The Baptism of Jesus

A wonderful gift for a baptism or for just anyone who appreciates Church history and the Early Church Fathers!

Own this remarkable replica of an early Christian manuscript in which the Church Father Irenaeus of Lyons writes about the Baptism of Jesus and directly quotes Matthew 3:16–17, preserved in Greek on papyrus from the beginning of the 3rd century AD.

Made from Egyptian papyrus
DISPLAY: 9.5”x11.75” Acrylic Standoff Display (for desktop or wall frame -includes long and short standoff and handing wire)
One laminated 4" × 7" manuscript information card

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 405 (P.Oxy. III 405) preserves portions of Irenaeus of Lyons’ Against Heresies, Book III, chapter 9, copied in Greek around AD 200, only a few decades after Irenaeus composed the work!

Among the surviving text is Irenaeus’ quotation of Matthew 3:16–17, recounting the Baptism of Jesus: the heavens opening, the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and the heavenly voice declaring Jesus the beloved Son. Unlike a Gospel manuscript, P.Oxy. 405 is an early Christian theological work quoting Scripture directly. It is especially valuable because much of Against Heresies no longer survives continuously in its original Greek. These fragments preserve actual Greek wording from one of the earliest surviving copies of Irenaeus’ writings.P.Oxy. 405 is an especially fascinating piece because it brings together an Early Church Father, one of the earliest surviving copies of his writings, and an ancient quotation of the Gospel account of Christ’s baptism in a single surviving manuscript.

More than eighteen centuries later, these fragments still preserve Irenaeus’ discussion of the Christian faith alongside his quotation of the words describing the Baptism of Jesus, an extraordinary glimpse into the transmission of Scripture and Christian teaching in the early Church.