Exploring the Bible Series

A Guide to the Letters and Revelation

I. Howard Marshall, Stephen Travis, Ian Paul

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780830825295
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Written by scholars with extensive experience teaching in colleges and universities, the Exploring the Bible series has for decades equipped students to study Scripture for themselves.Exploring the New Testament, Volume Two provides an accessible introduction to the Letters and Revelation. It's filled with classroom-friendly features such as discussion questions, charts, theological summary sidebars, essay questions, and further reading lists. This volume introduces students to- Jewish and Greco-Roman background- Paul's life, mission, and theology- the structure and major themes of each book- issues of authorship, date, and setting- methods in reading and interpreting the Letters and Revelation- the intersection of New Testament criticism with contemporary issues of faih and cultureNow in its third edition, this popular textbook has been updated and revised to take account of the latest advances in scholarly findings and research methods, including new sections on- the theological links between Jesus and Paul- the way New Testament authors read the Hebrew Scriptures- the contribution of archaeology to New Testament studies- updated bibliographies highlighting the most important and influential works published in the last decadeExploring the New Testament, Volume Two offers a thorough overview of the Letters and Revelation that will give students a stronger understanding and a solid foundation for ongoing study.

Section B

PAUL AND HIS LETTERS

2

Letters in the New Testament

This chapter will deal with:

•the practice of ancient letter-writing;

•the format of a first-century letter;

•ways in which NT letter-writers developed this format.

Most NT documents are letters. Although at first glance we may be inclined to group them as ‘Paul’s letters’ and ‘the rest’, they are in fact of several types:

•letters from an individual to a church (most of Paul’s letters; 2 John);

•letters from an individual to other individuals (1–2 Timothy, Titus, 3 John);

•circular letters sent to several churches (Galatians, Ephesians, James, 1–2 Peter, Jude);

•documents which, like a letter, were sent from one place to another, but lack key features of a letter such as identification of the sender (Hebrews, 1 John);

•an apocalypse distributed as a letter (Revelation; see Rev. 1:4–5);

•two letters included in the story of Acts (15:23–29; 23:26 –30).

Ancient letter-writing

From ancient times people have written letters when face-to-face communication was impossible, or when a situation demanded that a message should be recorded in writing. Already in the eighteenth century BC rulers and bureaucrats in Mari on the Euphrates were writing diplomatic and administrative letters on clay tablets.

In NT times letter-writing was a necessary role of imperial administrators, and Augustus developed a postal system which enabled official letters to be carried on horseback across the empire at 50 miles a day. Thousands of private and business letters have survived from that period in the ruined buildings and rubbish dumps of Egypt. Writers and philosophers developed the letter form to communicate their ideas. For example, the Roman philosopher Seneca – a contemporary of Paul – wrote 124 letters to his friend Lucilius, which are in effect essays on ethical issues.

Most letters were written on sheets of papyrus, a light and tough material made from stalks of the papyrus plant woven and pressed together. A typical sheet was about the same size as standard American paper, or European A4. For a longer document sheets could be glued side by side to make a roll. The writer used a reed pen and black ink made from soot, gum and water (see 2 John 12; 3 John 13). Since the imperial postal system was not available for the letters of ordinary people, they had to send their letters with a friend, a slave, or a stranger travelling to the desired destination (compare Col. 4:7–9; 1 Pet. 5:12).

Some letter-writers used a secretary (Latin amanuensis). The Roman orator and statesman Cicero (106–43 BC) wrote hundreds of letters through his freedman Tiro, who collected them for publication. Julius Caesar was famous for being able to dictate different letters to as many as seven secretaries simultaneously – like a chess grand master playing against several opponents at once, though at a more furious pace! (The elder Pliny, Natural History 7.91.)

The secretary’s role could vary according to ability and circumstance. There is evidence, mostly from Cicero, for the secretary as:

•recorder, writing at his master’s careful dictation, or taking notes in shorthand and then writing them up;

•editor, allowed some freedom to tidy up the style when writing the final text from the rough dictation copy;

•agent or substitute author, writing the letter himself after general instructions from his employer.

This flexibility becomes a significant issue in debates about the authorship of certain NT letters, whose style appears different from what might be expected from the author concerned. We know that Paul used secretaries because Tertius identifies himself as such in Romans 16:23, and because Paul sometimes draws attention to a change of handwriting when he adds a personal note at the end of a letter: ‘I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand’ (1 Cor. 16:21; compare Gal. 6:11; Col. 4:18; 2 Thess. 3:17; Phlm. 19). In cases where the style or thought-pattern seems not quite Paul’s (or Peter’s – see 1 Pet. 5:12) might it be because the secretary has acted as editor or agent?

We know also from Cicero that an author or secretary would often keep a copy of his letters; hence the collection available for Tiro to publish. This raises an intriguing question about the collection and distribution of Paul’s letters. It has often been thought that the letters addressed to individual churches were not generally known outside those churches until someone hit on the idea of travelling round the churches to collect and distribute copies of the letters more widely. But if Paul kept copies of his own letters, maybe his own collection began to be copied and distributed by his associates quite soon after his death?

The format of letters

‘Sir Andrew and Lady Marcia Fitzgibbon request the pleasure of your company at . . .’

‘Dear Jim,

I was so sorry to hear the sad news of the death of . . .’

‘Dear Ms Smith,

Locked in a bonded vault in New York is a number that could be worth $1.6 million to you . . .’

Very often letters begin with standard forms of expression, which indicate instantly the type and purpose of the letter. Standard openings like ‘Dear Chris,’ ‘Dear Sir,’ or endings like ‘Yours sincerely,’ or ‘Love from’ also help the recipient to ‘read’ the writer’s intention correctly.

