Corpus-Paul

[2193008 AT vortex.ufrgs.br (Luis Felipe Carvalho Torres)]

Greetings.

I'm working in a research about Paul - about what are the conceptions
that he had about sin. I would like to know what letters and lines to
look for. I've already read all his letters, but I thought that this
discussion list might bring me some new ideas of where to look for and
what to understand of this subject.

I apologize for my poor english.

Thanks for your help.

Luis Felipe Carvalho Torres
>From Brazil
>From baldwin AT apocryphum.com  Thu Feb 27 06:08:57 2003
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Subject: [Corpus-Paul] 
        Letter Collections; Paul's Use Wriring Materials; Aquilla and
        Priscilla in Corinth (Acts 18)
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Hi All:

In response to David Ingles' on-list comments about Paul's writing materials
and on the subject of circulating copies of Paul's letters:

As far as I know, there's no evidence in the letters themselves for whether
Paul used Parchment or Papyrus for writing purposes, but the chances that he
used Parchment seem to me to be small.  From what I understand about ancient
writing materials, if Papyrus was not cheap, then Parchment was a luxury
item.  As Pliny the Elder's comments on Papyrus production and trade
indicate, its use was widespread in the Roman world for everyday purposes
and official records.    In any case, Parchment did not become widespread
for Christian scriptures until the fourth century; this reflects the crucial
period of the fourth century for the formation of the canon and also the
increased wealth of the imperial-sponsored religion.  Hence the division in
the manuscript record.

Let me know if I am mistaken about the relative costs of Papyrus versus
Parchment. 

Perhaps Ingles' comments were meant to mean that Paul _intended_ to retain
his copies of letters over the long term?  I don't think there's any
evidence of this.  In one case, Paul takes the time and makes the effort to
instruct his readers to read his letter aloud in worship (1 Thess 5:27).
This leads us to think, reasonably enough, that this was the usual practice.
I would need some kind of similar level of evidence, such as instructions in
a Pauline letter about sending back his copy, if I were going to accept
Ingles' hypothesis.

On the subject of the 4th century, the rise of the parchment codex, and the
question of Paul's letters circulating: I was taught that the Diocletianic
persecution involved (as Eusebius attests) the burning of Christian
manuscripts, and that the subsequent reconsolidation of Orthodox power
allowed for the collection and dissemination of scriptures in text-forms
suitable to Orthodox interests (on this see Ehrman, Orthodox Corruption of
Scripture).  Thus, I don't think that the evidence of post 4th century
codices of Pauline letters tell us much--or really anything--about the
circulation of Paul's letters during the 1st-2nd century.  The Papyrus
evidence is more interesting.

It may be worth noting that later, pictorial (and in the case of APet 20,
literary) evidence often depicts Paul, Peter, and other apostles holding
scrolls--representing scripture, not their epistles--but I have always
assumed that this is a kind of romantic fantasy; early Christians collected
scripture in the codex almost without exception (Gamble).

-----

On the question of Aquilla and Priscilla, I am sure that Calvin McCain has
already found out from somebody off list that Suetonius (Life of Claudius)
connects the expulsion of Jews from Rome with controversy among the Jews
caused by "Chrestus."

 -----


Best,  

Matthew Baldwin
-- 

P.O. Box 1927
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Department of Religion and Philosophy
Mars Hill College
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