 |
|---|
 |
An alternative theory of
the history of the "Hidden Books"
The New Testament Apocryphal Corpus:
What do the Greek Papyri say?
|
|---|
|
|---|
|
|---|
"Everything which has come down to us
from heathendom is wrapped in a thick fog;
it belongs to a space of time we cannot measure.
We know that it is older than Christendom, but
whether by a couple of years
or a couple of centuries,
or even by more than a millenium,
we can do no more than guess."
[Rasmus Nyerup, (Danish antiquarian), 1802 CE
(in Trigger, 1989:71) - from www.C14dating.com]
The New Testament Apocryphal Corpus
What do the Greek Papyri tell us? |
|---|
Brief Summary Index of Papyri
Estimated
Manuscript Papyri Reference Chronology Comments
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
gPeter p.oxy.2949 "early" "Far from certain that these three fragments
p.oxy.4009 are from the gP mentioned by Bishop Serapion.
p.Vinbob G 2325 --- p,258, FN:11; "Fabricating Jesus" -
Craig A Evans.
"They are possibly but not conclusively
from the Gospel of Peter."
p.849 325 CE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
gThomas p.oxy.654 3rd century Prologue and logoi 1-7
p.oxy.655 3rd century logoi 24, 36-39
p.oxy.1 3rd century logoi 26-33, 77a
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
gMary 2525 ?
p.Rylands.463 3rd century
p.oxy.3525 3rd century
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irenaeus P.Oxy. 405 c.200 CE Adversus Haereses 3.9, 2-3 (Matt 3)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
igJames p.3524 > 150 CE Protevangelium of James 25:1
p.Bodmer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
aPaul p.oxy.6 450 CE
p.Antlin.13 450 CE
MS 2634/1 3rd CE? fragment "pastedown" in book cover
Egypt, 4th century
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
aJohn p.850 350 CE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Didache p.1782 350 CE
p.London.Or.9271
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unknown G 210
840 350 CE Egypt: citation
1224
"Early" 3rd Century Palaeographical dating estimates
The estimated chronology listed above against these non canonical papyri has been gauged by means of palaeographical estimates; by the comparison of writing scripts on other papyri and manuscripts in antiquity. There have been some recent attempts to qualify palaeographical dating estimates between an extended range of dates. For example, "Early New Testament Manuscripts and Their Dates: A Critique of Theological Palaeography: Pasquale Orsini & Willy Clarysse [2012]; and "The Limits of Palaeographic Dating of Literary Papyri: Date/Provenance P.Bodmer II (P66): Brent Nongbri [2014]. A summary of these articles may be found here.
The latter article argues that "we should be very wary of assigning palaeographic dates
within narrow margins (and we should certainly end the highly dubious practice of palaeographically
dating pieces "circa" a particular year).". Date ranges with an upper bound in the 4th century should not be ruled out of contention.
Other issues which bear on the question of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri are presented and discussed here.
Thesis Index |
Leucius Charinus |
Masterlist of Apocrypha |
The "Leucian Acts" |
Arius of Alexandria |
Mountain Man Graphics
