World's oldest Bible published in full online

The world's oldest surviving Bible, which has been scattered around the globe for more than a century, has been published in full online.

By Chris Irvine
Published: 7:00AM BST 06 Jul 2009

Along with the Codex Vaticanus, the Codex Sinaiticus is considered the oldest known Bible in the world Photo: REUTERS

More than 800 surviving pages and fragments from the The Codex Sinaiticus, which was written in Greek on parchment leaves in the fourth century, have been reunited.

Last year The British Library put The Book of Psalms and St Mark's Gospel online, and now the remaining pages have been made free for public use for the first time.

Along with the Codex Vaticanus, the Codex Sinaiticus is considered the oldest known Bible in the world. Originally more than 1,460 pages long and measuring 16in by 14in, it was written by a number of hands around the time of Constantine the Great.

It offers different versions of the Scriptures from later editions of the Bible, notably in St Mark's Gospel which ends 12 verses before later versions, omitting the appearance of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

The reunification of the book is the culmination of a four-year collaboration between the British Library, Leipzig University Library in Germany, the Monastery of St Catherine in Mount Sinai, Egypt, and the National Library of Russia in St Petersburg, each of which hold different parts of the manuscript.

They hope that by bringing together the digitised pages online, the project will help scholars worldwide to research in depth the Greek text, which is fully transcribed and cross-referenced.

"The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's greatest written treasures," said Dr Scot McKendrick, Head of Western Manuscripts at the British Library.

"This 1,600-year old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation. The project has uncovered evidence that a fourth scribe – along with the three already recognised – worked on the text; the availability of the virtual manuscript for study by scholars around the world creates opportunities for collaborative research that would not have been possible just a few years ago."

To mark the reunification, the British Library is also holding a new exhibition, open today that tells the story of the book.

Professor David Parker from the University of Birmingham's Department of Theology, who directed the team which made the electronic transcription of the manuscript said the four-year process was a "huge challenge".

"The transcription includes pages of the Codex which were found in a blocked-off room at the Monastery of St Catherine in 1975, some of which were in poor condition," he said.

"This is the first time that they have been published. The digital images of the virtual manuscript show the beauty of the original and readers are even able to see the difference in handwriting between the different scribes who copied the text. We have even devised a unique alignment system which allows users to link the images with the transcription. This project has made a wonderful book accessible to a global audience."

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Pontiff Reflects on Messianic Secret

Says Suffering Was Key to Christ's Mission

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 1, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Christ knew that to fulfill his mission he had to suffer and die on the cross. For this reason, he took great strides to keep his identity hidden, says Benedict XVI.

Reflecting on today's Gospel (Mark 1:21-28) before praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope spoke about the "so-called 'Messianic secret.'"

"For the moment, Jesus does not want anyone outside the restricted group of his disciples to know that he is the Christ, the Son of God," the Pontiff explained. "This is why he often admonishes the apostles and the sick people whom he heals to not reveal his identity to anyone."

"Not only does Jesus chase demons out of people, freeing them from the worst slavery, but he prohibits the demons themselves from revealing his identity," he added.

The Holy Father said Christ insisted on this secret "because the fulfillment of his mission is at stake, on which our salvation depends."

"He knows in fact that to liberate humanity from the dominion of sin he must be sacrificed on the cross as the true paschal lamb," Benedict XVI explained. "The devil, for his part, tries to divert his attention and direct it instead toward a human logic of a powerful and successful messiah."

The Pope continued: "The cross of Christ will be the demon’s ruin, and this is why Jesus does not cease to teach his disciples that in order to enter into his glory he must suffer much, be rejected, condemned and crucified. Suffering is an integral part of his mission."

"Jesus suffers and dies on the cross for love," he added. "When we consider this, we see that it is in this way that he gave meaning to our suffering, a meaning that many men and women of every age understood and made their own, experiencing profound serenity even in the bitterness of difficult physical and moral trials."

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