Constantine Tischendorf: The Life and Work of a 19th Century Bible Hunter

201 Pages·2015·1.008 MB·English

by  Stanley E. Porter

Constantine
Tischendorf
i
ii
Constantine
Tischendorf
The Life and Work of a
19th Century Bible Hunter
Including Constantine Tischendorf’s
When Were Our Gospels Written ?
Stanley E. Porter
iii
Bloomsbury T&T Clark
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First published 2015
© Stanley E. Porter, 2015
Stanley E. Porter has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as Author of this work.
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British Library Cataloguing- in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-0-56765-801-2
PB: 978-0-56765-802-9
ePDF: 978-0-56765-803-6
ePUB: 978-0-56765-800-5
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data
Porter, Stanley E., 1956–
Constantine Tischendorf: the life and work of a 19th century bible hunter / by
Stanley E. Porter.
pages cm
“Including Constantine Tischendorf’s When were our Gospels written?”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-567-65801-2 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-567-65802-9 (paperback)
1. Tischendorf, Constantin von, 1815–1874. 2. Biblical scholars—Germany—
Biography. I. Tischendorf, Constantin von, 1815–1874. Wann wurden unsere
Evangelien verfasst? English. II. Title.
BS501.T57P67 2015
220.092—dc23
[B]
2014030901
Typeset by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk

