The formation of the biblical canon Septuagint. NT canon: stages of development. NT canon: criteria of selection. Timeline. Marcion’s contribution. Irenaeus’ contribution. P52 is the oldest known manuscript fragment of the New Testament. A Fragment of the Gospel of John. Egypt, 125-150 C.E. The oldest known ms. of NT Gospel of John 125 AD

Scroll A man holds a papyrus roll and his wife holds a waxed writing tablet and a stylus in this first-century A.D. painting from a house in Pompeii. (Scala/Art Resource, N.Y.)

Codex 10th c. Codex Sinaiticus.

Codex Sinaiticus Underlying text: the earliest extant Christian Palestinian Aramaic, 6th c. AD. Overlying text: Georgian, dated 979. Mt. Sinai, Egypt.

Scriptio continua. Prologue to the Gospel of John ca. 200. P66 INTHEBEGINNINGWAS THEWORDANDTHE WORDWASWITHGDAND THEWORDWASGD Papyrus of the Gospel of John. Frag. of 1:1-14. P66. Ca. 200. Once you’ve read a manuscript like this, you will never complain about being unable to read something. No spaces between words & sentences, no punctuation marks. Potential problems for interpretation.

Ambiguities of punctuation AWOMANWITHOUTHERMANISNOTHING A WOMAN, WITHOUT HER MAN, IS NOTHING A WOMAN: WITHOUT HER, MAN IS NOTHING Even punctuation is effected by our preconceptions.

Greek translation of Leviticus. Egypt, 2nd c. The oldest MS of LXX. Septuagint Greek translation of the OT Started in Alexandria under Ptolemy Philadelphus in the third c. BC. the legend Significance: became the OT scripture of the Church Leviticus. MS 2649. Egypt, 2nd c. The oldest MS of this part of the Bible. MS in Greek on papyrus, Oxyrhynchus?, Egypt, late 2nd c., 8 f f. (originally ca. 74 ff.), 20x10 cm, single column, (16x8 cm), 22-23 lines in Greek semi-cursive book script. Context: Possibly by the same scribe as MS 2648. The 8 ff. were found tipped in between the leaves of MS 2650. The whole codex with the 27 chapters of Leviticus would have had about 74 ff. Provenance: 1. Monastery in the Oxyrhynchus region, Egypt (ca. 4th c. -); 2. Antiquity dealer, Alexandria (ca. 1930); 3. Private collector, Zürich. Commentary: Together with the very fragmentary P. Heidelberg 945 Lev. 19:16-19, 31-33 (3rd c.), and the Dead Sea Scroll 4Q LXX Lev a+b (1st c. BC-1st c. AD), the present MS is the oldest Septuagint Leviticus extant. The greater part of the present papyrus is not represented on any Dead Sea Scroll, thus this is the oldest MS of this part of the Bible. To be published by Rosario Pintaudi and Kristin De Troyer in the series “Manuscripts in The Schøyen Collection”, Greek Papyri, vol. 1. Greek translation of Leviticus. Egypt, 2nd c. The oldest MS of LXX.

Development of the NT canon: Stage 1: oral & written traditions. Letters of Paul written Collected, memorized and (perhaps) recorded: Sayings of Jesus Miracle stories Passion narrative P52 is the oldest known manuscript fragment of the New Testament. A Fragment of the Gospel of John. Egypt, 125-150 C.E. Canon: means measuring rod & list.

