<P> The often referred to Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, a book written to prove the validity of the New Testament, says: "A study of 150 Greek (manuscripts) of the Gospel of Luke has revealed more than 30,000 different readings...It is safe to say that there is not one sentence in the New Testament in which the (manuscript) is wholly uniform ." Most of the variation took place within the first three Christian centuries . </P> <P> By the 4th century, textual "families" or types of text become discernible among New Testament manuscripts . A "text - type" is the name given to a family of texts with similar readings due to common ancestors and mutual correction . Many early manuscripts, however, contain individual readings from several different earlier forms of text . Modern texual critics have identified the following text - types among textual witnesses to the New Testament: The Alexandrian text - type is usually considered to generally preserve many early readings . It is represented, e.g., by Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus and the Bodmer Papyri . </P> <P> The Western text - type is generally longer and can be paraphrastic, but can also preserve early readings . The Western version of the Acts of the Apostles is, notably, 8.5% longer than the Alexandrian form of the text . Examples of the Western text are found in Codex Bezae, Codex Claromontanus, Codex Washingtonianus, the Old Latin (i.e., Latin translations made prior to the Vulgate), as well as in quotations by Marcion, Tatian, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Cyprian . </P> <P> A text - type referred to as the "Caesarean text - type" and thought to have included witnesses such as Codex Koridethi and minuscule 565, can today be described neither as "Caesarean" nor as a text - type as was previously thought . However, the Gospel of Mark in Papyrus 45, Codex Washingtonianus and in Family 13 does indeed reflect a distinct type of text . </P>

What are the historical books of the new testament