How does the Quantity of New Testament Manuscripts Compare to Other Ancient Manuscripts?

In my last article, How Many New Testament Manuscripts Exist?, I showed there are over 5,800 Greek New Testament manuscripts that have been cataloged. Scholars also know of over 20,000 manuscripts in other languages, about half of them in Latin. There are also undoubtedly thousands of manuscripts in private collections, churches and libraries which are effectively lost to the academic world and haven’t been studied.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a single database which contains information for every ancient manuscript. The data I’ve found is inconsistent, and it’s probably comparing apples-to-oranges. The total number of manuscripts on the K-Liste¹ is inflated due to manuscripts being duplicated on the list, lost, damaged and even stolen. Even with its problems, it’s the most comprehensive source available for cataloging Greek New Testament manuscripts.

Much of the data regarding the New Testament manuscripts is from Christian Apologetics sources, and many of those base their information off work done by Clay Jones (and later co-authored by Josh McDowell)². Jones and McDowell undoubtedly have more resources available than I do (although they also use the K-Liste), and I’m sure their numbers are more accurate and comprehensive than most other sources I’ve been able to find. Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell is my primary source for this article³.

The best independent source I’ve been able to find for non-Biblical manuscripts is the Trismegistos database, which curates data from several databases of ancient manuscripts. Unfortunately, Trismegistos focuses on papyrus and other early media, and papyrus started going out of use around 300-400 A.D. This means there are many manuscripts on parchment and vellum which aren’t listed in this database, so the number of manuscripts available is probably low. It should show the oldest fragments for non-Christian books, most of which are on papyrus, although some are on pottery and other media. In the table in the footnotes, there’s a link (in column 14) to the Trismegistos data for each of the works listed there. Again, it’s  probably an apples-to-oranges comparison, but it’s the best I could find.

Part of the problem is that Christian apologists often use the most up-to-date numbers when referring to New Testament manuscripts, but continue to use outdated information when comparing to works by ancient non-Christian authors. My intent was to find the most up-to-date information I could for both Christian and non-Christian manuscripts, which was definitely a challenge.

The numbers I’m using in my table and chart are estimates, and in some cases they’re wildly different. I wanted to be the most generous I could with these numbers, so I’m counting the latest date a work could have been written, and the earliest dates of fragments and manuscripts, with the attempt to minimize the number of years between the dates. In one case, the number of years between the date written and the earliest fragments came out to be 0 years. Thucydides lived in the 4^th century (400-300) BC. and the earliest fragments are from the 3^rd century (300-200) BC. Since the latest date his work could have been written was 300 BC, and the earliest fragment could have been from 300 BC, my table shows 0 years. That’s undoubtedly incorrect, but it fits my methodology. I’m using the same methodology for the New Testament, with a late completion date of A.D. 100, while parts of the New Testament were likely written 50 or more years earlier. The number of years between the when the New Testament was written and the earliest fragment and a complete manuscript could be 50-100 years longer, but the numbers I’m using are consistent with my methodology. See the footnotes for the information I’ve been able to find.⁴

I’ve included both fragments and complete manuscripts in my research, although I’m using the word “complete” very loosely. In my research, it seems the word complete doesn’t necessarily mean 100% of the original text, but rather a large enough portion for scholars to be certain of their analysis. A fragment that’s only a few square inches isn’t very helpful to scholars in determining if a text has been transmitted to us correctly. A manuscript of 50 pages, or 500 pages, is much more useful when trying to learn what the author may have originally written.

Even if some of the specific numbers I use are incorrect, I believe the overall patterns are still correct. The number of New Testament manuscripts far exceeds the number of manuscripts from ancient Greek and Roman authors.

The ages of the manuscripts is an even more difficult issue to address. In most cases, when the age of a manuscript is reported, it’s not indicated if the manuscript is a fragment or a complete manuscript. Some of the discrepancies I’ve seen in dates are due to what the authors are reporting. In my research, I’ve found some sources report fragments for some ancient works, while reporting complete manuscripts for other ancient works. For some ancient authors, that can mean a difference of over 1,000 years between the earliest fragment and the earliest complete manuscript. Finding the earliest fragments for these works wasn’t too difficult, but finding the earliest complete manuscript proved to be a much bigger challenge than I had expected (I wasn’t able to find reliable dates for some works).  

