History of the Bible and Parts of my Christian Journey

Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.  It was also the first time that the OT and NT were joined together as one. It has surprised me and broadened my perspective. Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible and the manuscript – the oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity – is of supreme importance for the history of the book.

I am currently reading a book titled; Codex Sinaiticus: Decoding the Ancient Bible that Shaped Christianity by John M. Styron. I am like an old ad that was used a few years ago. “Equiring minds want to know.” It was used for a junk magazine, but it is a good description of my thought process. I spend a lot of time reading God’s word and this has really helped in understanding how we got the modern translation of the bible even though it was written in the fourth century.

Before going further understand that I am not challenging anyone’s translation of God’s word that they may read and study nor am trying to reconstruct my faith. I will continue to use the Reformation Bible ESV as my main source of study in His word.

One of the greatest debates about the Codex Sinaiticus is where it was originally produced. Unlike some ancient manuscripts that have clear inscription about their origins, the Codex provides no direct evidence of its place of production.

The Constantine Theory

1.  In AD 313, Constantine legalized Christianity with the Edic of Milan.
2. In AD 325, the Council of Nicaea had taken steps to unify Christian doctrine.
3. In AD 331, Constantine ordered fifty copies of the bible for churchs in Constantinople.

The Egyptian Monastic Theory

1. The manuscripts Greek script , which resembles Egyptian styles.
2. Early Christian leaders from Alexandria (such as Origen and Athanasius) who promoted the compilation of authoritative biblical texts.
3.  The presence of extra-biblical works (Epistle of Barnabas, Shepard of Hermas) that were popular in Alexandrian Christianity.

The Caesarea Theory

1. Eusebius was a leading historian and biblical scholar.
2. He was personally involved in preserving Christian texts.
3. He may have supervised making manuscripts like the Codex Sinaiticus.
4. He also had a scriptorium, a place where scribes worked to copy manuscripts.

I was surprised that the bible version that has been the most popular for hundreds of the years did not use these manuscripts when it was compiled.  The King James personal that compiled KJV (1611) used the Textus Receptus, a Greek text compiled from later Byzantine manuscripts. The Codex Sinaiticus, along with the Codex Vaticanus showed that the Byzantine text contained later additions and modifications. These findings led to the development of critical editions of the Greek New Testament, such as Nestle-Aland, which form the basis of translations like the NIV, NRSV, and ESV.

Thus, the Codex Sinaiticus has directly shaped the bible is translated and understood today.

Next, we will look at Codex Vaticanus.

Be Blessed in all you do!