Writings: ChristianityPapyrus 523 of 10

Writings: Christianity

Papyrus 52

Papyrus 52 is a small scrap of papyrus, 8.9 by 6.0 centimeters, carrying verses from John 18 in Greek. It is held at the John Rylands Library in Manchester. Its handwriting was first dated to 100 to 150 CE, and scholars differ on how closely handwriting can fix a date.

Last reviewed:

Three dates, kept apart

  1. The text's date: the tradition's view

    near the close of the first century CE, by the apostle John (Orthodox Church in America); the Catholic and evangelical statements used here give no year

  2. The text's date: critical scholars' view

    the 90s CE, by an author the text does not name (Dale Martin of Yale; the Catholic bishops' New American Bible)

  3. This copy made

    100 to 150 CE as first given by Colin Roberts (about 125 CE in common use); 125 to 175 CE for Pasquale Orsini and Willy Clarysse; a range extending into the third century CE for Brent Nongbri; the bar shows the first editor's range

  4. This copy found

    bought in Egypt in 1920 (no clear record of where it was found); published 1935

All four rows share one timeline. A row with no marker says why in words. How ancient texts are dated.

What it is

Papyrus 52 is a small piece of a codex, an early kind of book with turning pages, made from papyrus (a paper-like sheet pressed from reeds). It measures 8.9 by 6.0 centimeters and carries John 18:31-33 on one side and 18:37-38 on the other, the scene in which Jesus stands before Pilate.1 The text is Greek, written in black ink.2 The Manchester library estimates that each page held eighteen lines and that a codex holding only John would have run to about 130 pages.1

How the copy was dated

The first editor, Colin Roberts, published the fragment in 1935 and dated it to the first half of the second century CE, between 100 and 150 CE.13 The Manchester library explains that the date was estimated by paleography, the study of old handwriting, which compares the writing with other manuscripts. Nongbri notes that the date generally assigned is about 125 CE, and the library adds that recent research points to a date nearer to 200 CE.13

In a 2012 study, the paleographers Pasquale Orsini and Willy Clarysse date the earliest New Testament papyri by comparative paleography and give 125 to 175 CE for this fragment. They hold that some other scholars' dates for the earliest papyri are often too early.45 J. K. Elliott wrote in 2010, in words Nongbri quotes in a note, that experts are generally agreed it was written by the mid-second century.3

Brent Nongbri, author of a 2018 book on early Christian manuscripts, holds that handwriting cannot give so precise a date. In a 2020 article he holds that the date of about 125 CE rests entirely on paleography, and that the range of possible handwriting dates for the fragment extends into the third century CE.3 He notes that the fragment is regularly publicized as the earliest extant Christian manuscript.3 The sources used here give no count of scholars for each range, though J. K. Elliott wrote in 2010, in words Nongbri quotes, that experts are generally agreed that it was written by the mid-second century.3

For the methods behind these dates, see how ancient texts are dated.

The text: its date and authorship

The tradition's account

Irenaeus, an early church writer, teaches that John, a disciple of Jesus, published a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.6 Catholic teaching, in the Second Vatican Council's Dei Verbum, holds that the four Gospels are of apostolic origin and gives no year.7 The Orthodox Church in America's catechism holds that the Gospel of John is the work of the beloved disciple and apostle, written near the close of the first century.8

The Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message holds that the Bible was written by men divinely inspired.9 The evangelical Chicago Statement holds that source study must not reject a book's own account of who wrote it.10 Neither names an author or year for John.

The historians' view

Dale Martin of Yale holds that modern scholars regard all four Gospels as anonymous, since the texts do not name their authors.11 He holds that the beloved disciple in John is an unidentified figure, though tradition names him as John, son of Zebedee, and that John may have been written in the 90s CE.1213

The Catholic bishops' New American Bible, in an introduction that applies critical analysis, holds that John was probably written in the 90s CE, with its final editing between 90 and 100 CE. It adds that most modern scholars find the evidence does not support John, son of Zebedee, as the eyewitness behind it.14

How it was found

Henry Guppy, the Rylands librarian, wrote in 1935 that the fragment belongs to a group of papyri acquired in Egypt in 1920 by Bernard Grenfell.15 Published accounts of the purchase are vague, and no clear record shows where it was found.3 Nongbri writes that he thinks most people who study the fragment had been under the impression that Roberts found the fragment among papyri Grenfell left unsorted at his death in 1926. His reading of the library's archives is instead that Grenfell did not buy blindly in 1920.15

What it shows, and what it does not

On the usual dating, it shows that a codex containing the Gospel of John was being copied in the second century CE. On Nongbri's wider range, it shows that such a codex existed by some point in the third century CE.13 It was bought in Egypt, with no clear record of its find-spot.153

It does not show who wrote the Gospel of John or when, since the scrap carries a few verses and no author's name. It does not fix its own date either: the date rests on handwriting comparison, and with no clear record of where it was found it has no archaeological layer to anchor it.13

Sources

  1. Papyri: Greek P 457 (Rylands Library Papyrus P52, the St John Fragment). University of Manchester Library, Digital Collections, item description. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  2. Manuscript P52. Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM), catalog record. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  3. Brent Nongbri. Palaeography, Precision and Publicity: Further Thoughts on P.Ryl.iii.457 (P52). New Testament Studies 66.4, Cambridge University Press, 2020, pp. 471 to 499; abstract and reference notes. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  4. Tommy Wasserman. Theological Palaeography Reassessment. Evangelical Textual Criticism (blog), summarizing a post by Larry Hurtado, 2013, blog post of March 11, 2013. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  5. Garrick V. Allen, Usama Ali Mohamed Gad, Kelsie Gayle Rodenbiker, Anthony Philip Royle, and Jill Unkel (editors). The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri at Ninety: Literature, Papyrology, Ethics. De Gruyter (Manuscripta Biblica 10), 2023, Sharp and Nongbri, pp. 37 to 38 and note 14; Unkel, pp. 51 to 65 and 68; Wasserman, pp. 143 to 144 and 151. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  6. Irenaeus of Lyons. Against Heresies, Book III, Chapter 1. New Advent (from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, trans. Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut, 1885), section 1. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  7. Second Vatican Council. Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. Holy See, 1965, sections 9, 10, 11, 18, 19, and 22. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  8. Thomas Hopko. The Orthodox Faith, Volume I: Doctrine and Scripture, New Testament: Gospels. Orthodox Church in America, opening sections and the sections on Luke and John. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  9. Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000. Southern Baptist Convention, 2000, Articles I and VII. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  10. International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, summary statement, Articles XII and XVIII. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  11. Dale B. Martin. Introduction to New Testament History and Literature (RLST 152), Lecture 2: From Stories to Canon. Open Yale Courses, Yale University, transcript. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  12. Dale B. Martin. Introduction to New Testament History and Literature (RLST 152), Lecture 11: Johannine Christianity: the Gospel. Open Yale Courses, Yale University, transcript. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  13. Dale B. Martin. Introduction to New Testament History and Literature (RLST 152), Lecture 12: Johannine Christianity: the Letters. Open Yale Courses, Yale University, transcript. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  14. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. New American Bible, Revised Edition: Introduction to the Gospel according to John. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, introduction. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  15. Brent Nongbri. A New Article on P52 in New Testament Studies. Variant Readings (the author's blog), 2020, blog post of September 25, 2020. Accessed 2026-11-05.