Original manuscripts of the New Testament

[ac_claire]

The original manuscripts of the New Testament, the letters and gospels written by St. Paul and the apostles: are any of these still in existence? If so, where are they kept…?

(Secondary question, if anyone knows: what about the original texts of the Hebrew Scriptures?)

Thanks much in advance for any replies!

 

[Omyo12]

The original manuscripts of the New Testament, the letters and gospels written by St. Paul and the apostles: are any of these still in existence? If so, where are they kept…?

(Secondary question, if anyone knows: what about the original texts of the Hebrew Scriptures?)

Thanks much in advance for any replies!

There are no surviving original copies

the oldest New Testament manuscripts are from the 3rd or 4th century.
However, there are some fragments from the 2nd century.

As for the Old Testament, the oldest fragments are from about 100 BCE

 

[Rolltide]

The original manuscripts of the New Testament, the letters and gospels written by St. Paul and the apostles: are any of these still in existence? If so, where are they kept…?

(Secondary question, if anyone knows: what about the original texts of the Hebrew Scriptures?)

Thanks much in advance for any replies!

No, the original manuscripts were lost long ago. The oldest texts we have now would include the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Old Testament, and a few fourth century Bibles like the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus, which still exist.

As an aside, researches unveiled a digital copy of the Codex Sinaiticus online this week. This Bible exists in four fragmented pieces, all within different museums (and with a few other parts deteriorated beyond recognition, destroyed, or still lost). Now, it’s possible to read it all in one place, both in the Greek and with a translation on the same page. Keep in mind that since this Bible is so old that the canon of scripture had not yet been definitively set, it contains a few variants from the modern Bible, such as the inclusion of the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas in the New Testament. Here’s the link to the site.

codexsinaiticus.org/en/