Papyrus 133 (P. Oxy. 81 5259 — 1 Timothy 3:13–16; 4:1–8)
Apostle Paul
The oldest surviving page of a letter written to a young man left in charge of Ephesus. He would have been dead a hundred and fifty years when somebody copied this.
Every stat is a checkable fact about the actual book, not a designer's mood. Bars are drawn against the highest value any book reaches.
The game's own explanation, as a reader sees it in the backpack.
Modest. A single leaf holding the end of one chapter and the start of the next.
High. What survives is an early hymn the churches were already singing when Paul quoted it: God revealed in the flesh. A fragment holding a creed hits far above its size.
Cleanly published and uncontested. What is on the leaf is what is on the leaf.
Published in 2016 alongside 𝔓132. Its importance is enormous and its fame is not.
Mid-3rd century, found at Oxyrhynchus, now in the Sackler Library, Oxford (P. Oxy. 81 5259). Published in 2016, and as of that publication it is the oldest physical evidence for 1 Timothy that exists anywhere — no earlier copy of any part of the letter is known.
By levelling up. A book that develops keeps what it knew and learns the rest on its new schedule.
| Lv | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr | Acc | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pillar and Ground | Ecclesiology | Argument | 66 | 100% | 15 |
| 1 | Random Verse | Bible | Argument | 10 | 100% | 30 |
| 25 | Chapter… | Bible | Scripture | — | — | 12 |
| 29 | Doctrines of Demons | Ecclesiology | Argument | 64 | 100% | 15 |
| 32 | Train for Godliness | Ethics | Argument | 58 | 100% | 20 |
| 36 | Revealed in the Flesh | Christology | Argument | 78 | 100% | 10 |
How to read these. In Scholar’s Dream, books argue with each other. Each thing a book can do in a debate is a move, and most moves carry a real quotation — the words the book puts on the table when it uses that move.
Strong against lists the opposing books and arguments a move was written to answer. Used against one of them, it hits much harder than usual: ×2 means twice the normal force, ×4 four times. It is the game’s way of saying: this is the sentence that answers that argument. Open an entry to read why.
“…the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
1 Timothy 3:15 (WEB, trimmed quote) — the passage 𝔓133 attests.
In the gameThe church does not invent the truth and does not own it. It holds it up so the room can see it.
“But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,”
1 Timothy 4:1 (WEB) — the passage 𝔓133 attests.
In the gameThe warning is not that error might come. It is that it will, from inside, and on a schedule. The foe may be left DISTRACTED.
“But refuse profane and old wives’ fables. Exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value in all things…”
1 Timothy 4:7–8 (WEB, trimmed quote) — the passage 𝔓133 attests before it breaks off.
In the gameGodliness is trained for, the way a body is. Slow, unglamorous, and it holds — the book’s own Defend may rise.
“Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.”
1 Timothy 3:16 (WEB) — the passage 𝔓133 attests, and 𝔓133 is the oldest surviving witness to any part of 1 Timothy.
In the gameAn early hymn, quoted by Paul because the churches already sang it — six lines, and every one of them about the same person.