Course reflection:
It can be expected that many who take this course will be familiar with the material in several of the segments: this course was very helpful in its comprehensive approach and identifying and filling in many gaps, also in clarifying the significance of some less well understood facts and concepts.
Given the major focus of the course was on the origin and transmission of the Greek New Testament, it gave rise to several questions which will warrant further study and for which answers may not always be readily available.
1. Given the chronological scope of the NT is between 50 and 100 AD, and that the Apostles were sent out to the ends of the earth to spread the Gospel (orally) before this period of documentation, what ancient non-Greek manuscripts might exist in churches established by those Apostles who ventured outside the boundaries of the Roman Empire, based on local attempts to document what they had been taught? (Discounting Gnostic material and what is known as the Gospel of Thomas). An example might be whatever the church in Kerala (India) might have from before the colonial period.
2. Given that there appears to be some legitimacy in the concept that Galilean Aramaic (akin to Syriac) would have been more likely than Greek as the language of early local oral transmission of the Gospel stories, is it possible that the original Greek NT autographs were written by amanuenses who not only did the writing but also the translation into Greek based on dictation in Aramaic? This might help explain some of instances cited in the reference below to suggest that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke had Aramaic originals. (ref: Old Syriac Gospels, Studies and Comparative Translations. Wilson E. Jan (2003), Gorgias Press, LLS:SYRGSPSTDY)
3. Several segments of the course highlight areas where the consensus on available ancient Greek NT manuscripts differs from the Latin (presumably Jerome’s) Vulgate. Given the timeframe (and location in Bethlehem) in which Jerome translated the NT into Latin, it would seem likely that Byzantine majority text manuscripts were not the only source Jerome used. Is there information available to us regarding which if any currently identified Greek NT manuscripts were used by Jerome to produce his original Latin version of the NT? For example, was Vaticanus already in Rome by this time or was this available to Jerome in Bethlehem and subsequently sent to Rome? Or are there sufficient obvious differences between Vaticanus and Jerome’s Latin to suggest the Jerome had access to other manuscripts now lost to us (subsequently destroyed or placed where they have not yet been re-discovered), but did not have access to Vaticanus?
(Ref: Saint Jerome. Cutts, Edward L. SPCK, LLS:LTNFTHRSCUTTS02 )
Two suggested improvements to the course came to mind:
a. The word “discovery” related to Tischendorf and Sinaiticus seems a little inappropriate.
According to codexsinaiticus.org, on their page on the History of Codex Sinaiticus, there is a written record re the existence of the Codex as early as 1761 following a visit by Vitaliano Donati. In the next paragraph it is stated that some time between 24 May and 1 June 1844, the monks at Saint Catherine’s brought the Codex to Tischendorf’s attention. “Discovery” would seem appropriate when someone stumbles across or unearths an artifact that was previously unknown to other living persons. In this case it would seem that the existence of Codex Sinaiticus was well known to the monks in the St. Catherine’s Monastery and it would seem logical that the Greek Orthodox hierarchy in this region were also aware of its existence.
It was the western church that was made aware of the nature and importance of the Codex by Tischendorf.
b. The various Quizzes and Final Exam would benefit from having the text of the Bible passages, rather than just the reference available when questioning the nature of the variants they contain. (eg: It would be helpful if “Philemon 2” could bring up the actual text on mouse-over)
Codex Sinaiticus - Home
Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. The Codex Sinaiticus Project is an international collaboration to reunite the entire…
codexsinaiticus.org