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13 pages, 2837 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Protevangelium of James in Papyrus Bodmer V: Titles, Genres, and Traditions in Transmission

by Kimberley A. Fowler

Religions 2023, 14(5), 636; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050636 - 10 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2160

The apocryphal account of the birth and childhood of Mary, mother of Jesus (and to a lesser degree Jesus himself) known most commonly as the Protevangelium of James is one of the most influential early Christian texts outside of the New Testament. It [...] Read more.

The apocryphal account of the birth and childhood of Mary, mother of Jesus (and to a lesser degree Jesus himself) known most commonly as the Protevangelium of James is one of the most influential early Christian texts outside of the New Testament. It is witnessed substantially in the Greek manuscript tradition as well as in several other languages. In the process of its transmission in Greek from the late third century or the fourth century into the late medieval/early modern period, various titular formulae were attached to the text. This article examines the earliest manuscript witness for Prot. Jas, Papyrus Bodmer V, and argues that the title present here is reflective of the complexities surrounding the perceived genre and function of early Christian literature in addition to the creation and continuation of traditions encompassing authorial identity and legitimacy. The Prot. Jas demonstrates well the hermeneutical weight often carried by titular paratexts as literature is transmitted, and regardless of whether P. Bodmer V represents continuity or evolution in this regard, it offers a window onto the flexibility of genre and its representation in early Christianity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Titles, Paratexts, and Manuscript Communication: Jewish and Christian Literature in Material Context)

18 pages, 891 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Apocryphal Gospel Titles in Coptic

by René Falkenberg

Religions 2022, 13(9), 796; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13090796 - 29 Aug 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2177

Abstract

During the 2nd–5th centuries, the usual format of the canonical gospel title is “The Gospel According to [person]”. While becoming well-established in this period, the title is reused and transformed when naming the apocryphal gospels. In order to study the meaning of the [...] Read more.

During the 2nd–5th centuries, the usual format of the canonical gospel title is “The Gospel According to [person]”. While becoming well-established in this period, the title is reused and transformed when naming the apocryphal gospels. In order to study the meaning of the emerging canonical and apocryphal gospel titles, the claims of these titles will be analysed to determine who each title presents as the gospel’s source (often a divine figure) and who is implied to be that gospel’s author (often a human person). By revisiting well-known apocryphal gospels, and expanding on their number, new insights are achieved regarding the role of titles, authors, and apocryphal gospels. Results concern, for instance, the long recension of the Apocryphon of John, whose title comes to display a prominent gospel title; the Gospel of Judas, of which the author may be the infamous Judas himself; and the Gospel of Truth, which may not be an apocryphal gospel at all. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Titles, Paratexts, and Manuscript Communication: Jewish and Christian Literature in Material Context)

11 pages, 2209 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Epistles from Jerusalem: The Paratexts of Syriac 2 Baruch and the Peshitta Jeremiah Corpus

by Liv Ingeborg Lied

Religions 2022, 13(7), 591; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070591 - 25 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1854

Abstract

This article explores the paratexts of the epistles attributed to Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah, in Syriac, Peshitta Old Testament manuscripts. In early manuscripts, the epistles ascribed to the figure Baruch are, most commonly, either included in the Jeremiah corpus or embedded in [...] Read more.

This article explores the paratexts of the epistles attributed to Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah, in Syriac, Peshitta Old Testament manuscripts. In early manuscripts, the epistles ascribed to the figure Baruch are, most commonly, either included in the Jeremiah corpus or embedded in the work known as 2 Baruch. This article argues that 2 Baruch has had a larger influence on the Syriac Christian corpus-building and literary imagination than has been hitherto acknowledged. This hypothesis would explain both the inclusion of two epistles of Baruch in the Peshitta Jeremiah corpus and the appearance of unprecedented readings in the titles and introductory addresses of the epistles attributed to Baruch in this corpus. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Titles, Paratexts, and Manuscript Communication: Jewish and Christian Literature in Material Context)

12 pages, 549 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Marking Scriptural Figures as Sacred Names

by Kelsie G. Rodenbiker

Religions 2022, 13(7), 577; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070577 - 22 Jun 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2217

Abstract

The use of scriptural names is a basic building block of ancient paideia as it is represented by Philo and Christian ecclesiastical writers after him. After learning letters, and then syllables, students would learn words (ὀνόματα), including through lists of onomastica intended to [...] Read more.

