Early Christian Books in Egypt

by Roger S. Bagnall

For the past hundred years, much has been written about the early editions of Christian texts discovered in the region that was once Roman Egypt. Scholars have cited these papyrus manuscripts--containing the Bible and other Christian works--as evidence of Christianity's presence in that historic area during the first three centuries AD. In "Early Christian Books in Egypt," distinguished papyrologist Roger Bagnall shows that a great deal of this discussion and scholarship has been misdirected, biased, and at odds with the realities of the ancient world. Providing a detailed picture of the social, economic, and intellectual climate in which these manuscripts were written and circulated, he reveals that the number of Christian books from this period is likely fewer than previously believed.

Bagnall explains why papyrus manuscripts have routinely been dated too early, how the role of Christians in the history of the codex has been misrepresented, and how the place of books in ancient society has been misunderstood. The author offers a realistic reappraisal of the number of Christians in Egypt during early Christianity, and provides a thorough picture of the economics of book production during the period in order to determine the number of Christian papyri likely to have existed. Supporting a more conservative approach to dating surviving papyri, Bagnall examines the dramatic consequences of these findings for the historical understanding of the Christian church in Egypt.

Genres: History

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roger Bagnall sought to correct some tendencies in early Christians studies to misread the papyrological evidence in various ways. This, in fact, he did and references to this book are commonplace in the discussion of second century Christianity. There are many things to be gained from this book, but the main payoffs for me were the following:
1. Scholars of early Christianity and the NT have often made attempts to date Christian papyri as early as possible in order to compensate for a "lack" of direct evidence, in the first and second centuries especially. However, according to the number of Christians plausibly living in Egypt in the 1st-3rd centuries relative to the population of Egypt as a whole and the number of papyri now extant from the time and region, we have somewhat more, not fewer, Christian papyri than we should expect. Scholars of the NT and early Christianity should become comfortable with the amount of evidence we actually have, rather than attempting to push papyri back towards the first century. (Ch. 1)
2. The codex (an early iteration of what we might call a "book," rather than a "scroll") was not a Christian or Jewish medium in origin but did come to be standard for the Christian scriptures, at least in Egypt, about a century before being widely adopted by society at large. (Ch. 4)
3. The somewhat dizzying chapter (3) on the economics of book production will serve as reliable reference.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review: http://rbecs.org/2011/11/22/early-chr...