Why is the NT Bible to 20 years after Jesus, when earliest complete manuscript is 312 years later?

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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.
 |  Wikipedia: Biblical_manuscript


1. MARK

180-312 YEAR GAP 1
DATING % Mid
Traditional: 65-75 AD 2 0% (not available) 70 AD
Papyrus: P45 (Egypt) 250 AD 4 x% (y words, parchment) 250 AD
(180 yr gap)
Manuscript: Codex Sinaiticus (Egypt) 330-360 AD 3 100% 345 AD
(275 yr gap)
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.
 |  Wikipedia: Birmingham_Quran_manuscript
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
  Birmingham University


CREDIT
https://www.biblequery.org/ntmss.html
https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/papyrus/texts/manuscripts.html
http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/
https://callingchristians.com/2017/04/05/a-brief-insight-into-the-new-testaments-prototyping
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2015/07/quran-manuscript-22-07-15.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Quran_manuscript
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dating_the_Bible


139-biblent-manuscript-dating
Author: Guest   •   Updated: 05 Sep 2026   •   20,999 views   |   2 hrs ago

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What is Manuscript?
A manuscript was, traditionally, any document written by hand. Once practical typewriters became available, typewritten as opposed to being mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way.
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