Tomas Bokedal explores five traits of emerging paratextual standardization of Christian book production and how these were applied to the new/developing scriptures used for corporate worship. The five traits Bokedal identifies are: Christian adoption of the codex format; the use of canonical sub-units; the introduction of New Testament book titles; the use of nomina sacra – “sacred names,” such as God, Jesus and Spirit – and additional structuring through arithmetical elements.
Bokedal explores these features in detail, showing how the codex, and not the scroll, came to be a material symbol of Christian textuality; how the first-and second-century canonical sub-units became the most decisive ingredients in the biblical canon formation process; how the nomina sacra epitomised the embryonic creed of the first Christians; and how arithmetical features were standard ingredients in the codicological design of early Bible manuscripts.
Bokedal's study has wide-ranging implications for understanding how early Christian texts developed, and for the canon formation process.