Just because there are many manuscripts, and relatively early ones, doesn’t inherently mean the document is true, whether it’s the New Testament or one of the Classical Greek authors. The numbers and ages help  scholars determine if it’s been transmitted to us correctly, not that the authors accurately wrote about historical events, or spiritual ones. Again, even if some specific numbers are incorrect, I believe the patterns are clear. The complete (100% in this case) New Testament manuscripts are much closer in time to the autographs than complete manuscripts for any of the ancient Greek or Roman authors. Whether the New Testament is true or not has been debated for thousands of years, and will be topics of research in the future on BibleQuestions.info.

If you’re aware of more current or reliable data, please let me know, as I’d like to keep this information up-to-date. You can reach me using contact form at the bottom of the page, using Facebook, or via e-mail using the e-mail contact form. 

Data based on Research by Clay Jones and Josh McDowell

• Jones, Clay. The Bibliographical Test Updated (Equip.org; Oct 1, 2013) Accessed 16-Nov-2019.
• Leasure, Ryan. The New Testament is the New York Yankees of Ancient Literature (Jesus Is Not Fake News: June 13, 2018) Accessed 20-Nov-2019.
• McDowell, Josh D. and Clay Jones. The Bibliographical Test (Equip.org, 2014; PDF) Accessed 30-Jun-2019.
• McDowell, Josh and McDowell, Sean. Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2017; Kindle) Page 55. (Amazon)

Resources

• Evans, Craig A. The Reliability of New Testament Manuscripts (Lexham Press: 2014) (Logos)
• Geisler, Norman L. and Frank Turek. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crosswsy Books, 2004; Logos) Chapter 9. (Amazon) (Logos)
• Hellerman, Joe. Defending the Gospel Accounts of Jesus (Biola University; Audio CD) Accessed 03-Nov-2018.
• Hixson, Elijah and Gurry, Peter J. Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2019; Logos) (Amazon) (Logos)
• Koukl, Greg. The Bible Translated, Retranslated, and…Changed? No Chance. (Stand to Reason, May 1, 2000; Blog)
• Logos Bible Software Infographics (Logos Bible Software, version 8.9; LBSI 2009) (Logos)
• Sinclair, David. An Overview of the Bible (DavidSinclairMC.com, 2006-2010; PDF) 11.
• Slick, Matt. Manuscript evidence for superior New Testament reliability (CARM.org, 12/10/08) Accessed 06-Dec-2019.
• Some manuscript traditions of the Greek classics (Tertullian.org) Accessed 05-Dec-2019.
• Trismegistos.org (Website) Accessed 11-24-2019.
• Wegner, Paul D. A Student’s Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible: Its History, Methods and Results (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006; Logos) Pages 40-41. (Amazon) (Logos)
• Wilkins, Don and Edward D. Andrews. The Text of the New Testament: The Science and Art of Textual Criticism (Cambridge, OH: Christian Publishing House, 2017; Kindle) Page 110. (Amazon)

Footnotes

1. What is the Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments?
2. I’ve included some sources in the section Data based on Research by Clay Jones and Josh McDowell.
3. McDowell, Josh and McDowell, Sean. Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2017) Page 55. (Amazon)

