Manuscript, Society and Belief in Early Christian Egypt (The Schweich lectures of the British Academy; 1977)

COLIN Η. ROBERTS

Manuscript, Society and Belief in Early Christian Egypt The Schweich Lectures 1977

P U B L I S H E D FOR T H E B R I T I S H A C A D E M Y BY O X F O R D U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS 1979

T h e origins and development o f t h e C h u r c h in E g y p t remain one o f t h e vexed p r o b l e m s o f early Christian history. I n his S c h w e i c h Lectures D r . C . H . R o b e r t s examines t h e evidence o f the Christian papyri discovered i n E g y p t to see what l i g h t they cast on t h e problems and how far t h e y support s t a t e ments

in our ancient

authorities

or

the

theories o f modern scholars. A m o n g m a t t e r s discussed are the influence o f J u d a i s m and whether G n o s t i c i s m was really as powerful i n the first three centuries i n E g y p t as is sometimes thought; particular a t t e n t i o n is paid to the historical significance in these early manuscripts o f t h e nomina sacra, t h e abbreviations o f the divine n a m e s . Dr.

C.

H.

Roberts

is

an

Honorary

Fellow o f S t . J o h n ' s College, O x f o r d .

Dominus

illuminatio mea

MANUSCRIPT, SOCIETY AND BELIEF IN EARLY CHRISTIAN EGYPT COLIN

H.

ROBERTS

HON. D.LITT.

Fellow of the Academy

THE OF

SCHWEICH

THE

BRITISH

LECTURES ACADEMY

1977

LONDON

·

Published for T H E

BRITISH ACADEMY

by THE O X F O R D U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS 1979

Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford 0x2 6DP OXFORD NEW YORK KUALA LUMPUR DELHI

LONDON

TORONTO SINGAPORE

BOMBAY

NAIROBI

GLASGOW

MELBOURNE JAKARTA

CALCUTTA

WELLINGTON HONG KONG

MADRAS

D A R E S SALAAM

TOKYO

KARACHI

CAPE TOWN

I S B N 0 19 725982 0 © The British Academy 1979

Printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Oxford by Eric Buckley Printer to the University

PREFACE It is a pleasure to thank both the President and Council of the British Academy for the invitation to give the Schweich Lectures in the spring of 1977 and the President and Fellows of St. John's College, Oxford, who in continuation of a generosity and consideration that now goes back over more than fifty years elected me to a Senior Research Fellowship for the years 1974-6. This provided me with both the incentive and facilities to put together scattered notes I had accumulated on the subject matter of these lectures, to re-think some old problems, and to discover some new ones in an attempt to link palaeography and papyrology with the history of the early church in Egypt. The printed text is substantially that of the lectures; to this I have added notes, sometimes discursive, and a few appendices. These will, I hope, make clear my indebtedness to other scholars, but there is one acknowledgement which calls for particular mention. The publication in 1976 by the Abbe J. van Haelst of his catalogue of Christian papyri (referred to on p. ix) has simplified my task, makes it easier for the reader to discover more about a particular text, and has placed all students of early Christianity in his debt. December_1978

C.H.R.

CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS

ix

L E C T U R E I. THE E V I D E N C E OF THE PAPYRI LECTURE

II.

NOMINA

SACRA:

ORIGINS

ι

AND

SIGNIFICANCE

26

L E C T U R E III. T H E C H A R A C T E R A N D D E V E L O P M E N T OF THE C H U R C H

49

APPENDICES

74

I. Jewish theological papyri of the Roman period II. The date of P. Chester Beatty VI (Numbers and Deuteronomy)

74 78

III. The so-called 'Psalm of Naassenes' (P. Fayum 2)

81

IV. Christianity and magic in the papyri

82

V. Nomina Sacra; Some eccentric forms

83

INDEX

85

ADDENDA

89

ABBREVIATIONS Publications of p a p y r i are referred to by the standard abbreviations, a list o f w h i c h m a y c o n v e n i e n t l y b e f o u n d i n E . G . T u r n e r ' s Greek Papyri: an Introduction ( O x f o r d , 1 9 6 8 ) . F o r b i b l i c a l a n d o t h e r t h e o l o g i c a l p a p y r i , w h e t h e r Christian or J e w i s h , a cross-reference is g i v e n to t h e A b b é v a n H a e l s t ' s i n v a l u a b l e Catalogue des papyrus litteraires juifs et chrétiens ( P a r i s , 1976) w h i c h g i v e s a b r i e f d e s c r i p t i o n o f a n d s o m e bibliographical information on each text; it is cited as Ή ' , followed by the n u m b e r in the catalogue. O t h e r abbreviations employed are as follows: Archiv CPJ GLH GMA W

Archiv für Papyrusforschung V . A . T c h e r i k o v e r , A . F u k s , M . S t e r n , Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum C. H. R o b e r t s , Greek Literary Hands ( O x f o r d , 1 9 5 6 ) E . G . T u r n e r , Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World ( O x f o r d ,

HTR JEA JTS Turner, Typology ZPE ZTNW

1971) Harvard Theological Review Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Journal of Theological Studies E. G. T u r n e r , The Typology of the Early Codex ( U n i v e r s i t y of Pennsylvania, 1977) Zjeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft

Previous Schweich Lectures on Biblical Archaeology SEMITIC WRITING: FROM PICTOGRAPH TO ALPHABET By G. R. D R I V E R .

1944

Third edition by S. A. HOPKINS. 1976

ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS By R O L A N D DE V A U X , O.P. 1959

English translation of the French text incorporating new material, 1973

ETHIOPIA AND THE BIBLE By E D W A R D U L L E N D O R F F .

1967

THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM By C H A R L E S COÜASNON, O.P.

1972

SOME ASPECTS OF HITTITE RELIGION By O. R. GURNEY.

1976

Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press Walton Street, Oxford ISBN

ο 19 725982 ο