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The Gospels That Didn’t Make the Cut. St Timothy’s Episcopal Church Study Brunch Egyptian Discoveries. Google Map of Egypt and Environs. Location of Major Discoveries (in French). Discoveries at Oxyrhyncus. Major regional city from 4 th century b.c.e . to 7 th century c.e .
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The Gospels That Didn’t Make the Cut St Timothy’s Episcopal Church Study Brunch Egyptian Discoveries
Discoveries at Oxyrhyncus • Major regional city from 4th century b.c.e. to 7th century c.e. • Citizens dumped garbage in the desert west of town • British excavation began 1896 and continues to today • Huge find of texts (classical literary texts, Christian texts, everyday letters and transactions)
Discoveries at Nag Hammadi • 1945: Farmer Mohammed Ali Samman looking for earth for fertilizer • Unearths jar with 12 bound codices • Codices contain “Gnostic” Christian texts written in Coptic • From nearby monastery when such texts were suppressed in 4th century
Characterization of Nag Hammadi Texts • The universe was not created by the highest God • Intense speculation about the true nature of divinity and the supracosmicrealms • Focused on • The soul's eventual break out from the created order and • Patterns of spirituality contributing to this • Saw nothing un-Christian in these views