The New Testament

The number of manuscripts we have for the New Testament is even greater. The ancient Greek copies we have today number into the thousands, some dating back to the 4th Century. We have copies of the early Latin Vulgate (not the inferior Jerome Vulgate) and Syriac translations, both dating to the 2nd Century. These help us to confirm the authenticity of the New Testament we have today.

We have two main sets of early manuscripts. One group is called the Byzantine Text, sometimes referred to as Textus Receptus (the Received Text), or the similar Majority Text. There are over 5,500 old Greek manuscript text portions in this group, which come from a variety of regions.

Then we have the Alexandrian Texts, which number only two copies. One of these was found in a monastery (in a rubbish bin) in the Sinai Desert. Origen, who had Gnostic and pre-Arian ideas (counting Christ as a lower god) and his disciples Pamphilus and Eusebius, altered the traditional text. The other Alexandrian class text is in the Vatican library. This copy has alterations marked by old scribes on every page. These two texts have many variations between them.

It is believed that the two Alexandrian copies are older than any of the Byzantine copies, dating back to the 4th Century AD. They may be the oldest most complete texts, but there are many older text portions. There are some major differences between the Alexandrian Texts and the Byzantine Texts. In the Alexandrian Texts the last 12 verses in Mark are missing, the story of the woman caught in adultery is missing and several verses referring to the divinity of Christ are missing, along with many other verses.

Early Fathers & Erasmus

Until modern times these two Alexandrian Texts were not considered authentic. Early church fathers claimed corrupted copies were made by Gnostics, Arians and other heretical groups. Arians denied the divinity of Christ. These groups had influence in the Egyptian region where it is believed the Alexandrian texts originated. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, who deny Jesus is God, today applaud these texts.

Erasmus was a scholar of ancient Greek, who was a contemporary of Luther during the Reformation in the 16th Century. Erasmus used the Byzantine texts to compile a Greek version called the Textus Receptus, meaning the text received from the ancient church. This version has been updated several times by reference to other Byzantine texts.

The Reformers used the Textus Receptus to translate the scriptures into their various languages. Luther used it for the German Bible and Tyndale for an English Bible, on which later the KJV was based. Erasmus was aware of the Alexandrian Texts, for he had access to the Roman Catholic library. However, Erasmus refused to use the Alexandrian text in his work. He said it was inferior and was not the correct text.