Paul and the Letters Flashcards
1
Q
What is a letter?
Pauls Apostolic Roots goes in circle, the Deiss ha been thrown!
A
- A living communication between sender and receiver
- Jewish background: apostolic letters (Letters of Gamaliel; Paul carried a letter)
- Closest to this background in formal meaning are 1-2 Pet, Jude, James: apostolic letters to the Diaspora
- Paul’s letters seem to be a development
- Encyclical letters: Col. 4:16 And when this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read also the letter from Laodicea
- Epistolography: Deissmann (Wanted to differentiate between epistles [literary: Heb, Rom] and letters [private: Philemon; 3John])
- Epistolography needs to appreciate the Jewish background more
2
Q
Which ones are the Pauline letters?
A
- 13 Pauline:
- Rom, 1-2 Cor; Gal; 1–2 Thess
- Prison letters: Eph, Phil, Col Philem
- Pastoral letters: 1–2 Tim, Tit
- ‘Catholic letters’ (general)
- Hebrews
- Letters within texts: in Revelation
3
Q
What is the common structre?
I Thank Bodily Parents Gay deeds!
A
- Introduction (often with the theme)
- Thanksgiving
- “Body”
- Parenesis (admonishing)
- Greetings; personal material
- Doxology
- Sometimes it is doubted that a letter is a letter
4
Q
How was the Letters used?
Harvey Specter funnels authority and tradition to Mike, While mike tries to uncover the Old experiences of Jessica and her firms tradition, from the early day of bylaws.
A
- Using letters as authoritative ways to lead
- Addressing current issues in the church
- Used to hand over tradition
- Still eternal content
- Sources:
- The Old Testament
- Experience of Jesus
- Jewish tradition and methods; Paul trained by Gamaliel; other letters similar techniques
- Early church tradition
- Greek literary material sparse
5
Q
What is the tension between Pseudoepigrapha and Pauline corpus?
A
- Big issue in Pauline studies
- I count 13 letters, others often count only 7: Rom, 1–2 Cor, Gal, 1Thess, Filem, Phil, regarding the rest as pseudepigraphies
- Important area for defending the Bible
- Current theory creates first and second class letters
- But unnecessarily; the arguments against any of these letters can be explained
- Often the analyses have been inherited throughout the ages without much reconsideration
6
Q
Pseudoepigrapha in general.
A
- There are many pseudepigraphic texts with Old Testament ‘names’; testaments, apocalypses, a certain genre
- But these were not accepted into the Bible, neither by Jews at large or early Christianity
- There are a few pseudepigraphic letters too
- However, it is not proven that pseudepigraphy was accepted but believers believed in their authenticity
7
Q
Christian Pseudoepigrapha.
Name 2
A
- From 150 CE onwards
- The Acts of Paul (3Cor?)
- Canonised at times
- Written by anonymous presbyter from Asia
- He was condemned by the church in his day
- The Laodicea letter (“provides the document in Col 4:16”):
- Long canonised
- Brief compilation from Pauline sources
- Rejected by the Muratorian canon: forged in Paul’s name
- Sum: the church did not accept forgeries, but punished the forgers
8
Q
Why should the NT church accept forgeries?
A
- One must appreciate the network, the closeness in time and socially
- Either the person who wrotes “From Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ” present and outright lie or he was true
- What do we do with the ‘personal’ material in the letters; is it possible that the pseudepigrapher wrote in the “interest of deception … fabricated all the personal notes, all the fine moments of deepest piety …”? (on the pastoral)
- You’ll meet this discussion in connection with the letters
- Note: there are no external arguments against the letters, only internal ones, and they are not very reliable
9
Q
Authorship and Amanuensas.
A
Four kinds of letter-writing
- Writing yourself
- Word-by-word dictation
- Dictating the meaning, letting secretary formulate (then approve it)
- Letting someone else write in your name
No 3 is explicitly used in the New Testament
