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Home , 150s, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Washingtonianus, Egerton Gospel, Oxyrhynchus papyri

OLDEST SYNOPTIC PAPYRI

The earliest copies of of the Greek (the language the New Testament was written in originally) are found on fragments of pa­ pyrus (pI. papyri, often abbreviated p), a type of paper made from reeds that grow along the Nile River in . Much, but not all, of the Greek New Tes­ tament survives in the papyri. All of the survives in the later codices (sg. ), which are ancient books usually made of , or leather, pages. The oldest Greek papyri containing the text of the are listed below along with the passage(s) or fragments they contain.

Papyrus 67 (PBarcelona 1) A.D. 125-150 :9,15; 5:20-22,25-28

Papyrus 103 (POxy. 4403) A.D. 175-200 :55-57; 14:3-5

Papyrus 104 (POxy. 4404) A.D. 175-200 :34-37,43, 45 (7)

Papyrus 77 (POxy. 2683 + 4405) A.D. 175-200 :30-39

Papyrus 64 (PMagdalen 17) A.D. 125-150 :7-8, 10,14-15,22-23,31-33

Papyrus 4 (PParis 1120) A.D. 125-150 :58-59; 1:62-2:1; 2:6-7; 3:8-4:2; 4:29-32,34-35; 5:3-8

Papyrus 75 Qohn Bodmer) c. A.D. 175 :18-22; 3:33-4:2; 4:34-5:10; 5:37-6:4; 6:10-7:32; 7:35-39,41-43; 7:46-9:2; 9:4-17:15; 17:19-18:18; 22:4-24:53 OLDEST GREEK CODICES

Coincident with the emergence of was the development of the co­ dex, the forerunner of the modern book, with bound pages printed on both sides. Several early codices of the Greek have survived.

Codex Sinaiticus (abbreviated �): produced by three scribes in the fourth century

Codex Vaticanus (abbreviated B): produced by two scribes in the fourth century

Codex Alexandrinus (abbreviated A): fifth-century codex; first to fall into the hands of Western scholars, leading to quest for more manuscripts, presented to England's Charles I in 1627

Codex Beza (abbreviated D): late-fourth-century cQj;lex, containing numerous unique readings

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (abbreviated C): called the "rewriting of Ephraem" because a twelfth-century monk scraped, then copied over this sixth-century Greek codex with the discourses of Ephraem Syrus

