greek testimony wherever feasible. This has included seeking ancient testimony for several different features of the text, including paragraphing, spelling, breathings, and accents.

Introduction to The Greek New Testament (Produced at Tyndale House Cambridge)

The focus of these sacred scriptures is, of course, on the person of Jesus Christ, presented on page after page as the unique Son of God. No other documents share such a close relationship to him, and this alone is enough reason to encourage all who have the capability and opportunity to devote themselves to the serious study of the New Testament in Greek.

Preface to The Greek New Testament (Produced at Tyndale House Cambridge)

Manuscripts typically preserve books of the New Testament in four groups: the Four Gospels; Acts and the Catholic Epistles; the Pauline Epistles traditionally including Hebrews; and the Apocalypse. Though few manuscripts contain all of these, the order with Acts and the Catholic Epistles preceding the Pauline corpus predominates and is therefore reflected in this edition.

Preface to The Greek New Testament (Produced at Tyndale House Cambridge)

We repeatedly hear today in evangelistic messages: “Christ died for you. What will you do for Him?” But do we ever find in the Bible that someone is told personally, “Christ died for you”? Rather, we find the work of Christ explained, followed by a call to everyone: “Repent and believe the gospel.” The message is not “Believe that Christ died for you” or “Believe that you are one of the elect.” It is “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism, Loc. 1194.

How do we know whether we are God’s elect? We know it through faith, by having a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. In Christ and His promises in His Word, we find assurance of our election. As 1 John repeatedly tells us, when we possess Christ in His Word, desire Him for His own sake, know Him in our souls, yearn for Him in our walk of life, and love those who love Him, we know that we have passed from death to life as God’s elect. Ultimately, then, Christ is our assurance of election.

Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism, Loc. 967.

The election of millions of brothers and sisters means that believers will share eternal glory in an incredibly diverse, large family. God’s vast election assures us that heaven will be a vast concourse of communication. Heaven will teem with relationships, first with Christ and the triune God, but also with fellow believers and the holy angels.

Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism, Loc. 961.

Heaven will not be thinly populated. The living seed of Abraham will be as numerous as the sand on the seashores and the stars in the heavens (Gen. 15:5). Election declares the expansive generosity of God, not His stinginess.

Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism, Loc. 955.