Posted on 01/22/2009 8:44:06 AM PST by houston1
The story of the Codex Sinaiticus Bible, the oldest complete copy of the New Testament in existence, reads like a script from an Indiana Jones film.
Ever since a German explorer controversially removed it from an Egyptian monastery, four countries have fought for control over the ancient manuscript.
From today, extracts from the 4th-century Greek original can be viewed online. Behind the scenes, however, “harsh and negative” discussions continue between Britain, Russia, Egypt and Germany to establish who has the right to the priceless artifact
...snip...
The surviving copy of St Mark's Gospel, handwritten in Greek more than 1,600 years ago, ends abruptly after Jesus's disciples discover the empty tomb. Mark's last line has them leaving in fear and makes no mention of the Resurrection...
“It cuts out the post-Resurrection stories,” Dr Garces said. “That's a very odd way of ending a gospel.”
(Excerpt) Read more at entertainment.timesonline.co.uk ...
Nah. Since they do not have the complete document there is no way to know whether more was there originally. Also, antiquarian books are rarely in toto. This is nothing new in the overall discussion of what is the text and which text should be trusted. Just one more thing to bicker about. Too bad because it allows people to miss the entire point.
An early attempt at one of those 'choose your own ending' type things? (I'm so going to hell for that one, sorry.)
I wonder why they are so sure that there wasn't more? Hey, it's old, stuff gets lost.
Oh and besides, at least now we know that the Da Vinci Code can’t be true ( I mean if He died and didn’t ressurect etc)
Jesus's disciples discover the empty tomb
bfltr
Not exactly:
1 And when the sabbath had passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint him.
2 And very early on the first of the week they came to the sepulcher, the sun having risen.
3 And they said among themselves: Who shall roll away for us the stone from the door of the sepulcher?
4 And looking up they see that the stone had been rolled away; for it was very great.
5 And they entered the sepulcher and saw a young man, sitting at the right side, clothed in a white robe; and they were amazed.
6 But he says to them: Be not amazed. You seek Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified; he has risen, he is not here: see the place where they laid him.
7 But go, tell his disciples, especially Peter, that he goes before you into Galilee: there you shall see him, as he said to you.
8 And going out they fled from the sepulcher; for trembling and astonishment had seized them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid.
And actually one of the versions has the WOMEN not the disciples discovering the empty tomb. Mary came and told the men that the tomb was empty. Of course it is the point of the Man-God, Jesus, that He would defy the chains of death. My only point was that this Codex will neither prove nor disprove my faith. There is not a single continuous document that exits.
Hey all, this may be disturbing to some; but it’s not exactly news. Most Bibles have a footnote about Mark 16; stating that verses 9-20 are not original.
However, the article is WRONG when it says that the Resurrection is omitted. The original text ended with the women fleeing the empty tomb where they had been told by the angel that Jesus was risen.
Who has the oldest Old Testament manuscript? Interesting what all Germany has stashed away... They also have in a Berlin museum the gate of Ishtar from king Neb city of Babylon... Old Saddam was trying to get them to return it when he rebuilt the old city.
Jesus’s disciples go to the empty tomb to check out the women's fantastic claims.
This is one of the the proofs of the truth of the whole resurrection story: That WOMEN (who were not worthy to give witness of anything) were the ones first reporting the event. (IOW: if the resurrection were just a made up story, why would his followers use a socially dubious testimony of women?)
Never in the history of the English printed Bible has there been such a determination to remove it and deliver it to its final resting place, a heap of burning Bibles.
Corrupted from Alexandria Egypt. The post-resurrection included the Great Commission. Just what Lucifer would want us not to do, soul-winning for the Lord. K.J.V.
bttt
I had the pleasure of examining the Siniticus under glass at the British Museum library back in the early 1970’s. The story goes that Tischendorf rescued what remained of the codex that had not already been burned as fuel by the monastery monks. I wondered for years why those “foolish” monks would burn what was likely the oldest manuscript in their library. That may validate claims I’ve read that the manuscript was a corrupted text of the Gospel and I now suspect the monks knew that — age or monetary value did not matter to them, only truthfulness. The earliest extant manuscripts are not necessarily the most accurate copies of the original Gospels.
that’s the way I remember the story, the women came to anoint the body and found the empty tomb, then went and told the disciples
I think it was only their version of the truth they were interested in preserving, look at all the writings from the Mayans, Easter Island, etc that priests and monks burned because they considered them heresy. It was a crime and a disgrace and I say that as someone who was raised Catholic. The Church has done some horrible things over the centuries and hopefully those responsible will be punished at the appropriate time.
I don’t think the St. Catherines monastery in Sinai is Roman Catholic — it might be Coptic or Greek Orthodox. Fortunately through the ages God has worked through many religious men that were more interested in finding and preserving absolute Truth, rather than advancing their own agenda. Were it not so, we wouldn’t have the Bible as we know it today. But we can be confident because Jesus himself said that his words would never perish.
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