Lettered Christians : Christians, letters, and late antique Oxyrhynchus / by Lincoln H. Blumell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blumell, Lincoln H. (Lincoln Harris), 1975-

Series:

New Testament tools, studies and documents ; v. 39.

New Testament tools, studies and documents

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christian literature, Early.

Oxyrhynchus papyri.

Physical Description:

xiii, 427 pages : color illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2012.

Summary:

With the discovery of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri just over a century ago a number of important texts directly relating to ancient Christianity have come to light, While certain literary texts have received considerable attention in scholarship by comparison the documentary evidence relating to Christianity has received far less attention and remains rather obscure. To help redress this imbalance, and to lend some context to the Christian literary materials, this book examines the extant Christian epistolary remains from Oxyrhynchus between the third and seventh centuries CE. Drawing upon this unique corpus of evidence, which until this point has never been collectively nor systematically treated, this book breaks new ground as it employs the letters to consider various questions relating to Christianity in the Oxyrhynchite. Not only does this lucid study fill a void in scholarship, it also gives a number of insights that have larger implications on Christianity in late antiquity. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

I Scholarship and the Christian Remains from Oxyrhynchus 8

II The Study: Argument and Structure 12

III Caveats 16

2 Writing Christian 27

I Scholarship and Papyrus Letters Written by Christians 32

II Markers of Christian Identity within Letters 36

i The Nomen Christianum and Self-Identification 37

ii Crosses and Monograms 43

iii Isopsephisms and Acrostics 46

iv Nomina Sacra 49

v Monotheistic Terminology and Phraseology 52

a Invocations and Obeisances 53

b Greetings and Farewells 55

c Monotheistic Epithets 57

d Monotheistic Phrases 61

vi Familial Language and the Use of αγαπητος 68

vii Miscellaneous Markers 70

viii Conclusions 78

ix Postscript 85

3 Mapping Christians: Travel and Epistolary Networks in Christian Letters from Oxyrhynchus 89

I Travel and Communication in Roman and Byzantine Egypt 90

II Detectable Travel Motives in the Letters 103

III Patterns of Travel and Epistolary Networks 120

IV Conclusions 154

4 Christians of the Book? 163

I Christians and Their Texts 166

II Learned Christians? 183

III The Use of "Scripture" in the Letters 208

i Scriptural Citations 210

ii Scriptural Quotations 218

iii Scriptural Echoes and Reminiscences 220

IV Conclusions 232

5 What's in a Name? 237

I Onomastic Data and Religious Adherence in Antiquity 240

II Nomina Christiana 249

i Biblical Names 249

ii Names of Martyrs and Saints 250

iii Names Carrying Christian Connotations 260

III Nomina Christiana in Epistulae 262

i Biblical Names 263

ii Names of Martyrs and Saints 265

iii Names Carrying Christian Connotations 267

iv Female Names 269

IV Nomina Pagana 272

V Conclusions 275

6 Reading Someone Else's Mail 281.

Notes:

Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Toronto, 2009.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9789004180956

9004180958

OCLC:

761482070