ancient snail mail new testament letters. on clay tablets, pottery shards, papyrus pages by...
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On clay tablets, pottery shards, papyrus pages
By amanuensis, or professional secretary• Direct dictation• Delegate a portion of the letter
With co-senders Through letter carriers
• Represent author to receivers• Read letter aloud• Interpret author’s wishes and instructions
Writing LettersWriting Letters
Salutation or GreetingThanksgiving
Body Closing
Ancient letters averaged 90 words Philosophers’ letters averaged 295
words Paul averaged about 1,300 words Letter to the Romans, over 7,000 words
Letter StructureLetter Structure
Various levels of authorship• Direct, literal, pen in hand and dictated (1 &
2)• Delegated to authorized disciple (3)• Posthumous and apprentice disciple (4 & 5)• Written to honor the original leader (6)• Forgery (7)
Early church rejected intentional forgery• E.g., Paul and Thecla
Authenticity and PseudepigraphaAuthenticity and Pseudepigrapha
Is letter intrinsically possible? Is church tradition reliable? Are language and style consistent? Is theology consistent? Are there historical anachronisms? Any biographical discrepancies?
Some scholars argue on the basis of individual criteria, others argue on sum of criteria
Pseudepigraphic CriteriaPseudepigraphic Criteria
Authorship is inevitably linked to date of composition and local situations• Changing authenticity level of authorship
requires adjusting time and place of writing Scholars seek to construct a history
of early Christianity and a biography of Paul• When level of authenticity changes, the
available evidence for biographical reconstruction changes
So What?So What?