Jesus' Agrapha & 1st-mid 2nd Century Inscriptions & Art about Christianity

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
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rakovsky
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Jesus' Agrapha & 1st-mid 2nd Century Inscriptions & Art about Christianity

Post by rakovsky »

Earlier I listed First to Mid-Second Century Christian Writings (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2786&p=62053#p62053 and viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3072) Here I want to list instances of Jesus' sayings outside the Bible, as well as inscriptions and art dating from the first to mid-second centuries concerning Christianity.

ExtraCanonical
c. 41 The Nazareth Inscription (against tomb robbing, http://www.reformation.org/nazareth-inscription.html)
c. 79 Sator Arepa Tenet Opera Rotas Puzzle (Found in Pompei. used in medieval Christianity; Scholars propose Mithraic, Christian, Saturnalian, or Jewish origins)

Status Unknown or Debated
Ben Pandera Tombstone, Germany

EW's list of inscriptions and epigraphy: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=129
Last edited by rakovsky on Sat Dec 28, 2019 9:41 am, edited 2 times in total.

My research on the prophecies of the Messiah's resurrection: http://rakovskii.livejournal.com
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DCHindley
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Re: Jesus' Agrapha & 1st-mid 2nd Century Inscriptions & Art about Christianity

Post by DCHindley »

rakovsky wrote: Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:41 pm Earlier I listed First to Mid-Second Century Christian Writings (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2786&p=62053#p62053 and viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3072) Here I want to list instances of Jesus' sayings, as well as inscriptions and art dating from the first to mid-second centuries concerning Christianity.

ExtraCanonical
c. 79 Sator Arepa Tenet Opera Rotas Puzzle (Found in Pompei. used in medieval Christianity; Scholars propose Mithraic, Christian, Saturnalian, or Jewish origins)

Status Unknown or Debated
Ben Pandera Tombstone, Germany

EW's list of inscriptions and epigraphy: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=129
Isn't "agrapha" a technical term for sayings of Jesus transmitted outside of the canon? The term itself simply means "not written (in the four gospels or elsewhere in the NT). Some of it is reportedly in sources variously described as the "Gospel of the Hebrews/Ebionites/Egyptions," or in papyrus fragments (e.g., papyrus Egerton 2).

According to Wilhelm Schneemelcher (NT Apocrypha) the Papyrus Fragments are: This attached PDF document includes all the footnotes and the introductions.
[94] 1. Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 840

First before he does wrong (?) he thinks out everything that is crafty. But
be ye on your guard that the same thing may not happen to you as does
to them.1 For not only among the living do evil doers among men receive
retribution, but they must also suffer punishment and great torment.
And he took them [the disciples] with him into the place of purification
itself and walked about in the Temple court.2 And a Pharisaic chief
priest, Levi (?) by name, fell in with them and s<aid> to the Saviour: Who
gave thee leave to <trea>d this place of purification and to look upon
<the>se holy utensils without having bathed thyself and even without thy
disciples having <wa>shed their f<eet>?3 On the contrary, being defi<led>,
[95] thou hast trodden the Temple court, this clean p<lace>, although no<one
who has <not> first bathed <himself> or <chang>ed his clot<hes> may
tread it and <venture> to vi<ew> <these> holy utensils! Forthwith <the
Saviour> s<tood> still with h<is> disciples and <answered>: How stands
it (then) with thee, thou art forsooth (also) here in the Temple court. Art
thou then clean? He said to him: I am clean. For I have bathed myself in
the pool of David and have gone down by the one stair and come up by
the other and have put on white and clean clothes, and (only) then have
I come hither and have viewed these holy utensils. Then said the Saviour
to him: Woe unto you blind that see not!4 Thou hast bathed thyself in
water that is poured out, in which dogs and swine5 lie night and day and
thou hast washed thyself and hast chafed thine outer skin, which prostitutes
also and flute-girls6 anoint, bathe, chafe and rouge, in order to arouse
desire in men, but within they are full of scorpions and of <bad>ness <of
every kind>.7 But I and <my disciples>, of whom thou sayest that we have
not im<mersed> ourselves, chave been im>mersed in the liv<ing ... >
water8 which comes down from < ... B>ut woe unto them that....

