Seth Udinski, FISM News
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Last month, biblical archeologists released a study confirming a discovery of New Testament text on a middle eastern piece of parchment, likely penned over 1,700 years ago.
The text had been covered up and written over, but using modern ultraviolet light technology, scientists were able to rediscover the ancient text, an Old Syriac translation of portions of Matthew 11-12.
Scientists were uncertain of the exact date, though many claim it was originally written in the 3rd century AD and then copied 300 years later. But the researchers agree this particular text, which had been lost to history until very recently, is at the very least 1,500 years old.
The report says,
As far as the dating of the Gospel book is concerned, there can be no doubt that it was produced no later than the sixth century. Despite a limited number of dated manuscripts from this period, comparison with dated Syriac manuscripts allows us to narrow down a possible time frame to the first half of the sixth century.
Syriac, the language in which this transcript was written, is heavily related the Aramaic language spoken in the Middle East during the Roman Empire and the early Middle Ages.
Claudia Rapp, a medieval expert at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, said,
This discovery proves how productive and important the interplay between modern digital technologies and basic research can be when dealing with medieval manuscripts.
Author’s Biblical Analysis
As a lover of history, this is report is personally very exciting for me.
But more than this, this report gives a wonderful reminder of the preservation of the Word of God. The Bible has been kept, preserved, and upheld by God for the last 2,000 years, because it is the very Word He has spoken.
Believer, you can trust in the Word of God. The Bible was written by the sovereign hand of God, through the pens of roughly 40 different authors over a span of 1,500 years. The Bible has been upheld by the sovereign hand of God every moment since its last word was written in the 90s AD.
What does this mean for us?
First, it means we should obey the Word of God in its fullness. Being the very Word of God, the Bible is the highest and ultimate authority in humanity. If you have no other reason to do something (or refrain from it) other than “For the Bible tells me so,” that is reason enough!
Second, it means we can and should trust in the Word of God in its fullness. There is not one error, one mistake, one lie, or one misstep in the Bible. Since it is perfect in its statutes, we must trust in its true claims. We have full confidence in its testimony of historical events, indulging most importantly, the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This also means we can trust in the promises of God. When the Bible tells us that God will complete the good work He started in us (Philippians 1:6), we need to believe that. When the Bible tells us that Jesus is preparing a place for us in His Father’s House (John 14), we need to trust in that. When the Bible tells us that God will “remember our sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12), we need to rest in that.
So be confident in and rely upon the Word of God. Be obedient to its commands; after all, it is God’s Word.
Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. – Psalm 119:89