COLIN Η. ROBERTS
Manuscript, Society and Belief in Early Christian Egypt The Schweich Lectures 1977
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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