Does SATOR Square
confirm the Textus receptus ?
INTRODUCTION
Which texts,
which manuscripts?
As we have seen so far, without needing to demonstrate it further, the SATOR Square is first of all a real inscription, then an inscription in Latin and finally a Christian Latin inscription.
When we say Christian, we mean Bible, since the basis and reference for all Christians, both in their beliefs and in their conduct, remains the sacred text of the Holy Scriptures.
But which original Greek text does this SATOR Square refer to, the 5,000 majority manuscripts of the Bible or the 2 critical texts?
This is what we will discover below.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
First of all, we think it would be useful to give a brief historical overview of these different texts, to put them into their proper chronological context:
1) The SATOR Square: composed, we believe, by the apostle Paul around 60-65 AD, it first appeared in Latin in the Campania region of Italy, then in the rest of the Roman Empire, and even with Greek letters in the eastern part of the Empire (1), totalling around a hundred inscriptions during the first centuries of our era.
2) The New Testament: all 27 books of the New Testament were composed in ancient Greek on papyri between 30 and 70 AD, in other words during the 40 or even 50 years following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (2).
As a result, the majority text comprises more than 5,000 Greek manuscripts that were copied from the 1st century AD until the end of the Middle Ages: papyri (especially in the first 4 centuries), codexes (from the 4th century), then uncials and miniatures, and even lectionaries (3).
These manuscripts all coincide. Moreover, they were quickly translated:
- More than 10,000 manuscripts in Latin: these are the Vetus Latina of the first centuries and the Vulgate of Jerome of Stridon of 397;
- 9,300 manuscripts translated into various other ancient languages : Syriac (5th century), Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian, Slavonic and Gotic.
All these translations also faithfully reproduce the Greek originals.
Finally, there is the testimony of almost a million quotations from the Fathers of the Church, which corroborate the original Greek text of the New Testament (4).
Thus, the Textus receptus (received text) has a solid basis in view of the number of original copies in Greek, themselves confirmed by a very large number of ancient translations and quotations.
3) The critical texts: there are essentially two late ones:
a) Manuscript B, which mysteriously appeared in 1475 in the Capua region of Italy, written in Greek. It is a 15th-century reconstruction containing an older passage that is thought to date from the 4th century. It is very incomplete (5).
b) Manuscript S, in Greek, cut into 4 by its discoverer between 1844 and 1859 for the benefit of his
benefactors. It would have been dated to 330 AD, even though the monastery of Saint Catherine at
the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt did not yet exist at that time and, much later, neither did its
archbishop, who apparently donated part of this codex to the famous bounty hunter of apocryphal
manuscripts (6).
QUESTION OF CONTENTS
It is also worth comparing the messages contained in the texts presented above, which will give us a clear indication of the source of inspiration for the SATOR Square:
1) Content of the SATOR Square :
SATOR-AREPO-TENET-OPERA-ROTAS: The sower - I bear witness to this - sustains the whole universe with his sovereign power.
In this inscription, we discover that the divine labourer sowing the word of life in the world is Christ himself. This inscription also reveals, through its different levels of reading, that SATOR is linked with PATER and even with ASTRO, that Christ is also one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, that our Triune God is three in one.
Finally, one thing leads to another and this inscription gives us advice on, among other things, proclaiming the truth, the good news of salvation, as well as prayer and adoration (7).
2) Content of the Bible, especially the New Testament :
As the apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1Co 15: 3-4 TBS).
The New Testament is therefore the collection of writings relating to the life of Jesus, his ministry as Son of Man and Son of God, and the teaching of his first disciples.
The Bible is also a book of prophecies. that about a hundred of them were fulfilled at Christ's first coming and the remaining 200 or so are being fulfilled right up to his triumphant second coming (8).
Moreover, by his miracles, Jesus clearly demonstrated who he was, even before he rose from the dead and lived in the hearts of believers who received his Holy Spirit by faith.
The omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient God thus accepted all human limitations in Christ to show us, in practical terms, how to live a satisfying human life, how to serve him and live in unity.
Finally, this very spiritual text that is the Bible is in fact very concrete for us : it concerns our faith and our works. This text is itself authoritative: it is the LOGOS, the Word, the Word of Life, applied to our lives.
3) Content of the critical texts:
We were extremely surprised to find that the critical texts simply reiterate the Received Text, but totally sabotage it! These texts, which are very much in the minority, are a copy of the majority text, but with an infinite number of errors, omissions and deletions. Thus, in relation to the Textus receptus, these two manuscripts of the critical texts include:
a) Manuscript B: ... 7,800 alterations ;
b) Manuscript S: ... 23,000 alterations (for the New Testament alone!) (9)
These two manuscripts are so incomplete that it is impossible for them to be so old, so reliable and so true, since their errors are not the result of the usual inattentiveness of the copyists, but rather the result of deliberate and provoked oversights, omissions or truncations.
In order to do this, they had to have a complete reference Bible in front of them (such as Jerome's Latin Vulgate of 397 AD), so that they could falsify it; these manuscripts can in no way be the founding manuscripts of the Word of God, for the simple reason that they are themselves the cause of its destruction (10).
What did they delete in many passages? Nothing more and nothing less than the very name of God (Jesus Christ), the words God and Lord, the facts about Jesus' resurrection or the prophecies fulfilled about him, as well as the practical advice given for living a normal Christian life (11).
And to make matters worse, despite their numerical inferiority, these are the only two manuscripts on which most modern Bibles are based! This is why, at present, the biblical versions of the New Testament have between 600 and 1000 verses truncated or deleted, the equivalent of 10 to 13 chapters missing from their editions (12).
Finally, to end this paragraph on a more positive note, here's the answer to the long-awaited question about the content of these texts: the source of inspiration for the SATOR Square is, of course, the Textus receptus!
IT'S WORTH KNOWING IT!
Is your Bible the Bible?
Just as the SATOR Square has only 5 lines, we suggest that you consider just 5 verses from the New Testament to find out easily whether or not your Bible is close to the original Greek manuscripts:
1) Is the last word in the Bible Amen ? (Rev. 22:21)
The correct verse is: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen! (AV and note 13)
2) Is the eunuch's confession included? (Acts 8:37)
Read correctly: Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may (to be baptised)."
And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (NKJV)
3) Is God mentioned when he is incarnate in the flesh? (1 Tim. 3:16)
Read correctly: And great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (AV)
4) Is Jesus mentioned when he begins his sermon on the Mount? (Mat. 5:1)
Read correctly: When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him. (AMP)
5) Is the divine testimony recorded both on earth and in heaven? (1 John 5:7-8)
Read correctly: For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. (NKJV)
If, in your Bible, all these 5 verses are deleted, or truncated, written in brackets or put in a footnote, you can now be sure that you do not have in your hands a translation of the Bible that is faithful to the basic text, the normal text, the original Greek text.
On the other hand, if you also read in your Bible 4 or 5 of the verses correctly mentioned here, then you are in possession of a Bible version faithful to the Textus receptus, bravo!
This will tell you whether you can keep your Bible or not, so that you can get a good one, including the following (14):
In French: Martin (1744), Ostervald (1893: excellent) and TBS
In English: KJV, NKJV, AV (AKJV), Geneva Bible (1599) & Revised Geneva Translation
In Spanish: Biblia del Oso (1569: excellent), RV 1960 and 1977 and RV-SBT 2024
In German: Schlachter 2000
To our knowledge, all other versions or editions in these languages are unfortunately close to the critical texts. Please let us know - for the benefit of our readers - if you know of any other versions that are close to the received Text.
In the end, the blessings you receive from your Bible will depend on your choice: so be careful if you want to please both yourself and God! (15)
