The resurrection and ascension accounts were also not in the oldest manuscripts and are later additions.
Here is a list of the earliest Greek New Testament manuscripts that do not refer to Jesus’ resurrection:
P52 (3rd century): This manuscript contains fragments of the Gospel of John, but does not include any mention of Jesus’ resurrection.
P66 (3rd century): This manuscript contains most of the Gospel of John, but does not include any mention of Jesus’ resurrection.
P75 (3rd century): This manuscript contains most of the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John, but does not include any mention of Jesus’ resurrection.
Codex Sinaiticus (4th century): This manuscript contains the entire New Testament, does not include any mention of Jesus’ resurrection because the ending of Mark (Mark 16:9-20) is missing. This ending is widely considered to be a later addition.
Codex Vaticanus (4th century): This manuscript contains the entire New Testament, does not include any mention of Jesus’ resurrection because the ending of Mark (Mark 16:9-20) is missing. This ending is widely considered to be a later addition.
It is important to note that the manuscripts listed above are some of the most important and well-preserved manuscripts from the early centuries of Christianity.
The fact that these manuscripts do not refer to Jesus’ resurrection suggests that this belief may not have been universally held by early Christians. The evidence that does exist suggests that the belief in Jesus’ resurrection was not held by early Christians.
Regarding the ascension of Jesus at the beginning of Acts this is also not in the earliest manuscripts.
Here is a list of the earliest Greek New Testament manuscripts that do not refer to Jesus’ ascension in Acts:
P52 (3rd century): This manuscript contains fragments of Acts, but does not include any mention of Jesus’ ascension.
P66 (3rd century): This manuscript contains most of Acts, but does not include any mention of Jesus’ ascension.
P75 (3rd century): This manuscript contains most of Acts, but does not include any mention of Jesus’ ascension.
Codex Sinaiticus (4th century): This manuscript contains the entire New Testament, does not include any mention of Jesus’ ascension but the ending of Acts (Acts 28:31) is missing. This ending is widely considered to be a later addition.
Codex Vaticanus (4th century): This manuscript contains the entire New Testament, does not include any mention of Jesus’ ascension but the ending of Acts (Acts 28:31) is missing. This ending is widely considered to be a later addition.
The fact that they do not include Acts 1:1–9 suggests that this passage may not have been part of the original text of Acts.
There are a few possible explanations for this. One possibility is that Acts 1:1–9 was added to the text of Acts at a later date.
The fact that they do not include this passage suggests that there may have been some variation in the text of Acts in the early centuries of Christianity.
The fact that these manuscripts do not refer to Jesus’ ascension suggests that this belief may not have been universally held by early Christians. The evidence that does exist suggests that the belief in Jesus’ ascension was not held by early Christians.
In addition to the above manuscripts, there are also a number of early Christian writers who do not mention Jesus’ ascension. For example, the Didache, which is an early Christian text that was written in the 1st or 2nd century, does not mention Jesus’ ascension. Additionally, the Epistle of Barnabas, which is another early Christian text that was written in the 1st or 2nd century, does not mention Jesus’ ascension.
The fact that these early Christian writers do not mention Jesus’ ascension suggests that this belief may not have been universally held by early Christians and then evidence that does exist suggests that the belief in Jesus’ ascension was not held by early Christians.
Textual criticism is important shows us that the New Testament has a 50-80% error rate in the manuscripts. There are estimated 300,000 to 500,000 textual variants (errors) between the 5,800 manuscripts. Which isn’t good. Scholars consider the new testament historically inaccurate.
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