Writings: ChristianityPapyrus 665 of 10

Writings: Christianity

Papyrus 66

Papyrus 66, also called Papyrus Bodmer II, is a papyrus codex of the Gospel of John in Greek, with 75 identifiable leaves surviving. Most of it is in Geneva. Scholars have dated it from the early second century to the fourth, mostly by handwriting; its first editor chose about 200 CE, and the question remains open.

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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

    about 200 CE as usually given, with published dates running from the early 2nd to the 4th century CE; the Bodmer Lab lists Brent Nongbri for the 4th century CE; the bar marks about 200 CE

  4. This copy found

    The find is not documented. The Bodmer papyri are presumed to come from one discovery in Upper Egypt in the early 1950s, though scholars do not agree on the extent of that group and some doubt that all of it came from one discovery. The bulk of this codex arrived in Geneva in 1955. Its first fourteen chapters were published in 1956.

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

What it is

Papyrus Bodmer II, called P66 by scholars, is a codex of the Gospel of John in Greek, written on papyrus (a paper-like sheet pressed from reeds). Its remains include 75 identifiable leaves and many fragments. John 1:1 to 14:26 survives as an intact block, and the remaining folios hold portions of John 14:29 to 21:9.1 The pages are about 14.2 by 16.2 centimeters, each with one column of 14 to 25 lines, and one scribe copied the whole book.1 Most of it is in Geneva, with a small fragment in Dublin and a part in Cologne.12

How the copy was dated

The Bodmer Lab's catalog lists five scholarly dates, each with the method used. Four rest on handwriting alone: the early second century CE (Herbert Hunger), about 200 CE (Victor Martin, the first editor), the third century (Eric Turner), and the third to fourth century (Pasquale Orsini).1 The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts lists the codex as second to third century, and Nongbri notes that it is often dated to about 200 CE.34

The fifth date is the fourth century, from Brent Nongbri, who uses handwriting, the codex's format, and its suspected origin among the Bodmer papyri.1 He finds the codex's format and handwriting at home beside two similar codices linked to the Bodmer group, one copied no earlier than 305 CE. He writes that handwriting and format cannot demand a date later than the traditional one, but together show that a later date, such as the fourth century, cannot be excluded.4

Timothy Mitchell, reviewing Nongbri's 2018 book, holds that its argument is inconsistent: the book says codex construction has no bearing on dates, yet cites the shape and binding of the Bodmer codices as evidence for a later date for this one. Nongbri replies that the first statement concerned only single-quire and multi-quire construction.54

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 The Orthodox Church in America's catechism holds that the Gospel is the work of the beloved disciple and apostle, written near the close of the first century.7 Catholic teaching, in Dei Verbum, holds that the Gospels come from the apostles and apostolic men, and gives no year.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 gives a year.

The historians' view

The Catholic bishops' New American Bible, in an introduction that applies critical analysis, holds that the Gospel as it now stands is hard to attribute to one writer, and that its final editing probably falls between 90 and 100 CE. It adds that most modern scholars find the evidence does not support John, son of Zebedee, as its eyewitness.11

Dale Martin of Yale holds that modern scholars regard all four Gospels as anonymous, since the texts do not name their authors, and that the beloved disciple in John is unidentified, though tradition names him as John, son of Zebedee.1213 He holds that John may have been written in the 90s CE.14

How it was found

No exact find-spot is recorded. Scholars presume that the Bodmer papyri, a group of papyrus and parchment books, come from one discovery in Upper Egypt, perhaps near the city of Dishna, in the early 1950s. Daniel Sharp and Brent Nongbri add that there is no consensus on the group's extent, and that Sharp, and to a lesser extent Nongbri, have begun to doubt that even the more limited group all came from a single discovery.15 Martin Bodmer, a collector, acquired the majority of the pieces in the 1950s and early 1960s.1516

The Bodmer Lab's catalog says the bulk of this codex arrived in Geneva in 1955.1 Victor Martin published its first fourteen chapters in 1956.2

What it shows, and what it does not

It shows how one scribe copied the Gospel of John in a small papyrus book and made nearly all of the corrections in it. The Bodmer Lab notes that corrections are present throughout. Its surviving leaves reach from John 1:1 to 21:9, the later chapters only in part.1

It does not settle its own date, which scholars place anywhere from the early second century to the fourth. The dates are scholars' estimates. Because it reached the antiquities market with no find-spot given, no archaeological layer checks them, and the find itself is not documented.115

Sources

  1. PB 2 (P.Bodmer II, P66), Gospel according to John. Bodmer Lab, University of Geneva and Fondation Martin Bodmer, catalog record. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  2. Brent Nongbri. The Bodmer Papyri: An Inventory of "P.Bodmer" Items. Variant Readings (the author's blog), 2017, entries for P.Bodmer II and P.Bodmer XIV+XV. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  3. Manuscript P66. Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM), catalog record. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  4. Brent Nongbri. Palaeography, Codicology, and Assigning Dates to Early Christian Codices: A Review of God's Library. Variant Readings (the author's blog), 2018, blog post of September 12, 2018. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  5. Timothy N. Mitchell. Review: "God's Library," by Brent Nongbri. The Textual Mechanic (the reviewer's blog), 2018, blog post of September 9, 2018. 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. 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.
  8. 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.
  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. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. Bodmer Papyri: online catalog of the papyrus and parchment manuscripts in the Bodmer collection. Bodmer Lab, University of Geneva and Fondation Martin Bodmer, introduction. Accessed 2026-11-05.