The use of scriptural names is a basic building block of ancient paideia as it is represented by Philo and Christian ecclesiastical writers after him. After learning letters, and then syllables, students would learn words (ὀνόματα), including through lists of onomastica intended to aid students both in learning to write and in ordering the world. I argue that the grammatical-ethical instruction that is found in Philo’s and early Christian writers’ investment in the practice of writing names in the process of paideia is also evident in the paratextual practice of marking sacred names. Lists variously attributed to Pseudo-Dorotheus, Pseudo-Epiphanius, and Pseudo-Hippolytus attest to the onomastic tradition preserved in manuscripts, while the names of scriptural figures have been marked almost as nomina sacra in the texts of 3 Corinthians, Jude, and 1 and 2 Peter, which were bound with the Bodmer Composite Codex. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Titles, Paratexts, and Manuscript Communication: Jewish and Christian Literature in Material Context)

16 pages, 3813 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Absent in Body, Present in Spirit: Apostolic Iconography in Greek Byzantine New Testament Manuscripts

by Isaac T. Soon

Religions 2022, 13(7), 574; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070574 - 21 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2543

Abstract

This article analyzes the phenomena that arise when the images of New Testament authors are placed before, alongside, and within the titles and incipits of New Testament texts in ancient manuscripts. Such images facilitate encounters with “specters” of the authors, invoking their bodily [...] Read more.

This article analyzes the phenomena that arise when the images of New Testament authors are placed before, alongside, and within the titles and incipits of New Testament texts in ancient manuscripts. Such images facilitate encounters with “specters” of the authors, invoking their bodily presence in the absence of their physical body. They are encodings of collective memory but also participants in perpetuating and sometimes modifying the physical appearance of apostolic figures. On occasion, the blending of textual incipits with apostolic images sublimate authorial identity and textual identity; the bodies of apostles become frames through which to view their written works. Although they are paratexts, apostolic icons can rearrange and aggregate other paratextual features including titles and even Euthaliana. Images of the apostles further interact with anonymous features of NT manuscripts, such as Euthaliana, providing authorization for works without ascription in the manuscripts themselves. Images of the apostles in NT manuscripts are therefore more than decoration or pious creativity. They are loci of presence, identity, memory, and authority. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Titles, Paratexts, and Manuscript Communication: Jewish and Christian Literature in Material Context)

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20 pages, 6426 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mark’s Endings in Context: Paratexts and Codicological Remarks

by Mina Monier

Religions 2022, 13(6), 548; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060548 - 14 Jun 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3226

Abstract

This article addresses the problem of the perception of Mark’s endings as expressed in its manuscript tradition. I will argue that, unlike the modern standardized image, manuscript evidence offers a complex phenomenon in which the endings were perceived in diverse ways that move [...] Read more.

This article addresses the problem of the perception of Mark’s endings as expressed in its manuscript tradition. I will argue that, unlike the modern standardized image, manuscript evidence offers a complex phenomenon in which the endings were perceived in diverse ways that move across the threshold that separates a text from paratexts. Further, the manuscripts show an influence between the endings and their associated paratexts. I will show this phenomenon by examining (i) the hypotheses before the Gospel, (ii) marginalia that engaged Mark 16, and (iii) postscripts after the Gospel. In conclusion, the article recommends revisiting the standard perception of the “endings” within their larger paratextual ecosystem. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Titles, Paratexts, and Manuscript Communication: Jewish and Christian Literature in Material Context)

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9 pages, 248 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Self-Portrait of a Bible: The Ezra Image of Codex Amiatinus

by Francis Benedict Watson

Religions 2022, 13(6), 530; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060530 - 8 Jun 2022

Viewed by 2394

Abstract

Dating from the early 8th century and created in Anglo-Saxon Northumbria, Codex Amiatinus is the oldest intact single-volume Bible in any language. Within its extensive prefatory material is an image of Ezra, the scribe who according to legend rewrote the whole of the [...] Read more.