4. Author	Number of Fragments & Manuscripts (BibleQuestions.info)	Date Written, or Author's Date of Death (BibleQuestions.info)	Earliest Fragment Date (BibleQuestions.info)	Years Between Date Written and Earliest Fragment (BibleQuestions.info)	Earliest Manuscript Date (BibleQuestions.info)	Years Between Date Written and Earliest Manuscript (BibleQuestions.info)	Number of Manuscripts (McDowell)	Earliest Manuscript (McDowell)	Attestations of Works (Trismegistos)	Author Lived (Trismegistos)	Work Written (Trismegistos)	Earliest Manuscript (Trismegistos)	Web Link (Trismegistos)	Number of Manuscripts (Jones)	Date Written (Jones)	Earliest Manuscript (Jones)	Time Gap (Jones)	Number of Manuscripts (Logos)	Date Written (Logos)	Number of Copies (Sinclair)	Date Written (Sinclair)	Earliest Copies (Sinclair)	Time Gap (Sinclair)	Number of Copies (Slick)	Date Written (Slick)	Earliest Copy (Slick)	Approximate Time Span between original & copy (Slick)	Earliest Fragment Date (Tertuallian.org)	Earliest Manuscript Date (Tertullian.org)	Number of Manuscripts (Wegner)	Date Written (Wegner)	Earliest Manuscript (Wegner)	Number of Manuscripts (Wilkins)	Writing Completed (Wilkins)	Earliest Manuscript (Wilkins)	Years Removed (Wilkins)
   New Testament (Greek)	5856	AD 50-100	AD 125	25	AD 325	225	5856	AD 130						5795	AD 50-100	AD 130	400 (fragment) 700 (manuscripts)	6000	AD 50-100	5366	AD 50-100	AD 114 (fragment) AD 200 (books) AD 250 (most of NT) AD 325 (complete NT)	50 / 100 / 150 / 225	5600	AD 50-100	AD 130	30			5400	AD 40-110		5800	AD 50-98	AD 110-125	12-27
   New Testament (All Languages)	23986	AD 100	AD 125	25	AD 325	225	23986							23,769
   Caesar - Gallic Wars	251	44 BC	AD 800	844			251	AD 800-900						251	100-44 BC	AD 800-900	950	10	100-44 BC	10	100-44 BC	AD 900	1000	10	AD 100-44	AD 900	1000			10	58-50 BC	AD 900-950	251	51-46 BC	AD 800-900	950
   Demosthenes - Speeches	444	300 BC	100 BC	200	AD 1100	1400	444	100-1 BC	207	384-322 BC	384-322 BC	About 150 BC	Demosthenes - Speeches	340	300 BC	100-1 BC (fragments) AD 1100 (manuscript)	1100 (manuscript)	200	300 BC	200	300 BC	AD 1,100	1400	8	400-300 BC	AD 1100	800						340	300 BC	100-1 BC (Fragments)	1000
   Euripides - Tragedies	330	406 BC	300 BC	106					204	480-406 BC	480-406 BC	About 300 BC	Euripides - Tragedies					330	500-400 BC4					9	480-406 BC	AD 1100	1300
   Herodotus - History	109	425 BC	150 BC	275	AD 900	1325	106	150-50 BC	45	484-425 BC	440-425 BC	About 150 BC	Herodotus - History	109	480-425 BC	AD 900-1000	1350	8	480-435 BC	8	480-425 B.C	AD 900	1350	8	480-425 BC	900 AD	1300	AD 50-100	AD 900-1000				109	480-425 BC	AD 900-1000	1350
   Homer - Illiad	1900	700 BC	415 BC	285	AD 850	1550	1900	415 BC	1432	750-700 BC	750-700 BC	About 300 BC	Homer - Illiad	1757	800 BC	400 BC	400	650	800 B.C	643	800 BC	400 BC	400	643	900 BC	400 BC	500		AD 850-900				1757	800 BC	400-300 BC (fragments) AD 800-900	500
   Homer - Odyssey	574	700 BC	300 BC	400	AD 900	1600			574	750-700 BC	750-700 BC	About 300 BC	Homer - Odyssey															400-300 BC	AD 900-1000
   Josephus	55	AD 100	AD 200	100					12	AD 37-100	AD 37-100	About AD 200	Josephus					55	AD 75-95
