Just want to tell you how much I like these book reviews and how useful they are. Thanks.
I'm somewhat familiar with Patristic culture, and while the early church did not agree on the contents of their "book" (the Bible) for several centuries, you're correct that they were "bookish", circulating copies of the letters (that would eventually become the Bible) widely. In the 7th century, Mohammed parodied this with his title for Jews & Christians: "people of the book".
The manuscript counts are striking, but the bit that seems more explanatory is the codex point. “The early church was unusually bookish” is a cleaner reason for NT survival than treating the raw counts as a standalone miracle of history.
Just want to tell you how much I like these book reviews and how useful they are. Thanks.
I'm somewhat familiar with Patristic culture, and while the early church did not agree on the contents of their "book" (the Bible) for several centuries, you're correct that they were "bookish", circulating copies of the letters (that would eventually become the Bible) widely. In the 7th century, Mohammed parodied this with his title for Jews & Christians: "people of the book".
The manuscript counts are striking, but the bit that seems more explanatory is the codex point. “The early church was unusually bookish” is a cleaner reason for NT survival than treating the raw counts as a standalone miracle of history.
Somehow I don’t think I realized that you were LDS, or perhaps I knew when I subscribed and lost track of that fact. Very cool! Enjoyed the post