Manuscript
Chester Beatty Papyrus I (P45)
Also known as P45 · 𝔓45 · Chester Beatty Biblical Papyrus I · P. Chester Beatty I
The oldest surviving book that holds all four Gospels and Acts together — though only a fifth of it is left.
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Overview
Chester Beatty Papyrus I (P45)(c. AD 175–250 (third century; the narrower c. 175–225 is a palaeographic estimate))— Egypt; acquired by Alfred Chester Beatty in the 1930s
What survives is portions of thirty leaves: Matthew 20–21 and 25–26; Mark 4–9 and 11–12; Luke 6–7 and 9–14; John 4–5 and 10–11; and Acts 4–17.
Thirty leaves sounds like a lot until you learn the book originally ran to roughly 220. Well under a fifth of it is left, and the room says so rather than listing the contents and letting the list do the flattering.
Most of it is in Dublin. One leaf — Matthew 25:41–26:39 — is in Vienna.
Manuscript Details
- Date
- c. AD 175–250 (third century; the narrower c. 175–225 is a palaeographic estimate)
- Language
- Greek
- Script
- Greek book hand (uncial)
- Material
- Papyrus
- Current location
- Chester Beatty, Dublin (Papyrus I); one leaf at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna (Pap. Vindob. G. 31974)
- Discovery location
- Egypt; acquired by Alfred Chester Beatty in the 1930s
- Contains books
- Matthew · Mark · Luke · John · Acts
- Tags
- papyri · new-testament · gospels · canon
Significance
It shows that the four Gospels and Acts were already being copied as one book, in one binding, well before any church council discussed a canon. Whoever paid for this codex thought of those five writings as belonging together.
The passages the manuscripts argue over
The places where the manuscripts differ — the ending of Mark, the woman caught in adultery, the three heavenly witnesses — with the case each way.