   Livy - History of Rome	473	AD 17	AD 300	283			473	AD 300-400						150	59 BC - AD 17	AD 400-450	400	20	59 B.C - AD 17	1 (fragment) 19 (manuscripts)	59 BC - AD 17	AD 300-400 (fragments) AD 1000-1100 (manuscripts)	400 (fragments) 1000 (manuscripts)	20	59 BC-17 AD					20	59 BC-AD 17	AD 300-400	150	59 BC - AD 17	AD 400-500	400
   Plato - Tetralogies	238	347 BC	BC 300	47	AD 895	1242	238	400-300 BC	96	428-347 BC	428-347 BC	About 300 BC	Plato - Tetralogies	210	400 BC	AD 895	1300	7	400 BC	7	400 BC	AD 900	1300	7	427-347 BC	AD 900	1200						210	400 BC	AD 895	1300
   Pliny the Elder - Natural History	200	AD 79	AD 400	321	AD 1300	1221	200	AD 400-500	9	AD 23-79	AD 77	About AD 400	Pliny the Elder - Natural History	200	AD 49-79	AD 400-500 (fragment) AD 1300-1500 (manuscripts)	400 (fragment) 700 (manuscripts)																200	AD 49-79	AD 400-500 (fragment)	400
   Pliny the Younger - Natural History	7	AD 113	AD 850	737														7	61-113 AD	7	AD 61-113	AD 850	750	7	AD 61-113	AD 850	1200
   Sophocles - Oedipus Rex	3	405 BC	AD 100	505					3	497-405 BC	497-405 BC	About AD 100	Sophocles - Oedipus Rex
   Sophocles - Plays	226	405 BC	400 BC	5	AD 100	505	226	400-300 BC	41	497-405 BC	497-405 BC	About 300 BC	Sophocles - Plays	193	496-406 BC	400-300 BC	100-200							193	496-406 BC	AD 1000	1400	100-1 BC	AD 100-200				193	496-406 BC	400-300 BC (fragments) AD 900-1000	100-200
   Tacitus - Annals	36	AD 100	AD 800	700	AD 1050	950	36	1st half - AD 850 2nd half - AD 1050						2 (fragments) 31 (manuscripts)	AD 100	1st half - AD 850 2nd half - AD 1050	750-950	20	AD 100	20	AD 100	AD 1100	1000	20	AD 100	1100	1000			2	AD 100	AD 800-1100	33	AD 100	AD 800-1000	750-950
   Thucydides - History	188	400 BC	400 BC	0	AD 900	1300	188	400-300 BC	95	460-400 BC	460-400 BC	About 300 BC	Thucydides - History	96	460-400 BC	400-300 BC (fragment) AD 900 (manuscript)	200 (fragment) 1,350 (manuscript)	8	460-400 BC	8	460-400 BC	AD 900	1300	8	460-400 BC	AD 900	1300		AD 1000-1100	8	460-400 BC	AD 1-100 (fragments) AD 900 (manuscript)	96	460-400 BC	400-300 BC (fragments)	200
   © BibleQuestions.info, 14-Dec-2019 Most of these numbers are estimates, particularly the dates.							McDowell, Josh and McDowell, Sean. Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2017; Kindle) Page 55.		Trismegistos.org (Website) Accessed 11-24-2019.					Jones, Clay. The Bibliographical Test Updated (Equip.org; Oct 1, 2013) Accessed 16-Nov-2019.				Logos Bible Software Infographics (Logos Bible Software, version 8.9; LBSI 2009)		Sinclair, David. An Overview of the Bible (DavidSinclairMC.com, 2006-2010; PDF) 11.				Slick, Matt. Manuscript evidence for superior New Testament reliability (CARM.org, 12/10/08) Accessed 06-Dec-2019.				Tertullian.org. Some manuscript traditions of the Greek classics (Tertullian.org) Accessed 05-Dec-2019.		Wegner, Paul D. A Student's Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible: Its History, Methods and Results (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006; Logos) Pages 40-41.			Wilkins, Don and Edward D. Andrews. The Text of the New Testament: The Science and Art of Textual Criticism (Cambridge, OH: Christian Publishing House, 2017; Kindle) Page 110.