The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-02-07

in the papyrus into the mouth of the
| Disciples.
The question with some varieties Of
| form between the three was this: When
will Christs kingdom be realized?" The
answer as recorded in the Gospel accord
! ing to the Egyptians is. When We shall
/ tranple on the garment of shame, when
| the two shall be one and the male as
/ the female. neither male nor female"
! From this the papyrus differs somewhat,
| and incidentally shows that the interpre-
/ tation which is generally given to when
/ We shall trampIe on the garment Of
shame" is incorrect This has usually
been considered to be equivalent TO when
We shall put off the body E., when
We die; but the papyrus shows that the
real point lies in the hysterical allusion
to the third chapter of Genesis. and that
the phrase meant when We return TO the
state of innocence which existed before
the Fall, being thus closely parallel to
the following clause, when the two shall
be one"
DR.. Grenfell has now returned to Cairo,
where he has been interviewed. and in re-
ply TO the question whether he had any
hope of experimenting his great discov-
cries by unearthng a portrait of the Sa-
viour he replied:
II am satisfied that there is very little
chance Of such an important find, as ali
the remnants of early Christianity so far
unearthed in the district do not go back
beyond \. D. 200, and probably Christian
ity was not introduced into Upper Egypt.
It has proved a vastly interesting field
for the explorers. as among the rubbish
of the ancient town have been discovered
quite unrecorded sayings of our Saviour;
while other papyri add to or differ from
the savings given in the New Testament
1t is the principal and unique source for
the discovery Of early Christian writings
in Egypt, that is to say, writings Of the
second century Chose of the third and
fourth century are comparatively COM
NOM
The ancient town of OXyrhynchus is
about a mile ana quarter long and half
a mile broad, and there is still much work
to be done. Very few remains of dwell
-ings are left. and the discoveries are made
by excavatins among huge mounds Of
debris This may be accounted for by
the fact that the natives have for some
years past used the site quarry and
removed many tons of stone, possibly at
the same time destroying invaluable evil
dence of early Christianity At a time not
so far remote there stood a large temple
in the center of the ancient town. but
this has almost entirely disappeared, the
Arabs taking away the stones year by
year for building purposes.
There are now working on the excava
tons 100 Arab laborers; they work in
gangs of four, and are paid in addition
to regular wage. backsheesh common
surate to the value of any discovery they
may make This arrangement insures
greater diligence and care in the work.
Drs Grenfell and Hunt return TO Cairo
in March next from their interesting Ia
bors, and will no doubt bring with them
further important sayings Of Jesus and
evidences of early Christianity.
The results Of Dr. Grenfells researches
seem to bring us nearer than any re-
mains hitherto existing TO the actual time
and personality of the Saviour.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE
NEWLY DISCOVERED SAYINGS.
They were written about 120 A. D.,
whereas the Oldest known texts of the
New Testament were written i the
fourth century.
They were found in the ruins of an
Egyptian city of the second century.
They indicate that there was a side
growth of Christianity in Egypt hitherto
unknown.
Experts believe that the Logia may
have been written in Palestine by Jews
who had become Christians and We're tax
en- to OXyrchynchus on probably the first
Christian foreign mission movement of
which the world has secular record.
The sayings are believed to be a collec
ton made independently Of the Canonical
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