S.D. Charlesworth

The systematic approach to nomina sacra in early gospel MSS involved contracting certain words across the board without regard to referent, meaning or (sacred or mundane) context. Of the four core words (theòs, kyrios, Iesous, christòs), contraction of kyrios and other words that came to be included in the convention often required complex differentiation between sacred and mundane meanings or contexts that was very difficult for scribes to master. The inevitable result was proliferation of inappropriate contraction.