The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM) is a
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
non-profit organization whose mission is to digitally preserve Greek
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
s. Toward that end, CSNTM takes digital photographs of manuscripts at institutions, libraries, museums, monasteries, universities, and archives around the world. The images produced are freely accessible on the Center'
websitea searchable library of Greek New Testament manuscripts. With more than 50,000 users examining manuscripts in their digital library each year, the Center's
digitization
DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a Digital data, digital (i ...
work facilitates a partnership between manuscript owners, archivists, and researchers around the world.
Background
New Testament scholar and professor
Daniel B. Wallace
Daniel Baird Wallace (born June 5, 1952) is an American professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also the founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, the purpose of whi ...
founded CSNTM in September 2002 to utilize emerging technologies to photograph and fully archive all known Greek New Testament manuscripts. The Center is based in
Plano, Texas
Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
Hist ...
. Since its founding, CSNTM has gained an international reputation for its expertise in digitization and manuscript studies. As of 2019, the CSNTM has collaborated with more than 45 institutions on 4 continents to produce nearly 300,000 images from approximately 700 New Testament manuscripts. In the process, they have discovered over 75 New Testament manuscripts that were previously unknown. Their online library features images or links to more than 1,700 manuscripts.
Equipment
CSNTM uses 50.6-megapixel
Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
EOS 5DS cameras mounted on a customized Graz Traveller's Conservation Copy Stand for its standard digitization projects. The Traveller's Conservation Copy Stand is specially designed for digitally preserving fragile materials.
In 2018, CSNTM acquired
Multispectral Imaging (MSI) technology from
MegaVision
MegaVision is an American company that manufactures high-end digital photographic equipment. It was founded in 1983 to create a state-of-the-art image processing computer. MegaVision was the first company to produce a digital camera back for sale, ...
and has adapted the Graz system to make this technology portable as well.
GA 2882
In October 2005, the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts acquired a tenth or eleventh century minuscule of the
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...
on parchment. It was later catalogued as
Gregory–Aland
A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures (see ''Tefillin'') to huge polyglot codices (multi-lin ...
2882.
Select major projects
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (2011)
In November 2011, CSNTM traveled to the
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (BML) in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. The phenomenal library, founded by the
Medici family
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...
and designed by none other than
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
himself, holds over 2500
papyri
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a d ...
, 11,000 total manuscripts, and 128,000 printed texts. Through this trip, CSNTM added new images of 28 manuscripts from the BML.
This BML collection contains papyri, majuscules, minuscules, and
lectionaries
A lectionary ( la, lectionarium) is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, and a ...
. Highlights from the expedition include
GA Lect 117 (an eleventh-century lectionary, written entirely in gold letters),
GA 620 (features Paul's epistles after the book of Revelation—a very rare phenomenon), and
GA 367 (one of only sixty complete Greek New Testament manuscripts known to exist).
Chester Beatty Library (2013)
Over the course of a four-week expedition in July–August 2013, a six-person team from CSNTM digitized all the Greek biblical papyri at the
Chester Beatty Library
The Chester Beatty Library, now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in Dublin. It was established in Ireland in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present museum, on the grounds of ...
in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
The Chester Beatty Papyri, published in the 1930s and 1950s, are some of the oldest and most important biblical manuscripts known to exist. Housed at the CBL, they have attracted countless visitors every year. It is safe to say that the only Greek biblical manuscripts that might receive more visitors are
Codex Sinaiticus
The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...
and
Codex Alexandrinus
The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...
—both on display at the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
.
The New Testament papyri at the CBL include
P46 P46 or P-46 may refer to:
Vessels
* , a corvette of the Argentine Navy
* , a submarine of the Royal Navy
* , a corvette of the Indian Navy
*
Other uses
* Curtiss XP-46
The Curtiss XP-46 was a 1940s American prototype fighter aircraft. It ...
(the oldest manuscript of Paul's letters—dated c. AD 200),
P45 (the oldest manuscript of Mark's Gospel, with portions of the other Gospels and Acts—3rd century), and
P47 (the oldest manuscript of Revelation—3rd century). One or two of the Old Testament papyri are as old as the 2nd century AD. CSNTM photographed each manuscript against white and black backgrounds, every image being over 120 megabytes, and some of the photographs revealing text that had not been seen before. Besides the papyri, CSNTM also digitized all of the Greek New Testament manuscripts at the CBL as well as several others, including some early
apocryphal
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
texts. The total number of images came to more than 5100.
