Ancient snail mail New 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 Letters

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

 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

 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

 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?