Scholar Redates Bible Manuscript

According to Carsten Peter Thiede, a German expert in papyrology, there is strong evidence that three papyrus fragments of the Gospel of Matthew (known as the Magdalen Papyrus) were written in the first century.

After comparing the fragments (containing parts of Matthew chapter 26) with an ancient business letter found in Egypt, Thiede noted that the Egyptian document resembles “the Magdalen Papyrus almost like a twin—in general appearance and in the shape and formation of individual letters.” Thiede and coauthor Matthew D’Ancona conclude in their book Eyewitness to Jesus—Amazing New Manuscript Evidence About the Origin of the Gospels that the similarities between the two documents indicate that they were written at about the same time. When? The business document is dated “‘In the year 12 of Nero the Lord, Epeiph 30’—which is, according to our calendar, July 24, 66 [C.E.].”

“This dating, if accurate, is extremely significant,” comments Professor Philip W. Comfort, in an article published in the Tyndale Bulletin, “because it places a manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew within the same century it was written.” It also would make the Magdalen Papyrus the oldest Gospel fragments in existence.

[Picture on page 29]

The Magdalen Papyrus, shown actual size

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By permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford