By: Daniel B. Wallace, Executive Director
Χρόνια Πολλά! Happy Birthday!
CSNTM became an organization on September 13, 2002. We’re 18 years old! We have matured a lot since I founded the Center, but our mission and vision remain the same. We exist to preserve ancient New Testament manuscripts for current study and for future generations.
Together, CSNTM staff and financial partners carry on a tradition of manuscript preservation and transmission that has existed for 2,000 years! While ancient hands painstakingly reproduced the original words of the New Testament and made them available for others, we use modern technology to accomplish this crucial task.
After 18 years, our goals remain the same:
- Using high-resolution and multispectral imaging equipment to capture images of Greek New Testament manuscripts throughout the world;
- Making these manuscripts available for study online;
- Developing computer-based tools to increase the efficiency and accuracy of studies on the text of the New Testament.
In our first eighteen years of work, we have accomplished a lot together. Together, we have:
- collaborated with nearly four dozen libraries on four continents to document and photograph their priceless treasures.
- digitally preserved 779 manuscripts and captured 271,442 images—one delicate page at a time.
- made more than 75 discoveries previously unknown to scholars, adding to the vast collection of New Testament manuscripts around the globe.
- published 1,766 manuscript entries on the CSNTM online library using the images captured by our teams and hundreds more that were digitized or microfilmed by others.
- greatly enhanced the search features on the CSNTM website to make research easier.
Our partnership over the last 18 years has forever changed the way scholars and researchers utilize ancient copies of the Bible. They no longer have to rely on secondhand descriptions or make arduous trips to view one or two manuscripts. Now scholars can view and compare dozens of ancient pages, side by side, for the first time in history and gain insights never before possible!
Together, we are making history by preserving history. I’m excited to see how what we have accomplished will bear fruit in the months and years to come.
As you might have guessed, 2020 has been a challenging year. COVID-19 shutdowns and resulting unemployment have severely impacted the ability of many to give. Consequently, we are entering the fourth quarter with a budget far out of balance.
Will you help us with a generous gift?
Another way you can help is by initiating a monthly donation. By joining the “Circle of Friends,” you sustain this important work through a monthly donation that helps you budget your giving and helps CSNTM plan projects throughout the year.
Thanks for doing your part to preserve ancient New Testament manuscripts for the modern world.
Grateful for you,
Dan Wallace
Executive Director
Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts