Lettered Christians: Christians, Letters, and Late Antique

452 Pages·2012·3.24 MB·English

by  Lincoln H. Blumell

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Lettered Christians
www.facebook.com/groups/med.history Salah Zyada
New Testament Tools,
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NewTestamentTools,Studies,andDocuments(NTTSD)combinestwoseries,New
TestamentToolsandStudies(NTTS)andStudiesandDocuments(SD).Theformerwas
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Editors
BartD.Ehrman,Ph.D.,
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EldonJ.Epp,Ph.D.,
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DeanofHumanitiesandSocialSciencesEmeritus,
CaseWesternReserveUniversity,Cleveland,Ohio
VOLUME39
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.nl/ntts
www.facebook.com/groups/med.history Salah Zyada
Lettered Christians
Christians, Letters, and Late Antique Oxyrhynchus
By
LincolnH.Blumell
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2012
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Blumell,LincolnH.(LincolnHarris),1975-
LetteredChristians:Christians,letters,andlateantiqueOxyrhynchus/byLincolnH.Blumell.
p.cm.–(NewTestamenttools,studies,anddocuments,ISSN0077-8842;v.39)
Revisionoftheauthor'sthesis(doctoral)–UniversityofToronto,2009.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindexes.
ISBN978-90-04-18095-6(hardback:alk.paper)
1.Christianliterature,Early.2.Oxyrhynchuspapyri.I.Title.
BR67.B582012
276.2'201–dc23
2011045891
Thispublicationhasbeentypesetinthemultilingual“Brill”typeface.Withover5,100
characterscoveringLatin,IPA,Greek,andCyrillic,thistypefaceisespeciallysuitablefor
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ISSN0077-8842
ISBN9789004180956(hardback)
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uxorietfiliismeis
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements..................................................... ix
Abbreviations........................................................... xi
EditingSigla ............................................................ xv
ColourPlates ...................................................followingxv
1. Introduction ......................................................... 1
I. ScholarshipandtheChristianRemainsfromOxyrhynchus ..... 8
II. TheStudy:ArgumentandStructure ............................. 12
III. Caveats .......................................................... 16
2. WritingChristian .................................................... 27
I. ScholarshipandPapyrusLettersWrittenbyChristians.......... 32
II. MarkersofChristianIdentitywithinLetters..................... 36
i. TheNomenChristianumandSelf-Identification............. 37
ii. CrossesandMonograms..................................... 43
iii. IsopsephismsandAcrostics ................................. 46
iv. NominaSacra................................................ 49
v. MonotheisticTerminologyandPhraseology ................ 52
a. InvocationsandObeisances.............................. 53
b. GreetingsandFarewells .................................. 55
c. MonotheisticEpithets .................................... 57
d. MonotheisticPhrases..................................... 61
vi. FamilialLanguageandtheUseofἀγαπητός ................. 68
vii. MiscellaneousMarkers ...................................... 70
viii.Conclusions ................................................. 78
ix. Postscript.................................................... 85
3. MappingChristians:TravelandEpistolaryNetworksinChristian
LettersfromOxyrhynchus........................................... 89
I. TravelandCommunicationinRomanandByzantineEgypt .... 90
II. DetectableTravelMotivesintheLetters ........................ 103
III. PatternsofTravelandEpistolaryNetworks...................... 120
IV. Conclusions...................................................... 154
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viii contents
4. ChristiansoftheBook? .............................................. 163
I. ChristiansandTheirTexts....................................... 166
II. LearnedChristians?.............................................. 183
III. TheUseof“Scripture”intheLetters ............................. 208
i. ScripturalCitations.......................................... 210
ii. ScripturalQuotations........................................ 218
iii. ScripturalEchoesandReminiscences ....................... 220
IV. Conclusions...................................................... 232
5. What’sinaName? ................................................... 237
I. OnomasticDataandReligiousAdherenceinAntiquity ......... 240
II. NominaChristiana............................................... 249
i. BiblicalNames............................................... 249
ii. NamesofMartyrsandSaints ................................ 250
iii. NamesCarryingChristianConnotations .................... 260
III. NominaChristianainEpistulae .................................. 262
i. BiblicalNames............................................... 263
ii. NamesofMartyrsandSaints ................................ 265
iii. NamesCarryingChristianConnotations .................... 267
iv. FemaleNames............................................... 269
IV. NominaPagana.................................................. 272
V. Conclusions...................................................... 275
6. ReadingSomeoneElse’sMail........................................ 281
Epilogue.TheDemiseofChristianOxyrhynchus....................... 295
Appendix ............................................................... 301
Bibliography............................................................ 371
IndexofAncientAuthors............................................... 399
IndexofBiblicalReferences ............................................ 401
IndexofSelectGreekTermsandPhrases............................... 406
IndexofModernAuthors............................................... 408
IndexofPapyriandInscriptions........................................ 415
IndexofSubjects ....................................................... 426
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thepresentstudyisarevisedversionofmydoctoraldissertation,whichwas
submitted to the Department and Centre for the Study of Religion at the
UniversityofTorontoinJuly2009.First,Iowemanythankstomysupervi-
sor,Prof.JohnS.Kloppenborg,whoseconstantencouragement,advice,and
directionwasindispensabletothisproject.Similarly,Ialsoowethanksto
theothermembersofmycommittee,Dr.NickEverettandProf.PaulSwar-
ney,aswellastomytwoexternalexaminers,Dr.MichelCottierandProf.
EldonJ.Epp,forprovidingmewithmanyvaluableinsightsanddirectives.
IalsooweadebtofgratitudetoDr.PetervanMinnen,whowasnotoffi-
ciallyinvolvedwithmydissertationbutwhohasbeenprofoundlyhelpful
andextremelygenerouswithofferingadviceanddirectionwhensolicited.
I also want to thank Stephen Brown, Alex MacDonnell, and Prof. Wayne
O.McCreadyfortheconstantsupportandencouragementtheyprovided
during the writing of this dissertation and to Joseph Antley and Erik Yin-
glingforreadingoverdraftsandcheckingfootnotes.
IwanttothankProf.BartD.EhrmanandProf.EldonJ.Eppforaccepting
thisstudyaspartoftheNewTestamentTools,Studies,andDocumentsseries.
Ifeelitagenuinehonourtohavemyworkassociatedwiththisexcellent
series. Likewise, I want to thank Mattie Kuiper and the editorial board
at Brill for their patience as I was revising my dissertation and for their
exemplaryworkonthisvolume.
Lastly, I owe a profound debt of gratitude to my family. To my par-
ents,BruceandJeanBlumell,wordscannotadequatelyexpresshowmuch
I thank you for your overwhelming support and encouragement at every
step in this process. Likewise, to my wife, Melissa, and to my four chil-
dren, Luke, Grace, Charlotte, and Claire, I sincerely thank you for your
sustained patience, support, encouragement, and love, without such this
projectwouldhavebeenimpossible.