{"product_id":"gods-library-the-archaeology-of-the-earliest-christian-manuscripts-9780300248609","title":"God's Library: The Archaeology of the Earliest Christian Manuscripts","description":"\u003cb\u003eA provocative book from a highly original scholar, challenging much of what we know about early Christian manuscripts\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"[Nongbri] sets out to demystify the 'discovery' of ancient writings, advancing a more sober and realistic framework for assessing the breathless claims and counterclaims that appear in the media. . . . For those wanting to know something of the material basis for the world's most published (and possibly, read) book, Nongbri's own book is a gift.\"--Luke Timothy Johnson, \u003ci\u003eCommonweal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this bold and groundbreaking book, Brent Nongbri provides an up-to-date introduction to the major collections of early Christian manuscripts and demonstrates that much of what we thought we knew about these books and fragments is mistaken. While biblical scholars have expended much effort in their study of the texts contained within the earliest Christian manuscripts, there has been a surprising lack of interest in thinking about these books as material objects with individual, unique histories. We have too often ignored the ways that the antiquities market obscures our knowledge of the origins of these manuscripts. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Through painstaking archival research and detailed studies of the most important collections of early Christian manuscripts, Nongbri vividly shows that the earliest Christian books are more than just carriers of texts or samples of handwriting. They are three-dimensional archaeological artifacts with fascinating stories to tell, if we're willing to listen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrent Nongbri\u003c\/b\u003e is an Honorary Research Fellow at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and the author of \u003ci\u003eBefore Religion: A History of a Modern Concept\u003c\/i\u003e and numerous articles on the paleography and codicology of early Christian manuscripts.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Yale University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51648956530962,"sku":"9780300248609","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8bf6f3cd-f51e-427f-b40f-99c72e6da423.jpg?v=1759840077","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/gods-library-the-archaeology-of-the-earliest-christian-manuscripts-9780300248609","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}