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Daniel M
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2009
Total Posts : 263

Posted 2/20/2009 7:55 PM (GMT -6)

Has anyone here done extensive study of the early christian manuscripts? Is the Magdalen Papyrus the earliest we have?

Tom
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Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353

Posted 2/21/2009 6:36 AM (GMT -6)

If you ask Thiede, yeah, P64 is the oldest. He dates it at the end of the 1st century. The consensus is c. 200 though (with Comfort/Barret putting it at 150-175).

Did you find something in your garage you think might compete for the oldest NT papyrus?

T

Post Edited (Tom) : 2/21/2009 5:45:42 AM (GMT-6)

Tom
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353

Posted 2/21/2009 6:43 AM (GMT -6)

Isn’t P52 recognized as the earliest papyrus fragment (from the Gospel of John)? It’s dated to about AD 125.

T

Daniel M
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2009
Total Posts : 263

Posted 2/21/2009 2:37 PM (GMT -6)

Hey Tom,

Tom said...
Did you find something in your garage you think might compete for the oldest NT papyrus?

Heh, Nah. Nothing quite so dramatic. I'm just curious. I've seen different things presented by different people I was just wondering if anyone here has done or does manuscript research.

I know Thiede gives an incredibly early date, I wasn't sure if his work is credited by any other scholars in the field.

PotOnWheel
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 9890

Posted 2/22/2009 6:26 AM (GMT -6)

I'm impressed by the train of people, who knew people...

http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2007/05/10/scripture-and-tradition-fr-john-behr/

(o)

Tom
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353

Posted 2/22/2009 11:26 AM (GMT -6)

P52 at least tells us that John's Gospel was written late 1st century (as opposed to those who want to place it later than the lifetime of the disciple).

T

Daniel M
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2009
Total Posts : 263

Posted 2/22/2009 12:50 PM (GMT -6)

How do we date the other gospels with any accuracy? I haven't done very much research on the development of the gospels, so I'm not familiar with very many (if any) of the arguments. I have the general liberal vs evangelical understanding that liberals date stuff later, and evangelicals date them earlier. I'm reading NT Wrights series concerning the development of Christianity (New Testament and the People of God). But he's more into literary criticism and biblical realism then discussing the archeological arguments (at least from what I've read so far, the 3 books that are out in the series are very long, and I'm no where close to done reading them). While I completely understand that theological/philosophical arguments need to be made in conjunction with whatever archeological evidence there is, I'm simply rather uneducated in whatever archeological evidence does, or does not exist.

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