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CSNTM, Text Criticism, and Patmos
by Dan WallaceMay 18th, 2007
2 Comments
Dear friends at RMM–
I would appreciate your prayers for the next few weeks as two teams from the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts are going on important expeditions to photograph ancient Greek New Testament manuscripts. The first team leaves on June 6 and heads toward the remote island of Patmos, one of the Dodecanese Islands on the eastern rim of Greece’s sovereignty. This is the same island that John was confined to when he wrote the book of Revelation. We will be there for three weeks, photographing 13 manuscripts housed in the Monastery of St. John the Theologian. The monastery is nearly 1000 years old and towers above the island, sitting atop the mountain that overlooks Skala Harbor. CSNTM was there last summer and we received a warm reception and tremendous help as we photographed manuscripts. Among the manuscripts we photographed last summer was codex 2464, a manuscript that had severe water damage on several of its leaves. With UV light we were able to capture the text that had alluded scholars for many decades. We don’t know what we will see this time, but we are eagerly anticipating a profitable time and a friendly environment. The monastery has kept its manuscripts in excellent condition; we are grateful to the Greek Orthodox for their care with the word of God. Our task is to support them in this goal of preservation by making high-resolution images of these manuscripts.
A second team is heading toward Tirana, Albania, to photograph manuscripts that have never been shot before. They are leaving three days after the first team gets back, on June 29. The manuscripts are housed at the National Archives building. Albania has kept out scholars for years; God is now opening the doors! We will be photographing all of the Greek New Testament manuscripts known to exist in Albania. Please pray for a successful and safe trip.
As you can imagine, these two expeditions are not cheap. We use the best camera equipment available because of the preciousness of the documents we are shooting. We are still in need of some funding for the Albania trip (we lack $15,000). If anyone is interested in supporting CSNTM in this endeavor, please go to the CSNTM website to learn more about how you can help (www.csntm.org). All donations are tax deductible.
Sincerely in Christ,
Daniel B. Wallace, PhD
Executive Director,
Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts
5729 Lebanon Road
Suite 144, #403
Frisco, TX 75034
USA
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- Patmos Update
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2 Comments
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Dear Dr. Wallace,
I’ll be praying for the safety of the manuscript-photographers and for success
in this endeavor. Who knows what interesting stuff could turn up in Albania!
Have any details been released anywhere about the previously elusive text in
2464 that you alluded to?
Yours in Christ,
James Snapp, Jr.
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Thanks, James. One of the team members, Billy Todd, is doing his master’s thesis on this codex. He will have it done by this time next year. At that time, we will post the collation/transcription on-line. Even with UV light, however, the photographs were a bit tricky to read. We purchased significantly better UV lights for our upcoming trips. One of these days, we would like to get MSI equipment, but, as you know, that is enormously expensive (about $50,000!). For some manuscripts, however, it’s the only way we can access the information.
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