EARLY BIBLE M.S.S.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 January 1935, Page 6

EARLY BIBLE M.S.S.

BRITISH MUSEUM ACQUISITION

OLDEST CHRISTIAN WRITING

'United Press Association— By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.)

(Received this day at 2.40 p.m.) LONDON, January . -The British*' "Museum has acquired fragments of Greek papyri liom Egypt relating to the Gospel, and believed to be older than any known New Testament manuscript.

The fragments, consist of four pages in literary hand, appearing to date not later than the middle of the second century, A.D.

One page contains a dialogue between Jesus anti the Jewish authorities, revealing striking agreements between the New Gospel and St. John. The episode ends with attempts to stone Jesus, and then seize and hand Him over to the multitude, hut it was unsuccessful “because the hour of His betrayal was not yet come.” The Mu seum authorities express the opinion that the fragments arc the earliest hit of Christian writing at present known, probably 'ante-dating the Chester Beatty manuscripts of the New Testament by over half a century, and carrying well into the subapostolic age. One incident, recorded on the mod damaged surface, according to Air H. Idris Bell, keeper of the Museum manuscripts, is a “curiou s and nnparall.nlHod” incident, which q/corred on the hanks of the Jordan. According to Mr Bell’s interpretation, Jesus asks a “strange question,” which astonished HJs hearers, but the context at present is largely obscure. Mr Bell explains that, although the mniiuschipts ;M’o incomplete in height and breadth, it is possible to comiplete the (lines with n high degree of probability, bv the help of parallels in the New Testament, and from recognisable sense.