He Carried the Books of Sacred Scripture

Abstract Perhaps the most critical question raised by the miniature codex is why Christians utilized this distinctive format? Why would some writings be put into this format and not others? And what does that tell us about the literary preferences of early Christians, as well as their sociocultural contexts? This chapter addresses one half of the question, namely the practical functions of miniature codices. First, miniature codices were clearly designed to aid in private reading. Discussion is provided about private reading in the early Christian movement, access to books, and literacy rates. Second, miniature codices were used for worship–liturgical activities, including hymnbooks, sermon content, and prayers. Particularly noteworthy is that miniature codices were used for certain rituals like sortilege or lot divination. The final practical function is that miniature codices made it more convenient to travel with books. Several examples are given of early Christians traveling with books, some of which appear to be rather small and portable.