There aren’t many things in the world that divide people – and simultaneously unite them – quite like religion.
Yet whether you’re a firm believer or not, no one can deny the influence religion as a whole has had on the development of our species.
In more recent decades, faith has started to take a back seat to science in many aspects, but I’m confident there remain billions of people the world over who draw their strength and inspiration from their beliefs.
In any case, there’s been something of a stir caused in religious world recently, after the discovery of a reportedly lost “hidden chapter” of the Bible.
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According to the Independent, citing a study published in the journal New Testament Studies, the lost section was written 1,500 years ago and represents one of the earliest translations of the Gospels.
Grigory Kessel from the Austrian Academy of Sciences was among the researchers who used ultraviolet photography to find the chapter hidden beneath three layers of text.
Dr Kessel said: “Until recently, only two manuscripts were known to contain the Old Syriac translation of the gospels.”
Javier Cruz Acosta
Researchers who made the discovery added that the text is an interpretation of Matthew chapter 12 from the Bible – originally translated as part of the Old Syriac translations some 1,500 years ago.
The Independent claim that the text offers new insights into differences in information between translations.
The original Greek of Matthew chapter 12 verse 1 reads: “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat,” while the Syriac translation says, “…began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.”
Scientists wrote in the study: “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.”
Interestingly, texts from around the same time period (1,500-1,300 years ago) were often written over due to a lack of parchment.
Claudia Rapp, Director of the Institute for Medieval Research at the OeAW, said: “Grigory Kessel has made a great discovery thanks to his profound knowledge of old Syriac texts and script characteristics.
“This discovery proves how productive and important the interplay between modern digital technologies and basic research can be when dealing with medieval manuscripts.”
“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,” scientists concluded.
“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.”
I think we can all agree that this is quite the find!
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