Steven Avery
Administrator
The red cloth myth of Tischendorf is based on an a supposed complete surprise in 1859 when the "Septuagint" red cloth, with the NT, was supposedly unvieled.
Some of the items that go against this theory (will plan on bringing forth primary sources.)
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Tischendorf was excited about getting to Sinai, waxing effusively about the trip. Planning to get a prized jewel. Why, if he did not know about the NT?
Tregelles talks about a deceptive early denial of the Major McDonald report c. 1850 from Tischendorf. Thus, Tischendorf was following Sinai activities and reports closely.
The Sinai reports from Kallinikos are very consistent with everything we know about the ms. and the Tischendorf heists. In those reports, Tischendorf was mangling the full ms. no later than the early 1850s.
The claim by Tischendorf to the Russian official (maybe Von Falkenstein) that he did not know of the Uspensky ms. sitings, and even two books with reference to the Sinai ms, is a transparent flim-flam. Uspensky and Tischendorf were two leading figures in Russian ms. world, with some cooperation and some enmity. The idea that Tischendorf was ignorant of the Uspensky reports in 1859 begs all credulity. Just yet another part of the tissuedorf.
tissuedorf - a bold-face big lie, repeated again and again and embellished, done to turn around a public embarrassment (e.g. theft) and make it into a cause c?l?bre.
Etymology+ tissue of lies. and Constantine Tischendorf.
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Thus, there was a whole pattern of deception involved in the 1840s-1850s Tischendorf enterprise. His mercurial way of dealing with the manuscript in the early 1860s (see e.g. the invective against Tregelles until he finally gave him some limited access), thinking of it as his possession, may be in a sense more true than we realize. Tischendorf may well have been aware that the possession was tainted and dubious (whether or not he was aware in the originating times) and thus circled the horses and got more belligerent and defensive to the ms. and aggressive against any questioning of the early date or authenticity.
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