▁reading ▁is ▁preferred ". ▁This ▁was ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁idea ▁scri bes ▁were ▁more ▁likely ▁to ▁add ▁to ▁a ▁text ▁than ▁o mit ▁from ▁it , ▁making ▁shorter ▁texts ▁more ▁likely ▁to ▁be ▁older . ▁ ▁Latin ▁scholar ▁Albert ▁C . ▁Clark ▁challeng ed ▁this ▁in ▁ 1 9 1 4 . ▁Based ▁on ▁his ▁study ▁of ▁Cic ero , ▁Clark ▁argued ▁om ission ▁was ▁a ▁more ▁common ▁scri bal ▁error ▁than ▁addition , ▁saying ▁" A ▁text ▁is ▁like ▁a ▁travel er ▁who ▁goes ▁from ▁one ▁inn ▁to ▁another ▁losing ▁an ▁article ▁of ▁lug g age ▁at ▁each ▁stop ." ▁Clark ' s ▁claims ▁were ▁critic ized ▁by ▁those ▁who ▁supported ▁G ries bach ' s ▁principles . ▁Clark ▁respond ed , ▁but ▁disag re ement ▁continued . ▁Near ly ▁eight y ▁years ▁later , ▁the ▁the olog ian ▁and ▁priest ▁James ▁Roy se ▁took ▁up ▁the ▁case . ▁After ▁close ▁study ▁of ▁multiple ▁New ▁Testament ▁pap y ri , ▁he ▁concluded ▁Clark ▁was ▁right . ▁ ▁Some ▁sch ol ars ▁have ▁recently ▁called ▁to ▁abandon ▁older ▁approaches ▁to ▁text ual ▁criticism ▁in ▁favor ▁of ▁new ▁computer - ass isted ▁methods ▁for ▁determ ining ▁manuscript ▁relationships ▁in ▁a ▁more ▁reliable ▁way . ▁ ▁Source ▁criticism ▁▁▁ ▁Source ▁criticism ▁is ▁the ▁search ▁for ▁the ▁original ▁sources ▁that ▁form ▁the ▁basis ▁of ▁bib lic al ▁text . ▁It ▁can ▁be ▁trac ed ▁back ▁to ▁the ▁ 1 7 th - century ▁French ▁priest ▁Richard ▁Simon . ▁In ▁Old ▁Testament ▁studies , ▁source ▁criticism ▁is