The world’s oldest Christian Bible has been displayed in its entirety for the first time today, after researchers digitised the four sections – held in libraries across the world – and put them online. The Codex Sinaiticus was writted by Greek scribes 1,600 years ago and includes the whole of the New Testament and the earliest surviving copies of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
 

The four-year collaboration between institutions in Germany, Russia, Egypt and Britain was launched with the aim of “virtually reunifying” the Bible. Viewers will be able to scan the text as well as zoom in for close-ups of the parchment, which is made of animal hide.

Only 800 of the Codex Sinaiticus’ original 1,400 pages has survived, and they include revisions, additions and corrections made during its history.

Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library which led the project, said: “The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's greatest written treasures.

“This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation.”

The Codex Sinaiticus was written by four Greek scholars and is named after the Monastery of St Catherine in Sinai, Egypt. The British Library held the largest chunk – 600 pages – after buying it from the former Soviet Union in 1993.

The texts were previously only accessible as separate sections, but can now be accessed by academics across the world. The website for the online Bible includes details of its virtual reunification as well as digital reconstructions of how the pages have changed over the centuries.

Reverend John Cowie, minister of the English Reformed Church in Amsterdam, said: “What this will do is give everybody access to one of the oldest texts of the bible. You can then know what Christians were reading in the 4th century.

“It was a hugely expensive and hugely imaginative creation for those days.”

Listen to Reverend John Cowie, of Amsterdam's English Reformed Church: