Oxyrhynchus Gospels
Encyclopedia
The Oxyrhynchus Gospels are two fragmentary manuscript
s (British Library
accession numbers 840 and 1224), discovered among the rich finds of discarded papyri at Oxyrhynchus
in Egypt. Unknown to most laymen, they throw light on early non-canonical Gospel
traditions.
text, kept as an amulet
, perhaps worn around the neck. The text itself has been dated to the first half of the second century. Sellew calls it "similar to the New Testament gospels in its style and tone."
The fragment begins with the end of a warning to an evildoer who plans ahead, but who doesn't take the next life into account. There follows sections of a narrative unparalleled in any other known gospel tradition, about Jesus' encounter with "a Pharisee, a leading priest" who tries to order Jesus and the disciples out of the Temple as ritually unclean. Jesus responds by contrasting ritual cleanliness, gotten by bathing with water used by dogs and pigs, like a harlot, against the life-giving water that comes down from heaven in baptism.
Jesus is called "Savior" , which is rare in the New Testament, but not unparalleled. The author of the fragment also believes that laymen have to change their clothes to enter the temple, for which there is no other evidence. The author is distinctly hostile to Judaism, but as he knows little about it, the text is presumably not from Judea; the author's vague grasp of details of Temple
rituals have suggested a Johannine circle, perhaps in Syria.
fragments from the late 3rd or early 4th century. It contains six passages, each about a sentence. Two of the longer ones are parallel to Mark 2:17 and Luke 9:50, but the differences in phrasing show they are textually independent of the Gospels. A precise date for composition is unknown; 50 is possible, though a date of around 150 C.E. is more widely accepted by scholars. John Dominic Crossan
notes the mutilated condition in his introduction to the fragmentary text in The Complete Gospels resulting in highly conjectural reconstructions of the text, which, however, "does not seem to be dependent on the New Testament gospels.... As an independent gospel, it belongs, insofar as its fragmentary state allows us to see, not with discourse gospels involving the risen Jesus (e.g., the Secret Book of James and the Gospel of Mary
), but with sayings gospels involving the earthly Jesus (e.g., Q document and the Gospel of Thomas
). Crossan suggests that the document might have been written as early as the mid-first century.
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s (British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
accession numbers 840 and 1224), discovered among the rich finds of discarded papyri at Oxyrhynchus
Oxyrhynchus
Oxyrhynchus is a city in Upper Egypt, located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo, in the governorate of Al Minya. It is also an archaeological site, considered one of the most important ever discovered...
in Egypt. Unknown to most laymen, they throw light on early non-canonical Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
traditions.
Oxyrhynchus 840
Oxyrhynchus 840, found in 1905, is a single small vellum parchment leaf with 45 lines of text written on both sides in a tiny neat hand that dates it to the 4th century, almost square, less than 10 cm across; the text probably dates from before 200, but no more is determinable from this evidence. In his introduction in The Complete Gospels, Philip Sellew notes that this fragment was likely a talismanAmulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
text, kept as an amulet
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
, perhaps worn around the neck. The text itself has been dated to the first half of the second century. Sellew calls it "similar to the New Testament gospels in its style and tone."
The fragment begins with the end of a warning to an evildoer who plans ahead, but who doesn't take the next life into account. There follows sections of a narrative unparalleled in any other known gospel tradition, about Jesus' encounter with "a Pharisee, a leading priest" who tries to order Jesus and the disciples out of the Temple as ritually unclean. Jesus responds by contrasting ritual cleanliness, gotten by bathing with water used by dogs and pigs, like a harlot, against the life-giving water that comes down from heaven in baptism.
Jesus is called "Savior" , which is rare in the New Testament, but not unparalleled. The author of the fragment also believes that laymen have to change their clothes to enter the temple, for which there is no other evidence. The author is distinctly hostile to Judaism, but as he knows little about it, the text is presumably not from Judea; the author's vague grasp of details of Temple
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
rituals have suggested a Johannine circle, perhaps in Syria.
Oxyrhynchus 1224
Oxyrhynchus 1224 consists of two small papyrusPapyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
fragments from the late 3rd or early 4th century. It contains six passages, each about a sentence. Two of the longer ones are parallel to Mark 2:17 and Luke 9:50, but the differences in phrasing show they are textually independent of the Gospels. A precise date for composition is unknown; 50 is possible, though a date of around 150 C.E. is more widely accepted by scholars. John Dominic Crossan
John Dominic Crossan
John Dominic Crossan is an Irish-American religious scholar and former Catholic priest known for co-founding the Jesus Seminar. Crossan is a major figure in the fields of biblical archaeology, anthropology and New Testament textual and higher criticism. He is also a lecturer who has appeared in...
notes the mutilated condition in his introduction to the fragmentary text in The Complete Gospels resulting in highly conjectural reconstructions of the text, which, however, "does not seem to be dependent on the New Testament gospels.... As an independent gospel, it belongs, insofar as its fragmentary state allows us to see, not with discourse gospels involving the risen Jesus (e.g., the Secret Book of James and the Gospel of Mary
Gospel of Mary
The Gospel of Mary is an apocryphal book discovered in 1896 in a 5th-century papyrus codex. The codex Papyrus Berolinensis 8502 was purchased in Cairo by German scholar Karl Reinhardt....
), but with sayings gospels involving the earthly Jesus (e.g., Q document and the Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel According to Thomas, commonly shortened to the Gospel of Thomas, is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-gospel discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945, in one of a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library...
). Crossan suggests that the document might have been written as early as the mid-first century.
Further reading
- Grenfell, Bernard P. and Arthur S. Hunt, Fragments of an Uncanonical Gospel
- The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version gen. ed. Robert J. Miller; Sonoma CA: Polebridge 1992. ISBN 0944344291 Oxy. 840 is introduced and translated by Philip Sellew, p. 412-5, Oxy. 1224 by Prof. Miller (after a draft by Thomas J. Crossan), pp. 416–8. English only; no Greek text given.
- Kruger, Michael J., The Gospel of the Savior: an analysis of P. Oxy. 840 and its place in the Gospel traditions of early Christianity. Leidin: Brill, 2005.
External links
- Early Christian Writings: Oxyrhynchus 840
- Oxyrhynchus 840: translation by Henry Sweet Barclay (Internet Archive)
- Early Christian Writings: Oxyrhynchus 1224
- Oxyrhynchus 1224 translation (Internet Archive)