Christian Oxyrhynchus: Texts, Documents, and Sources ed. by Lincoln H. Blumell and Thomas A. Wayment (review)

Christian origins and New Testament enthusiasts will encounter within this volume the primary surviving Greek papyri from Oxyrhynchus, the Egyptian darling-child of every papyrologist and the principal source of Greco-Roman era manuscripts. Whereas editors have compiled various anthologies of texts, translations and images of ancient Christian literature, this monograph capitalizes on the systematic excavation and publication of the ancient city’s papyri in a defined-yet-comprehensive survey of ancient material culture and literature, selecting witnesses to the city’s Christian legacy. In terms of the total papyrological picture, one could contextualize the current collection by noting that “53 of 127 New Testament papyri originate from Oxyrhynchus” (17) and could imagine a parallel representation for the other categories of literature contained within this edition.

The 756-page-plus survey could hardly accommodate any more content (for instance, images of the manuscripts, approximately 175 in total). Arguably, the reader would be served either by a second volume dedicated solely to images or by a digital image archive. The space restraint probably also explains the diplomatic presentation of the transcriptions, which are followed by (and not paralleled by) English translations. With respect to content, Blumell and Wayment have spared no expense in their discussion of secondary literature and textual commentary. Surpassing simple reproduction of the texts and notes from prior publications, the two editors offer fresh opinions and occasionally censure an earlier reading. For instance, in their discussion of PSI IV 311, “Delivery Instructions for a Letter to Bishop Theodotus of Laodicea” (circa 330 c.e.), the editors suggest for the first time that an Arian connection between an Oxyrhynchite bishop and Theodotus might be evident in the letter (512–23). Those examining the critical notes to the New Testament papyri will encounter not only text-critical evidence equivalent to the apparatus criticus of the Nestle-Aland but, furthermore, extensive reconstructions of the lacunae, wherever deemed possible by the volume editors.

Students reading through such a volume should be encouraged to interact with methodological problems, of which the monograph editors are expressly aware. After 52 “New Testament Texts,” the reader encounters 26 “Extracanonical Texts.” These are described throughout with the terms non-canonical, uncanonical and extra-canonical to refer to lesser-known Christian narrative texts such as the gospels of Mary, Peter and Thomas, as well as the Didache, unknown “Apocryphal Gospels,” and numerous witnesses to the Shepherd of Hermas. The third section contains, among other items, hymns, homilies, and magical texts under the rubric “Other Christian Literary Texts.” The division between these last two sections is arbitrary, unless one presumes that the “Extracanonical Texts” represent a corpus of texts whose origins were contemporary to the canonical texts. Although the Didache, for instance, would fit this paradigm, the presupposition is potentially misleading in other cases.

Several of these methodological problems could form themes of a graduate class or even research papers for students using the book. For example, the editors note that the Gospel of Peter identification for P.Oxy. XLI 2949 reflects a speculative reconstruction and may not be tenable. One could use this volume to review the impact of the speculative and sometimes completely arbitrary paleographic dating of papyri to single centuries, calculating how many of these dates rely on other paleographically dated specimens. (Notably, the current editors are typically citing the dates of other scholars, raising issues where necessary, e.g. 525.) Likewise, a student might assess the worth of Turner’s system of codex groupings or could survey the relevance of some sub-corpus such as the libelli and the relevant persecutions.

This publication offers reliable Greek transcriptions and translations, augmented by excellent maps and bibliography. While the critical apparatus to the New Testament papyri presents novel and robust assessments of the evidence, the introductory materials synthesize the obsolete textual assessments of Eldon Epp, not recognizing for instance the impact of the Münster Text und Textwert...