A. THE FORMATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON (A.D. 100-220)
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm
The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once stimulated by disputes with doubters, both within and without the Church, and retarded by certain obscurities and natural hesitations, and which did not reach its final term until the dogmatic definition of the Tridentine Council. ("Canon of the New Testament")
There is a lot of confusion about the earliest existing texts of the Bible. The oldest extant manuscript of the Bible is believed to be the Codex Vaticanus, (preserved in the Vatican Library), which is slightly older than the Codex Sinaiticus (preserved in the British Library), both of which were transcribed in the fourth century.
2007-08-22 01:02:24 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Pick one.
2007-08-22 01:14:15 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Neither Vaticanus, nor Sinaiticus are texts of 'the Bible.' Both contain MOST of the New Testament, but each also has significant gaps.
The oldest existing biblical texts are the Isaiah and Daniel scrolls from Qumran, (ca. 150 BC) and especially the Sumerian Pentateuch which appears to date from about 1000 to 1200 BC!
About 10 or 12 years ago approximate 1/2 of Matthew's Gospel was found in a university library in Paris and the other 1/2 of the evidently the same text was found in Toledo. Ink and writing style experts have dated this copy of Mattew to between A.D. 60-65, which if correct would make it the old New Testament manuscript found, and some have suggested it may even be the very autograph of Matthew.
2007-08-22 01:25:41 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You seem to have a lot of knowledge. Knowledge never saved anyone. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, the Life - No one comes to the Father except through the Son.
I pray dear one you find Truth - it is not in a lot of head knowledge - it is having faith and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Blessings.
2007-08-22 01:23:56 · answer #3 · answered by jworks79604 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
All of them are dogmatic and extremely doubtful. They're only the products of Bronze Age cultures.
2007-08-22 01:10:42 · answer #4 · answered by chris m 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