Lettered Christians

by Blumell, Lincoln H.

• ISBN13: 9789004180956
• ISBN10: 9004180958
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-03-01
• Publisher: Brill Academic Pub

Summary

With the discovery of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri just over a century ago a number of important texts directly relating to ancient Christianity have come to light. While certain literary texts have received considerable attention in scholarship by comparison the documentary evidence relating to Christianity has received far less attention and remains rather obscure. To help redress this imbalance, and to lend some context to the Christian literary materials, this book examines the extant Christian epistolary remains from Oxyrhynchus between the third and seventh centuries CE. Drawing upon this unique corpus of evidence, which until this point has never been collectively nor systematically treated, this book breaks new ground as it employs the letters to consider various questions relating to Christianity in the Oxyrhynchite. Not only does this lucid study fill a void in scholarship, it also gives a number of insights that have larger implications on Christianity in late antiquity.

Author Biography

Lincoln H. Blumell, Ph.D. (2009) in Religious Studies, University of Toronto, is Assistant Professor in Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. He has published mainly on early Christianity in Egypt and Greek Papyrology.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. xi
Editing Sigla	p. xv
Colour Plates	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Scholarship and the Christian Remains from Oxyrhynchus	p. 8
The Study: Argument and Structure	p. 12
Caveats	p. 16
Writing Christian	p. 27
Scholarship and Papyrus Letters Written by Christians	p. 32
Markers of Christian Identity within Letters	p. 36
The Nomen Christianum and Self-Identification	p. 37
Crosses and Monograms	p. 43
Isopsephisms and Acrostics	p. 46
Nomina Sacra	p. 49
Monotheistic Terminology and Phraseology	p. 52
Invocations and Obeisances	p. 53
Greetings and Farewells	p. 55
Monotheistic Epithets	p. 57
Monotheistic Phrases	p. 61
Familial Language and the Use of ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿	p. 68
Miscellaneous Markers	p. 70
Conclusions	p. 78
Postscript	p. 85
Mapping Christians: Travel and Epistolary Networks in Christian Letters from Oxyrhynchus	p. 89
Travel and Communication in Roman and Byzantine Egypt	p. 90
Detectable Travel Motives in the Letters	p. 103
Patterns of Travel and Epistolary Networks	p. 120
Conclusions	p. 154
Christians of the Book?	p. 163
Christians and Their Texts	p. 166
Learned Christians?	p. 183
The Use of "Scripture" in the Letters	p. 208
Scriptural Citations	p. 210
Scriptural Quotations	p. 218
Scriptural Echoes and Reminiscences	p. 220
Conclusions	p. 232
What's in a Name?	p. 237
Onomastic Data and Religious Adherence in Antiquity	p. 240
Nomina Christiana	p. 249
Biblical Names	p. 249
Names of Martyrs and Saints	p. 250
Names Carrying Christian Connotations	p. 260
Nomina Christiana in Epistulae	p. 262
Biblical Names	p. 263
Names of Martyrs and Saints	p. 265
Names Carrying Christian Connotations	p. 267
Female Names	p. 269
Nomina Pagana	p. 272
Conclusions	p. 275
Reading Someone Else's Mail	p. 281
Epilogue. The Demise of Christian Oxyrhynchus	p. 295
Appendix	p. 301
Bibliography	p. 371
Index of Ancient Authors	p. 399
Index of Biblical References	p. 401
Index of Select Greek Terms and Phrases	p. 406
Index of Modern Authors	p. 408
Index of Papyri and Inscriptions	p. 415
Index of Subjects	p. 426
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