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18 - Manuscripts and the Making of the New Testament

from Part IV - Contested Cultures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2023

By
Tommy Wasserman
Edited by
Bruce W. Longenecker  and
David E. Wilhite
Bruce W. Longenecker
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Texas
David E. Wilhite
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Texas
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Summary

The authors of ancient Christian literature all wrote their distinct stories about Jesus, their letters to churches, and other types of literature on manuscripts. Consequently, any serious study of ancient Christianity must take textual transmission into account.1 Since the New Testament books, in particular, became widely copied and read, the extant textual tradition is rich in comparison with other ancient works (a cause for optimism as to the recovery of the text).2 Today, no less than 6,014 manuscripts (141 papyri, 324 majuscules, 3,011 minuscules, and 2,538 lectionaries) have been assigned a Gregory-Aland number in the official registry of manuscripts maintained by the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung (INTF) in Münster.3 In addition, there are the early translations, in particular in Latin, Syriac, and Coptic, and the citations of Church Fathers to take into account.

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The Cambridge History of Ancient Christianity , pp. 419 - 442
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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