Codex Sinaiticus is the earliest complete New Testament manuscript. It is dated to 312 years after Jesus' Crucifixion.
The original, handwritten 27 books of the New Testament most likely disappeared within a few decades after being written. We are left with thousands of manuscripts, papyri and handwritten copies in many different languages.
The earliest complete copy of the New Testament is found in the Codex Sinaiticus which dates to 330-360 AD, or 345 AD median year. As Jesus was crucified in 33 AD, Christianity is left with a gap of 312 years in its scriptural evidences.
NOTE: Earlier Biblical Manuscripts than the Codex Sinaiticus are available (i.e. papyrus P52), but these are incomplete, fragmentary, and only have a few words or verses of the originals.
1 GAP is number of years from Jesus' Crucifixion to earliest Papyrus and complete Manuscript. For simplicity, median year is displayed in place of year range 2 TRADITIONAL dating is widely acknowledged by Christians 3 MANUSCRIPT is earliest complete copy of text 4 PAPYRUS is earliest fragment of text (i.e. few words, verses)
2. MATTHEW
88-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 75-100 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P104 (Egypt) 150-200 AD
3. LUKE
113-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 75-100 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P4 (Egypt) 150-200 AD
4. JOHN
100-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 90-110 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P52 (Egypt) 200 AD
5. ACTS
165-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 80-90 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: 0189 200 AD
6. ROMANS
143-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 56-58 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P46 175-225 AD
7. 1 CORINTHIANS
145-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 50-60 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P46 175-225 AD
8. 2 CORINTHIANS
144-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 55-57 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P46 175-225 AD
9. GALATIANS
149-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 48-55 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P46 175-225 AD
10. EPHESIANS
113-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 80-95 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P46 175-225 AD
11. PHILIPPIANS
145-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 50-60 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P46 175-225 AD
12. COLOSSIANS
113-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 80-95 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P46 175-225 AD
13. 1 THESSALONIANS
145-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 50-60 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P46 175-225 AD
14. 2 THESSALONIANS
213-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 80-95 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P92 (Egypt) 300 AD
15. 1 TIMOTHY
138-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 62 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P32 (Egypt) 100-300 AD
16. 2 TIMOTHY
133-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 67 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P32 (Egypt) 100-300 AD
17. TITUS
138-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 62 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P32 (Egypt) 100-300 AD
18. PHILEMON
195-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 50-60 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P87 250 AD
19. HEBREWS
120-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 70-90 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P46 175-225 AD
20. JAMES
160-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 90-140 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P20 (Egypt) 250-300 AD
21. 1 PETER
208-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 90-95 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P72 250-350 AD
22. 2 PETER
163-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 125-150 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P72 250-350 AD
23. 1 JOHN
175-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 90-110 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P9 (Egypt) 250-300 AD
24. 2 JOHN
250-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 90-110 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: -
25. 3 JOHN
250-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 90-110 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: -
26. JUDE
185-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 90-140 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P72 250-350 AD
27. REVELATION
83-312 YEAR GAP
DATING
Traditional: 90-95 AD
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD
Papyrus: P98 150-200 AD
QURAN
0 YEAR GAP
The Birmingham Quran manuscript is a parchment on which two leaves of an early Quranic manuscript are written. In 2015 the manuscript, which is held in the UK by the University of Birmingham, was radiocarbon dated to between 568 and 645 AD with 95.4% accuracy.
The test was carried out in a laboratory at the University of Oxford. The result places the leaves close to the time of the Prophet Muhammad, who is generally thought to have lived between 570 and 632 AD.
The tests carried out on the parchment of the Birmingham folios yield the strong probability that the animal from which it was taken was alive during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad or shortly afterwards.
These portions must have been in a form that is very close to the form of the Quran read today, supporting the view that the [Quran] text has undergone little or no alteration and that it can be dated to a point very close to the time it was believed to be revealed.
David Thomas, Professor of Christianity and Islam. University of Birmingham
Author: Guest
•
Updated:
05 Sep 2026
•
20,995 views | 48 mins ago
Explore More
What is Crucifixion? Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden beam. The victim is left to hang for several days until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. The crucifixion of Jesus is a central narrative in Christianity, and the cross (sometimes
depicting Jesus nailed onto it) is the main religious symbol for many Christian churches. The English term cross derives from the Latin word crux. The Latin term crux classically referred to a tree or any construction of wood used to hang criminals as a form of execution. The term later came to refer specifically to a cross.
What is Codex? A codex is a book constructed of a number of sheets of paper, vellum, papyrus, or similar materials. The term is now usually only used of manuscript books, with hand-written contents, but describes the format that is now near-universal for printed books in the Western world.What is Sin? In Abrahamic contexts, sin is the act of violating God's will. Sin can also be viewed as anything that violates the ideal relationship between an individual and God; or as any diversion from the ideal order for human living. To sin has been defined as "to miss the mark".
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Sins fall in a
spectrum from minor errors to deadly misdeeds. Catholicism regards the least corrupt sins as venial sins which are part of human living and carry immediate consequences on earth, and, if unrepented for, more painful purgation, assuming the person is destined to heaven, as it is written in the formation letter "Purgatory", "most of the early Fathers of the Church speak of a cleansing fire, though we cannot tell whether this means actual or spiritual fire."
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Conversely, sins of great evil are mortal sins which bring the consequence of hell if they are not addressed either through an act of perfect contrition or going to confession about them.
The tests carried out on the parchment of the Birmingham folios yield the strong probability that the animal from which it was taken was alive during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad or shortly afterwards.
What is Crucifixion?
What is Codex?
What is Sin?
