What Do Miniature Codices Tell Us About Early Christianity? #2
As I mentioned in a prior post, I am in the middle of a new 5-part series exploring what the phenomenon of miniature codices teaches us about the early Christian movement. This series is designed to draw out some practical implications (for a lay audience) from my new book with Oxford University Press, Miniature Codices in Early Christianity.
Having already done installment #1, we now turn to the second thing that miniature codices tell us about the early Christian movement. These tiny books demonstrate that early Christians may have engaged in private reading more often than we thought.
You Can’t Read!
In the 1979 film Rocky II, … Continue reading...
Were the Earliest Christians Illiterate?
In the 1979 film Rocky II, the newly famous Rocky Balboa, fresh off his split-decision loss to Apollo Creed, is hired to do a TV commercial. During the filming of the commercial it quickly becomes clear that he can’t read the cue cards. The director, frustrated by how long the filming is taking, ruthlessly mocks Rocky: “You cost us thousands of dollars because you can’t read!”
Rocky is humiliated and embarrassed. Why? Because in our modern, western society most people can read. Reading is the norm. Illiteracy is the exception. It doesn’t matter how famous you are, or how talented you are. If you can’t read, you feel like an … Continue reading...