This religious movement began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but resulted in the creation of thousands of unscriptural Protestant churches.
Protestant definition
A declaration of objection or dissent
To make a protest against
A protest
reformation
~ noun a member or follower of any of the Western Christian churches that are separate from the Roman Catholic Church and follow the principles of the Reformation, including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches.
Protestants are so-called after the declaration (protestatio) of Martin Luther and his supporters dissenting from the decision of the Diet of Spires, (1529), which reaffirmed the edict of the Diet of Worms against the Reformation.
All Protestants reject the authority of the papacy, both religious and political, and find authority in the text of the Bible.
Note, finding authority in the text of the Bible, is questionable.
How manuscripts were written back in the first century, some on animal skins like calf or sheep or papyrus paper the paper of the day.
Papyrus paper, a Paper made from the papyrus plant by cutting it in strips and pressing it flat; used by ancient Egyptians and Greeks, and Romans.
This reed plant grew in shallow marsh areas along certain sections of a river.
The reed plant made into a type of paper wasn’t very good, so certain animal skins were used that were much better until something would come along that was better to use.
Also, a much better paper was parchment, which came along around the 4th century.
Reported the Chinese use cotton in their paper with cotton in the fourth century, don’t know how good it was though.
Our present paper is used for writing on today I don’t know how they make it, but cotton may be in it.
As this article moves along we note how Whole manuscripts from the first, second, and third century were lost, but some 5,850 collected fragments of New Testaments verses in the 27 books have been preserved, and how this collection helped in the development of the modern New Testament of today.
The first complete copies of single New Testament books appear around 200, and these papyrus fragments, parts, and collections have all been discovered during modern archaeological digs or certain monasteries. There are a number of ancient manuscripts called codecs that reside in our present-day museums, Copies were made from them and are available to the public. These original codecs aren’t able to be handled and studied as they’re fragile and would come apart with handlings, so the copies let scholars examine and study them.
Some notes on remaning Codexs.
Codex Alexandrinus: Its name came from the circumstance that its earliest known location was the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
This Codex is one of the three earliest and most important manuscripts of the entire Bible in Greek. It is therefore of enormous importance in establishing the biblical text. It is written on parchment.
It contains all books of the New Testament but lacks some leaves of Matthew (25), John (2), and Second Corinthians.
The Codex Alexandrinus resides in the British Museum.
The Codex Sinaiticus has a complete text of the New Testament, it has been dated to the second half of the 4th century.
This codex was found on Mount Sinai in a Monastery of Saint Catherine in 1859 by Count Tischendorf. He was presented with a large codex by one of the monks containing 400 pages about half of the Septuagint version Old Testament and the full New Testament. Incredibly Portions of the manuscript were found in the monastery dump.
Containing the Old and New Testament with noted places of parts missing has through the comparison process of other text reflects its value. It has been a big help in influencing the translating of the many modern Bible versions.
Written on parchment (an improved paper), today, it is in the British Museum in London.
Codex Washingtonianus is a fourth or fifth century of the Gospels on parchment, containing 187 leaves, or pages.
It is located in the Smithsonian Institution at the Freer Gallery of Art.
Codex Ephraemi according to a source says Codex Ephraemi has approximately 66 percent of the New Testament.
It’s now is in the National Library of Paris brought there early in the sixteenth century.
Codex Vaticanus was found in the Vatican library, comprised of 759 pages or leaves and containing almost all of the Old and New Testaments, but it lacks the four last books, and the Epistle to the Hebrews is not complete.
Included in a Vatican catalog listing in 1475 it has been dated to the middle of the 4th century.
Codex Vaticanus was Used as a source document by Erasmus in his work on the Textus Receptus.
Much can be learned by examining these and other ancient texts in authenticating are present-day translations. And they should continue to be studied.
Scholars can vary in opinions, but even with their textual variations, God has preserved His Word through the ages.