Codex Washingtonianus (abbreviated W): late-fourthfearly-fifth-century co­ d�x, containing an interesting gloss at : 14-15 83, of the third THE OLDEST GREEK MANUSCRIPTS OF JOHN'S GOSPEL lona), also designated P Barcelona dates to the middle :34. The oldest surviving fragments of the Greek new Testament are found century All that survives is a Single verse: 9 90 in ), also deSig­ written on papyrus. The following are the oldest papyri that preserve p 0 Papyrus (housed in the 3523, late second century. It con­ portions of the . nated POxy. dates to the middle or 5 18:36-19:7. p Papyrus 5 (housed in the in ), also designated tainsJohn 95 95 Laurenziana, Florence), POxy. 208 + 1781, dates to the early third century It contains John p Papyrus (housed in the Biblioteca Medicea 123-31,33-40; 1614-30; 20 11-17,19-20,22-25. also deSignated PL IV31, dates to the third century. It contains :26-29,36-38. p22 Papyrus 22 (housed in the University Library), also desig­ 0162 0162 Museum of Art, ), nated POxy 1228, dates to the middle of the third century It contains Uncial (housed in the Metropolitan 847, a single leaf of leather, :25-16:2,21-32. also deSignated POxy is not a papyrus, but fourth century and as such p28 Papyrus 28 (housed in the Institute Museum of the Pacific or vellum. It dates to the late third or early 2:11-22. School of Religion in Berkeley, ), also designated POxy. 1596, is an early example of the later uncial. It containsJohn dates to the late third century. It contains :8-12, 17-22. 39 39 the third to tenth centuries on p Papyrus (housed in Ambrose Swasey L"fbrary, Rochester Divinity Undal refers to codices of the Bible written in copies of manu­ School), also designated POxy. 1780, dates to the early third century. or vellum in large rounded capital letters. They are the next earliest It is a small fragment, containing :14-22. scripts after the papyri. fragments found in 45 = Papyri, a trove of thousands of papyrus p Papyrus 45 (housed in the Chester Beatty Collection, in Dublin), also POxy Egypt at Oxyrhynchus, containing a variety of texts in six or more languages. deSignated P Chester Beatty I, dates to the late second century This is one of the major papyri. It contains large portions of the four Gospels 4:51, 54; 5:21, 24; 10:7-25; 10:30- and Acts. Of John it contains ,, rest our faith on the faith of Peter or the faith of Paul. 7 On 11: 10,18-36, 42-57. P46 (P Chester Beatty II) contains significant por­ 'an no longer I understand what he means. must tions of several of Paul's letters one level, he is right; I think p52 Papyrus 52 (housed in the John Rylands University Library of Manches­ 'mbrace whatJesus taught and whatJesus himself believed. Quite true. But 457, ter), also designated Gr. P dates to the very beginning of the second on another level I think that Funk is seriously mistaken. Peter and Paul were century and may be the oldest surviving fragment of the Greek New Tes­ foundational witnesses to the event that brought the church into existence: tament (though recently some have claimed that fragments of Matthew I he resurrection of Jesus. Ignoring this witness runs the risk of abandoning date to the firstcentury itself), Papyrus 52 is a small fragment, containing authentic Christianity Jesus and all. :31-33 (on the recto Side), 37-38 (on the verso side). , bore wit­ p66 Papyrus 66 (housed in the Bibliotheca Bodmeriana), also deSignated P The documents that the early Christian community gathered

II SS it and apply it in a variety Bodmer n, dates to the second or third century The Bodmer Papyri are to this great event and struggled to interpret 66 1:1-6:11; 6:35-14:26,29- very important. Papyrus contains John or real-life situations. The books that make up the New Testament constitute 30; 15:2-26; 16:2-4,6-7; 16:10-20:20,22-23; 20:25-21:9,12, 17. a vital record of the early church's experience and witness. These witnesses 75 p Papyrus 75 (housed in the Bibliotheca Bodmeriana), also designated P lind the records they left behind need to be taken seriously and studied care­ Bodmer XIV and xv, dates to the late second century. Besides portions Failure to do so will almost certainly result in distorted portraits of of Luke, it contains :1-11:45,48-57; 12:3-13:1,8-9; 14:8-29; lullyS 15 7-8. Ie us and misgUided understanding of what true Christian faith is all about. pSo Papyrus 80 (housed in the Fundaci6n San Lucas Evangelista, Barce- EXTRACANONICAL GOSPELS AND FRAGMENTS

The extracanonical Gospels and fragments that are frequently given serious consideration include the following:

Apocryphon ojJames (preserved in NHC 1)

Dialogue oj the Savior (preserved in NHC 3)

Gospel oj the Ebionites (preserved in quotations by Epiphanius)

Gospel oj the Egyptians (preserved in quotations by Clement of )

Gospel oj the Hebrews (preserved in quotations by various )

Gospel oj the Nazoreans (preserved in quotations by various church fathers)

Gospel oj Peter (allegedly preserved in a large fragment from Akhmim and a small fragment POxy 2949 and possibly POxy 4009)

Gospel oJ Thomas (preserved in NHC 2 and POxy 1,654, and 655)

Protevangelium ojJames (preserved in numerous Greek manuscripts)

Secret Gospel oj Mark (preserved in a supposed letter of )

POxy. 840

POxy 1224

Papyrus Egerton 2 (+ Papyrus Kaln 255), or the Egerton Gospel

Fayyum Fragment ( = Papyrus Vindobonensis Greek 2325)

