One of the most important of all modern-day manuscript finds was a discovery made public in 1931. It consisted of parts of 11 codices, containing portions of 8 different books of the inspired Hebrew Scriptures and 15 books of the Christian Greek Scriptures, all in Greek. These papyri range in date of writing from the second century to the fourth century of the Common Era. Much of the Christian Greek Scripture portions of this find are now in the Chester Beatty Collections and are listed as P⁴⁵, P⁴⁶, and P⁴⁷, the symbol “P” standing for “Papyrus.”

Among the Chester Beatty Papyri, two codices​—one binding together parts of the four Gospels and Acts (P⁴⁵) and another bringing within its covers 9 of the 14 letters of Paul (P⁴⁶)—​show that the inspired Christian Greek Scriptures were assembled shortly after the death of the apostles.