The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins

by Larry W. Hurtado

Much attention has been paid to the words of the earliest Christian canonical and extracanonical texts, yet Larry Hurtado points out that an even more telling story is being overlooked -- the story of the physical texts themselves.

Widely recognized for his outstanding scholarship, Hurtado combines his comprehensive knowledge of Christian origins with an archivist's eye to make sense of these earliest objects of the faith. He introduces readers to the staurogram, possibly the first representation of the cross, the nomina sacra, a textual abbreviation system, and the puzzling Christian preference for book-like texts over scrolls.

Drawing on studies by papyrologists and palaeographers as well as New Testament scholars -- and including photographic plates of selected manuscripts -- The Earliest Christian Artifacts astutely introduces the distinctive physical features of early Christian manuscripts, illustrating their relevance for wider inquiry into the complex origins of Christianity.

Genres: Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, History, Archaeology, Biblical, Canon

262 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2006

Reviews

[BlackOxford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tradition Is What I Say It Is

Remarkably, the motivation for Hurtado to write this book is that the earliest Christian texts have been of little interest to Christian historians. He quotes Harry Gamble, a leading scholar, approvingly that "the close study of these manuscripts has remained almost exclusively the preserve of paleographers and textual critics, historians of early Christian literature having taken little interest in exploiting them for the history of Christianity and its literature."

This is important, Hurtado points out, because “in these early centuries Christianity was by no means monochrome; there was diversity, sometimes radical, among Christians.” This diversity was not yet deemed heretical. What was preserved, disseminated, and revered by Christians as ‘sacred’ had not yet been dictated by any central authority. Hurtado’s approach, therefore, is to investigate the very earliest of surviving documents of various kinds - canonical, apocryphal, and literary - in order to understand the range and prevalence of Christian beliefs and practices. While much of the book is of interest only to academic specialists, his overall conclusions based on the composition of the documents themselves are relevant more generally.

There are about 400 extant documents, all incomplete or fragmentary, from the period prior to the official recognition of Christianity by the Emperor Constantine. About half are biblical texts of both Christian and Hebrew origin (the latter dominated by copies of the Psalms). And about one quarter include various religious texts ultimately deemed non-canonical, that is, not to be considered as inspired biblical texts. All date from the late second to the mid-third century, that is from a period roughly 100 to 200 years after the death of the last surviving witnesses of the events recorded in the Christian Bible.

What is surprising about the composition of these documents for the non-scholar is the relative amount of late and non-canonical material there is in comparison with key texts, especially the gospels. For example, although the Gospel of Mark is by all scholarly opinion the first written record of the life of Jesus, it is found relatively rarely. Rather it is the gospels of Matthew and John that dominate across nascent Christian communities. Matthew is considered, along with Mark, to be based on an even earlier lost document, referred to as ‘Q’ in the biblical trade. John is by far the most recent gospel, probably written around the turn of the second century, and showing substantial addition of new and non-biographical information.

Even more interesting is the frequency of apocryphal texts within these communities. The so-called Shepherd of Hermes, written in the second century, is almost as frequently encountered as the Gospel of John, in fact more frequently than any other document than that Gospel. And, somewhat amazingly, I think, there are more copies of the apocryphal gospels of Peter, Thomas and Mary than of the canonical Mark and Luke. These non-canonical texts, according to Hurtado, were held by typical not aberrant Christians: “[T]hose who copied and read the ex­tant Greek manuscripts of [the Gospel of] Thomas [were] basically the same sort of Christians who also read and prized the other texts found in the site (which otherwise seem to reflect recognizably mainstream Christian textual preferences).”

Given the likelihood that many of the (ultimately so determined) non-canonical texts were either destroyed as doctrinally suspect, or simply not cared for so diligently as approved documents, the prevalence of these ‘alternative’ views of Jesus and the Christian message must surely be considered a baseline. There was probably much more widespread ‘deviancy’ that we are able to gauge through the admittedly small sample to which scholars have access. One implication of this is that it is theological politics not popular belief that drove the standardisation of the canon as well as dogmatic formulations.

Tradition refers to that which is ‘handed over’ from generation to generation. It would appear that many textual batons were dropped in early Christianity, not because there was disagreement about their merit as representative of the Christian message but because of the needs of organisational power. The existence of contrary texts in the early Christian communities did not create a doctrinal problem because there was no doctrine. Not until theologians decided that certain texts are not just contrary but contradictory, did their existence side by side with other texts pose a religious issue. The question of course is: how could they possibly decide which texts were orthodox and which not outside of the texts themselves? The relative priority of chickens and eggs certainly comes to mind. So Christians don’t like answering this question.

