Recently, a friend sent me a link to this video of Dan Wallace speaking at Acadia Divinity College on New Testament manuscripts.  Dan is probably the best connected and most informed scholar on the state of NT manuscripts, in America at least.  His  organization continues to discover  manuscripts (hand-written documents) which scholars did not know existed.  There are over 2.5 million pages altogether of the known number of NT manuscripts, over 5800.  This is a remarkable number of manuscripts still in existence given (a) that pagan emperors and governors did their best (during times of persecution) to discover and burn Gospels and letters and (b) the writing material and inks they used are organic, which means they were subject to decay.  Dan’s organization, Center for Study of New Testament Manuscripts, is working feverishly to create digital images of these manuscripts before they degrade further.  It is a great resource for scholars of Christian history.

 

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