About this item
A provocative book from a highly original scholar, challenging much of what we know about early Christian manuscripts In this bold and groundbreaking book, Brent Nongbri provides an up-to-date introduction to the major collections of early Christian manuscripts and demonstrates that much of what we thought we knew about these books and fragments is mistaken. While biblical scholars have expended much effort in their study of the texts contained within our earliest Christian manuscripts, there has been a surprising lack of interest in thinking about these books as material objects with individual, unique histories. We have too often ignored the ways that the antiquities market obscures our knowledge of the origins of these manuscripts. Through painstaking archival research and detailed studies of our most important collections of early Christian manuscripts, Nongbri vividly shows how the earliest Christian books are more than just carriers of texts or samples of handwriting.
About the Author
Brent Nongbri is a specialist in the study of religion with a focus on ancient Christianity. He has taught at Yale University, Oberlin College, Macquarie University (Australia) , and Aarhus University (Denmark) . His work has been published in academic journals in a variety of fields including early Judaism, biblical studies, and Greek papyrology, as well as method and theory in the study of religion. With over a decade of archaeological experience working on Roman era sites in Italy and Israel, he is well versed in the material culture of the ancient Mediterranean world. Raised in Texas, Nongbri is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and earned his doctorate at Yale University. He is married to classical archaeologist Mary Jane Cuyler.
