Codex Sinaiticus
The London Times Online announces that the January 28th issue of the TLS will have an article on the Codex Sinaiticus, a mid-fourth-century manuscript of the entire Christian Bible. From the website:
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. 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.
A project is underway to unite the pages of the manuscript that in the last century and a half have been scattered in four different locations. Information on all of this is at: http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/
It looks like the reunion of all the parts of the Codex Sinaiticus will be virtual only. It seems that the monks did not realize the importance of what they had or they would have taken better care of it. It is heartening that the parties involved have agreed to cooperate in the virtual reconstitution of this important manuscript without insisting on the resolution of the question of ownership.
Fascinating web-site Fr. Thank you very much for the link. I read on the website that the Codex Sinaiticus contains the Shepherd of Hermans and the Epistle Barnabas. Does the codex Vaticanus also contain those NT writings? The process of the formation of the canon has been an interest of mine for some time.
Adam
Neither the Shepherd of Hermas nor the Epistle of Barnabas are canonical and so are not properly NT writings. Bruce Metzger in The Text of the New Testament says that the Codex contains in addition to all the books of the NT “the Epistle of Barnabas (previously known only through a very poor Latin translation) and a large portion of the Shepherd of Hermas, hitherto known only be title.” You would find Metzger’s book helpful; also The Text of the New Testament by Kurt and Barbara Aland.
Since it is true that neither the Shepherd of Hermas nor the Epistle of Barnabas are canonical, then the Codex Vaticanus would be the “oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity”.