José O'Callaghan Martínez facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
José O'Callaghan Martínez
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| Born | 7 October 1922  Tortosa |
| Died | 15 December 2001 (aged 79) Barcelona |
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| Occupation | Theologian, archaeologist, historian, papyrologist |
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José O'Callaghan Martínez (born October 7, 1922 – died December 15, 2001) was a Spanish Jesuit priest. He was also a papyrologist and a Biblical scholar.
A papyrologist is someone who studies ancient texts written on papyrus. He was well-known for his work on early Christian papyri. He also famously identified a tiny piece of papyrus from Qumran as a text from the Gospel of Mark.
Contents
Life and Education
José O'Callaghan was born in Tortosa, Tarragona, Spain, in 1922. He joined the Jesuits, a religious order, in 1940. He became a priest in 1952.
He studied at several universities. He earned a degree in Theology in Barcelona in 1953. Later, he received degrees in Philosophy and Literature from the University of Madrid in 1959. He also earned a degree in Classic Literature from the Università di Milano in 1960.
Career and Discoveries
From 1961 to 1971, O'Callaghan was a professor at the Faculty of Theology in Barcelona. There, he started the School of Papyri Studies. This school focused on studying ancient papyrus documents.
In 1971, he moved to Rome to teach at the Pontificio Istituto Biblico. He returned to Barcelona in 1980. He became the dean of the Biblical Faculty from 1983 to 1986. He also started a publication called Studia Papirologica.
José O'Callaghan passed away on December 15, 2001.
The 7Q5 Papyrus Mystery
O'Callaghan became famous for his work on a small piece of papyrus. This fragment was found in Cave 7 at Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. It was called "7Q5" (meaning Cave 7, Qumran, Papyrus 5).
Before O'Callaghan's work, many scholars believed that no texts from the New Testament were found at Qumran. People thought it was impossible for early Christian documents to be there.
O'Callaghan wasn't specifically looking for New Testament texts. He was interested in identifying fragments that others couldn't figure out. He noticed some clear letters on the 7Q5 fragment. He thought they might be part of the name for the Sea of Galilee, which is sometimes called the Sea of Genneseret.
After much study, he concluded that 7Q5 could be a tiny piece of the Gospel of Mark. He published his findings in 1972 in a work titled "¿Papiros neotestamentarios en la cueva 7 de Qumrân?" (New Testament Papyri in Cave 7 at Qumran?).
The Scholarly Debate
Many scholars disagreed with O'Callaghan's idea. The papyrus had been dated to around 50 CE (Common Era) or earlier. This was much earlier than most scholars believed the New Testament was written. Because of this, O'Callaghan faced a lot of criticism and felt isolated.
However, in 1982, Professor Carsten Peter Thiede reviewed O'Callaghan's research. Thiede believed that O'Callaghan's ideas were logical and his scientific methods were sound. Thiede's work, "The Earliest Gospel Manuscript?", brought the discussion back to life.
Even today, most papyrus experts do not agree with O'Callaghan's conclusion about 7Q5. However, his work sparked an important debate about the dating of early Christian texts.
Main Works
- Las tres categorías estéticas de la cultura clásica, Madrid, 1960.
- Cartas cristianas griegas del siglo V, Barcelona, 1963.
- Studia Papirologica.
- ¿Papiro neotestamentarios en la cueva 7 de Qumrán?, Biblica, 1972.
See also
In Spanish: José O’Callaghan para niños
