The Scroll and the Codex

With Larry Hurtado

Last November, I noticed the passing of Larry Hurtado, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. I recalled a particularly gracious interview that I had with him about ten years ago that I’m finally getting around to replaying now, in his honor. We were talking about news attention given at that time to a mysterious document, a tiny lead book called a codex, which eventually was judged a modern forgery. Larry Hurtado pointed out that it was the early Christians who lead the way in the transition from the scroll to the codex for written material.

tags: Hurtado scroll codex Christians

Jerusalem Inscription/The Scroll vs. The Codex

With Clyde Billington

The cover story of the latest issue of ARTIFAX magazine reports on the discovery of an inscription from 100 BC that mentions Jerusalem. The inscription was found at the west end of modern Jerusalem, near the central bus station. It appears 2,000 years ago this was a small pottery village that served the nearby city of Jerusalem and the pilgrims who visited its temple. We also discuss a column by Larry Hurtado in the November/December issue of Biblical Archaeology Review which reports that it were the early Christians who pioneered a new innovation in writing, the codex, which eventually displaced the scroll. The evidence is overwhelming, and fascinating.

tags: Jerusalem Inscription Dodalos potter village scroll codex Christian writers Scripture

The Lead Codices, part 2

With prof. Larry Hurtado, University of Edinburgh

A conversation about the depictions of the cross by early Christians, prompted by the discovery of lead tablets which might be ancient. Or not.

tags: Lead codex metal codices Larry Hurtado early Christians Dead Sea Scrolls Jordan staurogram silly season