Dating from the early 8th century and created in Anglo-Saxon Northumbria, Codex Amiatinus is the oldest intact single-volume Bible in any language. Within its extensive prefatory material is an image of Ezra, the scribe who according to legend rewrote the whole of the Old Testament, while behind him stands a large open book cupboard in which nine volumes of the scriptures are displayed. In this paper, I will argue that this image depicts a tension between two versions of the Old Testament that the compilers of the codex have had to resolve. In the image, this Bible represents itself as the product of the decisions that have gone into its making. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Titles, Paratexts, and Manuscript Communication: Jewish and Christian Literature in Material Context)

13 pages, 870 KiB

Open AccessArticle

New Testament Titles in the Coptic Manuscript Tradition: An Overview

by Paola Buzi

Religions 2022, 13(6), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060476 - 25 May 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2289

Abstract

This article aims to provide a diachronic overview of the evolution of New Testament Coptic titles, taking into account their textual structure, location inside the manuscript, and ornamental devices. The evolution of a title is not only related to the role of the [...] Read more.

This article aims to provide a diachronic overview of the evolution of New Testament Coptic titles, taking into account their textual structure, location inside the manuscript, and ornamental devices. The evolution of a title is not only related to the role of the chronological phase of the book production it belongs to, but also dependent upon the geographic area where its translation—from Greek to Coptic—took place. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Titles, Paratexts, and Manuscript Communication: Jewish and Christian Literature in Material Context)

14 pages, 367 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Early Textual Scholarship on Acts: Observations from the Euthalian Quotation Lists

by Garrick V. Allen

Religions 2022, 13(5), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050435 - 12 May 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2385

Abstract

This article examines two aspects of the ubiquitous, but oft-overlooked, set of paratexts known as the Euthalian Apparatus. The Euthalian apparatus supplements Acts, the Pauline Epistles, and the Catholic Epistles in a variety of manuscripts, framing these works with prefaces, cross-references, lists of [...] Read more.

This article examines two aspects of the ubiquitous, but oft-overlooked, set of paratexts known as the Euthalian Apparatus. The Euthalian apparatus supplements Acts, the Pauline Epistles, and the Catholic Epistles in a variety of manuscripts, framing these works with prefaces, cross-references, lists of various kinds, and biographic texts relating to Paul. To begin to understand this variable system as a work of late-ancient textual scholarship, transmitted in hundreds of medieval manuscripts, I examine the two quotation lists provided for Acts, focusing on their various presentations in the manuscripts, using GA 1162 as an example. Examining these lists enables us to better understand the reception of Acts’ use of Jewish scripture, Acts’ reception in late-ancient scholastic contexts, the transmission of quotations, and the complexity involved in defining the boundaries of canonical ideologies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Titles, Paratexts, and Manuscript Communication: Jewish and Christian Literature in Material Context)

13 pages, 1313 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Arts of Memory, Ancient Manuscript Technologies, and the Aims of Theology

by T. J. Lang

Religions 2022, 13(5), 426; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050426 - 8 May 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2408

Abstract

This article explores how ancient rhetorical theories about the improvement of human memory were applied to manuscripts in the form of paratextual ordering systems. It then considers the intellectual implications of these technological changes in the management of textual knowledge. A sequentially ordered [...] Read more.

This article explores how ancient rhetorical theories about the improvement of human memory were applied to manuscripts in the form of paratextual ordering systems. It then considers the intellectual implications of these technological changes in the management of textual knowledge. A sequentially ordered system for dividing textual information into “chapters” or “verses” proved powerful for both mnemonic arts and textual arts. The article next explores a specific example of paratextual technologies in Priscillian of Avila’s fourth-century CE Canones Epistularum Pauli Apostoli, which is one of the most sophisticated cross-referencing systems ever produced prior to printed texts. The article concludes by reflecting on the implications of textual divisions and citation schemes for the work of theology. The test case for this is Priscillian’s “versification” of the Pauline corpus for purposes of textual abstraction (the extraction and reorganization of numerically divided textual parts) in service of theological abstraction (the attempt to create systematic wholes out of the newly reorganized parts). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Titles, Paratexts, and Manuscript Communication: Jewish and Christian Literature in Material Context)

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