The National Catholic Register reports on a project led by Professor Garrick Allen of the University of Glasgow, which claims to have recovered 42 “lost” pages of a sixth-century New Testament manuscript known as “Codex H” using multispectral imaging. The article presents this as a monumental scholarly achievement, emphasizing the recovery of ancient chapter lists for St. Paul’s epistles that “differ notably from the current division” and offering “new clues regarding how the New Testament was transmitted and understood in antiquity.” The project, funded by the Templeton Religion Trust and the U.K.’s Arts and Humanities Research Council, exemplifies the modernist obsession with historical-critical methods that fundamentally undermine the integrity and divine inspiration of Holy Scripture, treating the Word of God as a mere human artifact subject to endless academic dissection rather than the immutable revelation of the Almighty.
The Idolatry of “Scientific” Biblical Criticism
The entire premise of this project rests upon the modernist heresy that Holy Scripture is primarily a historical document to be analyzed, deconstructed, and “understood in antiquity” through secular academic methods. This stands in direct and irreconcilable opposition to the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical *Providentissimus Deus* (1893), unequivocally condemned the rationalist approach to Scripture, stating that “the sacred writings are not like other books” and that those who “maintain that these writings are not inspired by God… are guilty of the greatest folly and falsehood.” The very notion that multispectral imaging and radiocarbon dating can “recover” or “improve our understanding” of divine revelation is a blasphemous assertion that human technology and academic ingenuity can add to or correct the deposit of faith.
The article’s emphasis on how “sixth-century scribes corrected and annotated sacred texts” and the “medieval practice of reusing and repurposing manuscripts” subtly reinforces the modernist dogma of the evolution of dogmas and the corruption of original texts. This is precisely the error condemned by St. Pius X in *Lamentabili sane exitu* (1907), which rejected the propositions that “the Gospel was expanded by continuous additions and corrections, so that only a weak and uncertain trace of Christ’s teaching remained in them” (Proposition 15) and that “the Evangelists did not report what actually happened, but what they thought would be of greater benefit to the recipients, even if it were false” (Proposition 14). The Church has always taught that “divine inspiration does not extend to the whole of Holy Scripture to such an extent that all and individual parts of it are protected from every error” is a condemned proposition (Proposition 11, *Lamentabili*). The Sacred Scriptures, as the Word of God, are preserved from error by the perpetual guidance of the Holy Ghost, not by the fallible judgments of modern academics.
The Templeton Religion Trust: A Masonic Front for Religious Subversion
The funding source for this project, the Templeton Religion Trust, is a notorious instrument of modernist and ecumenical subversion within religious discourse. Established by the late Sir John Templeton, a financier with deep ties to globalist and interfaith agendas, the Trust has consistently promoted a syncretistic and relativistic approach to religion, seeking to blur the distinctions between truth and error, revelation and human invention. Its support for projects like the Codex H recovery is not aimed at strengthening Catholic faith in the inerrancy of Scripture, but rather at fostering a “dialogue” that treats all religious texts as equally valid historical artifacts, thereby undermining the unique and supreme authority of the Catholic Church as the sole custodian of divine revelation.
This aligns perfectly with the Masonic agenda condemned by Pope Pius IX in the *Syllabus of Errors* (1864), which anathematized the proposition that “the Church is not a true and perfect society, entirely free… but it appertains to the civil power to define what are the rights of the Church” (Proposition 19) and that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). The Templeton Trust’s involvement is a clear indication that this project serves not the interests of Catholic truth, but the broader modernist project of reducing religion to a matter of personal opinion and academic speculation, stripping it of its supernatural character and binding authority.
The “Living History” Heresy: Scripture as Evolving Human Artifact
The article concludes by stating that the discovery “provides a better understanding of the living history of the transmission of the Bible throughout the centuries.” This phrase, “living history,” is a hallmark of modernist theology, which posits that divine revelation is not a fixed and immutable deposit, but rather a dynamic and evolving process shaped by human consciousness and historical circumstances. This is the very essence of the condemned error of the evolution of dogmas, articulated by St. Pius X in *Pascendi Dominici gregis* (1906), where he exposed the modernist fallacy that “dogmas, sacraments, and hierarchy, both in concept and in reality, are merely modes of explanation and stages in the evolution of Christian consciousness” (Proposition 54, *Lamentabili*).
The Catholic Church teaches that “truth changes with man, because it develops with him, in him, and through him” is a condemned proposition (Proposition 58, *Lamentabili*). Divine truth is eternal and unchanging, for “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The idea that the transmission of the Bible is a “living history” subject to human corruption and academic reconstruction is a direct denial of the Church’s infallible guardianship of Sacred Scripture. As the Council of Trent solemnly declared, the Vulgate is the authentic Latin text, and “no one is to dare, or presume to reject it under any pretext whatever” (Session IV, Decree Concerning the Edition and Use of the Sacred Books). The Church does not need modernist academics to “recover” or “improve” her understanding of Scripture; she possesses the fullness of truth in her Magisterium, guided by the Holy Ghost until the end of time.
The Silence on Divine Inspiration and Inerrancy
Perhaps the most damning omission in the entire article is any mention of the divine inspiration and inerrancy of Holy Scripture. There is no acknowledgment that the Bible is the Word of God, written by men under the direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and therefore free from all error in matters of faith and morals. Instead, the focus is entirely on human agency: scribes who “corrected and annotated,” manuscripts that were “reused and repurposed,” and academics who “recover” and “analyze.” This naturalistic and rationalist approach reduces the Sacred Scriptures to the level of any other ancient text, stripping them of their supernatural origin and authority.
This silence is not accidental; it is symptomatic of the systemic apostasy that has infected the post-conciliar structures. The “Church” of Vatican II, with its embrace of historical-critical methods and its dialogue with the world, has abandoned the defense of biblical inerrancy in favor of a relativistic and evolutionary understanding of revelation. The Codex H project is but another fruit of this apostasy, a testament to the triumph of modernist scholarship over Catholic faith. As Pope Pius IX warned in the *Syllabus of Errors*, “all the truths of religion proceed from the innate strength of human reason; hence reason is the ultimate standard by which man can and ought to arrive at the knowledge of all truths of every kind” is a condemned proposition (Proposition 4). The Church has always taught that faith, not human reason, is the foundation of our knowledge of divine things, and that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).
Conclusion: A Call to Reject Modernist Biblical Criticism
The recovery of the so-called “lost pages” of Codex H is not a cause for Catholic celebration, but rather a stark reminder of the depths to which modernist scholarship has sunk in its relentless assault on the integrity of Holy Scripture. Funded by Masonic-aligned trusts and conducted by academics who treat the Word of God as a mere historical artifact, this project exemplifies the very errors condemned by the pre-conciliar Magisterium. Catholics who remain faithful to the unchanging Tradition of the Church must reject these modernist methods and reaffirm their belief in the divine inspiration, inerrancy, and immutability of Sacred Scripture. The Bible is not a “living history” to be dissected by secular scholars, but the eternal and unchanging Word of God, preserved and interpreted by the one true Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us heed the words of St. Pius X, who warned that “the pursuit of novelty in the investigation of the foundations of things leads in our times to deplorable consequences, abandoning all restraint” and that “it is especially to be deplored that many Catholic authors also overstep the boundaries set by the Fathers of the Church and the Church itself.” The Codex H project is a manifestation of this very deplorable trend, and it must be exposed and rejected by all who profess the integral Catholic faith.
Source:
Advanced Technology Recovers 42 Lost Pages of Ancient New Testament Manuscript (ncregister.com)
Date: 30.04.2026