As mentioned earlier, original manuscripts do not exist, at least to date. While pop culture has produced the entertaining “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “The DeVinci Code”, these are self-represented as fictional no matter how many believe the possibility of the Ark of the Covenant being lost in a warehouse in Washington, D.C.
The New Testament of the modern era was translations of various manuscript copies of early texts. One of the oldest Bibles extant is the Codex Vaticanus which was written circa 325 which became the basis for the Latin Vulgate Bible circa 383. Remember, hand-copied, one word at a time, probably on parchment. Other early copies of early manuscripts are the Codex Sinaiticus 350, Codex Alexandrimus 440 and on. Many of the early copies are incomplete in that the total text has parts lost through the centuries so parts that were in the original copies are missing through age, environment or other damage.
In current textual analysis, scraps of manuscripts are compared to existing and favored manuscripts to produce what is considered the most accurate renderings of the originals. Because all of these were hand-written, penmanship can be a factor; changes in characters, deterioration of the stock upon which the text was written all make analysis difficult. Comparison of fragments has to ascertain the validity of the source, if the source was believed to be writing an exact copy, had a view that entered into the coping of words that were difficult to discern, was scribed by a community with a variant belief which “improved” the text, was the fragment of the era it purported to be and with some small fragments, where in the text it fits.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, recovered initially from 1946 to 1956 Qumran Caves on the northern shore of the Dead Sea, were the earliest intact manuscript copies to date and those copies ranged from Third Century BC to First Century AD. The final tally of scrolls and fragments totaled over 15,000 pieces and include not only the texts of the Tanakh but also records of daily life, community processes and history of the community mindset during the time when Christianity was birthed and Rabbinic Judaism was practiced. Forty percent are Jewish scriptures, 30% are later works not accepted as part of the canon, and the other 30% are documentation of elements of community life. The significance of the Scrolls was to confirm the accuracy of the scribal transmission of the later manuscripts which were the basis for the primary Codices being used. There were no theologically significant variations in text but many gaps in small details were enhanced with clearer manuscripts.
Historical-Critical Criticism is the study of biblical manuscripts and their contents to identify the accuracy of what the historical text recorded and is actually approached through textual, source, form and literary schools with each looking at a different element of measuring the validity of any manuscript. It typically compares and contrasts the current with other sources for conformity to actual. It is not opinions about what philosophers or pundits think or don’t think about Scripture.
Up until the 1700s there were few resources for textual criticism and most textual comparisons were between the recognized codices. With the expansion of travel and access to formerly isolated assets as well as new discoveries of early documents and manuscripts, the comparison and critical analysis of accepted texts to “discovered” texts became possible. This was no longer the study of opinions but rather had more elements of value to consider. The application of evidence criticism precludes creating a text from an agenda which many groups and religious orders have done. It is limited to compiling accuracy within the scope of the canon.
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