An Ancient Gospel Papyrus
An interesting ancient papyrus is now under examination at the Strasburg Library, a London despatch to the New York Sun tells us. It is thought by some of the Egyptologists to be fragments of a gospel, rejected as uncanonical in the third century but widely accepted in the second. The papyrus dates from the fifth century, “but the character of the Greek words which are textually reproduced proves that the original manuscript belongs to the second century. An interesting feature is the very close connection apparently existing between it and the Logia of Christ, the recovery of which three years ago caused a sensation. It is suggested that both are practically pages of the same manuscript.” But all this is largely in the way of suggestion and opinion. Another fine ancient papyrus, in the British Museum, written between A.D. 70 and 80, has, after five years’ work, just been published. It consists of a collection of folk legends current in Egypt at that date. Among them is one, concerning one Sosiris, which indicates that it was based on the story of the Gospel.