University of Michigan (2014)
In July 2014, CSNTM traveled to the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
to digitize their portion of
P46 P46 or P-46 may refer to:
Vessels
* , a corvette of the Argentine Navy
* , a submarine of the Royal Navy
* , a corvette of the Indian Navy
*
Other uses
* Curtiss XP-46
The Curtiss XP-46 was a 1940s American prototype fighter aircraft. It ...
. This was part of a combined project that virtually reunited P46, since it is housed in two separate locations (University of Michigan & Chester Beatty Library). The University's preservation department is known around the world for their work in papyrological preservation.
National Library of Greece (2015–2016)
CSNTM completed one of their largest digitization projects at the
National Library of Greece
The National Library of Greece ( el, Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος, Ethnikí Vivliothíki tis Elládos) is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to ...
(NLG) in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
. Beginning in 2015 and continuing into 2016, roughly forty-five people worked for months intermittently at the National Library digitizing their entire collection of Greek New Testament manuscripts. This collection is one of the largest in the world and has a multitude of priceless artifacts.
Over 150,000 pages of manuscripts were digitized (more than 300 manuscripts), and about 200,000 pages were examined—the difference due to the fact that several of the artifacts were deemed not to be New Testament manuscripts or were too fragile to digitize. In the process, 21 manuscripts unknown to the
Institute for New Testament Textual Research
The Institute for New Testament Textual Research (german: Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung — INTF) at the University of Münster, Westphalia, Germany, is to research the textual history of the New Testament and to reconstruct its G ...
(INTF) in
Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
were digitized.
National Centre of Manuscripts (2018)
In the summer of 2018, CSNTM traveled to
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
to digitize five manuscripts housed at the
National Centre of Manuscripts. Foremost among these manuscripts was
Codex Koridethi (Θ), a 9th-century majuscule manuscript of the Gospels, but also early majuscules
0211 and
0240 of the Gospels and Paul's letters, respectively. 0240 is a
palimpsest
In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off so that the page can be reused for another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid skin an ...
that required digitization utilizing
multispectral imaging
Multispectral imaging captures image data within specific wavelength ranges across the electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelengths may be separated by filters or detected with the use of instruments that are sensitive to particular wavelengths, ...
. Alongside these three manuscripts, two lectionaries were also digitized.
Heidelberg University (2018)
Following the expedition in Tbilisi, CSNTM digitized manuscripts at
Heidelberg University
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
's Institute for
Papyrology
Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...
. Once again, the multispectral imaging camera was used to capture images of three very early manuscripts:
P40,
0166, and
0187. These three manuscripts contain portions of the Gospels, Acts, and Paul and date between the 3rd and 6th centuries.
Complete list of projects
Europe
*
Bible Museum, Münster, Westphalia, Germany (2002–2003)
*
Tübingen University Library, Tübingen, Germany (2003)
*
Ecumenical Patriarchate
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...
, Istanbul, Turkey (2004)
*
Monastery of St. John the Theologian, Patmos, Greece (2006–2008)
*
National Archives; Tirana, Albania (2007–2008)
*
University of Glasgow Library, Glasgow, Scotland (2008)
*
St Andrews University
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
Library, St Andrews, Scotland (2008)
* De Hamel Collection, Cambridge, England (2008)
*
Christ's College, Cambridge, England (2008)
*
Clare College
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...
, Cambridge, England (2008)
*
Tyndale House
Tyndale House is a Christian publisher in Carol Stream, Illinois.
History
Tyndale was founded in 1962 by Kenneth N. Taylor in order to publish his paraphrase of the Epistles, which he had composed while commuting to work at Moody Press in Ch ...
, Cambridge, England (2008)
*
Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established during the reign of Edward the Confessor and completed by Roger de Montgomery. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War a ...
, England (2008)
*
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
Record Office, Leicester, England (2008)
*
Bavarian State Library
The Bavarian State Library (german: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the big ...
, Munich, Germany (2009)
*
Benaki Museum
The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in downtown Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the ...
, Athens, Greece (2009)
*
National Historical Museum, Historical and Ethnological Society, Athens, Greece (2009).
* Private Collection, United Kingdom (2009)
*
Byzantine and Christian Museum
The Byzantine and Christian Museum ( el, Βυζαντινό και Χριστιανικό Μουσείο, links=no) is situated at Vassilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens, Greece. It was founded in 1914, and houses more than 25,000 exhibits with rare ...
, Athens, Greece (2010–2011)
* Museum of Literature, Iasi, Romania (2010)
*
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence, Italy (2011)
*
Gennadius Library
The Gennadius Library ( el, Γεννάδειος Βιβλιοθήκη), also known as the Gennadeion, is one of the most important libraries in Greece, with over 110,000 volumes on Greek history, literature and art from Antiquity until modern tim ...
,
American School of Classical Studies
, native_name_lang = Greek
, image = American School of Classical Studies at Athens.jpg
, image_size =
, image_alt =
, caption = The ASCSA main building as seen from Mount Lykavittos
, latin_name =
, other_name =
, former_name =
, mo ...
, Athens, Greece (2012)
*
University of Athens Historical Museum, Athens, Greece (2012)
* Zagora Historical Library, Athens, Greece (2012–2013)
*
Chester Beatty Library
The Chester Beatty Library, now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in Dublin. It was established in Ireland in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present museum, on the grounds of ...
, Dublin, Ireland (2013)
*
National Library of Greece
The National Library of Greece ( el, Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος, Ethnikí Vivliothíki tis Elládos) is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to ...
, Athens, Greece (2014–16)
*
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, Edinburgh, Scotland (2016)
* Tatarnis Monastery, Tripotamon, Greece (2017)
* Panagias Monastery, Proussos, Greece (2017)
*
Hellenic Parliament
The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...
, Athens, Greece (2018)
*
Byzantine Museum of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece (2018)
* Institute for Papyrology,
Heidelberg University
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
, Heidelberg, Germany (2018)
Asia
*
National Centre of Manuscripts, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia (2018)
Australia
*
Macquarie University
Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...
, Sydney, Australia (2009)
*
Auckland Public Library
Auckland Libraries is the public library system for the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created when the seven separate councils in the Auckland region merged in 2010. It is currently the largest public-library network in the Southern H ...
, Auckland, New Zealand (2009)
North America
*
Charles C. Ryrie Private Collection, Dallas, Texas, USA (2003–2004)
* Private Collection, Dallas, TX (2003)
* Private Collection, Pennsylvania (2005)
* The Scriptorium, Orlando, Florida, USA (2008)
*
Gruber Collection
The Gruber Collection is a collection of books and manuscripts housed at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. The collection contains more than 300 books from the 15th to 18th centuries and 14 manuscripts of Greek New T ...
,
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Chicago, Illinois. LSTC is a member of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), a consortium of eleven area seminaries ...
, Chicago, Illinois, USA (2010)
* Bridwell Library,
Southern Methodist University
, mottoeng = "The truth will make you free"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = SACS
, academic_affiliations =
, religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church
, president = R. Gerald Turner
, prov ...
, Dallas, Texas, USA (2010) (2019)
*
Drew University
Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...
, Madison, New Jersey, USA (2012)
*
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
, Hartford, Connecticut, USA (2012)
*
American Bible Society
American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...
, New York City, New York, USA (2012)
*
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
, Rare Books and Manuscripts Division, New York City, New York, USA (2012)
*
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (2008) (2014)
*
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and is one of the largest seminaries in the world. It i ...
, Fort Worth, Texas, USA (2014)
*
Houston Baptist University
Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University, is a private Baptist university in Houston, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). Its Cultural Arts Center hou ...
, Houston, Texas, USA (2019)
*
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, USA (2019)
See also
*
Institute for New Testament Textual Research
The Institute for New Testament Textual Research (german: Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung — INTF) at the University of Münster, Westphalia, Germany, is to research the textual history of the New Testament and to reconstruct its G ...
*
Textual Criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in ...
*
Digital Humanities
Digital humanities (DH) is an area of scholarly activity at the intersection of computing or Information technology, digital technologies and the disciplines of the humanities. It includes the systematic use of digital resources in the humanitie ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM)CSNTM Endorsements
Biblical criticism
Greek New Testament manuscripts
Textual scholarship