Musings of a Catholic Convert

In just two days, men and women will have the opportunity to view one of the oldest surviving manuscripts of the New Testament canon.  Codex Sinaiticus is going to be made available online (http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/) through a joint effort by the various international bodies who currently house and protect the manuscripts.  These manuscripts, discovered by Constantine Tischendorff in the 1800s, were separated after the discovery and have been preserved in multiple locations (for varying reasons, some of which are unclear).  Only now, will these be able to be viewed in their entirety.  

Codex Sinaiticus (marked in NT apparati by the Hebrew א (Aleph), as well as "S" in some books) is one of the oldest surviving Bible manuscripts we have, particularly of the New Testament, although many portions of the Old Testament (LXX aka Septuagint) and some extra biblical literature (ex. Shepherd of Hermas, Epistle of Barnabas) is also included in the find.  The manuscript is written in Greek Uncials (think ALLCAPS).  This copy dates to the mid fourth century (330-350 AD) and is only slightly younger than Codex Vaticanus.  

I for one am extremely excited about the opportunity to view such a rare text as Sinaiticus without having to travel to Leipzig, the British Library, The Russian National Library, or Sinai.  The tools I have seen which will be used for navigation look to be top notch.  My brain feels like it is salivating at the thought of approaching this wonderful piece of history and sacred Tradition.

Look at the web prototype!  Ain't it cool?