14-How We Got Our Bible

Bible 101

1.Why don’t we have any original copies of the Bible books?

A.Papyri—the original “manuscripts” were written on papyrus, made from tree bark, that wore out quickly and had to be hand copied.(127 known)

B.Uncials—from the 2nd to 8th centuries copies were written in capital letters without spacing, which made them difficult to read. (269 known)

C.Miniscules—from the 9th century to the in invention of the printing press in the 15th century, recopies were written in lower case cursives. (2667 known)

D.Parchments—some of the more enduring manuscripts were written on vellum made from animal skins which could be washed and reused.

E.Septuagint—In 132 BC Ptolemy had the Hebrew Old Testament translated into Greek by 70 scholars in Alexandria.(Luke 24:44)

F.Vulgate—In 405 AD Jerome completed a compilation of the entire Bible into Greek and Latin, which was the definitive translation used throughout the Middle Ages.

2.How do we tell whether or not a manuscript is accurate?

A.We look for the oldest: the older a copy the more likely that it contains the original text. Uncials are preferred to miniscules.

B.We look for the shortest: as scribes might tend to elaborate as they copy, the least elaborated tend to be closer to the original.

C.We look for agreement: the more manuscripts that agree on a wording the more likely it is to be the original.

D.We look to church fathers: the ancient writers quoted from the early scriptures often enough to piece together the original content. (86k quotes)

E.We look at ancient versions: early copies into languages such as Syriac, Coptic, and Latin (Vulgate) also give us insight in to the original text.

3.What are the most reliable manuscripts that we have today?

A.Codex Vaticanus: Vatican Library at Rome

Written in 325-350, it is considered the oldest and most complete to date. This copy was held for hundreds of years by the Roman Church and not publicly released until 1881.

B.Codex Sinaiticus:British Library

Written in 330-360 and discovered in 1844 by a German scholar name Dr. Tischendorf. It was in a monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai being used for the fires. Half of the Old Testament and the entire New Testament survived.

C.Codex Alexandrinus: British Library

The youngest of the three great manuscripts, it was written in Alexandria in 400-440, it arrive in England in 1628, just seventeen years too late to be used for the King James (1611).

D.The Dead Sea Scrolls: Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Written as early as 300 BC, they were discovered by accident in 1946 in a cave near Qumran, Israel. Written on papyrus, parchment and bronze, they contain the most complete copy of the Hebrew Old Testament. Prior to that the oldest were the Aleppo Codex (920 AD) and the Leningrad Codex (1008 AD).

4.How did the books get chosen to be in the Bible we have today?

The “canon” or rule, is the list of books considered by the Christian church to be authoritative scripture. By the end of the 4th century the church fathers had come to a general agreement about which books belonged in the Bible, based on the following criteria:

A.Apostolic Origin—attributed to and based upon the preaching/teaching of the first generation apostles (or their close companions). (Galatians 1:1-2)

B.Universal Acceptance—acknowledged by all major Christian communities in the ancient world (by the end of the 4th century) as well as accepted canon by Jewish authorities (for the Old Testament). (1 Corinthians 11:16)

C.Liturgical Use—read publicly when early Christian communities gathered for the Lord’s Supper (their weekly worship services). (1 Timothy 4:15)

D.Consistent Message—containing a theological outlook similar to or complementary to other accepted Christian writings. (2 Timothy 3:16)

Interesting Facts:

  • The New Testament has been preserved in more manuscripts than any other ancient work in history.
  • 5,800 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts known to exist, 10,000 Latin manuscripts, and 9,300 in other languages.
  • In comparison, only 647 manuscripts of Homer’s Iliad are known to exist.
  • The oldest New Testament manuscript is Papyrus 52 is dated around 125. It is a small, two-sided portion of John chapter 18, discovered in 1934.
  • Papyrus 46 is dated around 150-200, and contains most of the Pauline epistles.
  • Papyrus 45 is dated around 250, and contains parts of all four gospels and Acts.
  • The latest substantial find was in 2008, when 47 new manuscripts were discovered inAlbania; at least 17 of them unknown to Western scholars.
  • In February of 2012 seven manuscripts were discovered, one of them a fragment of Mark that may date to the 1st century.