NHC = Nag Hammadi Codex

POxy. = Papyri Oxyrhynchus DATES OF GOSPELS AND RELATED SOURCES COMPARED

Gospel of Mark Gospel ofJohn Gospel of Egyptians Gospel of Apocryphon of Gospel of Gospel of PEgerton 2 r Gospel of Acts POxy.840 Hebrews James Ma y Peter Gospel of Gospel of Nazoreans Fayyum Fragment Thomas Matthew Gospel of Ebionites POxy.1224

I I I I I A.D. 60-70 75-80 90-95 120 140 150 160 170 180 CROSSAN'S PROPOSED EARLY DATES

FOR EXTRACANONICAL WRITINGS

John Dominic Crossan has proposed early dates for the extracanonical writ­ ings, which most scholars do not accept. Moreover, he also proposes the ex­ istence of even earlier versions of some of these writings. Crossan dates and names the extracanonical writings as follows:

Gospel of Thomas (earliest edition: A.D. 50s)

Egerton Gospel (i.e., Papyrus Egerton 2: A.D. 50s)

Fayyum Fragment (A.D. 50s)

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1224 (A.D. 50s)

Gospel of the Hebrews (A.D. 50s)

Cross Gospel ( = a pruned version of the , A.D. 50s)

Gospel of the Egyptians (earliest version, A.D. 60s)

Secret (early A.D. 70s)

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 840 (A.D. 80s)

Gospel of Thomas (later draft, A.D. 60s or 70s)

Dialogue Collection ( = a pruned version of the CoptiC Gnostic tractate Dia­ logue of the Savior, late (7] A.D. 70s)

Apocryphon ofJames (dating from first half of second century , but containing lradition reaching back to the A.D. 50s)

Gospel of the Nazoreans (A.D.150s)

Gospel of the Ebionites (A.D. 150s)

Gospel of Peter (A.D. 150s)

Crossan claims that the Gospel of Thomas, the Egerton Gospel, Papyrus Vindo­ bonensis Greek 2325, Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1224, the and the Gospel of the Egyptians are independent of the New Testament Gospels, with the Dialogue of the Savior and the Apocryphon of James containing inde­ pendent traditions. He further concludes that the Cross Gospel, which is now embedded in the Gospel of PeW; preserves the Passion narrative on which all rour of the New Testament Gospels are based. Reader beware: These early dates and hypothetical sources are not widely accepted among scholars.

See John Dominic Crossan, The Historical]esus: The Life of a MediterraneanJewish Peasant (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1991), pp. 427-34. The dates noted in the parentheses refer not to the dates of the actual manuscripts but to Crossan, conjectured elates of the autographs (that is,originals). On the aJlegedCross Gospel, see John Dominic Crossan, The Cross That Spoke: The Origins of the Passion Narrative (San Fran­ cisco: Harper & Row, 1988). MORE WIDELY ACCEPTED DATES FOR EXTRACANONICAL WRITINGS

Gospel oj the Egyptians (A.D. 120) Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1224 (A.D. 150) Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 840 (A.D. 120) Gospel oj Mary (A.D. 160)

Gospel of the Nazoreans (A.D. 120) Gospel oj Peter (A.D. 170)

Gospel oj the Ebionites (A.D. 120) Egerton Gospel (A.D. 180)

Gospel oj the Hebrews (A.D. 140) Gospel oj Thomas (A.D. 180)

Apocryphon ojJames (A.D. 150) (A.D. 1960)

Fayyum Fragment (A.D. 150)

These dates are approximate and often are no more than educated guesses. The dates refer to the date of composition, not to the date of the fragment that has been found. No imaginary documents that can be dated to the first cen­ tury are listed.

For further information, see J. K. Elliott, The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation based on M. R James (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993); Wilhelm Schneemelcher, ed., New TestamentApoClypha, vol. 1, Gospels and Related Writings, rev. ed. (: James Clarke; Louisville: Westmin­ ster/John Knox Press, 1991).