The first and most immediate observation is that, indeed, we have an impressive number of texts attested in these very early manuscripts. Though nearly all are only portions, and in many cases mere fragments, of the full manuscripts, enough survives to tell us that collectively early Christians produced, copied, and read a noteworthy range of writings. With all due allowances for the limitation sin the likely extent of literacy in this period, the impression given is that early Christianity represented a religious movement in which texts played a large role. But we may be able to probe a bit farther. Even if we must be somewhat cautious in drawing our inferences, these data invite intriguing questions. It is a further reason for caution, that only about 1% of the estimated 500,000 manuscripts from this period have been published [underline added] (Larry W. Hurtado, The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins, 24-25).