Four Source Hypothesis

Gospel of Thomas In Coptic. Beginning Ending with title

Stage 2: Proliferation of Apocrypha Gospels attributed to individual apostles or groups: Peter, James, Philip, Thomas,Judas, Mary, pseudo-Matthew, Matthias, Bartholomew, the Twelve Apostles, Ebionites, Hebrews, Nazaraeans, Egyptians, Gospels under general titles: Perfection, Truth, the Four Heavenly Regions Gospels attributed to heretics: Cerinthus, Basilides, Marcion, Apelles, Bardesanes, Mani Other apocryphal literature: Apocryphon of: John, James; Apocalypse of John, Peter; Correspondence between Paul and Seneca; Shepherd of Hermas A Non-Canonical Gospel Fragment. Egerton Papyrus 2. Egypt, 200 A.D. Translation of the Text: to gather stones together [to stone] him. And the rulers laid their hands on him to [deliver] him to the crowd. But they were not able to arrest him since the hour of his being handed over had not yet come. But the Lord himself escaped from their hands and turned away from them. And behold, a leper coming to him, says: "Teacher Jesus, while traveling with lepers and eating together with them in the inn, I myself also became a leper. If therefore you will, I will be clean." And the Lord said to him: "I will, be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him. And Jesus said to him: "Go show yourself to the priests and offer concerning the purification as Moses commanded and sin no more [...]" Closest parallels: Non-canonical gospel fragment

Marcion’s version of Christianity Antinomianism: sharp contrast between the Law and the Gospel Docetism Marcion’s biblical canon Church’s response to Marcion

St. Irenaeus of Lyons Approx. 130-200 AD Knew Stt. Polycarp & Justin Bishop of Lyons Wrote Against Haeresies ca. 180.  Irenaeus (130-200) was a disciple of Polycarp of Smirna, the account of whose martyrdom we studied two weeks ago. Polycarp was 86 when he was martyred. He personally knew apostle John. He also knew Ignatius who was, acc. to tradition, that very boy who stood before Jesus. This is as close to Jesus as you can get.  Irenaeus was a person who brought the letter of the martyrs of Vienne and Lyons to the church of Rome.  Irenaeus possibly studied in Rome under Justin Martyr.

Seminar What is the purpose of Irenaeus’ book? Why are the Gnostics dangerous? How does he describe the faith of the church? How does Irenaeus refute the Gnostic teachings? What books did Marcion include in his canon? What are Irenaeus’ arguments for the number of the gospels?

Irenaeus' symbolic beasts Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. Luke-ox; John-lion; Mt-human being; Mk-eagle. Icon, Moscow, School of the Palace of the Armies, given to the cathedral of the Ascension of the unnamed monastery in the Kremlin of Moscow, c. 1680, tempera on wood, 180 x 140 cm, presently held in the Museums of the Kremlin in Moscow Divine Paternity

Timeline 3rd c. B.C.E. Septuagint. Started under Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BCE) in Alexandria. end of 1st c. C.E. Council of Javneh: Jewish canon closed with 39 books.   NT canon: 50ies: Pauline Epistles. Paul died ca. 60 under Nero. 60ies-early 70ies: Gospel of Mark. 80ies: Gospels of Matthew and Luke. 90ies: Gospel of John and the rest of the canon. 140ies Marcion produced his own canon.   170ies Tatian published his Diatessaron. 180ies Irenaeus endorsed the four gospels. 200: Muratorian canon. Some Gnostic Gospels and apocrypha rejected. 367: The first full list of the 27 NT writings mentioned in letter of Athanasius of Alexandria Ravenna: Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Ravenna, 5th c. Four gospel codices in armarium (bookcase).

Stage 3: selection of NT Books Use in worship & teaching. Agreement with the apostolic tradition. ‘Apostolic origin’. Antiquity (belong to ‘apostolic age’).

Map of 2nd c. church

Christ with the Four Evangelists symbolized by Ezekiel’s animals Symbolically Represented by the Four Animals of Ezekiel. Biblia Primera, Valeranica, Spain, 960 A.D. Cf. Irenaeus’ comparison of the Four Evangelists in Against Haer. 3.8. Ezek. 1.

