Editing Constantin von Tischendorf (section)

== Tischendorf's motivation ==

Throughout his life, Tischendorf sought old biblical manuscripts, as he saw it as his task to give theology a Greek New Testament that was based on the oldest possible manuscripts. He intended to be as close as possible to the sources. Tischendorf's greatest discovery was in the [[monastery of Saint Catherine]] on the [[Sinai Peninsula]], which he visited in May 1844, and again in 1853 and 1859 (as Russian envoy).{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

In 1862, Tischendorf published the text of the [[Codex Sinaiticus]] for the 1000th Anniversary of the Russian Monarchy in both an illustrious four-volume facsimile edition and a less costly text edition, the latter to enable as many scholars as possible to have access to the contents of the Codex.<ref name="Parker2015">{{cite book |last=Parker |first=David C. |chapter=The Discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus |title=The Codex Sinaiticus: New Perspectives on the Ancient Biblical Manuscript |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |year=2015 |location=Peabody, MA |isbn=978-1-61970-645-3 |pages=15–30}}</ref>

Tischendorf pursued a constant course of editorial labors, mainly on the New Testament, until he was broken down by overwork in 1873.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Prof. {{ill|Christfried Boettrich|de|Christfried Böttrich}} (Leipzig University, Prof. of Theology) explained in a publication on Tischendorf's Letter that he was motivated to prove scientifically that the words of the Bible were trustworthily transmitted over the centuries.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}