Sacred Fragments

Bible Study

Give a Note to Encourage

We cannot begin to imagine how much cheer the early People of the Way (Christians) experienced when a letter arrived from Paul, Peter or Timothy.

We have to remember Paul was first in Macedonia and he was imprisoned near the end of his life in Rome.

When Paul wrote to Timothy was in Ephesus.

Peter referred to Babylon in his letters but that was a “code” word for Rome because of persecution.

Mail carriers named for those in prison were Phoebe, Tychicus, Epaproditus, Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus.

These faithful believers hand delivered the letters to the Christians throughout the region.

In all there were 21 letters (and Revelation) written on papyrus and hand delivered to the recipients.

The letters that were written were not only carefully drafted, the delivery of the letters were planned with caution. The mail carriers for the Christian leaders had to be carefully selected because they really were carrying precious cargo.

When Paul or Peter wrote a letter it was often to address a general issue, a serious problem, or give words of encouragement the Apostles believed they needed.

In addition to delivery of the letter from an Apostle the letter carrier would have shared news from Rome or other cities that had visited. It’s essential that we put the letter and the carrier in context at the time it was written.

The carrier was not a mailman.

They brought news from Apostles of Jesus Christ. The carrier would have been an essential part of the process.

Today we do not have adequate context in order to compare the carrier of the sacred letters (documents).

Little did they know at the time that tiny fragments of the letters would end up in museums around the world.

Important papyrus fragments have been found by Archeologists that are from Paul’s Letters and others that date to the a third Century and they remain today.

For example, “Papayri P90 and P104” are fragments of two of the earliest New Testament Manuscripts that are in the Sackler Library Papyrology Room at the University of Oxford in England. These fragments are two of the earliest New Testament manuscripts that have been found.

There are other examples, but what’s important to note is that ancient manuscripts exist and it’s not impossible to think that other fragments will be discovered in future.

All I know is that we can hope.

And we can pray!

Deborah

acrazyjourney.com

P90 (P. Oxy. 3523) comes from an ancient codex of the gospel of John and dates to the second century. Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society (London) and the Oxyrhynchus Imaging Project (Oxford). Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Housed in the Sackler Library Papyrology Room at the University of Oxford, England are two of the earliest New Testament manuscripts.