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Published bySibyl Manning Modified over 9 years ago
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Ancient snail mail New Testament Letters
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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 Letters
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Salutation or Greeting Thanksgiving 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 Structure
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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 Pseudepigrapha
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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 Criteria
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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?
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