1611kingjamesbible - codex aleph aka codex sinaiticus

7/28/2019 1611KingJamesBible - Codex Aleph Aka Codex Sinaiticus

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(also known as Codex Aleph)

Codex Sinaiticus was discovered by Constantin von Tischendorf, a German evolutionist theologian, at St.Catherines Monastery at Mount Sinai. He discovered the first part in 1844 and the second part in 1859.

Following is the story of how Tischendorf found the Codex Sinaiticus:

"In the year 1844, whilst travelling under the patronage of FrederickAugustus King of Saxony, in quest of manuscripts, Tischendorf reached theConvent of St. Catherine, on Mount Sinai. Here, observing some old-lookingdocuments in a basketful of papers ready for lighting the stove, he pickedthem out, and discovered that they were forty-three vellum leaves of theSe tua int Version. Some enemies of the defense of the Kin James Bible

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have claimed that the manuscripts were not found in a "waste basket," butthey were. That is exactly how Tischendorf described it. "I perceived a largeand wide basket full of old parchments; and the librarian told me that twoheaps like this had been already committed to the flames. What was mysurprise to find amid this heap of papers..." (Narrative of the Discovery oft h e Sinait ic Manuscript , p. 23). John Burgon, who was alive whenTischendorf discovered the Codex Sinaiticus and also personally visited St.Catherine's to research ancient manuscripts, testified that the manuscripts"got deposited in the waste-paper basket of the Convent." (The RevisionRevised, 1883, pp. 319, 342)

So, it certainly appears to me that t he Orthodox monks evidently had long since decided that thenumerous omissions and alterations in the manuscript had rendered it useless and had stored it away insome closet where it had remained unused for centuries. Yet Tischendorf promoted it widely and vigorouslyas representing a more accurate text than the thousands of manuscripts supporting the TextusReceptus. Furthermore, he assumed that it came from about the 4th century, but he never found any

actual proof that it dated earlier than the 12th century.

Consider these facts and oddities relating to the Codex Sinaiticus:

1. The Sinaiticus was written by three different scribes and was corrected later by several others. (This

was t he conclusion of an extensive invest igation by H.J.M . Milne and T.C. Skeat of t he Brit ishMuseum, which was published in Scribes and Correct ors of Codex Sinaiticus, London, 1938.)Tischendorf counted 14,800 correct ions in this manuscript (David Brown, The Great Uncials,2000). Dr. F.H.A. Scrivener, who published A Full Collation of the Codex Sinaiticus in 1864 testified:

"The Codex is covered with alterations of an obviously correctional characterbrought in by at leastten different revisers, some of them systematically spread over every page, others occasional, orlimited to separate portions of the manuscript, many of these being contemporaneous with the firstwriter, but for the greater part belonging to the sixth or seventh century. " Thus, it is evident thatscribes in bygone centuries did not consider the Sinaiticus to represent a pure text . Why itshould be so revered by modern textual crit ics is a mystery.

2. A great amount of carelessness is exhibited in the copying and correction. "Codex Sinaiticus 'abounds

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with errors of the eye and pen to an extent not indeed unparalleled, but happily rather unusual indocuments of first-rate importance.'On many occasions 10, 20, 30, 40 words are dropped throughvery carelessness. Letters and words, even whole sentences, are frequently written twice over, orbegun and immediately cancelled; while that gross blunder, whereby a clause is omitted because ithappens to end in the same words as the clause preceding, occurs no less than 115 times in the NewTestament." (John Burgon, The Revision Revised)It is clear that the scribes who copied the CodexSinaiticus were not faithful men of God who treated the Scriptures with utmost reverence. The totalnumber of words omitted in the Sinaiticus in the Gospels alone is 3,455 compared with the GreekReceived Text (Burgon, p. 75).

3. Mark 16:9-20 is omitt ed in the Codex Sinaiticus, but it was originally there and has been erased.

4. Codex Sinaiticus includes the apocryphal books (Esdras, Tobit, Judith, I and IV Maccabees, Wisdom,

Ecclesiasticus) plus two heretical writings, the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas.The apocryphal Epist le of Barnabas is f illed with heresies and fanciful allegorizing, claiming, forexample, that Abraham knew Greek and baptism is necessary for salvation. The Shepherd of Hermasis a gnostic writing that presents the heresy that the "Christ Spirit" came upon Jesus at his baptism.

5. Lastly, Codex Sinaiticus (along with Codex Vaticanus), exhibits clear gnostic influence. In John 1:18"the only begotten Son" is changed to "the only begotten God," thus perpetuating the ancient Arianheresy that disassociates the Son Jesus Christ with God Himself by breaking the clear connectionbetween "God" of John 1:1 with "the Son" of John 1:18. We know that God was not begotten; it wasthe Son who was begotten in the incarnation.

Home Does it Really Matter? Manuscripts Codex Sinaiticus Codex Vaticanus Textus

Receptus Westcott & Hort

Is Older Better? Other Translations Altered Verses Constantine Origen TischendorfCatholics & the Jesuits

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1611kingjamesbible - codex aleph aka codex sinaiticus

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