New ‘Gospel’ Manuscript Discovered? (What It Is and Why It Matters.)
By Michael J Kruger, TGC.
In 1896, near the ruins of an ancient Egyptian city called Oxyrhynchus, British scholars Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt made a remarkable discovery. They’d traveled to the ancient city in hopes of finding papyrus manuscripts. What they found was beyond their wildest dreams.
They came across the ancient city’s garbage dump—filled with thousands upon thousands of manuscripts. So enormous was the find that the archaeologists were overwhelmed. Grenfell described it later: “The flow of papyri became a torrent which it was difficult to cope with.”
For the last 127 years, the site of Oxyrhynchus has continued to produce manuscripts. While most of these manuscripts are fairly routine discoveries—including what we call “documentary” papyri like receipts, letters, and contracts—occasionally the site reveals something more significant, even exhilarating.
Significance of Oxyrhynchus
As a general rule, ancient manuscripts are hard to come by. Most have perished over the years for a variety of reasons—destroyed by foreign armies, burned in fires, eaten by insects, rotted or decayed, or simply lost. We never have as many as we’d like.
Thanks to Oxyrhynchus, though, we have manuscripts of the New Testament we might never have expected to have. Before the 20th century, we possessed very few of what we call New Testament papyri—copies of the New Testament on papyrus, typically earlier than the later parchment manuscripts.
Since Grenfell and Hunt’s discovery, though, the number of New Testament papyri in our possession has exploded. So much so that well over 40 percent of our New Testament papyri come from the single site of Oxyrhynchus. And some of these are early in date, even from the second and third centuries.
As a recent (and rather famous) example, the 83rd volume of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri published a papyrus fragment of the Gospel of Mark, P.Oxy. 5345. Why was this such a big deal? Because for years, there had been rumors swirling about a manuscript from Mark dated to the first century—which would make it the earliest New Testament manuscript in existence. When P.Oxy. 5345 was unveiled, it turned out to be dated to the late second or early third century, not the first. Even so, this manuscript is still remarkably early and is the oldest copy of Mark’s Gospel in our possession.
But Oxyrhynchus has not just supplied copies of the New Testament. It has also been a treasure trove for what we call “apocryphal” writings—that is, writings about Jesus that weren’t included in our Bibles. The very first manuscript from Oxyrhynchus—fittingly labeled P.Oxy. 1—was not a copy of the New Testament but a copy of the Gospel of Thomas. Other copies of Thomas have been found there (P.Oxy. 654, 655), along with a number of other apocryphal texts (e.g., Acts of Paul, Acts of Peter, Gospel of Peter).
And that brings us to our current topic—and the latest exhilarating find from Oxyrhynchus. Less than a month ago, on August 31, 2023, the 87th volume of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri was published—and therein we learn of a remarkable fragment, P.Oxy. 5575. The internet has been buzzing about it ever since. Let’s explore why.
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