One of the things that I love about our church is its dedication to biblical preaching. The arduous effort to impart spiritual truth from the Bible is only the product of a deep-rooted love for the Scriptures. Think about the Bible for a moment. God chose to reveal Himself specifically through this book that was written by 40 different authors over a period of 1,500 years. The Bible is like no other book written. Its contents have shaped human history. You see, it's no small matter that our teaching team stands before us each week and exposits truth. Remarkably there are nearly 6,000 existing Greek NT manuscripts today. It has been said by scholars that the vastness of manuscript support for our NT is an embarrassment of riches. It is true. Our manuscript evidence for the NT is startling-far out numbering all other historical writings.
Here is where I must confess; I've been obsessed with the Bible for a while now. So when I was given the opportunity to travel and help preserve the New Testament (NT) using digital photography, I couldn't resist. God has given me the privilege to travel on two expeditions, both in Germany and the U.S., to digitally preserve ancient Greek NT manuscripts. I worked with an organization called The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (csntm.org) to preserve these documents. In short, CSNTM is a non-profit organization whose mission is to digitally preserve all extant Greek manuscripts of the NT for scholarly study and enrichment of the Church. If you visit their website, you will already see thousands of images posted from numerous expeditions. On my first expedition, I worked with a team in Munster and Munich, Germany. My second expedition kept me state side as we shot manuscripts at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. It is crucial that these manuscripts be digitally preserved, for these documents are ancient treasures of the Church, which support and attest the validity of our NT text. By preserving NT manuscripts, scholars are able to draw us ever closer to the original wording of the NT, whereby we discover our Lord Jesus.
May I stop here and say, shooting manuscripts is intense work. It begins with a lot of politics just to even get permission to shoot manuscripts in certain countries. Once we receive the "go ahead," we then have to find a spot conducive for photography. Plus, we have lots of equipment: multiple 21 mega-pixel cameras, lenses, reflectors, tripods, cables, a copy stand (as seen in image), two laptop computers, multiple external hard drives, and other various essentials. All of this equipment must be set up properly and then, with gloved hands, one person must gently turn the pages and the other must operate the camera via the computer. For 8 hours a day, one person stands in a strenuous position as the other keeps a sharp eye on the screen watching the borders and edges so not to miss any crucial data on the page. Though difficult, nothing is more rewarding. Why? If our NT is important, then isn't it also important that we preserve those documents that undergird the very translations we hold in our hands? We have our NT because faithful scribes copied those words generations ago.
After these expeditions, I had to ask myself: "What did all this mean to me?" I think two responses are appropriate. First, the staying power of the Scripture is astounding. The oldest NT manuscript I have been privileged to handle was over 1,100 years old. Folks, that's ancient. Every generation, after our NT was penned, has had a copy of these writings. What I held in my hands was evidence of God's faithfulness to us. It reminds me that our NT is not a caged lion. It permeates the corridors of history. It is God's written self-revelation. It is used by the Spirit to change our lives. It cannot be silenced, even after nearly 2,000 years. So let us saturate our hearts and minds with its riches. Let us love our church for its commitment to biblical teaching.
Second, and most convicting, is the care in which these scribes labored over the NT. I quickly learned that not every manuscript is created equal. Some manuscripts are just a few leaves, while others are bound books. Some manuscripts are made of parchment, while others are made of papyrus. Some manuscripts contain only the Gospels, and others have the Gospels, plus the Epistles. Some manuscripts contain only Paul's writings, while a few possess the entire NT. I was overwhelmed with the realization that a scribe had a lot of writing to do. It could take months for him to finish, often in backbreaking positions. I had to ask myself if I loved God's Word that much. In a blessed culture like ours, where Bibles line the shelves of our local bookstores, we are at risk of forgetting the sacrifice of the ancient Church. What if the only copy of the NT you had is the one you copied by hand in the dim light of a flickering candle? It was precious to our ancient brothers. Is it precious to us?
