RELIGION 101: ANSWERS

TRACING THE BIBLE

Until the fourth century the standard form of a book was in the form of scrolls. A roll made of papyrus or animal skin on which text was written by hand. The earliest books of the Hebrew Bible survive today, they are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in the Judean Desert in the 1940's. Also included in this find is the Second Isaiah Scroll.

The Hebrew Bible [the thirty nine books of the Torah, Nevi`im {Prophets}, and Ketuvim {Writings} were formed over a number of centuries.

The Hebrew Bible was not the only Bible in circulation. Many Jews and early Christians used a Greek translation that was probably begun in the third century. It included fifteen texts that are omitted from the Hebrew Bible.

The first century the publication of the codex or leaf-book appeared. Codices made cross-referencing easier and were more portable then scrolls.

The Bible of the early Christians was the Bible of Judaism. The Aleppo Codex and the St Petersburg Pentateuch formed the basis for what became the standard text of the Hebrew Bible.

Early Christian texts were not intended as ‘biblical books, but where written in response to the needs of local Christian communities. Composed in Greek these writings came to form the New Testament.

Christians were slow to produce writings on their own because they relied on Judaism scripture. The earliest writings to survive are the letters of Saint Paul 50-60 and the Gospel of Mark 65-70. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke and Acts followed these around 80-90. This also contained sayings and parables of Jesus and some episodes of His life. Around 85-95 John’s Gospel and the letters of James, Peter and John. Also included were Paul’s letters to the Hebrews and the Revelation of John.

Christian’s writings then started to grow rapidly with more letters and revelations as well as a variety of gospels that were eventually omitted from the Christian Bible. Two of these were the Unknown or Egerton Gospel and the Gospel of Thomas.

In 303 C. E., during the "Great Persecution" of Christians, the Roman emperor Diocletian ordered the destruction of Christian books. Following his vision of the Cross and subsequent victory in battle—Emperor Constantine granted religious toleration throughout the Western Empire

Constantine died in 337 and his successors convened councils to determine the nature of Christian belief. Many churches were founded, all requiring Christian texts.

In the fourth century Christianity was adopted by the Roman Empire as the state religion. With this came about a fixed list of books that were understood to have unique status by virtue of divine inspiration. Some texts came to be rejected due to dubious authenticity or association with radical sects.

Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus were all written in Greek, date from the fourth to fifth centuries and are the earliest complete Christian Bibles. They expressed the unity of the Old and New Testament, but were impractical and expensive.

Codex Sinaiticus is thought by some scholars to have been written in Caesarea [modern Israel] in the fourth century. Much of the research and writing conducted by Saint Jerome [347-419/20] and Bishop Eusebius [260-339] was devising a system of canon tables that allowed comparisons across the gospels. Neither man can be directly connected to Codex Sinaiticus it flourished in the same area.

Christian scriptures usually circulated in the form of smaller collections of gospels or epistles. Early gospel books included an example of Jerome’s “Vulgate” edition of the Bible, named so because it was in the common language {vulgar}.

The Christian Old Testament, while having most or all books in common with the Jewish Tanakh, varies from Judaism in the emphasis it places and the interpretations it gives them. The books come in a slightly different order. In addition, some Christian groups recognize additional books as canonical members of the Old Testament, and they may use a different text as the canonical basis for translations.

This is what we will look at tomorrow as we continue our journey of the Bible.

God Bless
rECj/LJG