Postscript: For more on the analysis of primitive Christian documents, see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Anatolikon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is important to raise the point that this is a book for scholars and serious students. If you just want to learn a little about the New Testament documents, this is not really the place to start. Hurtado's real strength here is his willingness to ask questions that he does not have all of the answers to. Some might view this as a weakness, but instead this is a case of academic honesty and a serious interest to advance the field. He clearly states in the introduction that he hopes that his book will provoke some interest in Christian manuscripts as a physical source in themselves beyond just what is written upon them. Through many instances of asking the right questions (and not always providing good answers) Hurtado does a fantastic job of setting out some of the possibilities for the future study of Christian manuscripts as evidence in themselves. He begins with a basic introduction laying out what we all have in terms of Christian manuscripts from the second and third centuries, and is careful to include non-canonical texts.

The core of the book is Hurtado's discussion about the use of codices in Christian documents. Since early Christian texts show up in codices far more frequently than other documents, he reasons that there is probably a good reason for this. This particular topic is one that has been raised before, and Hurtado does an excellent job of engaging with previous scholarship. In particular, his dismissal of the argument that codices were chosen by early Christian communities for economic reasons are exceptionally good.

The next two chapters deal with the 'nomina sacra' and the staurogram, both scribal features found in the texts themselves. Hurtado draws some interesting parallels to Jewish scribal practice in the case of the former. His scholarship is meticulous, and he wisely chooses to tread carefully around the Jewish parallels rather than jumping upon them as they appear to make an easy link, and Hurtado needs to be commended for that. The staurogram chapter is even less conclusive, but remains important, as it does appear to be independently attested in multiple stemmata of manuscripts, and thus cannot be ignored. Whether or not this is a serious attempt to portray a crucified figure is never fully explained, but again, that is not entirely Hurtado's purpose in this book. He wants to interest people so that these documents will get more study in the future, and he sets up a convincing case that the staurogram cannot be ignored. Following this, book ends with a short conclusion and contains an excellent appendix. This appendix set out in table form the text, scholarly identification, date, material, form and frequently some brief comments on about 250 Christian texts.

This is a fantastic book, although one for a more serious audience. Hurtado carefully engages with current scholarship, and sets his work up to inspire more of it. It is not a difficult read, either, and is not full of so much technical jargon that it is unreadable. Additionally, the appendix at the back is well-worth the purchase price of the entire book.

[Nemo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book, Prof. Larry Hurtado, passed away on Nov. 25, 2019. When he was alive, I pestered the professor with many questions about New Testament studies. He was gracious enough to answer all these questions from a complete stranger, on one condition: I read his books.

I finished this a week after his passing, partly to fulfill my promise and partly to pay tribute. Perhaps the best tribute one can pay a scholar is to read and review his books.

Prof. Hurtado was a good teacher. He had the ability to make complex issues seem absurdly simple to general readers. His writings are clear, concise, and eminently readable. His passion for the subject was contagious, and inspired his readers to explore further.

Synopsis

The physical characteristics of manuscripts, apart from their content, provide many valuable clues of the lives of their users. We can draw inferences about the ancients from the artefacts they left behind.

The extant manuscript data show that the early Christians had a strong preference for the codex for their manuscripts, whereas the dominant bookform of the ancient world was the roll. Moreover, the codex was also the preferred bookform for those texts that later became the Scripture.

Besides the bookform, the size and shape of the manuscript, line spacing, margins, and columns of the text also provide clues as to how the manuscript was used by earliest Christians, e.g., some for public liturgy, some for private study. Whereas scriptio continua("continual text") was the prestigious form of literary texts in the wider culture, Christian manuscripts had "readers' aids" to facilitate reading and comprehension. These include punctuation, and marks to indicate the beginning or ending of a word, paragraph, etc.

nomina sacra ("sacred names") and staurogram (abbreviated form of the Greek word for cross) were also distinctive features of earliest Christian manuscripts, perhaps showing reverence for the names of God and Jesus, and the crucifixion. Prof. Hurtado makes a fascinating proposal that the nomina sacra might have originated as a gematria, as the numerical value of the suspended form of Jesus' name is 18, which is the numerical value of the Hebrew word for life.

An Unanswered Question

One intriguing question is why the earliest Christians had such a strong preference for codex. Scholars have proposed many explanations, for example, codex was chosen for practical advantages because it was cheaper to make, and easier to use. But Prof. dismissed all these proposals, by pointing out the weaknesses of each.

What puzzled me is why he didn't entertain the possibility that, while none of these practical considerations is sufficient by themselves, a combination of all these factors may have led to the strong Christian preference for codex. He seemed to assume that there was only one explanation, one that remains to be uncovered by further evidence. He was inclined to take the view that it was Paul's use of the codex, though there was scant evidence to support it.

[Mike B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hurtado does an excellent job of doing what he's set out to do: to instill a desire to study the significance of early manuscripts as artifacts of early Christianity. While he sometimes leaves questions of significance open ended, Hurtado inspires readers to consider the possibility that the physical properties of ancient Christian manuscripts may enlighten our understanding of early Christianity and, most interesting to me, the development of the NT canon beginning with the earliest existing manuscripts of Scripture. Well worth the read, especially considering both his insight and his open-ended questions which inspire further reading. He includes an exhaustive bibliography and a few suggested readings to help readers study the material beyond his work.

