Paul Writes Letters

Paul's enduring legacy is in the form of letters he wrote to churches that he had established or to churches he intended to visit. The more closely the letters are studied the more obvious it becomes that they are not hastily scribbled directives, such as one might send to a friend or family member to report what one had for lunch or to request a favor. They are carefully crafted communications, written to persuade readers to think or act in a particular way. Even a group of Paul's opponents, who charge him with a weak sense of presence and poor speaking skills, acknowledge that "his letters are weighty and strong" (2 Cor 10:10).

Increasingly, the argument has been made that form cannot be separated from content. Both contribute to the meaning of a single passage or a document as a whole. As David Aune notes, "Literary genres and forms are not simply neutral containers used as convenient ways to package various types of communication. They are social conventions that provide contextual meaning for the smaller units of language and text they enclose." Thus it is critical in seeking to understand the subject matter of the Pauline writings to take seriously the fact that they are letters. Their arrangement and even their contents are shaped by the conventions of the letter form—and at the same time their subject matter often forces a modification of the conventions.

Though Paul's letters are the earliest that we have from the Christian community, letter writing was a common means of communication throughout the Greco-Roman world and became a characteristic literary form in early Christianity. Twenty-one of the twenty-seven writings in the New Testament bear features that mark them as letters, and both the Acts of the Apostles (15:22–31) and Revelation (2:1–3:22) contain letters. It is likely that the form and practice of writing letters were taught early in Greco-Roman schools, probably on the basis of model letters. While the most obvious reason for writing was the communication of information, letters nevertheless served a host of functions, such as issuing orders, mediating disputes, nurturing friendships, and offering praise or blame.

The last third of the twentieth century has brought significant advances in our understanding of the ancient letter form and its adaptation by Paul. Two factors have sparked this recent interest. First, toward the end of the nineteenth century archaeologists discovered a host of documents (papyri) and ostraca (pottery fragments with inscriptions) from the town archives and old libraries of ancient Egypt. Among them were hundreds of letters of various sorts, both official and private, from the Greco-Roman period. During the early part of the twentieth century, Adolf Deissmann began to sort through this material and make initial judgments, but it has remained for later specialists to continue the project and to determine exactly what can be learned from the discoveries about the practice of letter writing in general and particularly about the letter writing of Paul. The material provides a substantial supplement to what was already known from the more literary tradition.

Second, the investigation of the papyri has been paralleled by research into the ancient theorists, such as Demetrius, Cicero, and Seneca, who either produced handbooks on letter writing or in their rhetorical instruction included directions about the practice of composing letters. For example, Demetrius acknowledged that a letter is analogous to a dialogue and should be plain, but at the same time it should be written in a more studied style since it is sent as a gift. Certain topics, such as those of complex logical subtleties, should be avoided in letters. "A letter is designed to be the heart's good wishes in brief; it is the exposition of a simple subject in simple terms" (On Style 231).

What has the research taught us about Paul's letters? When Deissmann began the investigation of the papyri, he drew a distinction between letters and epistles. Letters, he argued, are nonliterary, generally private communications, serving the purpose of conversation between two persons. They can be illustrated by the typical commercial or familial letters that turn up in the papyri collection. Epistles, on the other hand, are not letters in the usual sense of the word but are artistic creations. They are composed with skill according to established literary conventions and are intended for a wide audience. The epistle "does not go abroad, like the letter, on a single sheet of papyrus, but it is reproduced at once at the beginning by slaves of the bookseller in the great city: it is to be bought, read, and discussed in Alexandria, in Ephesus, Athens, Rome."

Paul, Deissmann contended, wrote true letters and not epistles. They were directed to specific situations, not repeated, and were not to be compared with the literary art of an Epicurus or an Aristotle. Paul's letters emerged almost spontaneously "in the midst of the storm and stress of his wandering life, which was so rich in moving experiences." They are misjudged, Deissmann argued, when they are regarded as treatises or literary productions.

More recently, however, Deissmann's distinction between letters and epistles has come under considerable criticism, particularly when applied to Paul. For one thing, Paul's letters were written to churches and probably were soon copied and shared with other churches. It is hard to speak of them as private communications. (Even Philemon's address includes "the church in your house"; see Phlm 2.) Furthermore, an analysis of the language and rhetoric of Paul's letters leads to the conclusion that these were not communications hastily dashed off in the hustle and bustle of a busy ministry. Even the letter to the Galatians, which Deissmann thought was dictated by sacred indignation and which he labeled "a fiery letter of self-defense," is better seen as a carefully constructed argument, employing a variety of persuasive strategies designed to convince his Gentile readers not to accept circumcision.

When set alongside the everyday letters found in the papyri collection and the more artistic letters from the literary culture of Greece and Rome, Paul's letters in terms of style fall somewhere in between. He does not produce flat, humdrum communications with no flourish at all. While his imagery may not be as lively as the parables of Jesus, he draws comparisons that clearly make telling points (for example, the law as "our disciplinarian" in Gal 3:24; the creation's "groaning" like an expectant mother in labor in Rom 8:19–23; the breaking off and grafting in of branches on an olive tree in...