‘Christ died for our sins’ Despite what the BBC says…
The earliest account of the resurrection in Codex Sinaiticus
Great news for religious conspiracy theorists the world over. The oldest near-complete version of the Bible can now be browsed online.
Codex Siniaticus was written between 400-450AD and is the oldest version of the Bible in existence but what does it tell us about the Bibles we read today?
There is no doubt there are lots of ‘differences’ Especially in the Old Testament. This is largely due to how the oldest books (like Genesis) were written. In this Codex, they were written in ‘ye-olde-Greek’ which has presented challenges to readers, much like those who try to read old English versions today. It’s a different story for the New Testament though.
Some stories are omitted and some extra ones are included but bearing in mind, these scriptures are by no means a recent find, the modern translations already point out these differences in the margins. Unfortunately with Da Vinci Code mania stull running high, lots of people are looking for controversy where there really isn’t any and it seems to be quite fashionable to try to discredit the Bible rather than the Qur’an or other Holy writings were fundamentalists don’t quite share such scholarly love.
The BBC haven’t helped by writing a web article which only really tells half of the story. Readers may be forgiven for thinking its all over bar the (hymn) singing after reading that the Codex misses out vast swathes of text including accounts of Christ’s resurrection and ascension. It isn’t quite like that at all.
Via the science of ‘textural criticism‘ its possible to form a relatively accurate date for the writings and events of the letters of St Paul and the Acts of the Apostles. Paul’s ‘conversion’ happened approximately four years after Jesus’s public execution. Acts 9:19 tells us that after his Damascus road experience, Paul spent time with the Disciples in Jerusalem. Textural criticism really kicks in here…
1 Cor 15:3 offers what seems like a simple-almost throw-away comment.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
This now sounds quite ‘normal’ as far as Christian tradition goes but at the time of writing, these words were mind blowing. Paul wrote this around 50AD. A mere thirty years after Jesus’ execution many of the witnesses to the events were still alive, in fact Paul makes mention of this himself. But why is this so important?
Well, some historians, theologians and novel writers would like us to believe that Jesus’ Divinity and resurrection were only ‘invented’ hundreds of years and thousands of miles away from how things actually were. However through textural criticism it’s easy to see that they were not. Christians were preaching, reading and writing about the resurrection within 5 years of Christ’s execution (remember: Paul says he is passing on that which he was given, presumably from the Disciples in Jerusalem).
Unsurprisingly and contrary to what the BBC may have us believe, these texts can all be found (easily) in Codex Siniaticus with a few simple clicks of the mouse. They aren’t missing at all!
I’m not sure why Christianity comes in for so much stick. Now I know some of the bad-press is well deserved with religious crackpots doing far more damage than good but surely a tambourine image crisis shouldn’t affect what is historically accurate or not.
Alas! It doesn’t seem to be that way. So many assumptions are made, reports and documentaries broadcast without some of the evidence being presented properly. Not only does this exhibit very poor journalism, it misrepresents some of the most famous and prevalent ancient texts in existence.