[Rowland Pasaribu · Rating 3 out of 5]

L. W. Hurtado is concerned to show that “manuscripts are artefacts” (1, n. 1) and not just the means of transmitting a text. Although he gives no definition of “artefact,” the basic concept of a manufactured object may be taken for granted, and in the course of the book, various aspects of manuscripts indicate why they deserve to be treated as artefacts. In their “physical and visual” characteristics they provide “historical” evidence for the development of early Christianity. In particular, manuscripts of the second century are the earliest of any Christian artefacts and already Christians preferred the codex to the scroll. In the third century, P45 containing four Gospels and Acts is an innovation as a “result” of their popularity, not a “vehicle” to achieve it (73). To accommodate more writings in one codex, scribes used smaller letters but with careful orthography and spacing. Small codices may be intended for private reading, and imply the owners’ ability to pay for them.

Variations in the number of sheets in each gathering (quire) and in the number of gatherings in each codex show that in the second and third centuries Christians were still experimenting. Their purpose “was probably to find the best way(s) to construct codices of sufficient size to accommodate progressively larger bodies of texts” (88). However, economy of space and materials seems not to have been an issue. For, in general, handwriting is not smaller on codices than on contemporary scrolls, and margins and line spaces are wide.

Nomina sacra (abbreviations of sacred names or terms) are distinctive of early Christian, especially biblical, texts. Somewhat different is the tau-rho pictograph. It first appears, independently in P45, P66 and P75, as an abbreviation for the middle component of stauros (“cross”) and stauroun (“to crucify”). It must, therefore, have originated before the end of the second century. Hurtado’s preferred rationale is that it represented a human figure on a cross. As such, it would be the earliest piece of Christian iconography.

Wider spacing of lines and letters and the use of larger letters (even apart from page size) allows the possibility that a particular manuscript was intended for liturgical use. Sometimes scribes, realising that they would run out of pages, increased the number of lines per page and letters per line. Some early Christian manuscripts go beyond contemporary practice in using markings or spacing for words, clauses, sentences and paragraphs. Such devices would again facilitate public reading, but they also involve implicit exegesis.

Textual corrections made by the original scribe generally indicate a basic concern for accuracy. Contemporary corrections by a second hand imply supervision. The proportion of errors and corrections may reflect a theological tendency. Moreover, the varying ability of the scribes “suggests something of the varying economic and cultural levels of those for whom texts were copied” (189).

The choice of two or more works included in one manuscript reflects the interests of the readers. Hurtado mentions the contents of P45 but does not explain the order (Matt, John, Luke, Mark, Acts). He does note that the position of Hebrews after Romans in P46 implies a view of Pauline authorship. After a comparison of scrolls and codices, Hurtado concludes that Christians preferred the codex for writings which were (or “were coming to be”) “regarded as scripture” (57). More cautiously, one might say that the more popular writings were preserved in the more popular form of book.

All the earliest Christian manuscripts derive from Egypt. Remnants of Old Testament, (future) New Testament and early patristic writings show that Egyptian Christianity was predominantly “orthodox.” Papyrus discoveries suggest that “apocryphal” writings were read along with orthodox ones. The balance of discoveries means that Egypt was not particularly “Gnostic.” Moreover, quotation of a text from Rome (Hermas) by writers from Carthage, Gaul and Egypt exemplifies the wide spread, if not “exchange” (41), of early Christian texts.

Hurtado has provided an illuminating account of how early Christian manuscripts were produced and inscribed, and has drawn inferences about the significance of their physical features for the history of Christianity. Along the way he has argued politely with other scholars about particular issues. He presents charts for the discussion of the codex, a lengthy tabulation of early Christian manuscripts, photographs of selected manuscripts, and a bibliography. There are indexes of modern scholars and of manuscripts, but not of topics. Hurtado’s style makes it easy to read a book that is well worth reading.

[Ben Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This insightful and intriguing book should be required reading for anyone interested in early Christianity. Hurtado reminds us that the earliest physical evidence we have of Christianity are the surviving manuscripts that they wrote. However, his interest in this study is not the text they contain, but rather what their form and characteristics tells us about the life and nature of the church in the second and third centuries. He discusses several features of these early manuscripts in a clear and readable way, carefully drawing out the significance they can have on our understanding of Christian origins.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Hurtado has produced a scholarly work probing the preference of early Christians for the codex system and their use of "tau-rho". Much of this material may be obscure for those unfamiliar with this field, but for those familiar with a limited level of Greek (at least the ability to recognize Greek characters and pronouciation skills), along with minimal knowledge of Textual Criticism and manuscript issues - they will find this treatise enjoyable and intriguing.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important study drawing attention to the significance of characteristics of the manuscripts themselves (rather than their texts) for the early history of Christianity. The fact that I have heard much of this in varying details to this point in time means that Hurtado was successful in drawing more attention to these phenomena.