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The Early Christian CodexThe Watchtower—1962 | August 15
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growth of the Gospels. His first notes may have been made in a parchment notebook, and when his Gospel was finished it would probably circulate in glorified notebook or codex form. As other Gospels were completed they would be put with Matthew’s Gospel. As the demand grew for more copies the codex form would be exploited to the full and copies would travel far and wide, its convenience making it possible for traveling ministers like Paul, Timothy and Titus to have pocket codices. When ministers like these returned to visit the congregations they would doubtless commend the brothers for their progress in using their newly received codices, though not forgetting to encourage those still using rolls.
The second-century codex forcibly demonstrates three points. It confirms the authenticity of God’s Word, almost closing the gap between the actual time of the apostles and the earliest manuscripts now extant. It reveals how anxious the early Christians were to give the Scriptures a great circulation, reducing the comparatively high price of books so that all could read these precious words of life. It helps us to see how much they referred to their copies and why they wanted to be able to find the places quickly and easily. May we be like those enthusiastic early Christians and use our Bibles, carefully examining them to prove the true faith as did those of ancient Beroea.—Acts 17:11.
REFERENCES
1 A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, by Arndt and Gingrich. page 503.
2 The Palaeography of Greek Papyri, by F. G. Kenyon, page 25.
3 Here and There Among the Papyri, by G. Milligan, page 54.
4 The Codex, by C. H. Roberts, pages 184-186.
5 The Growth of the Gospels, by Sir W. M. Flinders Petrie, pages 5, 6.
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“A Thousandth Part of the Entire Text”The Watchtower—1962 | August 15
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“A Thousandth Part of the Entire Text”
MANY are the variations said to exist in the different manuscripts of the Christian Greek Scriptures. This has caused some to wonder just how much substantial variation there is, that is, differences that really matter. It will be enlightening to note what Westcott and Hort said on the subject in their Introduction to the New Testament:
“With regard to the great bulk of the words of the N.T., . . . there is no variation or other ground of doubt. . . . The proportion of words virtually accepted on all hands as raised above doubt is very great, not less, on a rough computation, than seven-eighths of the whole. The remaining eighth therefore, formed in great part by changes of order and other comparative trivialities, constitutes the whole area of criticism. If the principles followed in the present edition are sound [and they are generally accepted as being sound], this area may be very greatly reduced. Recognizing to the full the duty of abstinence from preemptory decision in cases where the evidence leaves the judgment in suspense between two or more readings, we find that, setting aside differences of orthography [spelling], the words in our opinion still subject to doubt only make up about one-sixtieth of the whole New Testament.
“In this second estimate the proportion of comparatively trivial variations is beyond measure larger than in the former; so that the amount of what can in any sense be called substantial is but a small fraction of the whole residuary variation, and can hardly form more than a thousandth part of the entire text. Since there is reason to suspect that an exaggerated impression prevails as to the extent of possible corruption in the N.T., which might seem to be confirmed by language here and there used in the following pages, we desire to make it clearly understood beforehand how much of the N.T. stands in no need of a textual critic’s labors.” Yes, not more than a thousandth part of the Christian Greek Scriptures is open to question as to just what is the correct reading.
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