In A.D. 346, on a police blotter in Cirta, a suburb of Carthage, a Roman police captain entered his report: "Raided five homes. Discovered, confiscated and destroyed 38 Christian scrolls."
Over the centuries, through destruction, loss, and wear and tear, thousands of such early Latin translations of the Bible disappeared. But countless ancient parchments, palimpsests* and books survived to challenge modern scholars with a complex task: to collect and compare early Bible texts with the standard Vulgate completed by St. Jerome in the first decade of the 5th century. The job is under way...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
