I realised when planning this sermon that in an intentional way I have been studying the Bible for over 40 years. I started A level RS in 1985, here is my Bible, and my Greek Testament; and here is something I am so excited about, I was showing the SC the other, a Synopsis of the New Testament.
I thought was going to tell you something about the significance of NT Synopsis, because it’s a subject which has always interested me; but found myself compelled to tell another story, one which is ancient but also deeply Camden.
In the British Library, a 25 minute walk from here, and in our Borough, lives perhaps one of its greatest treasures. The Codex Sinaiticus. I thought I’d try to find out something about the Bible in exploring the history and uniqueness of a Bible.
The word codex means “book” and Sinaiticus refers to Sinai where it was found. It is a Greek manuscript of the Christian Scriptures, written in the fourth century, by scribes using animal-skin parchment (vellum).
The codex stands at a key moment in the history of the book: when scroll became codex, from papyrus roll, to bound vellum book. It is one of the earliest, largest, most ambitious Christian manuscripts of its kind, and resonates with the anniversary of Nicaea, which we have been celebrating, as it seems it originated soon after.
We think from the writing, in Greek capitals, and the quality of vellum, it was produced in Egypt, or possibly coastal Palestine, around A.D. 340. It compares with the other major early Greek codices of the Bible: for example, the Codex Vaticanus, contemporary, and the Codex Alexandrinus (5th century).
It’s unclear exactly when it got to St Catherine’s monastery in Sinai, it is no surprise that something that must have been known to be so precious, was kept there for safe-keeping, possibly during the rise of Islam, if not before.
The story of how the Codex came to England is almost a thriller. The key figure is the German biblical scholar Constantin von Tischendorf (1815-1874). In 1844, on his first trip to St Catherine’s Monastery, he was shown 129 large parchment leaves from the codex, and he managed to secure 43 leaves which were taken back to Leipzig, Germany. The story goes that these leaves were in a basket intended for the fire, but whether that detail is legend or fact remains debated. He went back two years later to claim more, but was rebuffed.
In 1859 Tischendorf made a third journey, under the patronage of the Tsar, who had more money to burn that the King of Prussia, and was finally allowed to study-and secure the main body of the manuscript — 347 leaves which ended up in St Petersburg in Russia.
In 1933 the Soviet government, strapped for cash, and with no love of the Church, sold that portion to the British Government, and today the majority of the Codex is held in the British Library in London. Meanwhile, 43 leaves remain at Leipzig University Library, a few leaves at the Russian National Library, and a number is still at St Catherine’s.
There is a certain “James-Bond” feel to the tale — desert monasteries, hidden manuscripts, diplomatic negotiations, clandestine removal. Some say Tischendorf was a hero saving the ancient Bible; others say he was opportunistic. The question of ownership and provenance remains debated.
Why tell this story on Bible Sunday? Because the Codex Sinaiticus, a Bible, helps us to understand some crucial truths about “The Bible” itself.
- The sheer number of animal skins, the labour of scribes, the materials and binding show that in the ancient world a Bible of this kind was a precious item. The life-time earnings of a worker would have gone into it. It was centuries before Tyndale’s dream of every ploughboy or even girl having a pocket Bible might materialise. That’s another story – the rise of Print and with it, Protestantism.
- The Codex shows many signs of corrections, marginal notes, multiple scribes, and evolving textual tradition. The text did not appear by magic, but through human hands, scribes, scholars and communities.
- The very survival of such a manuscript reminds us that our Bible stands in a chain of communities, cultures, books and translations.
- The fact that this book, so close to home in London, reaches back to the 4th century, and thereby nearer the time of Christ and the early church, is full of Christian significance. Just as the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, so the Word-written became bound, preserved, handled, read, preached, shared. We are touching the incarnate Word when we open our Bibles.
As Isaiah the Prophet said in our Old Testament reading: “I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return: that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” (Isaiah 45:23). The Codex Sinaiticus gives tangible witness to that great Word going out of God’s mouth, being carried through centuries, and reaching our lips today.