How Long Were Late Antique Books in Use? Possible Implications for New Testament Textual Criticism
Recent study of libraries and book collections from late antiquity has shown that literary works were read, studied, annotated, corrected, and copied for two or more centuries before being retired or discarded. Given that there is no evidence that early Christian scribal practices differed from paga...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Eisenbrauns
2015
|
In: |
Bulletin for biblical research
Year: 2015, Volume: 25, Issue: 1, Pages: 23-37 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
|
Summary: | Recent study of libraries and book collections from late antiquity has shown that literary works were read, studied, annotated, corrected, and copied for two or more centuries before being retired or discarded. Given that there is no evidence that early Christian scribal practices differed from pagan practices, we may rightly ask whether early Christian writings, such as the autographs and first copies of the books that eventually would be recognized as canonical Scripture, also remained in use for 100 years or more. The evidence suggests that this was in fact the case. This sort of longevity could mean that at the time our extant Greek NT papyri were written in the late second and early to mid-third centuries, some of the autographs and first copies were still in circulation and in a position to influence the form of the Greek text. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 2576-0998 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Bulletin for biblical research
|
Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/26371610 |