Editing Bible (section)

=== New Testament ===
[[File:PaulT.jpg|thumb|[[Paul the Apostle]] depicted in ''Saint Paul Writing His [[Epistles]]'', a {{circa|1619}} portrait by [[Valentin de Boulogne]]]]
[[File:P52 verso.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|alt=photo of a fragment of papyrus with writing on it|[[Rylands Library Papyrus P52|The Rylands fragment P52 verso]], 125–175 CE, is the oldest existing fragment of [[New Testament]] papyrus, including phrases from the 18th chapter of the [[Gospel of John]].{{sfn|Orsini|Clarysse|2012|p=470}}]]
During the rise of [[Christianity]] in the first century CE, new scriptures were written in Koine Greek. Christians eventually called these new scriptures the "New Testament" and began referring to the Septuagint as the "Old Testament".{{sfnm |1a1=Lim |1y=2017 |1pp=45–46 |2a1=Brown |2y=2010 |2loc=Intro. and ch. 1 |3a1=Carr |3y=2010 |3p=17 |4a1=Bandstra |4y=2009 |4pp=7, 484 |5a1=Riches |5y=2000 |5loc=chs. 2 and 3}} The New Testament has been preserved in more manuscripts than any other ancient work.{{sfn|Gurry|2016|p=117}}{{sfn|Rezetko|Young|2014|p=164}} Most early Christian copyists were not trained scribes.{{sfn|Wegner|2006|p=300}} Many copies of the gospels and Paul's letters were made by individual Christians over a relatively short period of time, very soon after the originals were written.{{sfn|Wallace|2009|p=88}} There is evidence in the Synoptic Gospels, in the writings of the early [[Church Fathers]], from [[Marcion]], and in the [[Didache]] that Christian documents were in circulation before the end of the first century.{{sfn|Wegner|2006|pp=40–41, 300–301}}{{sfn|Mowry|1944|pp=76, 84, 85}} Paul's letters were circulated during his lifetime, and his death is thought to have occurred before 68 during Nero's reign.{{sfn|Mowry|1944|p=85}}{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=436}} Early Christians transported these writings around the Empire, translating them into [[Syriac versions of the Bible|Old Syriac]], [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Ge'ez language|Ethiopic]], and [[Latin]], and other languages.{{sfn|Lavidas|2021|p=29}}

New Testament scholar [[Bart Ehrman]] explains how these multiple texts later became grouped by scholars into categories:<blockquote> During the early centuries of the church, Christian texts were copied in whatever location they were written or taken to. Since texts were copied locally, it is no surprise that different localities developed different kinds of textual tradition. That is to say, the manuscripts in Rome had many of the same errors, because they were for the most part "in-house" documents, copied from one another; they were not influenced much by manuscripts being copied in Palestine; and those in Palestine took on their own characteristics, which were not the same as those found in a place like Alexandria, Egypt. Moreover, in the early centuries of the church, some locales had better scribes than others. Modern scholars have come to recognize that the scribes in Alexandria – which was a major intellectual center in the ancient world – were particularly scrupulous, even in these early centuries, and that there, in Alexandria, a very pure form of the text of the early Christian writings was preserved, decade after decade, by dedicated and relatively skilled Christian scribes.<ref>Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (New York: HarperCollins, 2005) p. 72.</ref></blockquote> These differing histories produced what modern scholars refer to as recognizable "text types". The four most commonly recognized are [[Alexandrian text-type|Alexandrian]], [[Western text-type|Western]], [[Caesarean text-type|Caesarean]], and [[Byzantine text-type|Byzantine]].{{sfnm |Parker|2013|1pp=412–420, 430–432 |Brown|2010|2loc=ch. 3(A)}}

The list of books included in the [[Catholic Bible]] was established as canon by the [[Council of Rome]] in 382, followed by those of [[Council of Hippo|Hippo]] in 393 and [[Council of Carthage#Synod of 397|Carthage]] in 397. Between 385 and 405 CE, the early Christian church translated its canon into [[Vulgar Latin]] (the common Latin spoken by ordinary people), a translation known as the [[Vulgate]].{{sfnm |1a1=Lim |1y=2017 |1p=40 |2a1=Hayes |2y=2012 |2loc=ch. 1 |3a1=Brown |3y=2010 |3loc=Intro. |4a1=Carr |4y=2010 |4pp=3–5 |5a1=Bandstra |5y=2009 |5pp=7–8, 480–481 |6a1=Gravett et al. |6y=2008 |6p=xv |7a1=Harris |7a2=Platzner |7y=2008 |7pp=3–4, 28, 371 |8a1=Riches |8y=2000 |8loc=ch. 3 }} Since then, Catholic Christians have held [[ecumenical council]]s to standardize their biblical canon. The [[Council of Trent]] (1545–63), held by the Catholic Church in response to the [[Protestant Reformation]], authorized the Vulgate as its official Latin translation of the Bible.{{sfnm |1a1=Lim |1y=2017 |1pp=40, 46, 49, 58–59 |2a1=Hayes |2y=2012 |2loc=ch. 1 |3a1=Brown |3y=2010 |3loc=Intro. |4a1=Carr |4y=2010 |4pp=3–5 |5a1=Bandstra |5y=2009 |5pp=7–8, 480–481 |6a1=Gravett et al. |6y=2008 |6pp=xv, 49 |7a1=Harris |7a2=Platzner |7y=2008 |7pp=3–4, 28, 31–32, 371 |8a1=Riches |8y=2000 |8loc=ch. 3}} A number of biblical canons have since evolved. Christian biblical canons range from the 73 books of the [[Catholic Church]] canon and the 66-book canon of most [[Protestantism|Protestant]] denominations to the 81 books of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] canon, among others.{{sfn|Riches|2000|pp=7–8}} Judaism has long accepted a single authoritative text, whereas Christianity has never had an official version, instead having many different manuscript traditions.{{sfn|Barton|2019| p=15}}