Ephraemi Rescriptus

EPHRAEMI RESCRIPTUS
In 1834, a young theology student decided to write his thesis paper on the sermons of a Syrian theologian of an earlier century named Father Ephraem (1553). He went to the French National Library in Paris and found a number of volumes in the reference section. While reading, he noticed that there were indentations visible on the vellum on which the sermons had been written. When investigated, these indentations proved to be prior writings which had been erased. Apparently an early scribe had wished to transcribe the sermons of Father Ephraem but had run short of paper, so he had taken some old vellum which he found and he had erased the writing, leaving only the indentations. Without realizing it, this unknown scribe had erased one of the oldest New Testament manuscripts (450 A.D.). Through the use of chemicals, the original manuscript has since been restored.