[96] 2. Papyrus Egerton 2

f.lv (ll. 1-20)
(I). . . <to> the lawyer<s: ‘Punish e>very one who act<s contrary to the
l>aw, but not me! . . . (5) . . . what he does, as he does it.’ <And> having
turn<ed> to <the> rulers of the people he <sp>oke the following saying;
‘(Ye) search the scriptures in which ye think that ye have life; these are
they (10) which bear witness of me.5 Do not think that I came to accuse
<you> to my Father! There is one<that ac>cuses <you>, even Moses,
on whom ye have set your hope.’6 And when they sa(15)<id>: ‘We know
that God <hath> spok<en> to Moses, but as for thee, we know not
<whence thou art> ’7 Jesus answered and said unto them: ‘Now (already)
accusation is raised8 against <you!> (20) unbelief in regard to the things
testified by him. For if <you> had <believed Moses>, you would have
believed <me>; for <concerning> me he <wrote> to your fathers’.9

f.lr (ll. 22-41)
. . . <to gather> stones together to stone him.10 And the <rul>ers laid
(25) their hands on him that they might arrest him and <deliver> him to
the multitude. But they w<ere not able> to arrest him because the hour
of his betrayal <was> not yet c<ome>11 (30) But he himself, the Lord,
escaped out of their han>ds12 and turned away from them.
(II) And behold a leper drew near <to him> and said: ‘Master Jesus,
wandering with lepers and eating with them (35) in the inn, I also
<became> a <leper>. If <thou> therefore <wilt>, I am made clean.'
Immediately the Lord <said to him>: I will, be thou made clean.' <And
thereupon> the leprosy departed from him. But Jesus (40) <said> to him;
‘Go and show thyself to <the priests> and offer <for thy > purification as
<Moses commanded;», and sin no more . . . ‘13

f.2r (ll. 43-59)
(III)... <ca>me to him to put him to the pro<of> and to tempt him, whilst
<they said>: (45) ‘Master Jesus, we know that thou art come <from
God>,14 for what thou doest bears a test<imony>15 (to thee) (which)
[99] (goes) beyond (that) of al(l) the prophets. <Wherefore tell> us: is it
admissible <to p>ay to the kings the (charges) appertaining to their rule?
<Should we> pay <th-> (50) em or not? But Jesus saw through their
<in>tention,16 became <angry>17 and said to them: ‘Why call ye me with
yo<ur mou>th Master and yet <do> not what I say?18 Well has Is<aiah>
prophesied <concerning y>(55)ou saying: This <people honours> me
with the <ir li>ps but their heart is far from me; <their worship is> vain.
<They teach> precepts <of men>.19

f.2v (lines 60-75)20
(IV) <The grain of wheat>. . . (60) . . . in the place shut in . . . it was laid
beneath and invisible . . . its wealth imponderable?21 And as they were in
perplexity at his strange question, (65) Jesus as he walked stood <on the>
bank of the <riv>er J ordan, stretched out <hi>s right hand, <fill>ed it with
. . . and sowed. . . on the (70) . . . And then . . . water. . . And. . . before
<their eyes>, brought fruit. . . much . . . to the jo(75)<y?> . . .

[100] 3. Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 1224

p. 175
And the scribes and <Pharisees
and priests, when they sa<w
him, were angry <that with sinners
in the midst he <reclined
at table. But Jesus heard <it and said:
The he<althy need not the physician.

p. 176
And pray for
your enemies. For he who is not
against you> is for you.
He who today> is far off - tomorrow will be
near to you>.............

The remaining fragments are not translated here, since they are handed down in too poor a state.

[101] 4. Papyrus Cairensis 10 735

Recto (cf. Mt. 2:13)
The angel of the Lord spake: Jo<seph, arise,
take Mary, thy w<ife and
flee to Egypt < .......
........
........
every gift and if < ....
his friends ... <....
of the king ..<....
........

