One of the issues often raised against Christianity is the many different copies of the New Testament manuscripts. Textual data does show that there are thousands of variants in the copies we have. The question then arises, does this mean that the Gospel texts are inauthentic, or even fake?"
The Oral Context and Early Authorship
In the first century, Jewish society and the Mediterranean world lived in oral tradition. The teachings and events of Jesus' early life were not immediately documented in writing, but were passed down orally by the disciples. This oral tradition was later transformed into writing, especially through the work of Paul who composed letters to the churches. However, the writing process at that time was very different from the modern world. Paul often used scribes (amanuensis) to record his messages (cf. Galatians 6:11), and the letters were read publicly in congregational meetings (1 Thessalonians 5:27). Thus, communal reading was favored over private possession.
In these early stages, the source text was often only available in one copy for one community, for example Paul's letter to the Corinthians. If other congregations wanted to have it, they had to carefully recopy it by hand. Without printing technology, copying texts was done manually: letter by letter, word by word. Technical difficulties arose because ancient Greek manuscripts were written without spaces, punctuation marks, or word separations. This manual process is certainly not free from errors, just as one can make mistakes when retyping a long text. Simple mistakes, such as skipping lines because there is the same word at the end, often occur. But unlike the modern era of typewriters or computers, where mistakes can be corrected immediately, in ancient times it was almost impossible to correct an erroneous manuscript without recopying the entire text. So precision was necessary, albeit difficult to achieve. For this reason, after the copying process was complete, it was common to re-read or make corrections. This illustrates the simplicity of the early church in the first two centuries, long before church institutions had adequate facilities. It wasn't until the 4th century, when Christianity was officially recognized by Constantine, that trained copyists emerged with more polished results.
Manuscript Variants: Between Weakness and Data Richness
Manuscript Variants.
Manuscript variants are an inevitable result of the manual copying process. However, it is precisely because they are abundant that textual scholars have such rich material to compare and reconstruct the original texts.
There are two main groups of texts often discussed. First, the Alexandrian texts which are usually shorter, sparser, and considered closer to the original text. Examples include Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. Second, the Byzantine texts. These are numerous, copied well into the Middle Ages, and tend to be more “subtle” due to the copyist's efforts to improve or clarify the text.
Textual scholars do not judge by “bulk”, but rather the quality of the manuscripts: age, geographical distribution, and copyist tendencies.
Papyrus Discoveries and Important Codices
The discovery of 2nd century papyrus fragments, such as P52 which contains some verses from John 18, provides important evidence for the continuity of the New Testament text tradition. Although it is only a small fragment, it shows a very high degree of agreement with the major codices of the 4th century, such as Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. This fact confirms that despite thousands of manuscript variants in copying, the core of the gospel testimony is preserved and substantially unchanged.
The early papyrus is of interest not only because of its relative proximity to the time of the original writing, but also because of its codex-like form, which is sewn at the edges and written on both sides of the page. This format was not only efficient in the use of materials, but also marked an important development in the tradition of copying texts. Alexandria, as one of the intellectual centers of the ancient world, gave birth to a community of copyists known for being meticulous and systematic. It is no surprise that Alexandrian texts have become a key reference in the critical textual reconstruction of the New Testament.
Types of Variants and Their Significance
Most differences in the biblical manuscript tradition are minor, for example in the form of spelling variations, word omissions or repetitions, and other minor differences that do not fundamentally affect the meaning of the text. Of the approximately 200,000 variants that have been identified, only about 1-2% can be considered significant, i.e. potentially affecting the meaning. This shows how well-preserved the biblical text is, despite having been passed down for nearly two millennia.
One example can be found in Luke 2:33. Some manuscripts write "his father and mother" (referring to Joseph and Mary), while other manuscripts opt for the phrase "Joseph and his mother." This variation arose due to theological concerns regarding Joseph's status as Jesus' father. By comparing various ancient manuscripts, scholars judge the text “his father and mother” to be closer to the original text.
From Ancient Tradition to Modern Translation
For centuries, the tradition of Bible translation in the West was heavily influenced by the Textus Receptus, the Greek edition of the New Testament compiled by Desiderius Erasmus in 1516. This edition was based on only two 12th century manuscripts, so it had many textual limitations. One obvious example is the King James Version (KJV) published in 1611. This monumental translation is based on the Textus Receptus, thus indirectly inheriting the weaknesses of its source. For example, the last six verses of Revelation that were not in the Greek manuscript used by Erasmus were eventually retranslated from Latin to Greek, and from there influenced the translation tradition in Europe for centuries.
Today, internationally circulated Greek editions of the New Testament, such as Nestle-Aland or UBS, differ only slightly from the Westcott-Hort reconstruction. Their basic principle of sorting manuscripts by quality, age, geographical distribution, and stylistic conformity to the original author has become the standard of textual criticism to this day. While there is still debate on the details, the academic consensus is that the modern Greek text we have today is very close to the original form of the New Testament. Thus, the long process from the discovery of ancient manuscripts to the compilation of modern textual criticism shows that the translation tradition is now based on a stronger and more reliable foundation.
Theological Implications
The fundamental question that must be answered is, do thousands of different copies mean that the Gospels are fake? The answer is clearly no. The differences show the dynamics of the copying process, not forgery. Textual studies of the New Testament show that even though there are thousands of variant copies, the Gospel texts cannot be considered fake. It is precisely through the abundance of manuscript comparisons that scholars have been able to reconstruct a text that is very close to the original.
Thus, Christians need not be afraid to face this historical and textual reality. “Of the various manuscripts we have, the results of careful study show that we have a text that is guaranteed authenticity. This text can serve as a reliable reference for recognizing the main teachings and fundamental ideas that the Bible teaches. Therefore, there is no reason to doubt the use of the Bible translations that have been carefully done based on authentic sources.
