Ben C Smith

No problem.

And here is an obvious one I missed: John 4.2 is a suspected addition, since it seems to conflict with John 3.22, 26.

There are undoubtedly others, and, if the text is indeed layered, there are probably some parts that do not show their layering as well (that is, they were edited more smoothly).

(Also, keep in mind that sometimes the author himself is juggling sources and commits little errors in doing so; editorial seams are not always a sign of an editor other than the author, since authors become editors when they use sources.)

Ben.

Clivedurdle

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...hesecularweb09

One of the stories in the pig that wants to be eaten is about a ship, badly damaged, that is repaired, and how bits from the original ship with new bits are also made into the ship. The point is, which is the real original ship?

We have in these texts plenty of evidence that they are using old ideas all over the place - this one refers directly to a court practice of a new king being made a son.

We have clear evidence of a variety of views about sonship.

Why do we assume there is a starting point - an original gospel of John for example that was later amended? Is that also not a fiction? I amend the next word I am going to write!

The concept of publication version is a useful device, but that is all.

Clivedurdle

Could this have happened if someone dropped the sheets? So we are talking about the transfer from rolls by someone who was a reasonable copyist but could not read?

A sudden gust of wind through a monastery scriptorium?

(the spirit moves in mysterious ways! - would they have thought of this as divine guidance?)