God's library
Subtitle: the archaeology of the earliest Christian manuscripts
By: Brent Nongbri
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 403
ISBN-13: 9780300215410
Subjects: Origin; Early Christian literature; Manuscripts, Greek (Papyri); Manuscripts; Antiquities; Christianity
Description: "In this bold and groundbreaking book, Brent Nongbri provides an up-to-date introduction to the major collections of early Christian manuscripts and demonstrates that much of what we thought we knew about these books and fragments is mistaken. While biblical scholars have expended much effort in their study of the texts contained within our earliest Christian manuscripts, there has been a surprising lack of interest in thinking about these books as material objects with individual, unique histories. We have too often ignored the ways that the antiquities market obscures our knowledge of the origins of these manuscripts. Through painstaking archival research and detailed studies of our most important collections of early Christian manuscripts, Nongbri vividly shows how the earliest Christian books are more than just carriers of texts or samples of handwriting. They are three-dimensional archaeological artifacts with fascinating stories to tell, if we're willing to listen"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-383) and index.