The Library
1774 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
101–200
2 works
c. 100–150; survives in fragments
Greek
Papyrus Egerton 2
Anonymous
Four scraps of a codex bought in Egypt in 1934. A controversy with the lawyers, an attempted stoning, a leper healed, the tribute question, and a broken miracle at the Jordan where something is sown on the water and fruit appears.
c. 150–200; survives in one leaf
Greek
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 840
Anonymous
A miniature parchment leaf, small enough to be worn as an amulet. A chief priest challenges Jesus for entering the temple court unwashed, and Jesus answers that the priest has bathed in water dogs and pigs lie in, while he and his disciples have been washed in living water from heaven.
201–300
3 works
c. 245
Greek
Origen of Alexandria · c. 185–c. 253
The stenographic record of a synod at which Origen cross-examines a bishop on the relation of the Son to the Father, and then on whether the soul is the blood.
c. 250–300; Papyrus Rylands 470
Greek
Sub Tuum Praesidium
Anonymous
Three lines on a scrap of Egyptian papyrus, asking the Mother of God for shelter and begging her not to overlook the petitions of those in need but to deliver them from danger.
c. 280–300
Greek
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1786
Anonymous
The tail of a hymn to the Trinity on the back of a grain account, written with Greek vocal notation above the words — let all the powers cry amen, amen, might and praise to the only giver of all good things.
301–400
1 work
c. 387
Greek
Didymus the Blind · c. 313–398
Dictated by a scholar blind from childhood who ran the Alexandrian catechetical school, reading the prophet in the full allegorical manner of Origen.
6 of 1774 works