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In 1906, an Art Collector Found a Bible With a ‘New’ Scene of Jesus
The strange tale of Charles Freer
On December 31, 1907, newspapers around America report a startling event. An ancient Bible has been discovered—with more text! The previous year, Charles L. Freer, the industrialist from Detroit, had been in Cairo looking for art to add to his considerable collection. In an antiquities shop he’d noticed a pile of books. His eye was drawn to one. “The beautiful writing first attracted my attention,” he tells a friend.
Freer was wary of it being fake. Egyptian merchants, he believes, are “the worst gang of high and low scoundrels in the whole universe.” But after consulting a few Greek scholars, he decided to bite — later having a case of buyer’s remorse. He almost threw his Bible into the Red Sea.
It was the third oldest copy of the gospels of the New Testament
And scholars realized Freer’s purchase had a number of surprising features — like an exchange with Jesus never seen in the official history of Christianity.
The discovery rose into the political realm. Great Christian nations, the press widely notices, seem to own an important early manuscript of the Bible. In Russia, Codex Sinaiticus. In Italy, Codex Vaticanus. In France…
