Digitizing the Ancient Versions of the Apostolic Fathers: Preliminary Considerations

This contribution offers a reflection on digitizing the Ancient Translations of the Apostolic Fathers (AnTrAF). This corpus contains an interesting sample of early Christian texts, originally written in Greek, which is most relevant for our understanding of Early Christianity. The versions, interesting and varied as they may be, have received considerably less attention. These translations display quite a complex picture that deserves a treatment of its own and opens venues for a digitizing project. The versions are witnesses to the separate reception of these writings in new language spaces, including Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Old Church Slavonic and Middle Persian. With one notable exception—the Latin versions of the Shepherd of Hermas —critical editions of these versions are either still lacking or at least half a century old. The latter have not been systematically updated, despite the fact that new manuscripts have been discovered. This chapter offers some programmatic reflections on the possibilities, difficulties and challenges of developing a digital environment for accessing the AnTrAF, in view of other ongoing digital projects on early Christian literature.

ISBN:9783110559897

Publication year:2021

Accessibility:Closed