Ancient snail mail

New Testament LettersNew Testament Letters

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?