Working to bring ancient Christian documents to light

BYU has been given access by the Vatican to digitally image 14,000 pages of Syriac Christian writings dating back nearly 1500 years, which have been in the Vatican archives for the past 300 years, and publish the images in color on DVD next month.

Mormons believe that the church established by Christ and built up by his apostles following his death and ressurrection was overtaken by apostasy as strange doctrines crept in and ordinances changed during and following their lifetimes. These documents will give scholars insights into the beliefs of one of the branches of Christianity that existed in the Middle East during the period when they were diverging from the original religion after the apostles were no longer around.

These documents represent one thread of the religion which persisted after Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, but during the period of the series of Ecumenical Councils called to discuss various doctrinal and liturgical issues.