New testament studies and documentary papyri. Interactions and new perspectives

The present contribution offers a few exemplifications of the directions in which the study of documentary papyri may interact with and assist the study of the New Testament. The papyrological record provides the opportunity to analyze the lexical phenomena occurring in the earliest Christian texts in the most appropriate context of contemporary koine uses. However, papyrological evidence constitutes also the most fruitful venue to observe the socio-cultural dynamics that are the background of many New Testament passages, but are often left implicit as it is usual for all literary texts. Hopefully, a more sustained attention to documentary papyri will allow to overcome the methodological and ideological problems generated by traditional treatments of the New Testament as “unique” or secluded from the remnant of the ancient intellectual experience and literary production.

本文旨在举例说明纸草文献（documentary papyri）研究与新约圣经研究之间能够形成互动并为后者提供助力的若干方向。纸草学文献记录为我们在最贴合当代通用希腊语（Koine Greek）使用语境的前提下，分析早期基督教文本中的词汇现象提供了契机。然而，纸草学文献证据同样是观察诸多新约经文背后社会文化动态的最富有成效的场域——正如所有文学文本的普遍规律，这些社会文化动态往往未被明确阐释。我们期待，对纸草文献给予更为持续的关注，将有助于解决传统研究范式所引发的方法论与意识形态层面的问题：这类传统范式往往将新约圣经视为“独树一帜”的存在，或将其与古代学术活动与文学创作的其余遗存割裂开来。