Ancient Letters
In the ancient world, communication was difficult and costly. Writing materials were expensive, and conveying these letters to their intended recipient(s) took time and effort. Although governmental communication was delivered via special courier, no publically or privately funded professional mail service existed, so travelers normally carried letters (cf. ; ).
As a result of these realities, at the time that Paul and other authors in the New Testament composed their letters, a typical letter averaged only 87 words—even more brief than 3 John (about 222 words) or Philemon (about 338 words). Even intellectuals’ literary letters to peers were of limited length—e.g., Cicero’s averaged about 300 words and Seneca’s 1000 words. By contrast, Paul’s longest surviving letter, Romans, is more than 7000 words! (In antiquity, the price of a scribe and writing materials meant that producing a letter of this length could cost something like $2000 in early twenty-first century U.S. currency.) Moreover, while some of Paul’s correspondence includes personal information, as do most letters, other parts communicate his message as if Paul is preaching to the intended recipients.
Paul’s letters contain not only greetings and news, but also persuasive argumentation. Because of this special character of much of Paul’s correspondence, many scholars compare his letters more to ancient speeches than to typical letters. Urban Greek and Roman culture honored oratorical skill, or rhetoric, in a speaker’s presentation. Rhetoric was pervasive and was highlighted, e.g., in all public assemblies, in courts, and at funerals. Even most letter essays (essays in the form of letters), however, were not arranged as speeches, so scholars debate the degree to which rhetoric shaped Paul’s letters. Most scholars at least agree that Paul made use of common forms of argumentation that rhetoric had made popular (or formalized) in his milieu (see the article “
Most of Paul’s letters and at least some letters written by other New Testament writers (most obviously 2 and 3 John) address local situations. Because these letters do not all address the same situation, the same writer can argue somewhat differently in different letters (even, e.g., in Romans and Galatians, despite their similarities).
If these New Testament letters address local issues, how can we then reapply their message in our very different contexts today? If we can understand how these writers could address their hearers’ settings, we can often find analogous situations in today’s world. The principles remain relevant, and the very concreteness of their applications summons us to address the concrete realities of our churches, and of our lives, today as well. (Paul often used the Old Testament the same way, finding examples relevant for his churches; e.g., .) Therefore, reading each letter as a whole and trying to hear it in its original context helps us understand better how we can apply it to the most relevant settings today. ◆