To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

St. Catherine's Monastery, the world's oldest, plans to use technology to bring a greater understanding of some of the earliest Christian texts, including some pages from the oldest surviving Bible. The Codex Sinaiticus, written between 330 and 350 AD, is believed to be one of 50 copies of the Scriptures commissioned by the Roman Emperor Constantine.

The process, known as "hyper-spectral imaging," photographs the pages at various wavelengths of light, enhancing text that has faded over time. It is hoped that the technique will allow scholars to better understand corrections that were made to the ancient Bible.

Monastery librarian, Father Justin, explained, "If you look at all the corrections made by each scribe, then you can come out with a principle on which he was correcting the text."

St. Catherine's had once loaned the bulk of the manuscript to a German scholar who promised to return it, but never did, the Bible later being sold to the British library in 1933. In 1975, the monks discovered 12 pages and 15 fragments of the Codex Sinaiticus hidden under a collapsed ceiling with thousands of other parchment leaves.

In addition to the ancient Bible, the hyper-spectral imaging technique will be used in hopes of viewing another writing in the monastery's possession, the Codex Syriacus, a faint copy of the 2nd century translation of the Gospels of the New Testament.

The Codex Syriacus is in the form of 5th century text that lies underneath some 8th century writing on parchment. Chemicals were once applied to the document by scholars which made the underlying text temporarily visible, but it also made the parchment brittle. The new technology would be a safer way to view the text without damaging the manuscript.

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

Franklin Graham Issues a Call to Prayer: Wednesday January 14th at Noon ET

New Digital Project Allows the Shroud of Turin to Be Examined Online

Obama Judge Disrupts Trump Administration's Plans Again: Talwani Pauses Efforts to End Mass Parole for 10,000+ Migrants

Trump Administration Ends Temporary Protected Status for Thousands of Somalis in US

Scott Bessent Says There Are 'DISTURBING TAPES' of Minnesota AG Keith Ellison Taking Money to Stop Investigations into Somali Fraud

CNN Drops a Truth Bomb on the Left's Legal Efforts against ICE

An Insider Describes the Harrowing Situation in Iran, as the People Continue Their Fight for Freedom

Fight for Girls' Sports and Safety Taking Place in the US Supreme Court

Air Force Sergeant Ordered to Remove 'Jesus Is My King' Flag from Residence

What One State Found When Probing Voter Rolls for Noncitizens

Federal Judge Blocks Mamdani from Halting Bankruptcy Sales

Speaker Johnson: Tax Dollars 'Will Never Be Used to Pay for Abortion. Period. Full Stop. End of Sentence'

Yes, Renee Good's Actions Meet the Legal Definition of Domestic Terrorism

Fed Chair Jerome Powell Under Criminal Investigation

Trump's Latest Deal? 'We're Talking to Cuba, and You'll Find Out Pretty Soon'

Islamic Regime Kills 'Thousands' of Iranians, but the People Continue to Fight; 'Victory Is So Close'

Colorado to Pay Pro-life Pregnancy Center $5.4 Million after Losing Bid to Ban Abortion Pill Reversal

The Deadly Consequences of Democrats' War on ICE Enforcement

In Depth Report: Here Are the Socialist, Communist Groups behind the Nationwide Anti-ICE Protests

TSA Flags Millions in Somali Cash That Left the Minneapolis Airport

Steve Shultz, Managing Editor
Founder and Owner

Aimee Herd, Editor