Such standard patterns and formulas characterized letters in the NT world, and their essential format remained constant through several centuries. Below is a second-century Greek letter from Egypt (see Lieu 1986, 38–51). I have set it out in a way that highlights the typical letter features of the period.

What do you think?

Compare Antonios Maximos’s letter with 3 John, which is the NT letter most closely conforming to the pattern of a secular private letter.

Which verses of 3 John form the Opening, Thanksgiving and Closing?

In what ways are they similar to and different from Antonios Maximos’s letter?

(We will explore the meaning of the Body, verses 5–12, in Chapter 20.)

Then try the same exercise on the shortest of Paul’s letters, Philemon.

As in modern letters, the opening and closing sections of the letter are the most stereotyped. The ‘body’ or central section, which conveys the main message of the letter, is naturally much more varied in length and content. But in this and many other short letters it seems only a brief interlude between the standard opening and closing sections.

The format of Paul's letters

Although most NT letters are much longer than this, we can see how they follow a similar format. And we can notice how their Christian character and purpose provokes certain adaptations. Here is how Paul structured his letters. We shall take 1 Corinthians as an example, and add notes on variations in other letters.

OPENING:

Sender	'Antonius Maximos
Recipient	to Sabina his sister,
Greeting	very many greetings
Health-wish	Above all I pray that you are well, as I myself am well.

THANKSGIVING:

for good news of health	While I was mentioning you before the gods here I received a letter from Antoninos, our fellow citizen. When I learnt that you are well I rejoiced greatly.
BODY	I too do not hesitate at every opportunity to write to you concerning my own and my family's welfare.
CLOSING:
Greetings	Give many greetings to Maximos and to my lord Kopres. My wife Auphidia greets you, as does my son Maximos – his birthday is the thirteenth of Epeiph according to the Greek calender – and so do Elpis and Fortunata. Give greetings to the lord... [6 lines missing].
Health-wish	I pray that you are well.'

Opening

Read 1 Cor. 1:1–3

The pattern we have seen in Antonios Maximos’s letter and 3 John is clear in Paul, but is expanded in various ways.

To the sender’s name is added the self-description ‘apostle’ as in most other letters – but ‘servant’ in Phil., ‘servant and apostle’ in Rom., Tit., ‘prisoner’ in Phlm. In 1 and 2 Thess., 1 and 2 Cor., Phil. and Phlm. he adds the names of his co-workers. Since this is a rare feature of Greek letters, we should assume that it is no mere convention, but that the names are included because they made a real contribution to the creation of the letter.

Recipients To the address ‘the church in Corinth’ is added, as in Paul’s other letters except Galatians, a statement about their status as Christians. Is the inclusion of ‘all Christians everywhere’ Paul’s way of reminding the arrogant Corinthians that they are not the only church on the planet?

What do you think?

In Galatians and Romans Paul’s self-description is expanded (Gal. 1:1; Rom. 1:1–6). He is extremely anxious and annoyed about the situation in Galatia, and Romans is written to a church he has not yet visited. Why do you think these circumstances would make him want to expand the Opening in these ways?

Look at the way he expands the description of the recipients in some of his letters. What does this suggest about the nature of his relationship with them?

Greeting In contrast with the Greek letter greeting chairein (‘greetings’) Paul substitutes the similar-sounding charis (‘grace’) and adds the normal Jewish greeting shalom (‘peace’), as well as expressing the divine source of these blessings. He thus gives new energy and a Christian focus to the traditional formula.

In effect, this wishing of grace and peace to the recipients replaces the health-wish of the secular letter. But the health-wish is also taken up and transformed in the next section, the thanksgiving, where Paul not only thanks God for the spiritual progress of the church, but also expresses a wish or prayer for their continuing development.

Thanksgiving

Read 1 Cor. 1:4–9

Some Greek letters have a short thanksgiving (e.g., thanks to the gods for deliverance from illness or shipwreck). But this becomes a main feature in Paul’s letters. Recurring features of his thanksgiving are:

•it focuses on the faithfulness of the church addressed;

•it may incorporate a ‘prayer-report’ in which he tells readers about his prayer for them;

•it may lead to affirmation of God’s faithfulness to keep them in the faith until Christ’s final coming;

•it may act as a brief introduction to themes to be covered in the Body.

It is not always easy to tell where the transition from Thanksgiving to Body occurs. Hence the recurrence of ‘thank(s)’ in 1 Thess. 1:2; 2:13; 3:9 has led some to argue that the Thanksgiving section continues from 1:2 to 3:10! But it is more likely that Paul has a more flexible view of structure than some scholars and simply merges Thanksgiving and Body together.

In Galatians there is no Thanksgiving: Paul thinks the situation is too serious to spend time on preliminaries. In 2 Corinthians and Ephesians (compare 1 Peter) the Thanksgiving is replaced by a Jewish style of ‘blessing’ (Hebrew berakah).

Body

In 1 Corinthians this runs from 1:10 to 16:18 The purpose of the Body is to convey the letter’s central message. Its structure varies greatly from one letter to another, in the light of the range of issues to be covered. Certain formulas often mark the beginning or a key point of transition within the argument. Examples in 1 Corinthians are:

‘I appeal to you’ (1:10)

‘Now concerning . . .’ (7:1; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1)

‘I want you to understand’ (11:3)

‘I do not want you to be uninformed’ (12:1)

The end of the Body often includes reference to a forthcoming visit (16:1–11), which reminds us tha...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• How to use this book
• A Setting the Scene
• B. Paul and His Letters
• C. Letters by Other Church Leaders
• D. Apocalyptic Literature
• Glossary
• Praise for Exploring the New Testament
• About the Authors
• More Titles from InterVarsity Press
• IVP Academic Textbook Selector