Author Archives: Brent Nongbri
Guest post: Mike Holmes and Matthew Larsen on Finished and Unfinished Ancient Texts
My recent invocation of Matthew Larsen’s article has generated a good bit of discussion both on and off the blog. In one of these exchanges, Mike Holmes raised some good questions about the article and agreed to let me post … Continue reading
Early Christian Textual Transmission, Part 3
In my first posting prompted by Larry Hurtado’s reflections on textual transmission, I brought up a recent article by Matthew Larsen, “Accidental Publication, Unfinished Texts and the Traditional Goals of New Testament Textual Criticism.” In a response (here), Hurtado has … Continue reading
Early Christian Textual Transmission, Part 2
I posted yesterday some initial thoughts about questions of textual fluidity and stability in early Christian manuscripts generated in conversation with a post by Larry Hurtado. Larry has responded in a lengthy post here. I’ll take up some his points in … Continue reading
Early Christian Textual Transmission, Part 1
Recently on his blog Larry Hurtado has been reflecting on issues of textual stability and fluidity of early Christian manuscripts. It’s an interesting question to ponder, but as Larry notes, assertions in either direction are tricky because just about everyone … Continue reading
The Modern Lives of an Ancient Coptic Book: P.Bodmer XXII + VK 783
A couple years ago, Roberta Mazza traced the “modern biography” of a fragmentary papyrus leaf containing the Gospel According to John, P.Oxy. 15.1780 (better known to New Testament scholars as P39). It’s a fascinating article that can be downloaded here. … Continue reading
A Repair to the Bodmer Composite Codex
I’ll just make one last post (for now) on the Bodmer composite codex and its curious features. This post has to do with one of the leaves of the paschal sermon of Melito, P.Bodmer XIII. As was customary for the … Continue reading
P.Bodmer XX+IX and the Bodmer Composite Codex
In my last post, I provided a provisional diagram of the Bodmer composite codex (LDAB 2565). I also mentioned that I did not think the booklet consisting of P.Bodmer XX (the Apology of Phileas) + P.Bodmer IX (Psalms 33-34) was … Continue reading
The Bodmer “Composite” Codex: A Diagram
The so-called Bodmer “Composite” or “Miscellaneous” codex (LDAB 2565), is a fascinating, but somewhat confusing artifact.
Menander at a Monastery
Even though I have a long chapter on the Bodmer Papyri in my book, there is still much that I didn’t get a chance to discuss in detail. Because of its time on the antiquities market, the ancient find we … Continue reading
A Review of Georgios Boudalis, The Codex and Crafts in Late Antiquity
In 2016, I gave paper that revisited the old question of the rise of the codex. There has been a lot of work done over the years on why the codex may have come to replace the roll, but there … Continue reading
Variant Readings 