iv
CONTENTS
Foreword vii
PART ONE
Introduction and context 3
The life of Constantine Tischendorf 11
The work of Constantine Tischendorf 61
Conclusion 73
PART TWO
An introduction to Constantine Tischendorf’s When
Were Our Gospels Written? 79
Constantine Tischendorf, When Were Our Gospels
Written? 111
Translator’s preface 113
Introductory narrative of the discovery of the Sinaitic
Manuscript 117
v
vi CONTENTS
Chapter I
Ecclesiastical testimony 131
Chapter II
The testimony of heretics and heathen during the
second century 145
Chapter III
Apocryphal literature 151
Chapter IV
Testimony of apostolic fathers: Barnabas and
Papias 157
Chapter V
Manuscripts and versions of the second century 171
PART THREE
Selected bibliography 177
Index 185
FOREWORD
I am acutely aware that this is not a biography of Constantine
Tischendorf or the full critical study that his life and work merit.
Tischendorf deserves a full and complete biography that traces the
course of his intellectual development from start to fi nish and, more
importantly, a thorough assessment of the range and signifi cance of
his great intellectual accomplishments, of which the discovery and
publication of C odex Sinaiticus must rank as the most important.
This is a mere sketch of a few of the accomplishments of a great and
much maligned man. This book is written to appear in the year of
the 200th anniversary of Tischendorf’s birth, 1815. In that sense,
this volume is also a commemorative volume devoted to a man who
deserves commendation of the highest order.
Tischendorf no doubt led a fascinating life, even though he is not
nearly as well known as he once was. This book is an attempt, at
least in part, to begin to correct this lack of knowledge, and certainly
address some misperceptions about him. Although Tischendorf at
fi rst glance appears to be a typical German scholar of the nineteenth
century (photographs of him do nothing to dispel this, with his very
stern and upright appearance), his scholarly and pietistic motivation
for his textual work propels him beyond most others of his age—
or of any age. This motivation led him to feats that can only be
described as heroic, especially when we consider their grandeur,
their scope and their lasting signifi cance. It is doubtful whether we
will see another like Tischendorf any time soon.
Even though this is not the complete biography that he deserves,
in it I have tried to convey what I have long found fascinating about
this scholar who roamed the world in search of the Bible’s earliest
manuscripts—out of a sense of pious devotion to God’s word and
belief that discovery of the earliest manuscripts would confi rm its
textual reliability. He accomplished great things, although today
many people know him more for controversy and question his
vii
viii FOREWORD
motives regarding C odex Sinaiticus than recognize the signifi cance
of his accomplishments. I do not mean this to be an exercise in
hagiography nor a work of critical biography. Instead, it is meant as
an introduction to key moments in his life, with an assessment of
these events in the light of his numerous accomplishments.
Besides my short biographical sketch of Tischendorf, this volume
includes a second part. This second part consists of an introduction
and interpretive summary of Tischendorf’s popular apologetic
work, When Were Our Gospels Written? This volume was written
in response to the pressing critical needs of the time and was
received with great fanfare. In my introduction to this reprinted
work, I attempt to place Tischendorf’s writing of this short book
within its critical milieu, and then distill the argument that he
presents in the fi ve chapters of this book. Tischendorf’s book was
written for a popular audience, and so it lacks the critical apparatus
one would perhaps now expect to accompany such a work,
especially where references to other scholars and ancient sources
are concerned. I have attempted to provide some of these references,
though clearly have not been able to include all of them. Nevertheless,
I think that this work is worth considering because it brings together
Tischendorf’s personal beliefs with his scholarly ambitions and
purpose that dominated most of his intellectual life from around
1840 until his death in 1874. I trust that this short work from
Tischendorf himself—not one of his edited manuscripts, but a book
of contemporary scholarly concern—will help to add insight into
the work of this important scholar. I have also found it interesting
how relevant his arguments seem, when one compares the situation
in which he wrote with some of the discussions in contemporary
scholarship, raising the question of what scholarship has or has not
learned in the course of the last 150 years, but that topic merits
further discussion at another time.
I have had a longstanding fascination with Tischendorf. This
dates back to my early days as a scholar, when I fi rst began to get
involved in matters textual, and was developed further in the course
of my papyrological and epigraphical scholarship. Of course, I have
been intrigued by the story of his repeated visits to St Catherine’s
Monastery and the discovery and identifi cation of C odex Sinaiticus .
As a result, I often speak about Tischendorf. My students have
come to believe that any course that they take from me in which
Tischendorf does not make a signifi cant appearance in one way or
FOREWORD ix
another—usually in the recounting of the tale of his discovery of the
great codex—is a course that is much the poorer for not sharing in
the excitement of this story and adventure.
I am fortunate to own one of the 327 facsimile editions of the
codex that Tischendorf produced for the Czar of Russia (20 printed
on parchment). My copy is apparently one of the 100 that
Tischendorf was allowed to sell as his compensation for his heroic
editing and publishing task. The four volumes that comprise my
copy were purchased by some of the trustees of the Flounders
Institute of Ackworth, England 1 and donated to Haverford College
on 25 August 1865, where the complete set was placed in the
College library. There the edition remained for many years, until the
institution apparently sold it. Even though an accompanying
undated newspaper article that I received with the edition says that
“The Library of Haverford College has been recently enriched by a
gift, which will always remain one of its most valued treasures—the
‘Codex Sinaiticus,’ in the imperial edition,” it now is one of the
prized possessions of my own library, where I consult it regularly in
the course of my own textual work. The edition is not only an
important work of scholarship, but is an excellent representation of
exacting German book production in its attention to detail, from
the paper chosen (Tischendorf came from a line of paper merchants)
and the design of the fonts (by printers in the printing town of
Leipzig).
The writing of even such a slim volume as this could not have
been accomplished without the benefi t of the work of many others.
In particular, I wish to thank Professor Dr Christfried Böttrich, of
Greifswald University, Germany, who has graciously provided
valuable materials to help me in this rudimentary study of
Tischendorf. Professor Böttrich has written a number of important
works on Tischendorf, and we can all hope for him to write the
defi nitive biography of this great man. I acknowledge that I have
used his several scholarly writings, his own biographical study, and
his bibliography in the preparation of this short volume. I refer to
1 According to the web, the Flounders Institute was a Quaker teacher training
institute in nineteenth-c entury England. Haverford College was founded in 1833 by
Quakers in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, although the College now has no
formal ties to Quakerism.