Ezekiel 20:34-39, 20: 43-47. Old Latin Translation. BIBLE: EZEKIEL 20:34 - 39; 20:43 - 47 IN THE OLD LATIN VERSION MS in Latin on vellum, North Italy, 5th c., 1 partial f., 17x15 cm, originally 28x26 cm, 2 columns (originally 3 columns), (13x12 cm, originally 17x19 cm), 18 lines (of 23 lines) in an expert uncial without word spacing and abbreviations except Nomina Sacra, liturgical marginalia in a very small quarter-uncial with many ligatures, also of 5th c. Binding: Barking, Essex, 1988, red morocco gilt folding case by Aquarius. Context: From the late Medieval binding of the Sacramentary, Reichenau, 9th c., Donaueschingen MS 191. Parts of 45 more ff. of the present MS survive, some only in offset: 2 ff. in Darmstadt, Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek, MSS 895 (offset) and 3140; 16 ff. in Fulda, Landesbibliothek, MSS Aa and 1a; 4 ff. in St. Paul in Carinthia; 20 ff. in Stuttgart, Landesbibliothek. Provenance: 1. Benedictine Abbey of Reichenau, Konstanz, Germany (ca. 830-late 13th c.); 2. Konstanz Cathedral, Germany (late 13th c.-ca. 1800); 3. Joseph, Freiherr von Lassberg (1770-1855); 4. Prince Karl Egon III, Donaueschingen (1820-1892); 5. Fürstliche Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek, Donaueschingen, B I, 3 (1892-1982), present owner Prince Joachim Egon Fürstenberg; 7. Sotheby's 21.6.1982:1; 8. Winsor T. Savery, Houston, Texas (Pax ex Innovatione Foundation, Vaduz, Liechtenstein); 9. acquired via Sotheby's/Quaritch. Commentary: Oldest witness in Latin of Ezekiel 20, oldest European Latin leaf in private hands. "Vetus Latina" is the old Latin translations of the Bible that preceded the Vulgate. No complete MS is preserved. Only scattered fragments have survived, and all except this MS and MS 2081 are in public collections. E.A. Lowe: "An expert uncial of the finest and oldest type." CLA VIII:1174.

Codex MS in Latin on paper, Melk, Austria, ca. 1476, 292 ff. (complete), 32x21 cm, 2 columns, (19x13 cm), 29-34 lines in a Gothic hybrid book script of medium quality. Binding: Austria, ca. 1476, cuir-ciselé calf over oak boards, sewn on 5 bands, with full-length cuir-ciselé figures of St. Margareta and St. Barbara, criblé background pressed with small circular stamp, 10 brass bosses. Schmidt-Künsemüller: Corpus (1980):59. Provenance: 1. Benedictine Abbey of Melk, Austria (1476-ca. 18th c.); 2. Charles van der Elst; 3. Claude Guérin, Expert, Monaco 13.5.1985:37; 4. H.P. Kraus, New York. Exhibited: Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo. Sept. 1994.

Illuminated Manuscript MS in Greek on vellum and paper, Monastery of St. Stephanos, Cyprus, 1156, and 16th c. (text 3), 342 ff. (complete), 11 ff. paper (text 3), 23x17 cm, single column, (16x10 cm), 20 lines and 31 lines (text 3) in Greek minuscule by Manuel Hagiostephanites, scribe of Vatican Gospel Cod. Barb. gr. 449, in black and crimson, 4 pp. in crimson overlaid with gold, pericopes in gold, headings in display capitals in crimson and gold, small illuminated initials throughout, 3 large decorated and 1 historiated illuminated initials by Manuel Hagiostephanites. 4 half-page and 4 full-page miniatures of the Nicean school, very close to the St. Petersburg Gospels, Petropolitanus 105. Binding: Greece, 16th c., calf over wooden boards, sewn on 4 cords. Traces of 4 round corner pieces and a large central cross. Provenance: 1. Monastery of St. Stephanos, Cyprus (from 1156); 2. Monastery of Hagias, Andros, Greece, "Hagias 32" (before 1748 -after 1897); 3. Louis Birkigt Collection (until 1967); 4. André Cottet, Genève 10.11.1967:2; 5. H.P. Kraus cat. 159(1981):4. Commentary: The earliest dated MS so far of the hitherto little known, but important, Nicean school of illumination is from 1269. This MS dated 1156 will necessitate a complete re-evaluation of the scholarship. The signed and dated colophon over 2 pp. includes a most unusual poem (text 2) dedicated to John of Crete, the first archbishop of Cyprus, and a well known author, who wrote under the pen name Neophytos Enkleistos. Aland 1361 and l. 2383, text category 5 (Byzantine recension). Exhibited: Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo. Sept. 1994.