Reason Number 4: P52
Never heard of P52 (also known as Rylands Library Papyrus)? Don’t worry . . . Most Christians have not. P52 is the earliest known manuscript of the New Testament. It is a little piece of the Gospel of John that dates to the early second century. The significance of this little manuscript for the Christian faith is incredible. You see, before its discovery in the early twentieth-century, most liberal theologians were dead set against dating the book of John anywhere before A.D. 150. This would mean, among other things, that John could not have been the author of this Gospel (much less an eye-witness). Once this discovery was made, this pushed the origin of the Gospel back to the dating orthodox Christians have always believed.
P52 is one of the great apologetic defenses of the origin of the Gospels. It may be a little fragment, but this fragment says so much.
During this course with Dan Wallace, you will learn not only many more details about P52, but also of P66, Codex Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and many more manuscripts that help build our faith. Their discoveries are amazing and, believe me, Dan Wallace has all the insight.
Keep the Faith. It is a cross to bear, but it is true.
Michael Patton
President, Credo House Ministries
www.credohouse.org
2 replies to "Seven Reasons to Love Textual Criticism: #4 P52"
Michael,
Wasn’t sure how else to leave a note on this, so I’m dropping it in various related blog posts.
I’ve made a $600 contribution to your kickstarter on this project, but only want the $200 package. I would like the remaining $400 to be applied toward the eventual full DVD packages for the next two projects, on the Res and the historical Jesus (assuming a parallel package level there). I realize those won’t be available for a considerable time and that’s fine; as you noted, any extra you raise for this project goes to help future projects. I’m just specifying in advance what package I’m buying for the future projects.
(Primarily I’m investing in this for my nieces, for when they get old enough to benefit from these courses.)
Please drop a line here, or an email to the address listed in my comment.
Do you have any evidence to prove the validity of Pauls so called gospals and doctrine? That would be the argument that I would be interested in hearing.