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There are over 5,600 Greek [[manuscript]]s containing all or part of the [[New Testament]], as well as over 10,000 Latin manuscripts, and perhaps 500 other manuscripts of various other languages. Additionally, there are the [[Patristic]] writings, which contain copious quotes from across the early centuries of the scriptures.
Most of these manuscripts date to the [[Middle Ages]]. The oldest complete copy of the New Testament, the [[Codex Sinaiticus]], which includes two other books<ref>The [[Epistle of Barnabas]] and [[The Shepherd of Hermas]]</ref> not now included in the accepted NT canon, dates to the 4th century. The earliest fragment of a New Testament book is the [[Rylands Library Papyrus P52]] which dates from
The average NT manuscript is about 200 pages, and in all, there are about 1.3 million pages of text. No two manuscripts are identical, except in the smallest fragments, and the many manuscripts that preserve New Testament texts differ among themselves in many respects, with some estimates of 200,000 to 300,000 differences among the various manuscripts.<ref>See Ehrman, ''Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew'', p. 219</ref> According to [[Bart D. Ehrman|Bart Ehrman]]:
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