In Front | Christian Preference for the Codex, Part 1

First, the codex form allowed multiple texts to be bound together in a single manuscript, something that was impossible with the scroll, as a single New Testament book in scroll form could be more than 30 feet long. 

Second, the consolidation of multiple books made study of the Bible easier and more convenient. Cross-referencing passages from multiple books in different scrolls was time-consuming and required a relatively large studying surface.

Third, writing on both sides of a page in a codex is easier to produce and more accessible to read than it would be on a scroll. This ability to use both sides of the writing surface would have greatly reduced the amount of papyrus or parchment necessary and lowered the cost of each manuscript.

Each of these advantages would have been appealing to the early church as it sought to spread the Bible’s message by carrying it abroad and distributing copies. Instead of having to individually acquire and carry a pack of scrolls, early book owners—Christians included—had the advantage, as we do today with the MP3 player, of a single, compact device.

For all of these reasons, Christians were the earliest and most committed adopters of the codex, or book form, in the ancient world.