The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-25
THE PAPYRUS RECORDS
OLDEST MANUSCRIPT EXTANT RE
CORDING WORDS OF CHRIST.
The Recent Egyptian Discovery in Its
uscript-The "LOgia Jesu."
Philadelphia Press.

Philadelphia Press.
From an Egyptian mound has spoken a
voice mute for nearly twenty centuries be-
meath the dust of men and cities. frag-
ment of papyrus, no larger than a sheet
of note paper, preserved among a
mass of tattered bits of ancient manu-
script by trick OF fate, has thrilled the
Christian world as no other event in reig-
ious literature has done for many years.
The translation and publication of the
'Logia Jesu," or The Sayings CT Our
Lord" has aroused a religious interest
which may be compared to the first APP
pearance of the last revised edition of the
Bible in 1881, when the whole of the New
Testament was cabled in day to the
United States.
The finding of this papyrus fragment in
the course Of the work of the Egyptian ex-
ploration fund, a single torn leaf from a
book, covered with Greek Writing which
was penned in the second or third century
of the Christian era, is very remarkable
only in one respect-the divine message it
seems to have preserved. Papyri in Greek
have been found of as ancient an age and
also purporting to be parts of New Tesla
ment scripture-for example, the fragment
found in 1885, containing a portion of the
fourteenth chapter of Mark, and an extract
from the Apochalyphal Gospel of Peter
also unearthed in Egypt
But these 'lOgia," or sayings of Christ
have a unique and impressive significance
Theologians may bring critical analysis and
opinion to bear, and decide whether or not
these words are genuine, and how much OF
Importance they possess in relation to the
present Gospels. Apart from this, however
there is to the lay mind, in this messag'
from the dead ages in time, but from the
infant age of Christianity the power of
arousing imagination, and influencing vivid
ly the spiritual nature. The sayings for the
most part, in meaning, if not exactly in
phrasing, were spoken by Christ, borne
out by the evidence of the Gospels.
The notable thing is that this Is the old
est manuscript in the world preserving the
words Of the SaVior-older than any Vellum
pages on which are inscribed the books
from which the New Testament has been
made in these times. The discoveries and
editors of this fragment, Bernard 7. Graen-
fell and Arthur 5. Hunt, conjecture from
their great store of knowledge and expert
ence that the papyrus was written before
200 A. D.. or about century and halt
after Christ died. 1t is not, therefore, i'm
possible that men were living when these
Greek sentences were penned with a reed
who had talked with eye-Witnesses of the
latter days of the Son of Man in Palestine,
papyri found are fragmentary narratives
these are the first "logia" of Christ dis
covered inscribed on the fabric used by
the apostles themselves for writing the
Gospels.
APOSTLES WRITINGS VANISHED.
1t is certain that the autograph writings
of the New Testament very early disap-
peared, owing to the~action of constant use
upon the perishable papyrus borrowed from
the Egyptians, and used as the medium
for written communication for hundreds OF
years later than the time of Christ. Papy-
rus was made from strips of a species OF
reed, laid lengthwise, with strips of reed
across in another layer, the sheet pressed
moistened, dried and smoothed with tools
paste being used to icln the sheets into
long strips or rolls which were used until
the second century, when the sheets be-
gan to be bound in book form. Because
the "logia. are on a sheet, II Is accepted
as conclusive proof that the writing dates
later than the first century. PapyruS was
fragile and became brittle when much used
and the rolls inscribed by the loving hands
of the apostles probably vanished in a few
years to be preserved only in copies.
The papyrus preserved to the present day
never saw much use. Most of the rolls
have been found in sarcophagi, and there
fore were never handled at all. They We're
written upon with an ink composed OF
lampblack, mixed with gum dissolved In
water, and sometimes copperas was added.
To the difficulty of handling the brittle
fragments which crumbe almost at touch
and the faded ink is added the style of this
early Greek writing, in Uncials or capitals
entirely. There was no separation of words
except rarely to indicate new paragraphs,
few, if any, punctuation marks; no breath
ing accents or distinction OF initial letters.
English words and sentences thus run to-
gether in an unbroken string, all difficult
to extract the exact meaning from.
Only through miracles of chance have any
papyrus writings come down to us, as in
the Egyptian tombs or in the case of the
great collection found in a mansion of Her.
culaneum. All of the New Testament
manuscripts have been preserved on VelluIn
and parchment. Jerome notes that in the
library of PamphiliuS at Caesenea, the
greater part of the papyrus rolls and books
were destroyed in less than a century after
they had been collected, when two pres
byters of the church attempted to restore
the manuscripts on parchment. The latter
material, while mere durable, was much
more costly. 1t is reasonable to conclude
that all of the autographs persisted during
the solemn pause which followed the Apos-
tolic age, before the churchmen had real
lied the Importance of preserving the writ
ten narratives of the disciples because their
words were still ringing IN the ears or the
people.
The silence of the sub-apostolic age. is
made more striking by the legends circu-
lated afterward 1t was said that when
the grave of Barnabas was opened in the
fifth century in obedience TO vision, the
saint was found holding in his grasp copy
.
had written. An autograph copy of the
gospel of John is said to have been pre-
served and worshiped at Ephesus in the
fourth century and a part of Mark S gospel
was mistakably reported to be at Venice
and Prague.
VARIATIONS OF TEXT.
The original perfect purity of the gospel
narratives was early lost. Quotations of
the latter half of the second century con-
tain readings which agree with later texts,
but are not apostolic. From this time the
manuscript texts of each century, the writ
ings of the fathers, various Oriental and
Occidental versions, all test to variety of
readings for almost every verse which Oc-
casioned departures of more or less i'm
portance from the sense OF the original text.
This came about naturally. The early
church knew nothing of the anxious cling
ing TO the letter which characteriZeS the
scientific rigor and piety of modern times,
and, therefore, We're not so bent on pre-
serving the exact words
The first copies were made for private
rather than public use; copyists We're often
careless and when writing from dictation
sometimes misunderstood Attempts were
style and efforts made to harmonic quota
tions in the New Testament with the Greek
of the Septuagent and TO harmonlze sur
face Inconsistencies in the gospel Alb
breviatiOnS were written out, marginal
notes incorporated in the text, gospels were
embellished with narratives drawn from
nonapoStOlic though trustworthy sources.
erous readings and textual variations. and
this h~iaf rhetorical discussion oh