Articles

A NEW LOOK AT THE LETTERS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

by Bishop Paul Peter Jesep

"... the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Colossians 2:2-3

Dr. David Trobisch, one of the world's leading authorities on St. Paul, recently returned from sabbatical to resume teaching at Bangor Theological Seminary, the third oldest such school in the United States. During his one-year absence from the Maine seminary he studied a Ninth century copy of the apostle's letters --Codex Boernerianus "one of the seven manuscripts of the Letters of Paul used to establish the Greek text of the Letters of Paul in critical editions." His scholarship may alter Christian insight, understanding, and interpretation of the Bible. In July 2004, findings will be presented at the International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.

      According to the Throckmorton-Hayes Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, "A significant part of my published Heidelberg dissertation (Die Entstehung der Paulusbriefsammlung, 1989) concentrated on the manuscript tradition of the Letters of Paul."

      "It was extensively reviewed and is used as a point of reference in scholarly publications worldwide," he said. Trobisch has maintained a lifelong interest in this area of scholarship.

      Turning to his sabbatical he reflected, "Before book printing was invented all text had to be copied by hand. In the case of the Letters of Paul there are 776 hand-written copies of either all the letters or portions that have survived."

      "[In 2002], when I visited a friend in Dresden," Dr. Trobisch said, "I wanted to see one of those nine manuscripts that are used to reconstruct the Letters of Paul. It's in one of the museums there." Any study of the letter became a challenge because, "this manuscript had been damaged during the bombing of Dresden in World War II."

      He noted, "Although written in the Ninth century there are indications that the manuscript preserves an edition of the Second century."

      According to Dr. Trobisch, who is fluent in both Greek and Hebrew, "the text of Codex Boernerianus documents an edition of Paul that competed with the edition we now read in our Bibles. Famous variants are: The Letter to the Hebrews was not included, the address of Romans to Rome (Rom 1:7,15) is missing, and the notorious 'Women should be silent in church' (1 Cor 14:34) is edited and rearranged in this manuscript."

      "Out of the 776 manuscripts only four have enough evidence that Hebrews was not part of the first edition," according to the graduate of the University of Heidelberg. "Another striking find is that Romans was not addressed to the Romans. It has the title, but in the text where Paul says I'm writing to those in Rome it has 'to those who love God.' It becomes a very general letter."

      "There are numerous cases where the editor re-arranged verses to make it more readable. One of the most famous passages in this particular manuscript is 1 Corinthians 14 --'women should be silent.' The verse is taken out of context and placed at the end of the chapter. It has always led to a lot of speculation including that it was originally not there at all. The scribes added it, but didn't want to place it in a way that disturbed any context. So they put it toward the end of the chapter."

      Dr. Trobisch, born in West Africa to American Lutheran Church missionary parents, noted that "one of the reasons why I'm interested in this kind of work is that an electronic version will be made available over the Internet. This is what I advocate in the scholarly community. Every page of every manuscript of the New Testament should be accessible to everyone in the world."

      "The invitation to help with a photographic edition of Codex Boernerianus was a once in a lifetime chance for me and I didn't want to miss it. It brings together my expertise in New Testament text criticism with my computer background and multi-media work as a consultant for the American Bible Society (1994-2000)," he said.

      Trobisch, a prolific writer and highly sought after speaker, will have much more to say on his research as he lecturers throughout the world. Prior to this particular study he authored Paul's Letter Collection to examine the apostle's work as a "unit," not as specific texts, as is often the case. In this short, critically acclaimed book, the author offers a fresh and readable glimpse into the world of Paul, maintaining scholarly integrity while making an important contribution to the body of knowledge. The book is an excellent complement to his most recent theological scholarship.

The Right Rev. Paul Peter Jesep is an auxiliary bishop in the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church-Sobornopravna of Europe and the Americas. His Grace serves as Chancellor of the Archeparchy and Vicar General of Public Affairs and Government Relations. He may be reached at VladykaPaulPeter@aol.com.