British Library Puts Oldest Surviving Bible Online

Peace Corps Library writes "BBC reports that about 800 pages of the earliest surviving Christian Bible, the 1,600-year-old Codex Sinaiticus manuscript, have been recovered and put on the Internet. 'The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's greatest written treasures,' says Dr. Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library. 'This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation.' The New Testament of the Codex Sinaiticus appears in Koine Greek, the original vernacular language, and the Old Testament in the version, known as the Septuagint, that was adopted by early Greek-speaking Christians. For 1,500 years, the Codex Sinaiticus lay undisturbed in a Sinai monastery until it was found in 1844 and split between Egypt, Russia, Germany, and Britain. It is thought to have survived because the desert air was ideal for preservation and because the monastery, on a Christian island in a Muslim sea, remained untouched, its walls unconquered. The British Library is marking the online launch of the manuscript with an exhibition which includes a range of historic items and artifacts linked to the document. 'The availability of the virtual manuscript for study by scholars around the world creates opportunities for collaborative research that would not have been possible just a few years ago.'"

Comments

Sweet

[sys.stdout.write]

I always wondered what the Greek word for "sodomy" was..

Re:Written Before Christianity Was PAGANIZED

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

Why would Paul write so strongly about the resurrection even in prison? Heck, why would Paul leave his life of luxury as a Jewish leader stoning Christians if he didn't experience something supernatural?

Dimethyltryptamine

Re:Inferior translated holy works

[lgw]

In other words, it's a moronic, childish argument.

It's an argument about which invisible sky fairy to worship - how could it not be?

Re:Inferior translated holy works

[lgw]

Hey, now, no need to mod me troll - I wasn't talking about your religion. Your religion is obviously the one true word of God. It's only everyone else who are poor deluded saps worshipping invisible sky fairies! Their faith based in circular logic is an obvious fallacy, while your faith based in circular logic is righteous. I mean, if you had poor critical thinking skills, you'd know, right?