Illuminating the History of the Bible

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Found 38 results

Title from the Jefferson Bible

The title to the “Jefferson Bible.” Illustration by Josh Koch.

The Jefferson Bible and the Faith of an American Founder


Thomas Jefferson’s cut-and-paste version of the Gospels reveals important facets of the famous founder’s faith and the Bible’s role in American history.

Thomas S. Kidd

July 4, 2022

Level

Mark 16

A miniature of Mark from GA 77 (11th c.). Illustration by Peter Gurry. Photo from Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

A Case against the Longer Ending of Mark


An argument that Mark 16:9–20 is not original and so not inspired Scripture

Peter M. Head

June 14, 2022

Level

Ending of Mark

A miniature of Mark from GA 77 (11th c.). Illustration by Peter Gurry. Photo from Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

A Case for the Longer Ending of Mark


An argument for Mark 16:9–20 as the original, canonical ending, written by Mark but added by his colleagues.

James Snapp Jr.

June 1, 2022

Level

Codex Zacynthius

Multispectral imaging makes it much easier to read the undertext in purple (bottom) that had been scraped off to make way for the overtext in black (top). Images from Cambridge University Library

Recovering an Erased Gospel


How the earliest Greek New Testament commentary manuscript has been restored by modern imaging techniques

H. A. G. Houghton

May 17, 2022

Level

Rembrandt’s Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery

Rembrandt’s “Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery” (1644). Wikimedia

Does the Woman Caught in Adultery Belong in the Bible?


Jesus’ famous act of mercy is missing in many manuscripts, raising questions about its place in the Bible.

Tommy Wasserman

February 8, 2022

Level

A collage of those involved in the First-Century Mark story

Key figures from the “First-Century Mark” story. Illustration by Josh Koch. Wikipedia

Taking Stock of the “First-Century Mark” Saga


What can we learn from the overzealous excitement about the earliest known copy of our earliest Gospel?

Elijah Hixson

January 25, 2022

Level

Decoration from Luke 1 in Egerton MS 618 f.35v

Detail at Luke 1 from the earliest datable copy of the complete Bible in English (14th c.). Egerton MS 618 (f. 35v)

Five Decisions Every Bible Translator Must Make


Knowing the hard decisions Bible translators face inspires gratitude for our Bibles and encourages us to read them.

Peter J. Gurry

December 20, 2021

Level

Harvard Divinity School

Andover Hall at Harvard Divinity School. Photo credit

The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife Fiasco


Lessons from the headline-grabbing forgery that duped Harvard’s oldest endowed professor and enthralled the media

Christian Askeland

December 6, 2021

Level

Stylized image of the Council of Nicaea

Illustration by Josh Koch from a fresco of the Council of Nicaea in the Basilica of St. Nicholas.

Did Nicaea Really Create the Bible?


Debunking the popular myth that a Roman emperor and a fourth-century church council decided the canon

John D. Meade

November 11, 2021

Level

A 17th c. icon of Elijah and Enoch in the Historic Museum in Sanok, Poland

A 17th century icon of Enoch with Elijah in the Historic Museum in Sanok, Poland. Wikipedia

The New Testament Use of Jewish Pseudepigrapha


Why the New Testament authors sometimes drew on ancient literary works written under false names

Daniel M. Gurtner

November 11, 2021

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The Text & Canon Institute illuminates the history of the Bible through church resources, research, and mentoring.

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