Evening journal., 1897-08-07
SATURDAY. AUGUST I. 1897.
CHRIsT's NEWEST SAYINGS.

CHRIST'S NEWEST SAYINGS.
The religious world has been deeply
stirred by the discovery Of records of
Christs sayings hitherto unknown in
Christian literature Indeed, it is be-
lieved that the oldest specimens have
been found this year in Egypt. where
excavations of old mines are in pro-
gress. In mere quantity the ancient
records unearthed amount to more than
the total of all previous discoveries
combined They range in age from
nearly seventy-flve centuries before the
birth Of Christ down to the third or
fourth century OF the present era. The
study and translation OF this mass Of
material will occupy from ten to four
teen years before it can be fully decipn-
cred by the few archaeologists who are
competent for the difficult task
The credit of these wonderful revela-
tions is entirely due to Englishmen,
Messrs. Hunt and Grenfell, OF Oxford
University. It is believed that they
have among other important data dug
up Christs story of the discovery of
Papyrus, at Oxyrynchus, a crumbling
ancient city known to have been one OF
the chief centres of early Christianity,
yet hitherto undisturbed by archaeolo-
gists. The mounds in which the pros
pectors" dug lie in ranges and are. OF
various height and size, some of them
rising to a height OF thirty or forty
feet. In all, they brought back twelve
large packing cases, each containing a
couple Of good-sized tin boxes Of
papyri.
We are told that these papyri are in
rolls fourteen inches in length and "a
couple of inches broad, looking some
thing like a huge old cigar, dry, dusty
and weevil-beaten, and that when
dampened assume a most interesting
appearance. Brushed, cleaned and
pressed, they are said to look like pieces
Of fine yellow matting-not a bright
yellow, but a dark brownish hue. The
writing is beautifully clear, especially
in the ecclesiastical manuscripts,
which are unquestionably the work Of
edhcated men.
The page in which so much interest
Is now being taken is a small sheet
some FIVE or six inches long by three
and q half or four inches broad 1t is
written in clear Greek characters of a
modified uncial description. This page
. is numbered IL, and is, of course, one
OF book which, perhaps, contained a
large collection of Christs sayings AL
though book form was not common till
considerably later the date of this page
is put down as being certainly as early
as the very beginning of the third CEN
tury-about 200 A. ID. 1t may be a little
older, it may be little younger, but 200
is the probable date The sayings,
which are written on it's two sides, are
almost all contained, with slight varia-
tions, in the New Testament as we now
have it. But some of them are quite
new
In the opinion of the discoverers the
collection Of logic, Of which this page
is a fragment, is perfectly independent
of the New Testament as we have it,
Some experts who have seen the page
think il may belong to the book which
was the foundation of St. Matthews
gospel. But Messrs. Grenfell and Hunt
do not adhere to this view at ALL One
passage contains a word which is used
by Luke alone Of the Evangelists. And
It has been thought that Luke, a man
of higher education than the other
three. used It merely as a synonym, TAX
ing the passages from the same source
as the others. Finding this word in the
newly discovered text would point to St
Luke's having probably had access tc
different sources of information. In
fact, Hunt and Grenfell think they have
found part of one of the many collec-
tions of Christ's sayings that were un.
doubtedly made by many different peo
pie, and to which Luke refers in tn,
outset of his gospel