2,000 years ago, the closest followers of Jesus carefully wrote down what they had seen him do and what they heard him teach.
Immediately, these documents were hand copied and disseminated to congregations of Jesus-followers throughout the Roman Empire. In a world teeming with messiahs and prophets and mystical teachers, these communities of men and women wanted as direct a line of communication with Jesus as they could find. So, they cherished the words in these documents, and took great care to preserve them for their own communities and for the benefit of Jesus-followers in other places.
Of course, they didn’t have the benefit of modern technology, so they painstakingly reproduced these documents by hand, letter by letter. We call the individual undertaking this task a “scribe.”
It should be noted, however, that the scribe did not work alone.
In the earliest days, he or she needed papyrus to write upon. Tradespeople harvested this grassy reed from riverbanks, cut and flattened the stalks, formed them into a lattice, pounded the sheet flat, allowed it to dry, and then repeated the process until it formed a suitable writing medium.
Later, parchment became the material of choice. Tradespeople skinned an animal, and then processed the hide through several stages of soaking, stretching, and scraping until it became smooth and thin enough to form a single page for writing.
Then, the scribe needed ink. In the days of papyrus, another tradesperson would extract carbon soot after burning specific materials. He or she then mixed the black carbon powder with gum arabic or animal glue to form a thick, black liquid. Parchment, however, required a different kind of ink called, iron gall. Artisans extracted the liquid from oak galls (large fluid-filled bulbs that appear on many kinds of trees), and mixed it with iron dust and gum arabic to make a purple-black ink.
Many times, the New Testament document contained elaborate ornamentation, including headpieces at the top of new sections of text, icons of important New Testament persons, and embellished lettering. Scribes and artists had to coordinate their efforts so that the decoration and the text complemented one another.
Then, once the hundreds of loose sheets had been prepared, a book binder carefully folded the sheets in groups of four to form eight-page quires. These, in turn, were sewn together to form the full volume. Yet another artisan then created an attractive cover from wood panels covered with leather, velvet, or tapestry.
So, the production of a single manuscript required the combined efforts of many people.
Of course, all of these people—the?scribes, artists, makers of papyrus, parchment, and ink, the artisans who bind and cover the books—everyone whose hands touched the completed manuscript had living expenses. To fund the creation of a copy of the New Testament, communities pooled their resources and often sought the financial support of wealthy patrons.
Sometimes wealthy individuals paid to have their own copy of the New Testament created for use by their own family, and the manuscript became a significant part of their estate. More often, the establishment of a new church required a set of documents, including at least one complete New Testament and a lectionary for public reading during services.
This is the reason we have the words of the New Testament first written 2,000 years ago. Communities of faithful men and women—scribes, artisans, and patrons—collaborated to have their own copy of the most important document in human history. We have these words because each did his or her part to carry on the tradition of New Testament preservation and transmission.
The Scribal Fellowship is the modern day continuation of this manuscript tradition. Today, we don’t use parchment and pen. We use modern digital tools to preserve and document the work done through the centuries, and to ensure that copies of the New Testament published today most accurately reflect the words first written by the apostles and other close followers of Jesus Christ.
You join the Scribal Fellowship by donating regularly to CSNTM, either by automated credit card or EFT subscription OR via regular donations by mail.
As a member of the Scribal Fellowship, you become part of this centuries-long legacy in collaboration with CSNTM and New Testament scholars to accomplish three very important objectives:
- You ensure that modern publications of the New Testament accurately reflect the words first written in the first century;
- you digitally preserve ancient New Testament manuscripts against decay, loss, and destruction;
- and you provide scientific evidence (against the claims of skeptics) that what we have today is, indeed, what they wrote then.
Also as a member of the Scribal Fellowship, you enjoy several perks:
- Exclusive access to virtual interactive events with founder and Executive Director, Daniel B. Wallace
- Free admission to CSNTM events
- Advance access to CSNTM news and educational publications
Join the Scribal Fellowship today! Honor the legacy that made the New Testament available for our generation, and help safeguard these life-giving words for generations to come.