Verso (CF. Lk. 1:3)
... > should interpret to thee. The
archistrategus however> said to the virgin: Behold,
Elisabeth, thy relat>ive has also conceived,
and it is the s>ixth month for her who
was called barren. In> the sixth, that is <in the month Thoth,
did his mother> conceive John.
But it behoved> the archistrategus
to an>nounce <beforehand John, the> servant who goes
before his Lord’s> coming ...

[102] 5. The so-called Fayyum Fragment

After> the meal according to custom (?) (he said:) <All ye
in this> night will be offended,
as> it is written: I will smite the <shepherd,
and the> sheep will be scattered.
When> Peter <said>: Even if all, <not I,
Jesus said:> Before the cock crows twice, <thrice
wilt thou> de<ny me today.
The works from which these fragments derive are currently unknown, but are surely apocryphal gospels. Some may be those mentioned by church fathers, and some may have escaped the notice of the literature that has been preserved.

The citations in the "apostolic" and later church fathers from the various "apocryphal" gospels (see above) would need far more room that is available here. I once created a 16 bit DOS database of those in the apostolic fathers, but such things won't run under Windows 7 or higher. Ben may well have already posted something here or at IIDB/FRDB, or at his Text Excavation site.

DCH
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Ben C. Smith
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Re: Jesus' Agrapha & 1st-mid 2nd Century Inscriptions & Art about Christianity

Post by Ben C. Smith »

DCHindley wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 8:27 amThe citations in the "apostolic" and later church fathers from the various "apocryphal" gospels (see above) would need far more room that is available here. I once created a 16 bit DOS database of those in the apostolic fathers, but such things won't run under Windows 7 or higher. Ben may well have already posted something here or at IIDB/FRDB, or at his Text Excavation site.
What I have on my old site is not exhaustive, and does not cover the manuscript fragments which you listed here (since I cover them separately on my site), but here is the old page: http://textexcavation.com/agrapha.html, unmodified since 2010. The definition I was working with was a bit different than yours, David. You defined the agrapha as sayings transmitted outside of the canon, while I defined them as sayings transmitted outside of the extant gospels. (I think I got that definition from some of my sources.) But still, obviously, the lists will include a lot of the same sayings.
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DCHindley
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Re: Jesus' Agrapha & 1st-mid 2nd Century Inscriptions & Art about Christianity

Post by DCHindley »

Ben C. Smith wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 8:37 am
DCHindley wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 8:27 amThe citations in the "apostolic" and later church fathers from the various "apocryphal" gospels (see above) would need far more room that is available here. I once created a 16 bit DOS database of those in the apostolic fathers, but such things won't run under Windows 7 or higher. Ben may well have already posted something here or at IIDB/FRDB, or at his Text Excavation site.
What I have on my old site is not exhaustive, and does not cover the manuscript fragments which you listed here (since I cover them separately on my site), but here is the old page: http://textexcavation.com/agrapha.html, unmodified since 2010. The definition I was working with was a bit different than yours, David. You defined the agrapha as sayings transmitted outside of the canon, while I defined them as sayings transmitted outside of the extant gospels. (I think I got that definition from some of my sources.) But still, obviously, the lists will include a lot of the same sayings.
Ben,

I'll admit that you are probably more spot-on than I was. Like you (I assume) I have read Schneemelcher's volumes through several times, and I had seen other books from pre-critical age to modern times. These do seem to center their focus on the Canonical Gospels.

Funny thing is that originally I had typed '"canonical gospels," but then remembered vaguely that there are a few places in the rest of the NT where words of Jesus were cited, or placed in his mouth (like the bulk of the book of Revelation, which is a "Revelation of Jesus Christ to his slave John"). So I expanded my personal definition to include the entire NT.

DCH
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rakovsky
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Re: Jesus' Agrapha & 1st-mid 2nd Century Inscriptions & Art about Christianity

Post by rakovsky »

How about the Nazareth inscription: http://www.reformation.org/nazareth-inscription.html

My research on the prophecies of the Messiah's resurrection: http://rakovskii.livejournal.com
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